6 - Friday, July 5, 1985 - North Shore News

Editorial Page

. : Viewpoint

Justice SEEN

ustice, according to the old saying,

must not only be done but must

manifestly be seen to be done. For that
reason Canadian courts have traditionally
weicomed detailed media coverage of their
trials.

We are concerned, therefore, about the
fashion that seems to have developed lately
for some North Shore judges to prohibit
publication of the names of certain convicted
criminals. A recent case in point is that of a
60-year-old man who pleaded guilty to two
charges of sexual assault involving two
youngsters.

When the case first came to court, Crown
counsel applied. for the usual. order that
nothing be published to indicate the identity
of the victims. This' is a sensible request and
the order was duly made. .

When the case returned to-court, the
defence counsel — doing the best he could for
his client and not acting improperly — asked
the court (9 include in the order a prohibition
against publishing the mame of the accused,
possibly on the grounds that to do so would
somehow identify the victims. The court
agreed to expand the ban as he requested.

In cases of incest we can appreciate the logic
of such a move. But in this case incest was not
involved.

There is naturally no suggestion of any im-
propriety as far as the ‘court is concerned. But
when courts in effect’ protect convicted
criminals by prohibiting publication of the
‘criminal’s name in non-incest cases — IN AD-
DITION to the. ‘justifiable ban on publishing

‘the: juvenile. victim’s ‘name — they should
hardly be surprised that the public asks
questions.

Chance it, or...!

, oc always has the last word. New York
scoctors, plagued by increasing
I: numbers of malpractice suits and
resultant. high insurance costs, are now refus-
‘tag to, perform surgery at all in numerous

cases. If the disease spreads, maybe the only ;

cure will be for patients to waive all rights to -
sue — in a legally binding document.

Wanna get well? Sign here and take your
chance. Don’t wanna sign? Okay, get lost!

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luay sculpture defended

Dear Editor: :

{ write this response to the
“Bezuty or the Beast’’ arti-
cle not on behalf of but
rather in appreciation of all
those many individual
donors, the 106 artists, 76 of
whom submitted designs,
our distinguished jury and
co-ordinator and my col-
leagues in the North Van-
couver Community Arts
Council. While the article
accurately reported the
essence of the meeting with
the Parks and Recreation
Committee, those uninform-
‘ed would have missed some
of the fine points as well as
background. in-
formation, viz:"

1. The project has been in
progress since the summer of
1983 when City Council ap-
proached our Arts Council
sculpture
competition for the Water-
front Park. We did so on the
understanding that we would
raise $150,000, $75,000 of
which would come from the
City. A commitment was
made by the Council in of-
fice which included all of
our elected officials except
Allan Blair, John
Braithwaite, Rod Clark and

Using tax
money fer
sculpture
‘immoral’

Dana Taylor. All details of
the competition were left to
us and we developed a broad
theme “Visions of North
Vancouver’. In our pres-

entation to Council, we il--
lustrated a wide range of.
' sculptural

concepts and
underlined that we had no
preconceived notions as to
what the final product could
be, leaving that decision to a
distinguished and . highly
qualified jury.

2, While we have to date
fallen short of our objective
by approximately 18%, I
would suggest it Tepresents a
major fund raising achieve-
ment in today’s tight
economy. We have been able
to negotiate with the selected
artist and found some cost
saving items that will reduce
the cost to approximately
$100,000. We are continuing
our fund raising efforts.

3. In response to concerns
by the future residents of
Harbourview Apartments,
we produced a stide pres-
entation which clearly dem-
onstrates that the proposed
sculpture does not block or
hinder any view they might
enjoy.

4. The danger to children

Dear Editor:

There was a time in the
not too distant past when the
perceived need for a monu-
ment or work of art for
public enjoyment would be
met by voluntary subscrip-
tion. There wére at least two
very good reasons for this.
One, it ensured that there
was a sufficiently strong
demand for the project; and
two, those who did not ap-

and infants is no more or
less than with the standard
“Jungle Jim'' play struc-
tures found in many of our
playgrounds. Numerous
sculptures, fountains, etc.
throughout North America,
including the fountain at our
City Half, pose similar in-
herent - problems assuming
someone is. determined to
climb, or jump or interact
with a sculpture.

5. } fully appreciate that
not! all of our residents will
relate to the sculpture. We
do, after all, have our own
individual tastes. Thank God
for our Democracy. In most
of the cases that I am aware

of, the task of selecting a~
winner is normally left to an .

appropriately qualified jury.
Our jury was most qualified
and theirs was a unanimous
decision in favor of D.
Senft’s ‘‘cathedral’”’. We
appreciate your
photographer’s effort to
capture the spirit and artistry
of the model, but regrettably
there was no means by which
he could indicate the relative
size or the interaction of the
city and mountain views it
was designed to comple-
ment. The view presented

prove, or were indifferent,
were not required to make a
contribution against their
will.

By depriving the citizens
of North Vancouver City the
tight to make their own
decision on the proposed
sculpture in Waterfront
Park, City council! have
adopted a patronizing and
paternal attitude. Perhaps
council members would at-
tempt to justify their action

was that which would be
seen oniy from the air.. The
sculpture was created to be
experienced from the ground
and at eye level, from where
it will be apparent that the
contoured beams trace the
pattern of the mountain
peaks beyond and the expe-
rience of walking through
them will evoke the feeling
of being in a cathedral. I
would hope the sensitive
reader would refrain from
criticism until, that experi-
ence is realized.

6. I have. previously ex-
pressed my personal. regret
that some of our Council
members have mixed emo-
tions about the sculpture.
My bigger disappointment is
with the idea that a Council
Commitment which
generated thousands of val-
unteer hours in the public
interest, could be threatened
by a small vocal: minority
who feel that their individual
assessment of a work‘of art
is what should prevail. Time
will tell the true merits of
our Visions of North Van-
couver.

Joseph Cantafio
President, ,
NV Comm. Arts Council

by claiming the expenditure
represents less than two
dollars per resident, but an
immoral act does not
become moral by spreading
its effect throughout the
taxpaying community. City
residents who share the view
that taxation is theft may
well be justified in believing
they have been well and truly
tipped off this time.

Bill Tomlinson

North Vancouver