Sawicki called into question

Victoria — The first thing new Speakers of the
Legislative Assembly do is relinquish their party
memberships.

The Speaker’s office is sacrosanct in any
political arena modelled after the British parlia-
mentary system. The Speaker's role is that of an
impartial arbiter between often rambunctious
sides of the House.

And not only must the Speaker be impartial,
free of any political ties and considerations, he or
she must be seen to be guided by the principles of
impartiality.

The B.C: Legislature’s Speaker-designate, Joan
Sawicki, may have stepped beyond those bounds
of impartiality even before she has been con-
firmed in her position by Members of the
Legislative Assembly.

At the time of writing this column, the story
was still unfolding. By the time you read this, the
Story may have died or escalated into something
bigger. :

Whatever the outcome, Sawicki will, at best,
have somewhat compromised the Speaker’s
office. At worst, she may find herself at the centre
-of an investigation by the Human Rights Council.
In either case, the principles involved rate scrutiny
and comment.

The issue concerns the hiring and firing of a
secretary in the Office of the Clerk of the
Legislature which is under the jurisdiction of the
Speaker.

Virginia Jessop was hired by the Clerk’s office
recently to replace Joan MacMillan who will
retire this spring. Jessop was chosen from quite a
number of applicants for the job. Her credentials
are impressive. She has worked in the legislative
buildings for years, a definite asset in her new
position.

Shortly after Jessop was told that she had been
selected for the job, Speaker Sawicki rescinded
her appointment. Her reason: to maintain the
impartiality of the Clerk’s office.

~ What appeared to have prompted Sawicki’s
decision is Jessop’s past work history and,
perhaps, her husband’s former job.

Jessop has worked for the Social Credit caucus
and served in various ministries as secretary to the
ministers. She is also the wife of Ian Jessop,
former press secretary to premiers Bill Vander
Zalm and Rita Johnston.

These facts were undoubtedly know to the
clerks, but they obviously decided that neither her

past work history not that of her husband should
bar her from the job in the clerk’s office.

Yet, Sawicki chose to go against the unanimous
choice of the Clerk’s office and nixed Jessop’s
appointment.

~I want to make it absolutely clear this is no
reflection on the appointee, her qualifications or
her integrity. But, having originated from a caucus
office and through several ministers’ offices, I did
not feel she was a suitable person for the Clerk’s
office,” Sawicki said in a press release.

What she seems to have missed is that her
decision to reverse Jessop’s appointment calls
into question the very principles she professes to
uphold.

Political affiliation shouldn’t bar anyone from
any government job, but it looks like it does. And
it hasn’t even been established that Jessop is or,
ever has been a member of the Social Credit Party.
She worked for several ministers and that’s that.

The issue didn’t sit well with the Opposition
parties. Socred Peter Dueck said he would find it
difficult to support Sawicki’s appointment when
the legislature sits.

Liberal Opposition leader, Gordon Wilson, was
a little more forgiving, but said that he was
“deeply concerned” over the issue and would
discuss the matter with his caucus.

I am sure that Sawicki made the decision in
good faith, but that doesn’t mean it was a good
decision.

It’s bad enough that certain NDP party hacks,
appointed to positions of executive and adminis-
trative assistants, have been strutting through
ministers’ offices, asking staff how they voted in
the last election. For the Speaker to get embroiled
in a political controversy is unacceptable.

There’s one way for Sawicki to extract herself
from the mess, and that is to reverse her decision.
And maybe that’s what she will have done by the
time you read this. If not, she might end up in an
even bigger mess — a Human Rights Council
investigation.

But at the very least, she will have given a bit of
a black eye to her office which, of all institutions,
should be above political reproach.

And come the time for her appointment as
Speaker by the Legislature, she will probably have
to sit through a number of humiliating speeches
by opposition members, expressing a certain
reluctance to place confidence in her ability to be
impartial.

100th birthday video

IT’S READY TO HIT the airwaves. After about
eight months in production by volunteers with the
Sidney and North Saanieh Historical Society
and Shaw Cable 11 community television, the
two-hour video, 100 years of Sidney: A Centen-
nial Story is set to be aired on two separate
occasions. Production adviser Don Robb said:
“We couldn’t tell the story of 100 years of Sidney
in two hours but it’s billed as such.” Highlights
include a good overview of Sidney history by Art
Gardner, former fire chief and current president of
the Saanich Historical Artifacts Society. Also
featured are the St. Paul’s chou, excerpts from the
Son of Lassie, a movie filmed at the Pat Bay
Airport, and over 30 interviews with pioneers,
including Ben Reddings, Louis Roberts, former
Review publisher John Manning and others.
Narration is by former Sidney mayor Norma
Sealey and Shaw’s John Carswell, “who is quite
an artist,’ is the production coordinator. First
viewing is Thursday at 6 p.m. with another
scheduled for March 31 at 8 p.m. Limited copies
of the video are also available for purchase at the
Sidney Museum.

* kK x

IT REQUIRES A TRIP to the Metropolitan
Church on Pandora Street to hear Sidney naturo-
pathic physician Dr. Peter Yam, MD, ND,speak
about Helping Build The Immune System
Naturally. The event is sponsored by the Interna-
tional Association of Cancer Victors and Fnends,
Victoria Chapter (360-2988) and will focus on
how to eat properly. It goes Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Naturopathic medicine teaches people of all ages
to keep a balance of acid and alkaline -in their
diets to help ward off migraine headaches and
arthritis. The difference is, naturopathic physi-

cians don’t prescribe drugs.
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* OK

TWO ANONYMOUS “HIGH PROFILE”
realtors from the Peninsula are among 15 Eligible
Bachelors that are being auctioned off in the
Fourth Victoria Bachelor Auction to raise
money for the B.C. Children’s Hospital and the
B.C. Lions Society for Children with Disabilit-
ies. Lions Society spokesman Kelly Mann won’t
reveal their names but said both are in their late
40s, are avid squash players and “it could be a
double date.” One of the realtors describes
himself as a “super star realtor’ while the other
says he has a “great sense of humor, easy to get
along with and a successful business person.”
Bachelors plan the date and some bachelors
participating in the auction have planned a day of
Sailing, an overnight excursion to Vancouver,
visits to the theatre, windsurfing adventures and
exotic trips to far-away places. Adventurous ladies
wishing to celebrate “Sadie Hawkins” Day in
style should be at the Pacific Fleet Club Feb. 29
with cash in hand. Tickets are $39 each and can
be reserved by calling 382-3171.

* OK

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