BY NOW most of us who remember freedom and fear Lord State Almighty will have heard about Rick Mooney and his fight to prevent his government from wrecking his house. The case is not clear cut. Cases usually aren’t. But whatever the details, most who read it feel somebody walking on their grave. Rick Mooney helps 119 other householders to populate the old town of Wells in the true, original Cariboo country. Two years ago he started build- ing a house on property he owns. He already had one house. He wanted to build a second to give to his grandchildren. Mr. Mooney is 76 years old and can hear the angels rustling their wings now and then. The house was not built to the standards set by Cariboo regional district. The lumber in it is green, or of the wrong dimensions or otherwise offensive to the building code. In sexual fun and games, Ca- nadians agreed years ago that government had no place in the bedrooms of the nation, but we haven't been able to get the build- ing inspector out. The chimney in the Mooney house is just a pipe poking through the roof. That's the only kind most old Cariboo ranchers ever knew, but it ill befits an age when Lord State Almighty is creating happiness for everybody. Everyone agrees that in little old Wells there are houses in far worse shape than the Mooney house. Some are not the solid structures they appear to be but multitudes of carpenter ants holding hands. But those were built before building codes and are spared the helpful hand of inspectors by a grandfather clause which does not apply to Grandfather Mooney. The regional district people asked Mr. Mooney to take cut a proper building permit and adhere to it. They insisted. They pleaded. Sometimes Mr. Mooney prom- ised to change his ways. At other times he invited the regional district to approach a private and seldom seen part of his anatomy with an inappropriate demonstra- ANNOUNCES THE hreezlia ROYAL Ceran Cooktop | STATE-OF-THE-ART INGLIS CERAMIC COOKTOP WITH TWO HALOGEN, TWO RADIANT HEAT B ELEMENTS. LOOKS GREAT. DURABLE. UNMATCHED COOK: § SING VERSATILITY. A BREEZE TO CLEAN. NOW SALE PRICED § AT COLONY] HOME FURNISHINGS § 1075 Roosevelt Crescent North Vancouver # (2 blocks behind the Avalon Hotel) OPEN DAILY; Fri. 9-9: Sun. 12-4 985-8738 land to its original state, moose pasture. Nobody bid. Too many cranky old ranchers and prospectors have poked shotguns into contractors’ bellybuttons. They don't like these bs. Paul 7° Regional district advertised B again, more widely, and this time St. Pierre found somebody unwary enough to take the contract. (At this point, some will note that the cost of bulldozers and lawyers has immensely surpassed the cost of sticking a few more two by fours into Mr. Mooney’s walls. (You mustn’t think that way. Money means nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’s the principle that matters. It just isn’t fair that one man live free while all others live their pathetic lives ensnared in PAULITICS & PERSPECTIVES tion of tender affection. Regional district wearied of warnings and notices. It took Mr. Mooney to court, more than once. ft was usually difficult and con- fusing for everybody because the old man would turn up in the wrong court, making speeches to the wrong judges. The case finally went to the Supreme Court of B.C., which you and I think is concerned with murder, rape and pillage. Turns out the Supreme Court also con- cerns itself with whether joists are on i6- or 24-inch centres. The Supreme Court gave Mr. Mooney one last chance. He could reconstruct the house or have it bulldozed flat by his popularly elected government. As usual, he failed to conform. Conforming is just not what Cariboo people are good at. Regional district invited bids from contractors who would level the Mooney house and return the Friday, December 6, 1991 ~ North Shore News - 9 Bring the big guns into the Cariboo rules and regulations.) At the time this is written, the bulldozer operator is scheduled to trundle into Wells and level the non-conforming structure, if he can spot the right one. Meanwhile other citizens are talking about holding work bees for Rick or casting their bodies down before the bulldozer in pro- test. People say this although there is a feeling that Mr. Mooney has by times been devious and contradic- tory in his statements. On his best days, he seems hard to under- stand. For our most refreshing ap- proach to this old problem of Cit- izen Versus The State we turn to Teresa Mallam, columnist of the Quesnel-Cariboo Observer. She writes that there was nothing in her Journalism 100 course that prepared her for Rick Mooney and the Cariboo regional district. However, she has an idea. She suggests that regional district forget about the bulldozer and call in an air strike by the Canadian Armed Forces. Wells, she says, is within operational range of the CF 18s based at Comox on Van- couver Island. She is apparently in a position to testify that two 500-pound bombs would have just the clout to take out the Mooney house without blowing away other ricke- ty buildings in Wells. People might have a ringing in their ears for a few days after the raid, but that’s nothing to worry about. Amazing, the range of subjects they teach in journalism schocis today. Thank you, Ms. Mallam. ee "NEVER BEFORE IN COTTON — GINNY'S HISTORY HAVE WE HAD SUCH A SALES "ONE MILLION DOLLARS WORTH CHANDISE WILL BE SOLD 92, CIVIC $ 198 A MONTH 92 ACCORD EXR, auto, loaded $398 a wow "92 PRELUDE Power windows, roof, cruise 3346 A MONTH | GEORGE GHATTA Cotton T-Shirts. aReg. 11.99. vt 9G FACTORY PRICES! WE ACCEPT CHEQUES a (genet 725 MARINE DRIVE NORTH VANCOUVER 984-0331 OF MER BURING THIS EVENT. 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