WHIT started as a lit-
tle tale about a guy
who was whining
about getting four bot-
tles of beer taken by
police at last
Wednesday’s Symphony
of Fire event has some-
how blossomed into
one of the major news
stories of the week.

In the morning tab the
day after, the ever witty and
erudite columnist Peter
Clough, told us of the inci-
dent in 3 piece headed “Boys
in blue bag brewskis.” Great
alliteration in the lighthcart-
ed headline and an apt
descriptor of the storyline.

But what followed was a
veritable deluge of news
reports on all the major radio
and television stations as well
as front page news in the
next couple of editions of the
daily papers. All day Friday
and Saturday, newscasts were
following the story, inter-
viewing criminologists, civil
libertarians, lawyers and vari-
ous other talking heads. The
talk shows were focused on
the issue with one wag sug-

esting it was one step away
om the tactics of the brown

mailbox

crime and
| punishment

shirts and jackboots of Nazi
Germany.

Vancouver Police
spokesperson Anne Drennan
did her level best to explain
the position of the police and
even went so far as to quote
the appropriate authorizing
section of the Liquor
Controt and Licensing Act in
an effort to educate the ill-
informed. And all for
naught. Saturday*s newscasts
were abuzz with the question
of whether the police would
continue the seizures for thar
hight’s event.

Now, I grane you it’s
been a slow news week but
really, brown shirts and jack-
boots?

The police began check-
ing for booze at bottlenecks
such as the Skytrain stations
and the Seabus terminal six
years ago in the wake of the
’94 Stanley Cup riot. For all

that time they have t<en dili-
gently checking people head-
ing for the fireworks and if,
and only if, they had reason
to believe persons were car-
rving alcohol to be con-
sumed at the beach or on the
street, they confiscated the
bottles and cans.

Despite all the
Philadelphia lawyers bleating
about the police overstep-
ping their authority, the
provincial liquor act allows
this and has ailowed it for as
long as I can remember,
which goes back to the days
of the old Government
Liquor Act. So why all the
attention now?

The reality is that the
Symphony of Fire evolved
trom the old Sea Festival
which was cancelled by city
council after years of prab-
tems caused by drunken
touts. The Seafest was at one
tirac a two week affair. It had
a great many eveats and was
centred around Sunset Beach
and English Bay. ‘rhe world
famous Nanaimo to
Vancouver bathtub race was
an integral part of the festi-
val. Now, because of the
beoze heads the tubbers just
bounce around Nanaimo
harbour.

I remember well in 1981,

as a policeman, fighting
pitched battles on the beach
in what was then called a
riot. The tire department had
to be called in to hose down
drunks firing rocks, bortles
and other projectiles at us.

After a couple of years of
trouble, Seafest was cur
down toa week, then only a
few days. Finally, it had to be
cancelled altogether. The
only remnant is the fireworks
competition now called the
Symphony of Fire. But the
event does draw a Jot of peo-
ple, usually between 150,000
and 250,000 each time they
hight up the barge off
English Bay.

When the show is ovcr, all
those people begin moving
away from the beach and
toward the downtown area.
The drunks, albeit a minori-
ty, are very evident: yelling,
fighting, puking and general-
ly firmly establishing that
Charles Darwin was in fact,
correct.

The police response was
typically, reactive. And so it
was in June 1994 after the
seventh game of the Stanley
Cup finals when the Rangers
beat the hometown heroes.
But the police learned their
lessons that night. And it is
those lessons which led to

LAT <I PARE NIOE'D

Accountability lost in soccer vote

Dear Editor: |

i would like to comment
on the. North Van council
meeting that took place on
July i2 regarding the vote
council took to turn: Sunrise
Park into a soccer field.

At that mecting seven votes
were cast and seven votes were
counted. A 4 to 3 majority in
favor of the soccer field. What
I object’ to is how Mr. Bob
=i Fearnley - represented himself
‘ » throughout this whole process.
At the point near the end of
=the debate, when council was

iven. the ‘floor'to make their

clings: heard regarding how
“they were going to vote, Mr.

Fearnley explained in great.
’ detail how difficult this partic-

“ular situation was for a number
of reasons. He cited the need
for soccer fields as well ‘as the

- :meed for. protecting’ natural

_ habitats. -
+7'Most important. to Mr.

Fearnley, was the ‘need to.

“understand what the residents

-.Of Cloverley wanted for, after:

all, they were the ones that
lived there. He made several
attempts throughout the
evening to ensure that the
signed petition: against ihe
soccer ficld represented the
majority of resident opinion.
He mentioned at one point
that he was satisfied that the
majority of the residents did
not want the field.

Mr. Fearnley then pontifi-
cated at great length and with
conviction that if he were to
seek the popular vote he would
vote ‘in favor of the soccer ficld
but thar he had to go home at
night and “feel good in his
heart” that he did the right
thing. He then stated that he
was going to abstain from vot-
ing and recommended that the
whole affair be put on hold
until other recommendations

for.an alternative field be put
forward.

Now here is the part I do
not understand. When it
comes time to vote, Mr.
Fearnley votes for the soccer
field. Of course there is an out-
cry from the residents attend-
ing and Mr. Fearnley made a
feeble attempt to explain that
his no vote meant something
else.

Mr. Fearnley, you had
another opportunity to “cor-
rect” your position at the
meeting on July 26 by voting
to put this Sunrise issue on
hold until alternatives were
sought by utilizing existing
school playing fields. it now
becomes quite clear which
horse you were riding.

Mr. Fearnley, you can vote
anyway you like for whatever

reasons you choose. This is not
the issue. What is at issue here
is how you represented your-
self. You can’t have it both
ways. You grossly misrepre-
sented your position to the
Clovericy Residents
Association and you presented
yourself 2s an individual who
as tronbie standing up for
what he believes. In public
office you must say what you
mean and do what you say. Mr.
Fearnicy regarding the Sunrise
Park issues, you did neither.

If you don’t have the matu-
rity or responsibility to stand
tall and be accountable then I
fail to see what value you bring
to the community and to the
council of the City of North
Vancouver.

Bob Leier
North Vancouver

T VANCOU

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fire’

their current proactive policy
of trying to head off the
trouble before it gets started.
And it has worked well.
Which brings me to one
of the more stupid things I
have heard in the past tew
days of liberal chest thursp-
ing. One tak show host was
going on about how there
hasn't been any problems
and the police should just
wade in and arrest someone
who is causing a problem,
should that situation arise.
Clearly the commentator has

orks

no sense of either tke history
of the event nor any know!l-
edge of the dynamics of a
crowd, The reason problems
have been few in recent years
coincides directly with the
actions taken by police in
being proactive not reactive.

Yhe Symphony ef Fire is a
great event for evervene.
And it should be. The
actions taken by the police in
curtailing the lager louts
keeps it that way.

Enough bleating please.

lhujybt@direct.cu

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