Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 22, 1994

TERRACE

STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

. ADDRESS: 4647 Lazelle Avc., Terrace, B.C. * V8G 188
TELEPHONE: (604) 638-7283 * FAX: (604) 638-8432
MODEM: 638-7247

Get Smart, eh

LAST WEER’S deal to shelve the Gitksan and
Wet’suwet’en land claims court case in favour of
negotiations gives the provincial and federal
governments a rare opportunity.

For some time they’ve been the target of criti-
cism for the way in which talks to settle another
land claim, the one involving the Nisga’a, are
being conducted. An agreement between the two
governments and the Nisga’a on how those talks
are structured has resulted in a Get Smart-like
cone of silence. Nothing is clear and the oc-
casional muffled words which do get out are
hard to put into context.

In response the governments have said they
want to do something different for all future land
claims talks, What that is is also unclear but at
the foundation is a ‘desire to have more commu-
nication, more information and more opportunity
for the common person to understand what is
going on and to give opinions.

One of the problems is that governments and
natives have set up land claims negotiations
along old-fashioned management-union lines.
Everybody has a secret and those that foot the
bill — consumers or, in this case, taxpayers —
are left in the dark until the very end.

The base for this type of negotiation scenario
sets up a game plan in which natives are forced
to claw everything from governments that they
can while governments try to hang on to as much
as possible.

Land claims negotiations of the size and scale
underway in B.C. have never been done before.
Since they are new, why then should the parties
use old-line and outdated methods to conduct
talks?

The Gitksan and the Wet’suwet’en for years -
have been saying they have nothing to hide in
what they want. Their court case, by necessity,
has laid bare their intentions.

That being the case, a more open claims negoti-
ations process is possible. It may not be exactly
comfortable going for the negotiators or for their
political masters. But it ultimately will be
healthier and more democratic.

Riot’s roots |
THERE WAS a disturbing sameness to the mob
which rioted in Vancouver after the last game of
the Stanley Cup. Those in the mob were young,
white, predominantly male, stupid and most like-
ly drunk.

It was a proud testament to a society which
teaches freedom without responsibility, en-
courages self expression without self control and
permits anarchy without a basic understanding of
what it takes to be part of a civilized world.

Equally as disturbing as the riot is what is going
to take place now. Most of the handwringing will
concentrate on the actions of the police. Was
what they did right? Did they overreact? What
could they have done differently?

It’s as if the politicians are going to look for
somebody to blame. And it’Il be far easier for
them to criticize the police than to look deep into
their own hearts at the root causes which laid the
foundation for such behaviour.

QS
if) PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link
ADVERTISING MANAGER: Mike L. Hamm

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edoward Credgeur

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VICTORIA — *‘No more fa-
vors for friends and insiders”
— Mike Harcourt during the
1991 election campaign.

The public bought into Har-
court’s promise in spades,
Jaded by five years of scandal-
ridden government under Bill
Vander Zalm, voters wanted
change, and the NDP was the
most promising alternative.

British Columbians got
change all right, change for the
worse, at least when it comes
to patronage. ’ ,

Now, [ have to tell you that I
never had much of a problem
with patronage. In a province,
as politically polarized as Brit-
ish Columbia, a newly-elected
government looking for people
_in- high positions -hasn’t got
much to choose from. Most
folks are either left or right of
centre. oO ,

I also submil that.a govern-
ment. would be extremely
foolish to fill important jobs
with people who are politically
opposed to it.

The problem with the NDP,
however, is that it fiercely op-

. poséd any kind ‘of patronage |

appointment when the party
_ was in opposition. British
Columbians, therefore, hada
right to expect better from the

-FROM: THE CAPITAL”
HUBERT BEYER

NDP government.
But not only did the NDP
embrace patronage, once they

' were in power, they, did so

with a vengeance. During the
two and a half years in power,
the NDP has dispensed more
political patronage , than the
Socreds did-in the previous 16
years, .

- Nothing unusual happened in
the beginning. Nothing wrong
with bringing a few party faith-
ful into the premier’s office.
Soon, however, a long line of
NDP hacks began to pop up all
over the place. The traffic got
so congested that the govern-
ment hired John Pollard to
oversee the appointment of

about 4,000 positions to
government boards, commis-
sions and agencies.

The long list of prominent
NDP supporters who were paid
off with lucrative positions in-
clude such luminaries as Doug
McArthur, Robyn Allan,
Johanna den Hertog, Joy
Leach, Mare Eliesen and Tom
Gunton.

There are also disturbing
signs of personal favors being
granted to NDP supporters.
One recent case in point. was
the granting of taxi licences

' worth about $1,8 million to a

personal Friend of employment
minister Glen Clark’s. ©
The application by
Richmond-based Kimber Cabs
was turned down by the Motor
Cartier Commission. When the

company appealed to cabinet, a -

practice that has since been
abolished, Clark, who was to
have heard the appeal, turned
the job over to Energy ‘and
mines minister Anne Edwards.

