A6-Wednesday, February 27, 1980 - North Shore News"

editorial page

eS

MPs at large?

The problem facing the new Liberal
government in the west and the north —
where it won some 25% of the popular vote
but only two seats out of 80 — has led to
fresh interest in some form of proportional
representation.

The present method of majority vote by
ridings ensures that individual communities
have their own chosen spokesmen in
Parliament to guard their special local in-
terests. That's good. But in a complex
modern state the MPs collectively must also
act as the guardians of broader national
interests. Thus, the party system becomes
equally essential for the government of a
united country.

In Quebec the Conservatives’ plight is
similar to that of the Liberals in the west.
Both parties have respectable numbers of
supporters in areas where they are hard
pressed to win even a couple of ridings by
direct majority vote.

Partial proportional representation is an
answer worth considering. The ridings with
their local MPs would continue to exist. But
in each province a number of additional MPs
would be elected “at large,” purely on the
basis of the overall popular vote for their
party in that province.

Provided the extra MPs were kept to, say,
15-20% of the present 282 Commons seats,
the riding system would not be jeopardized,
but all major parties would have a more truly

national voice. And that might be good for
Canada.

Separatist smoke

A revived Western separatist party got off
the ground Sunday (but only just) at a
disorganized meeting of the Westerm
National Association. Douglas Christie's
hard-liners won by whiff over the moderates
who want Western premiers to hold a
referendum first. About half the 50 people
present walked out during the squabble and
some who thought they'd voted on the issue

found they had actually voted on a no-
smoking motion.

One wonders whether even Rene
Levesque — between puffs — could have
brought them to order.

sunday 8

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THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE

Why business

is getting mad

By W. ROGER WORTH

“Why do some retailers of
fly spray require a license
and not others?”

That's one of the dicey
litte questions now being
considered by the Ontano
government as a result of a
national campaign by the
Canadian Federation of
Independent Business to cut
the excessive paperwork,
red tape and regulations
faced by small businesses.

The Federation is asking
each of its 55,000 members
for specific comments on
paperburden,. and sorting
the replies for presentation
to the ten provincial
governments.

In Ontario, the first prov-
ince tackled, the
Organizaion received = an
amazing 5.000 rephes. These
have now been forwarded to
various government
departments for action. The
program will be extended to
other provinces shortly.

“The specific comments
allow government depart-

ments to deal more realisti-
cally with the problems,”
said Ontario Premier
Wilham Davis al a recent
press conference.

This 1s not the
Federation's first atlempt to
do something about the
paperburden issue. The
organization helped = con-
vince the federal govern-
ment to set up a paper-
burden reduction office
which has been responsible
for saving taxpayers and
business people at least $100
mulion per year.

Paperwork and govern-
ment red tape is a major
problem for independent
businesses, particularly
when seemingly useless
forms have to be duphcated
for vanous departments.

Here's an example of the
depth of the difficulty ex-
pressed by a member:

“We have aie small
business, myself, my
husband and two part-time
people. I estimate that the
paperwork I must keep for
government (at all levels)

A week today, on March 5, a 69-year-old

grandfather from Prince Edward Island its
scheduled to attend an “examination for
discovery” in a B.C. court — specifically, to

explain why he should retain custody of his 15-
year-old West Vancouver grandson in defiance of
the boy’s parents. It’s one of the strangest stones I
(and probably you) have ever encountered.

The boy is Peter Bennett.
until last November 15 a
student at Caulfeild School.
He 1s the youngest child of
Allan Bennett of West
Vancouver. a comfortably

placed construction
manager. and hs divorced
wife Beverly Halasz of

Duncan Both of them have
since remamed

When Mr. Bennett and tis
former wife separated. they
agreed amicably that the two
elder children should remain
with their father. while Peter
staved with hus mother on
the Island. where he at
tended a pnvate school

The grandfather in
case as the former’ Mrs
Bennett's father, Reginald
Davis. a resident of PEL.
some 4,000 miles as the jet
flees from coastal BC He
also is well-to-do. Dunng the
earher seventies he had been
converted to a Sikh sub-cull
peroniied by Sant Mat and
concerned with such cunous
concepts as the Audible Life
Stream and the
Sdence

the

Vonce of

SUBSER VIENCE

The cult demands com
plete subservience lo ts
present Master, Maharay

Charan Singh Si together
with tolal vegetananism, the

surrender of independent

chowe meditating to “the
third cye. and the
destruction of all desire Mr
Beanctt: claims that these
demands inchtude the

reyee thon of parcats

A couple of years ago
young Peter visited = his
grandfather for a holiday.
Last year he paid a second
vist and this time. ap-
parently. embraced his
grandfather's cult. He told
his mother he had no in-
tenuon of returning to her.

