re DY ee pee h OL, PP eh here ete Be ety dh re Le ON Rt I ily an Sead ree mm Pee IY Aree Bm FN ge Henn Opinion Volume 76 Issue No.46 TheReview Wednesday, November 14,1990 — AG, Attendance figures: Clearly a difference According to the saying ... there are lies, damned lies and Statistics. The quote refers to the well-established and well-deserved reputation of statistics: numbers which can be used to support a variety of different positions, depending on interpretation. It is this malleability which makes statistics such a useful tool in politics. There is nothing like a stream of figures to - tum even the most slipshod argument into concrete. But sometimes statistics don’t lie — interpret them how you will. Take, for example, the records of council attendance cited in the North Saanich municipal election. Depending on how the figures are manipulated — counting partial meetings, ignoring committee meetings, ignoring late arrivals, counting over three years instead of two —— there can be as much as a 20 point difference in the final attendance percentage. The figures published last week counted all committee meetings and were calculated for the past two years, so all council members would be compared equally. Council members were also penalized for coming in late to meetings and leaving early. Some council members have suggested the late arrivals should not be counted since the aldermen were present at the meeting. This argument has some validity but it becomes difficult to know where to draw the line — should late arrivals of 10 minutes or Jess be ignored? 15 minutes or less? 30 minutes or less? The reason for noting late arrival on council minutes is not to penalize alderman. It is because votes are often taken from the very start of the meeting and the notation of late arrival — or leaving early — indicates who was present for the vote on any particular issue. There are interpretations of the attendance figures that would produce better percentages for some — but would not acknowledge those council members who have never been late and who attend all committee meetings, even those to which they are not formally assigned. Perhaps such alderman could then be given a high score for attendance — plus an extra percentage for punctuality and additional effort — leading in at least a few instances to scores over 100 per cent. No matter how the figures are shuffled, there is clearly a difference in council participation between council members. It is this notable difference which has made participation an election issue in North Saanich — and not in Central Saanich or Sidney where council attendance is generally uniform. And although at least one alderman has said council members should not be marked on attendance like school children, it is up to North Saanich voters to make that decision when they issue the “marks” on Saturday. I DONT REMEMBER THE MAME OF THE ALBUM... OB THe GROUP... BUT IT'S BIN ON THE NEWS A LoT, FER BEN’ BANNED SOMEWHERE Cuz ITS GOT SoME OE SEEN STUFF ON Teo Letters to the editor must be signed and coniain the writer's address and telephone number. Letters should not exceed 500 words in lengih and may be edii- ed for clarity, legality or taste. TheReview Serving The Saanich Peninsula Since 1912 9781 2nd Street Sidney, B.C V8L 4P8 or PO. Box 2070 Sidney, B.C V8L 385 Second Class Mail Registration #0128 Published every Wednesday 656-1151 Publisher: Vic Swan Editor: Glenn Werkman AN ISLAND PUBLISHERS NEWSPAPER | Sy P Ay Ap sof ¥ we fas as ot ‘Mixed blessing’ a sirange logic Editor: How disappointing to read the caption beneath your delightful fall photograph (Kicking Autumn Leaves) on the cover page of the Nov. 7 issue. That preserving a large maple tree might be a mixed blessing because it produces “about 15 large garbage bags full of leaves each year”’ is surely strange logic. Should the life of a baby be questioned because, in its lifetime, it will fill thousands of large garbage bags — the contents of which will be of far less use to the earth than compostable leaves. Jill King Sidney What's the rush Editor: During the recent review and rewriting of the Central Saanich Official Community Plan (OCP), pressure from residents resulted in stringent guidelines for golf course development to be included therein. And yet, at the Central Saanich council meeting on Oct. 29, the mayor and aldermen barely passed third reading (4 to 3) which would permit establishment of a golf course on the finest agricultural land in the community. This parcel of land, the Maber Flats, is clearly the least desirable for golf course use as established by our OCP guidelines for it is in the middle of an agricultural area, does not abut an urban area or shoreline, and is defined environ- mentally as “inland wetland.” Ald. Wayne Hunter, Jack Mar and Gary Valiquette are to be commended for their stand against allowing this proposal to go for- ward. One wonders what the attraction is to permit this desecration of prime agricultural land when, as stated by Valiquette, at least one other golf course proposal is wait- ing to be brought forward for council’s consideration. Surely all proposals should be brought forward at the same time, if for no other reason than that all property owners receive fair and equitable consideration. As vice-chairman of the Associ- ation for the Protection of Rural Central Saanich I am aware that our association, with its S00 mem- bers, is not adverse to golf courses, per se, but is extremely concerned that some council members appear to be ignoring our recently approved Gune 1990) OCP and at the same time favoring one applic- ant over others. The mayor and council would be well advised to curtail this appar- ent indecent haste to tum prime land into a golf course and to consider all such proposals as a package. This consideration should be subject to careful attention to our OCP before committing the com- munity to what may well become known as “Central Saanich’s Folly.” D. H. Alderson Vice-chairman, APRCS Brentwood Bay Land banking not realistic Editor: There is a myth being perpet- uated by several of the candidates seeking office in North Saanich that taking land out of the agricul- tural land reserve is “banking it for future generations.” What a lovely salve to their conscience for tampering with the land reserve. In the first place nobody we have talked to can think of a single golf course in England that was plowed up to grow desperately needed produce in the Second World War. By the time the developers have spent many millions of dollars to construct the course it is totally unrealistic to imagine that it could be converted back to farmland. What is wrong with dividing the property into 50 acre parcels? Fifty acres farmed intensively can grow a tremendous supply of food or billions of seedlings for our for- ests. Actually the only “banking” that will occur will be by the present owner and by the new entrepreneurs when they sell the finished course to a wealthy off- shore syndicate. Bill Powell North Saanich No small eveni, these readings Editor: _ The big-time, star-studded crea- tive reading series at the Sidney/ North Saanich branch library just wound-up its fall events with thed® famous novelist Matt Cohen. Matt was duly applauded for his s efforts by the passionate and — one might say —screaming crowd. (No small event, these readings). Almost overlooked was the effort of Susan Musgrave, Stephen Reid and Barbara Chouinard, who made the readings so successful. A big squeeze for all of you. You’re swell. Se (pe Michael Cullen Department of English University of Victoria Remember where committee went ~ Editor: Just a trip down Memory Laneg to refresh the memories of people from the three municipalities — North Saanich, Central Saanich and Sidney — about the three councils who reduced the Family Court Committee to “a name only” in June, 1989. They decided that the Family Court Committee wasn’t needed, especially the courtroom monitors who were the key to getting to the root of the problem of why the Family Court system is so very ineffective. These three councils decided to just hold “token” meetings a required by the Provincial Court Act — three aldermen Sitti NEagie around a table, not having to keep minutes, having coffee — what an insult to thetaxpayers! Hubert Beyer reported in The Review on Nov. 22, 1989, tnat the Family Court Maintenance pro- gram was “faltering and needs to be drastically overhauled.” Beyer went on to quote the NDP’s Moe Sihota saying the program, which was to facilitate speedy maintenance payments, keeps some single parents waiting for up to a year for maintenance payments from their spouses. As well, “it’s a disgrace that this 4 program keeps single parents wait- s ing for two and a half months to Continued on Page A8