Oo - Sunday, March 6, 148% - North Shore News

INSIGHTS

Vir. Speaker emerges as
a victim of the system

ON THE HOT SEAT last week was West Van-Howe
Sound’s Socred MLA, Hon. Jolin Reynolds, Speaker of the
Legislature, over the Coquihalla highway cost overrun

scandal,

The MacKay Commission has
already said the Legislature was
misled about the many millions of
dollars over budget that were spent
on the project, but refrained from
naming those responsible. Last
week Reynolds rejected a request
for a debate aimed at discovering
whether six leading Socreds —
Premier Vander Zalm, Finance
Minister Mel Couvelier, former
premicr Bill Bennett and former
ministers Hugh Curtis, Cliff
Michael and Alex Fraser — were
among the guilty ones. He allowed
a debate only in the case of Fraser
and the former highways minister,
robbed of his voice by cancer and
reported still to be seriously ill,
agreed to attend. The ruling —
widely seen as shielding the top
Socred brass, past and present —
was not Mr. Speaker's finest hour.

But in justice to John Reynolds,
personally a fair and honorable
man, it should be stressed that he
himself is the victim of a stupid
conflict-of-interest sham built into
Canada’s parliament system. The
Speakers who chair the pro-
ceedings of legislatures and the
Commons should clearly be free of
any party allegiances. The British
long had such a tradition, the
Speaker there being elected by his
constituents simply as ‘‘Mr.
Speaker’ with no 1OU’s due to
any party.

In relation to the Legislature the
stature of the Speaker is broadly
equivalent to that of the premier in
telation to government. By defini-
tion, he’s cut from the same cloth
and thus qualified for cabinet rank
or even to become party leader and
premier himelf. When it comes to
a hard crunch — as it did last week
for John Reynolds — how on

carth does a politically affiliated
Speaker with normal personal am-
bitions resolve the conflict between
duty to the House and loyalty to
party?

JOHN REYNOLDS... a
crunch,

hard

One solution might be an AP-
POINTED Speaker — perhaps a
respected member of the judiciary
— agreed on by all parties and
committed to serving only from
one election to the next. Another
might be a modification of the
British system, with constituencies
taking it in turn to elect a non-
political Speaker from a field of
qualified candidates endorsed by
all party associations in the rjding.

Whatever the answer, it's not
the present Canadian system.
That's now plain to British Col-
umbians who know they’ve been
lied to about the Coquihalla and
want to know by whom. Privately,
in his heart of hearts, John

Coyote treat

blame if their animal is caten by coyotes.
Hundreds of dogs and cats have been maimed

Reynolds might even agtce with
them.

eee

DATE BOOK: Belatedly, many
happy returns of the day to the
grand old lady of independent
girls’ schools, Crofton House,
which celebrated its 90th birthday
Friday. Highlight of the ceremo-
nies was the presentation by
Lieutenant Governor Bob Rogers
of Crofton’s coat of arms, granted
by Lord Lyon King of Arins of
Scotland under the authority of the
Queen. A proud moment for
headmistress Rosalind Addison
because it's the first time such an
heraldic honor has ever been
granted to a Canadian girls’ school
... SU with the girls and anniver-
sarics, Sytvia Hishop, president of
UBC's Delta Gamma Sorority, in-
vites all Delta Gamma alumnae to
the sorority’s 60th birthday party
on March 16. Stssting at 6:30 p.m,
in the USC Faculty Club, the
festivities include dimmer, awards
presentation, rituals and guest
fipeaker Maureen Syring, interna-
tional Fraternity President — call
Sylvia at 946-2799 for more info ...
Send hanpy birthday greetings
tomorrow, March 7, to popular
West Van realtor Tom Wardell
(‘permanently 39° if you MUST
know!) ... And if you missed
entering the draw fast month for
that luxurious 26 ft. motor home
being raffled to raise funds for
Ronald McDonald House, you've
just two more chances locally,
Rotosact volunteers (the junior
arm of Rotary) will be selling re-
maining tickets in North Van next
Thursday to Sunday, March 10-13,
at Save-On-Foods and — finally —
Saturday, March 19, at Beaver
Lumber.

WRIGHT OR WRONG: A foot is

the device Nature equipped us with
for finding furniture in the dark.

NOEL
WRIGHT

THIMMIHe OAT
FEBRUART BT y88

LETS THING
ABOUT OUR
NEIGHBOURS
IN NEED
FekoinG OUR LOCAL
7OOd TANK

“FOOD FOR THOUGHT" ...Ranger Cindy (1) and Pathfinder Benji
were among the many members of North Shore Scout and Guide groups
who brought gifts for the Food Bank to their meetings and local malls on
“Thinking Day’’ in late February.‘

ROUGH THE AGES.

or killed by coyote packs in recent years on the North
Shore and distressed pet owners are pulting pressure
on the SPCA to do something about it. The provincial
government is considering trapping and killing the
coyotes. But the plan will not solve the coyote problem A
in the long run. Y 5 _
There are certain realities when living on the North . Mi 4A
Shore. The close proximity to the wilderness is one an pe
reason many of us live here. Raccoons, deer, coyotes 7 RY secon
sR)

THE POSSENGER
PIGEON

and even bears make routine visits to local ; ; my
municipalities. qi NG aR

As new residential developments carve up the moun-  @
tainside, increased pressure is put on, the natural
habitat and food sources of local wild animals. Short
of erecting a fence around the urban area to keep the
animals out there are few acceptable solutions to the
problem. ;

Killing the coyotes is distasteful to most. Trapping
and relocating the animals is costly. Neither answer
will stop more coyotes from entering the North Shore
suburbs.

One solution remains. Pet owners must take respon-
sibility for their animals. To keep a pet safe on the
North Shore, owners must be prepared to keep their
pets inside during late afternoon, evening and early.
morning hours.

If animal lovers cannot follow these rules they must
pay the consequences and risk having their pet served
as a coyote’s breakfast.

of

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Managing Editor... . Barrett Fisher
Associate Editor Noel Wright
Advertising Director .Linda Stewart

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