After hearing submissions
for a couple of hours — the
Molor Carrier Commission had
heard submissions for several
days — Edwards overturned
the commission’s decision,

awarding the licences to Kim- _

ber cabs,

And while she may have
acted in good failh, she did ad-
mit that Clark told her he
couldn’t hear the appeal: be-
cause of his friendship with the
applicant. One must wonder to
what éxtent that knowledge in-
fluenced Edward’s decision.

And finally, government crit-

ics point to another alleged.
form of patronage. The new —

labour code, they say, favours

trade unions and is a payoff for —

past support.
On this issue, the critics and [

part company. Having been’ —
(rade

Strong supporter of
unionism for most of my life,

the new labour cade would” —
have favored labour even more ‘-

if Thad written il,

As:for the rest, yes, the Har-

court government has elevated
patronage to‘a new level; one
that would have scared even
Mulroney. Without shame, the
same people. who went after

the Socreds with a fury for any |.

‘appointment “that had. the
faintest smell of patronage

about it, are now herding their
insiders. into .
government boards, commis-

friends — and-

i tee tt

Gagging on NDP favours

sions and agencies with im-

punity, Gag me witha spoon,

Books list needs change —

TERRACE’S PUBLIC library
wants patron feedback on its
May 1994 new books list
printed as a cost cutting
measure by computer, Pre-
viously a staff member typed a
list of titles received during the

. month.
Instead of being sharp, clear, ©

inviting, the printing of the
May list is uneven’and messy
looking. Columns. waver’ like:

earthquake recordings on a

seismograph. ©

Dewey decimals designa-
lions are reduced to strings of
numbers’ up to twelve digits
jong with no. decimal... This
makes finding the correct shelf
uncertain in the low, number
such as 005369 or 0705.

Shelf numbers aren’t all. that
leave me guessing. No longer
does the list ‘specify for in-.
slance Adult Non-Fiction, or

| THROUGH BIFOCALS

CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

Junior Non-Fiction. I’m left to
puzzle over c#1l, c#2 and ci#3,
clueless as an illiterate in an
airport.

“Worst of all - and why J feel
this cost-saving measure fails -
long tilles are lopped off, often

. with incomprehensible results,

Take these four titles:

* What Canadians believe
but shouldn’t about

* Source Book: a com-
pendium of information on

* The Lands of charm and
cruelty: travels in S

* Tenth report on the north-
western tribes of vs

For all these four titles told

me, they could have “been ©

omilted, Because. I can’t visit
the library regularly, monthly
lists help me keep up with new
titles.

I read lists form beginning to
end, circle prospective titles,
then file the lists to cheek later
for extra goodies. I recall my
satisfaction when lists began to
be printed with the month and
year on the cover.

I’m delighted the library is
finally undergoing expansion; I
just didn’! realize, to help. fi-

nance the project, I’d have to
compromise on the monthly
New Books list.

And while | appreciate the li-
brary’s search for cost-culting
measures — would that other
tax-funded —instilutions  fol-
lowed suit — I miss ‘a crisp,

‘handy, enticing monthly guide

to new books.

If, in the future, I must make
do with monthly lists printed In
this haphazard fashion, could I
be indulged with a brief inter-

pretation of c#1, c#2, and other’.

computer jargon?
And’ can the computer be

programmed -to hang in until it

prints the full :tiile of a book -

regardless of how many cxira

trees il takes? '
Little economies do add: up.

But this economy I‘don’t ”.

favour,

MAYBE ON THE i
EPUCATION CHANNEL?

WOULP IT BE OKAY
To SIT ANP WATCH
A FIRE iF iT WAS

wee HOW COME ITS. BAD \i2
my TO WATCH TV FOR
m HOURS BuT OKAY
TO WATCH A FIRE ?

NEWS COMMUNITY: Jeff Nagel * NEWS SPORTS: Malcolm Baxter
OFFICE MANAGER: Rose Fisher

.DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur
ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS:
Sam Collier, Janet Viveiros, Howie Oram
CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Charlene Matthews

Serving the Tertace atea. Published on Wednesday of aach waak by Cariboo Press (1969) Ld, al 464°
Lazalle Ava,, Terrace, British Columbla, .

‘Stories, photographs, illusttations, designs and typastyles in the Tartace Standard ate the property of {he
copytight holders, Including Caribco Prass (i960) Lid, i's illustration repfe services and advortising
agencies, va, :

Reproduction In whole or in part, without written permisslon, is spacifically prohibited, ;
Authorized as second-dass mail pending tha Fost Office Deparlment, for payment of postage In cash.

IMPONDERABLES
OF THE NORTH!

Speclal thanks to all our contributors and correspondents
for their time and talents