& - Friday, Apri! 5, 1991 - North Shore News Sr F W4S more than a. betrayal of | public trust, if was a betrayal of public béiief. Bil Vander Zalm, in his inability to separate kis avblic and private affairs, betrayed ali. A majorify of British Columbians tvusted and wanted to believe in Vander Zaim and kis optimism for B.C. and its future. They were cheated ovt of both on Tues- day. The Hughes Kepert left no doubt that the pablic’s irnst bad been betrayed by the ex-premier in his sale of Faniasy Gardens and the bizarre dealings that accompanied tai sale, But ic the end, Vander Zalm seemed unable to accept that what he had done was wrong; that failure to admit to the trath was wrong; that mixing personal business with public office was wrong. INSIGHTS ic c betrayal Even after the devastating Hughes Report found him in violation of his own con- flict-of-interest guidelines, Vander Zalm refused to accept any blame, suggesting that he would have appealed the report’s findings had an appeal mechanism been available. Vander Zalm likely will go on believing that he did nothing wrong, that if any- thing, carelessness was to blanie, that he was the victim of a media witchhunt. But the string of resignations by cabinet ministers and key Socred members pro- vides ample evidence that many more peo- pie than just those in the media disagreed with some of the premier’s actions. And while Vander Zalm made the right decision in stepping down, he leaves office owing the people of B.C. something he seems unable or unwilling to provide: an apology. Abuse is abuse, no excuses Dear Editor: Re: Noel Wrig*''s column, March 20, “‘Child Abusers recall- ed with gratitude.’* What Mr. Makin did to Mr. Wright was wrong. No amount of justify them propriateness. sponsibility for our actions, via cultural ! am certain my father loved me, but | am equally certain that when he hit me it was abuse, and a ft is tue — kids and puppies are not born obedient, but they do not have to be beaten into obe- dience either. Respect, consisten- cy, fairness, and role-modelling go tong way towards raising not ap- stress or love can ever justify hit- ting anyone. Mr. Wright's comment that slapping a ‘‘mutinous’’ toddler or dealing six of the bes: by hand to a backside is allowable while bloody noses or bruises are not is absurd. Hitting is hitting, whether or not bruises result, or blood is drawn, and whether you can see the marks. AS parents we need to take re- Publisher Managing Editor Associate Editor Advertising Director Comptrofiler independent Peter Speck Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Linda Stewart Doug Foot North Shore News, ‘oundeo in 1969 as an SubLIDan Mewsoapel and quabhed one does not cancel out the other. Discipline is too often mistaken for punishment. Children need loving guidance to help them learn right from wrong so that they can grow up as morelly competent adults who do right out of a sense of responsibility and fairness, not just to avoid punishment. You were not a slow-learner Mr. Wright, you were a 13-year- old who deserved much better. Display Advertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 118 WORT OF WEAN AND wi ST NC OUVER under Schedule 111, Paragraph fil of the Facise Tas Act 1s qubkshed each Wednesday Foray ang Sunday by North Shore Frea Press tia astrduted to every door on the Te Second Class Mail Registration Numer Subscoptiens North anda West Vancouver. $25 year. Mading tates available on reaue Submissions are welcome & responsibilty tor C manuscripts agcomp Riare} SUNDAY - WEONESDAY - ¢6IDAY 1139 Lonsdale Ave North Vancouver VIM Sie Petre Contents Distrounon Subsenprons Fax Adminstration 61,582 ie Rage Gece healthy, competent, independent adults — physical abuse does not. It is time for all of us who were hit as children, or who have hit our children to stop denying that it is and was abuse. The first step is to acknowledge that a slap on the bottom, and a bloodied nose have much more in common than we think. Mary-Anne Taylor North Vancouver 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 MEMBER wa fe tn Snore SOA DIVISION Jahon Wedresday Pods 4 Sundaye ‘ North Spore Free Press Lid All ughts reserved = Parliamentary leaders aren’t party property SINCE BLACK Tuesday most comment oa Bill Vander Zalm’s sad plunge into disgrace has focussed en its moral lessons. No one has mentioned a much more impertant lesson still to be learned. How to stop it happening again. In ANY party, uot just Social Credit. The key is the badly flawed concept of ‘‘party leader’? — bas- ed on one of the worst features of American politics which Cana- dians rushed tu adopt: the Lead- ership Convention. it means the premier/prime minister or leader of the opposi- tion is chosen by 1,000-1,500 chanting, dancing, placard-waving clowns in straw boaters. They, in turn, having been handed tickets by church basement meetings across the land to whoop it up at a three-day junket in a four-star resort hotel. What this absurd circus has to do with the complex art of sound government in a modern democracy baffles the imagina- tion. But it’s worse than that. The chosen leader remains, in effect, the “‘property’’ of party members, who in normal cir- cunistances can alone retain — or fire — him or her. This, despite the fact that the first duty of the head cf government or the op- position is actually to the public as a whole. Tie best judges of how the leader discharges that public duty are his or her elected peers. Caucus and cabinet colleagues — unlike the party’s straw boater brigade or HQ brass — have to answer directly to constituents for both their own performance and that of their parliamentary boss. if the boss steps badly out of line, politically or morally, their own seats and political futures are at stake — not those of the par- ty’s bozrd of directors. But unti! complete catastrophe engulfs the party, as it did three days ago, caucus remains largely hamstrung. That's because the party con- stitution gives it ‘‘grassroots’’ the exclusive right to change leaders. In turn, that “grassroots man- date’’ is the leader's big stick for disciplining caucus critics. - It allows a headstrong leader to bully caucus members into uneasy “loyalty’’ even when they know their duty to both the public and the party is to force a change in direction. As in Britain last November, when the Tory caucus dumped its fron Lady for John Maior ina surgically clean operation lasting less than a week. On Tuesday a panic-stricken Socred HQ finally gave caucus its RITA JOHNSTON... picked. caucus Noel HITHER AND YON head — though only temporarily — to crown Rita Johnston as its interim leader. But the lesson still hasn't been learned. In July the hundreds of straw boaters will again mill around the bars and hospitality suites, seeking their latest Messiah. Vander Zalm — in part a victim of the present system — is himself the lesson. The party’s job is to organize and campaign. But ics parliamen- tary leaders are no longer its ‘‘property.’? They become the property of the public. That’s why only the public’s elected parliamentary repre- sentatives should have the right to pick them. And junk them. DATELINES: It’s a bargain- hunter Saturday, April 6, in North Van -—— beginning with the 10 a.m.-1] p.m. Rummage Sale in St. Agnes Church Hall, 530 East 12th ... Then on to the Giant DO- NATE Sate for needy animals, It a.m.-2 p.m. at Highland United Church, Edgemont Boulevard ... Tuescay, April 9, business types can learn all about the benefits census day (June 4) will bring them from Fed Brown of Statistics Canada — guest speaker at the 7:30 a.m. West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting in the Ambleside Inn — call 926-6614 to reserve ... Happy sixth anniversary today, April 5, to North Van’s Ernie and Marilyn Earnshaw ... And many happy returns of tomorrow, April 6, to Rev. Ray Murrin of North Van. MARGARET THATCHER... caucus kicked.