Hormfied ‘and possibly
somewhat) afraid of her
father), the former Mrs
Bennett transferred legal
custody of Peter to hus father
so that the latter could travel
to P_E.E and bring the boy
back This Mr Bennett did
-- with the help of the local
pehce who forced entry into
the grandfather's house

Peter came back with his
father very much against his
will He wished to remain
with his grandfather - the
result, Mr Bennett says. of
his conversion to the Sikh
cult’ Instead. he now yotned
his elder brother and sister
(aged 1? and lA respectively)
in’ Mr Bennetts upper
bracket Caulfeild home and
slaned to attend ( aulfeid

School
The bombshell came on
November 15. 1979 when

Peter fathed to return from
schoo!

COURTS ACT EAST

As Mr Bennett sub
scquently learned he was
picked up from school that
day (by whom us not clear)
and taken to a stting of the
BC Supreme Coun in
Vietona Acting on a 44

page presentation from = the

mero ON

“I still chink you took the wrong turnoff at that last

cloverieaf.”

takes up to 10 hours per
week ... for this there 1s no
compensation I cannot
afford to Imre someone as
this is a _ relatively new
venture.”

That plea for help 1s indi-
cative of the situation facing
small and medium-sized
businesses nationally.

Some other

are:

comments

“Retail bait handling
license (minnows). A person
would have to be a biologist,
mathematician, accountant
and a plain genius to accur-
ately complete this form.”

focus

Noel Wright

grandfather — without
asking Peter's parents or
their lawyers to be present
-- the court granted the
grandfather an ex parte
temporary order giving him
custody of the boy. Grand.
father and grandson then
hotfooted it back to P_E 1

It should be noted that
anyone can apply for such a
temporary order in cases
where child abuse 1s alleged,
and in such cases the courts
are prepared to fast
According to Mr. Beanett,
the grandfather had charged
him (Bennett) with keeping
Peter in “prison like”
under
supervision,
“beating” him

Mr Bennett says all he
had done slap Peter
twice when he became very
emotional The “pnson-tike”
conditions

act

conditions, constant

and with

was

accusabon, = he
says. ts NoMmsense

He phoned Peter in PE I
at Christmas but his

son
tefushed to speak to him,
although he = subsequently

talked bnefly on the phone

“The overlapping of areas.
Within three months we had
two separate inspectors go
through our = merchandise
from the same government
agency, neither of them
knowing the other had been
around.”

No wonder the small busi-
ness people creating a
majority of the new-jobs in
the country are upset.
Government red tape allows
them less and less time to
run an efficient operation.

Roger Worth ts Director
Public Affairs,
Canadian Federation uf
independent Business

The baffling story of Peter B.

with his 17-year-old brother
Russell. Meanwhile, Peter's
mother has also. wniten
loving letters to him, but
with no result.

After Christmas, Mr.
Bennett says, they received
what he calls “a_ ternble
letter” from Peter addressing
his parents as “Allan and
Beverly” and making it clear
that he was determined not
to come back. His grand-
father's cult, apparently, had
taken firm hold on him.

4,000 MILES AWAY

Mr. Bennett's next step
was to appeal to B.C.’s
Attorney-General — who
has now instructed a court
advocate to visit the boy and
his grandfather in P.E.! this
week in order to determine
the exact situation there.
And the grandfather has
meanwhile been served with
the notice of “examination
for discovery,” requiring him
to state his case before a
B.C. court next Wednesday.

All these bizarre facts are
on the record. The final
nghts and wrongs of the
case, of course, are a matter
for the court. But just one
question continues to baffle
Mr. Bennett and his former
wife

Granted the authonty of
the court to take swift actlon
10 any case affecting a child's
welfare, why should a chnid
hike Peter be put into the
custody of someone 4,000
miles away from his parents’
home without the parents
being given any opportunily
of a hearing?

Why could not Peter have
been placed in the custody
of some temporary foster
parent or guardian in (he
Lower Mainland untl hus
parents were granted their
day in court?

IVs a question that baffles

me. low