4 - Sunday, April 21, 1991 - North Shore News Political elites ONE OF the knocks against the Reform Party, according to The Toronto Sun, is its interest in direct democracy. According to a recent editorial, “‘while referenda may be necessary on rare occasions, we find the Reform Party's infatuation with binding referenda naive, imprac- tical and potentially dangerous.”’ Excuse me, but what could be more naive, impractical and dan- gerous than what we have now? Both Ottawa and Ontario are ruled by political parties that fail- ed to sway 50 per cent of the voters, yet obtained majorities on Parliament Hill and Queen’s Park because of the winner-takes-all nature of our British parliamen- tary electoral system. It has often been noted, in defence of Germans, that Hitler never secured 50 per cent of the vote there cither, yet went on to make his crater in history, taking half the industrialized world down to ruin with him. It’s nice to keep in mind that most Germans weren’t Nazis, but the flip side of the coin is that all sorts of evils can flourish behind parliamentary facades. The Sun editorial glibly goes on to state: ‘Most politicians know what their constituents are think- ing. In a democracy, good politi- cians must display the will to im- plement it.’’ indeed. And how do we explain Meech Lake, the GST and’ free trade, all of which were initiatives rammed (or partially rammed) down the throats of these same constituents? Where was the will to resist un- popular measures? Are there no **good politicians’’ among the Tories? Is that it? The simple fact of the matter is that we haven’t been able to deliver true equality in this (or any other) country any more than we hhave been able to deliver true democracy. I think the people who come closest today on both counts are the Swiss, although they blighted their record horrendously by . dragging their heels so long before granting the right to vote at all levels to women. Still, they have now achieved the nearest thing to a democratic utopia on the planet. Meanwhile, back on the home front...? I describe Canada as a country halfway between the Soviet Union ob Hunter STRICTLY PERSONAL and the United States, a reference more to the political structures of those two countries than to their relative geography. The U.S., a republic, is far more democratic than Canada. The U.S.S.R., a dictatorship, is not that much less democratic, which is to say, Canada is much more of a de facto police state than our schoo! books imagine. Between elections, Canadians must put up with what amounts to a textbook case of oligarchical to- talitarianism, that is, rule by a handful of people at the top. And by handful, I do not even mean the handfuls of men and women in the legislatures and Parliament, but the few dozen who make it into the federal Cab- inet, where they may kiss the toes of the Prime Minister. In practise, a Canadian Prime Minister is the inheritor of the role carved out by King John in 1215 when he reluctantly agreed to share power with a small band of barons. Members of Cabinet are the lat- ter-day barons, just as the PM, once installed, is the latter-day king. Apart from this structural flaw, there are three major shortcom- ings in the Canadian democratic model: (1) Any country with an ap- pointed Senate capable of block- ing legislation approved by elected representatives of the people can hardly be described as a function- NV School Board receives dropout program funding NORTH VANCOUVER schools have been given $69,000 by the federal government to develop a program that will encourage kids to stay in school rather than drop out. By Patrick Raynard Contributing Writer Capilano-Howe Sound MP Mary Collins presented the cheque to North Vancouver District 44 School Board chairman Marg Jessup at a ceremony on Tuesday, Jessup told trustees that evening. “The North Vancouver School District certainly shares the con- cern, felt across this country, for the welfare and future of young people who are dropping out of their secondary schooling,’’ Jessup told Collins. ° “*By selecting North Vancouver as a pilot project for the Stay-In- School initiative you have given us the financial support to translate this concern into meaningful ac- tion.” One-third of the $69,000 will fund a research project that will ascertain the needs of North Van- couver students, assistant superin- tendent Chris Kelly told the North Shore News, A forum to discuss the policy. will be held in early May and will include the ‘‘students-at-risk,’’ parents, teachers and others in- volved in the Stay-In-School ini- tiative, Kelly said. The remaining two-thirds of the grant will fund a facility at the Bilt Lucas Centre at 2132 Hamilton Ave. that will include a computer-assisted individualized basic education program, called Pathfinder, eight IBM-compatible terminals and a teacher-adviser. Kelly stressed that the program is aimed not only at dropouts, of whom North Vancouver has “significantly less than the 30 per cent national average,’’ but at students who feel unsuccessful and have low self-esteem. “Some never return, but many of those who drop out in fact want to return, and we want to look at a variety of approaches because there are a variety of needs,’ Kelly said. The research for the Stay-In- School initiative is being directed by Chris Hough and the program will initially invoive about 40 stu- dents next September and expand rapidly from there. ing democracy. (2) Any country where laws can be conjured at a mcoment’s notice by orders-in-council passed behind closed doors by Cabinet can hard- ly be described as a functioning democracy, either. (3) Any country with an Indian Act that dictates a set of repressive rules covering every aspect of racial minority’s behavior from birth to death likewise forfeits any true claims to democratic status. As we saw in the case of slip- pery Bill Vander Zalm, and con- tinue to see in the case of arch- slimeball Brian Mulroney, the fact that a premier or prime minister is loathed by a vast majority of the population and seen by his own Party as a megalomanical kamikaze pilot taking everyone down with him is insufficient grounds for getting rid of him. Worse, as in the case of Mulroney, the fact that the leader received no mandate whatsoever for actions he then sprang on an unsuspecting populance —- such as free trade, the GST, Meech Lake, VIA and CBC cuts, etc. — fails to amount to grounds for getting rid of the bum, so fong as he can maintain an armiock on the sycophants in his Cabinet. To me, one of the most refreshing positions the Reform Party has taken is precisely its commitment to referenda and plebiscites. World Campaign for Victims of War May 8, 1991 Sign the appeal when it comes te your door. I happen to agree with the Na- tional Citizens’ Coalition in its contention that ‘‘we have allowed ourselves to be manocuvred from rule by the people’s repre- sentatives with the consent of the people — parliamentary democracy — to rule by political elites who impose their political ideologies on the people — elected dictatorship." Hear, hear! Australia, Switzeriand and the THE DESIRABLE TRADES ARE AT: Mercedes-Benz 4) forth hore See North Shore News Classified Automotive this issue. 1375 MARINE DR, N.VAN. hinder true democracy United States (at the state level) all make use of referenda, initia- tives, plebicites and impeachment mechanisms. The Aussies have voted on 36 constitutional amendments, and I note that their federation is not in dariger of falling apart thanks (o backroom constitutional tinkering by a cabal of ego-crazed power brokers. More on this later, a 984-9351 Long-Term Care Aide Program Information Meeting Wednesday, April 24, 6:30 p.m. Room H-204 Qualified graduates of this 15-week program work as nurses aides with long- term care clients in extended, intermediate, and personal care residences. Courses combine theory and practice in supervised classroom and clinical settings. * All students interested in the Fall 1991 program must attend this information meeting. Call 984-4947 for details. 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