Opinion VICTORIA — Why can’t the Socreds do even a good thing right? Hard as it is to believe, they 3 managed to screw up, from an ~ image point of view, the appoint- ment of Ted Hughes as acting conflict of interest commissioner. God knows we need someone riding hard on the politicians to Stop them from traipsing into the conflict-of-interest minefield or tap them over the knuckles if they do; and nobody could be better suit@@for that watchdog role than <@ Hughes. In light of these important prere- quisites, one would expect the government to score a point or two P with the announcement. Alas, by the time they were through, Hughes found it neces- Sary to personally hand-deliver a press release to the press gallery, explaining his position on what had, by now, become a pretty nhegative story. In the dying hours of the last session, the government pushed Bill 66 through the legislature, | a despite concerted NDP criticism. The opposition considered the leg- islation not tough enough to stop conflicts of interest by Members of the Legislature, and voted against the bill. During the debate, however, ~ Government House Leader Claude Richmond gave his assurance that the government would seek the Opposition’s “concurrence” before appointing a commissioner. When the government announced Hughes’ appointment, reporters asked the NDP for com- ment and got copies of a letter TheReview Wednesday, October 10,1990 — AS Harcourt had sent to Richmond regarding the appointment. In the letter, Harcourt told Rich- mond that he “can’t approve of a Conflict of Interest Commissioner with the present inadequate legis- lation,” and that until there is proper conflict legislation, he “can’t support putting someone of Ted Hughes’ stature in such an untenable position.” While Richmond played politi- cal tag with Harcourt, he neglected to keep Hughes informed of what was going on, which really put the latter in an untenable position and prompted him to take the unusual step of writing a letter to the premier’s office and personally delivering copies to the press gal- lery. In his letter to David Emerson, Hughes said he had agreed to accept the position of acting con- flict of interest commissioner, “subject to the concurrence of the Leader of the Opposition, pursuant to an agreement to that effect,” an agreement Richmond and Har- court had reached in the legisla- ture the day Bill 66 passed. Hughes added he was subse- "led Hughes isn’t to be trifled with quently informed that Harcourt refused to concur, even though he spoke highly of him as an individ- ual. “This is a dilemma, indeed. If I have not felt like meat in the sandwich over previous months, I certainly do now,” Hughes said, but added that he had decided to accept the position because oppo- sition concurrence would not be forthcoming for anyone else either. It wasn’t for him to decide whether or not the legislation was adequate; that decision, he added, might ultimately be up to the public. The legislation may not be ade- quate, but Hughes certainly is more than adequate to protect the public’s interest against foraging politicians. The former Saskatchewan judge, who served as British Columbia’s deputy attorney general for seven years, has a keen sense of pro- priety that should be feared by politicians about to go astray. From now on, in similar circum- stances, Hughes would have choices other than to prosecute or not to prosecute, ranging from a public reprimand to a recommen- dation that an offending MLA vacate his or her seat. My advice to potential rascals and rogues: watch out, Ted Hughes isn’t to be trifled with. WATCH” _ FOR SUNFLOWER’S _ FALL SALE — _ STARTS OCT 10th At Sidney Pharmacy the All Vitamin C Cold Season 20% is Here! y Dy) Bescon yas ETD One Week : (across from Post Office) 2425B Bevan Ave. - 656-0744 Only (corner of 4th/Bevan) ! ANNOUNCEMENT! Due to an increasing number of patients and requests for hearing consultations in the Sidney and North Saanich area, we are pleased to inform you of our extended office hours in our Sidney location. 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