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, Sbmien:

VICTORIA — The political! and
judicial systems are under siege in
British Columbia. Cynicism is

» taking the place of trust. The

public is losing confidence in the
institutions that separate parlia-
mentary democracies from auto-
cracies, benevolent or otherwise.

After four years of blundering
from one scandal to the next,
Premier Vander Zalm has brought
us to a point where the mere
mention of integrity and honesty
in politics causes British Columbi-
ans to doubt your sanity.

Vander Zalm promised integrity
and open government, but I cannot
remember a four-year period in
B.C politics that was marked by
more scandals, embarrassments
and public disgrace than Vander
Zalm’s term in office to date.

Let’s skip all the previous cala-
Mities that have rocked this goy-
emment almost continuously, and
deal only with the last two contro-
versies — the sale of Fantasy
Garden World and the subsequent
discovery that the premier had
never relinquished his majority
shareholder status in the family
business.

Instead of being far away on the
day of the sale, addressing some
chamber of commerce on the ben-
efits of investing in British Colum-

- bia, the premier rolled out the red

government carpet for the pur-
chaser of his Richmond theme
park.

Treating the billion-dollar
woman, Emilia Roxas, like some
head of state, he even took her fo
see Lieutenant Governor David
Lam, thereby, in a very real sense,
dragging the queen into his own
private dealings.

‘He even fook her
fo see Lieufenant
Governor David
Lam, thereby, in a
very real sense,
dragging the
queen inte his own
private dealings’

And just when this particular
@zontroversy had died down a bit,
we got hit with another.

An enterprising reporter
checked the company records at
his lawyer’s office and found that
Vander Zalm had never relin-
quished his majority ownership of
the family business until it was
sold to Roxas.

The papers showed the premier
owning 83 per cent of the shares in
Fantasy Garden World Inc., when
all along he had told British
Columbians that it was Lillian’s
business.

Initially, the premier blamed the
press, saying they had only

= @2ssumed that he didn’t own the

majority of shares. Then he
changed his tune, blaming his
“stupidity” for the mixup.

' TheReview

Without accusing the premier of
lying; I find it hard to believe that a
man who parleyed a relatively
obscure nursery business into a
$15 million theme park with castle
and all, wouldn’t know that he still
owns the place. Stupid people
don’t make million-dollar profits
in business.

All the while, public trust in the
system is fading. Cynicism and the
suspension of disbelief are, so far,
the greatest legacy of the Vander
Zalm years. And that is the great-
est danger to which our system of
parliamentary democracy can be
exposed. :

“The rule of law in a democracy
requires the public’s ongoing con-
sent and confidence to survive,”

' Wednesday, October 3,1990 — A17

” Public cynicism is Zalm’s legacy

can cripple it. Perception becomes
teality when suspicion of injustice
is allowed to fester. The system
must be capable of quickly and
convincingly resolving any such
doubt,” Owen added.

The validity of the ombuds-
man’s remarks isn’t confined to
the justice system; it applies to the
entire process of parliamentary
democracy which has been crip-
pled time and again.

There can and should be no
more well-meaning excuses for
Vander Zalm’s blunders. He must
be held accountable, and the
sooner, the. better.

Unfortunately, some very capa-
ble people in cabinet will have to
share the blame with him on

VICTORIA »

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