JRNORIHERN Conana, Berane TWN) OF NUNAVUT THe PUBLICLY TERRITORY ty ; MW Viikidllf LLU INSIGHTS 5 YUM ay Wear ape ie i MINSTRY OFICE! ~ i) SEN 23, RSS = Ue ANS THE A RRINENT NEWS VIEWPOINT Look ahead day. The arrival of a new year always lays to rest the trials and tribulations of the year just past and presents the limitless possibilities of a full year ahead. it is a time for renewal; a time to refill emptied reserves of hope; a time to con- sider the bright horizon of the future. Be it resolved, then, that we open our minds as well as our hearts, that we learn ¢o have tolerance for those with ideas dif- ferent from our own no matter from which end of the political spectrum they hail. Resolve to slow down to avoid errors Re. are the order of the made in haste, to think before you act; Resolve to give more and take less; Resolve to beiieve in yourself; Resolve to cultivate patience; Resolve to shed the disappointments of what has been and to live for what is, without worrying about the past or fretting about the future; Resolve to cultivate self-reliance; Resolve to reside in the positive and banish the negative; . Resolve to appreciate life, because it is all there is. : Last but not least, fet us resolve to have more fun. LETTER OF THE DAY Need some connection with reality Dear Editor: I rush yet again to defend Doug Collins’ right to say what he wants to (subject to the laws on slander and/or libel) and the right of the News to print his columns. I have criticized Collins many times on those occasions when he joins the Flat Earthers, such as when he questions the validity of the Holocaust or when he in- troduces a high level of personal vituperation. These unnecessary descents into the depths permit his opponents to denigrate him as a racist and thus to detract from the overall message. Now that we have become the People’s Republic of B.C. and, given that the Sun has taken over where Pravda left off, it is essen- tial that we have one voice that is not politically correct and to pro- vide us with some conriection to teality. M.E. Blanchard West Vancouver Publisher Peter Speck Managing Editor .. . Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Directer .. .Linda Stewart Comptrofter Doug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent’ suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph [ll of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year, Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanisd by a stamped, addressed envelope. Newsroom SUNDAY « V7M 2H4 Display Advertising Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. 7 980-0511 Distribution Subscriptions Fax 985-3227 Administration 985-2131 MEMBER 986-1337 986-1337 985-2131 north'shore v2 FRIDAY SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Leadership cult in Canada is a recipe for woe NOTABLY MISSING from Ottawa’s grab-bag of con- stitutional proposals is one of che most important items of all. How to dump, cleanly and quickly, an elected national or provincial leader who has personally become the prob- lem — instead of part of its solution? A year ago Britain’s ruling Tory MPs did it in a week, without any pa:ty trauma, to the once indestructible Margaret Thatcher. In Australia longtime prime minister Bob Hawke has just been sacked by caucus col- leagues dissatisfied with his han- dling of the recession. If the same were possible in Canada, Brian Mulroney would already have been put out to pasture on the back benches, and the Tories’ chances of surviving the next election — led by Joe Clark, Michael Wilson, Don Mazankowski or whomever — would be that much brighter. As would the temper of Cana- dians as a whole — 85% of whom, fairly or unfairly, are now unalterably convinced that nothing will ever change for the better as fong as Mulroney is calling the shots. . Fairness plays no part in this. Perception is all that counts. And today’s perception of the PM by nearly nine out of 10 Canadians makes him the best friend the Liberals, NDP and Reform Party have. The nub of the Canadian prob- lem is our slavish adherence to the American concept that political leaders are the ‘‘property’’ of par- ty members, who alone can crown or dethrone them. It causes rela- tively few problems in the U.S., however, thanks to the checks and balances imposed by the U.S. constitution’s unique division of powers. But the svs:em doesn’t work in a parliamentary democracy for one simple ans clear reason: it severely limits the ability of MARGARET THATCHER... quick, clean chop. HIMIE KOSHEVOY... the pun- filled years. Noel Wright me HITHER AND YO clected representatives to control the executive — the PM and his cabinet. Because the head of governmert — and, for that matter, the leader - of the opposition who may suc- ceed him — cannot be removed . without a “‘grassroots’’ party . convention, they can hang in from one election to the next regardless | of the mess they may be making of their job. To all intents and purposes they are four-year dictators. Far more so than the U.S. president, whose powers can be largely curbed by a hostile Congress if he fails to placate it. The Brits and Aussies figure that once a party leader becomes. the head of government the people’ best able to judge his performance’, * - are his elected colleagues — noi placard-waving party members with no personal government ex- perience and responsible unly to . : themselves. - This principle should be en- shrined in whatever constitution -. : we finally end up with. It should require that once a party leader —‘.- "3 however originally chosen — : becomes head of an elected gov- ernment, he holds office solely at ~ the pleasure of his caucus, which . _ can review his performance and _ -. fire him ‘‘for cause’’ if necessary * at any time. Our present ‘‘faithful-unto- death’? leadership cult in Parlia- -- .: ment and the legislature is a recipe for wee. Don’t you agree, Rita? FOR THE RECORD: Apologies to the North Shore Lettering Ar- . tists whose works are on exhibit at’ North Van District municipal hall until Jan. 15. A recent column mistakenly identified the NSLA show as being by the Wesizoast © Calligraphy Society — which it ain’t! ... And happy 82nd birth- day today, Jan. 3, to North Van’s Himie Koshevoy, former manag- . ing editor of the Toronto Star and the Vancouver dailies, whose warm, pun-filled columns enter- tained B.C. readers for 16 years. WRIGHT OR WRONG: The sweetest music ever heard on a cold morning is the sound of a car ~ starting.