WHILE I was away watching the whates and the eagles there was a news item concerning discrimination against whites in Vancouver. A theatre was hiriag people to learn acting and ‘arts administration,”’ but only non-Caucasians were being considered. This was stated blatantly in the Employment and immigration Office. Ht is OK to discriminate against whites, you see. All of our phoney human rights acts, federal and provincial, make pravision for that. lt is known as affirmative ac- tion, employment equity, positive discrimination, or any other doublethink tide the social engineers and academics want to dream up for it. It is now rampant in the federal civil service and Crown corpora- tions and as a result of political pressure is making yards in com- panies that do business in Ottawa — hence the bare-faced notice in the E & I office. Mort Systems are of no importance where political ends are involved. Especially if the victims are in a narcoleptic state, which many of us are these days.”’ e Don’t think it stops there. [It ex- ists to a lesser degree on the pro- vincial scene, and thrives in many cities, especially in Vancouver, where the politicians are as hollow as jugs and would sell their grandmothers for a song. I have written about this scandal before, but would still like to give you a near-unbelievable example of what can happen when reverse discrimination develops a head of steam, which it has done in the U.S., where it all started. Recently, Guy Wright, a colum- nist in the San Francisco Exam- iner, described what was happen- ing in his city’s fire department. It seems that the matter of hiring had come to court, and a fem judge by the name of Marilyn Patel issued a few directives. “During the next seven years,’’ reported Wright, ‘‘the city must hire 500 new firefighters. Of that number, 275 must be non-white men. Fifty must be women. Half of the women must be non- white... “The decree provides even more rigid rules for promotions. Sixteen black firefighters, 13 Hispanics and 11 Asians must be promoted to licutenant immediately. “Some of those men passed the last exam for promotion. Others failed it. Judge Patel threw out that exam as racially biased. How- ever, she used it as the basis for her court-imposed promotions, granting licutenancies ta minority firemen with the best scores, even though they didn’t make the cut. “She also ruled that there can be no more than 36 new white licute- nants —~ with a proviso that 10 white guilty of racial discrimina- tion will be promoted. “The decree includes separate fast-track promotions exclusively for blacks. Six black firemen who failed a lieutenant’s exam 10 years ago — because il was discriminatory, the judge ruled — will receive instant promotions and back pay as lieutenants from 1978.... “All firefighters must lake an anti-discrimination course, and minority firemen can claim cash damages for past harassment.’’ The ‘‘biased’’ examinations that the judge threw out, Wright ex- plains, were not prepared by the fire department. They were got up by outside experts hired by the civil service commission and the experts were under instructions to produce tests devoid of bias. There's more, all of it unimaginable in a sane society. Wright’s only comment, however, took the form of a query. Could the merit system survive this sort of thing? { can answer that one, teacher. Merit systems are of no impor- tance where political ends are in- volved. Especially if the victims are in a narcoleptic state, which many of us are these days. I would add another question to Wright’s: how long can his society or ours survive this sort of thing without riots and violence? Or are there no limits to white patience? Over in Vancouver there was not a single cditorial comment on the theatre case. Which must tell us something. f think IN go back to watching the whales and the eagles. They make more sense @ PERSONAL BANERUPTCY... requires professional help. “FREE” copy of our booklet, “ASSIGNMENT IN BANKRUPTCY” Available Upon Request 291-9351 EVANCIC PERRAULT ROBERTSON LTD. 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Firefighters had the blaze under contro! 16 minutes after arriving at dhe scene, but mast of the house suffered extensive heat and smoke damage. Reports indicate the fone oc- cupant of the house was asleep in a rear bedroom with the door closed when he woke up and smelled smoke. After discover- ing the fire, he fled out the front door. A damage estimate had not been completed to press time Friday. This Week’s RKEY DRAW WhaNER _ Brian Lynch ry ESTAURAN i} trom rut SASKAT | EWAN PAYTON So en A NA, BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER 1010 Park Royal South 922-1123 BODY BUILDERS 100% Whole Wheat Loaf 4509 Reg. 89¢ Bornhoffen Multi Grain Loaf 575g Reg. $1.45 120 PHILIP AVE., NORTH VAN off Weich Street - PHONE AHEAD FOR LARGER ORDERS Feature Special Whole Watermelon f Green or Special 79° Special °4 2°