The Berth Shore Suws is published by Marth Shere Free Press Lid., Publisher Peter Speck, freca 1139 Lonsiale Avene North Vancouver, 8.C., ¥708 284 HELIO, THIS IS THE BANK CALUNG. YOURE OVERDRAWN BY 2 CENTS ON YOUR PETER SPECK Publisher 965-2131 rei) ae Ss: tasren Resources Manage: 985-2131 (177) SIE, HE broken political promise buck has stopped in B.C. Supreme Court. And - if there is any justice left in the land, it will end up in Premier Glen Clark’s office. Kelowna printer David Stockell is the man behind what has become a monumental achievement: calling the outrageous bluff of a biarney-spinning government. The NDP’s catalogue of whoppers sisice it took office last May is long and varied. But it began with the now notorious bud- get claims that likely swung the election the . NDP’s. way: yes, voters, contrary to the claims of the opposition and NDP enemies who cast us as fiscally inept, we have our- selves a small budget surplus and are headed for an even bigger surplus after election day. That claim, of course, turned out to be more than just an overly revenuc optimistic SAO ATT TROT ER ae YOU HAVE REACHED AN AUTOMATED CUSTOMER... BEEP! IF YOU WANT TO HEAR WHAT | THINK OF YOUR, STINKIN’ SERVICE. CHARGES, PRESS 1. IF YOU WANTA TIRADE ON YOUR OBSCENE PROFITS, PRESS 2. fF YOU WANT TO HEAR WHAT | THINK OF YOu TES AUTOMATING BANK BRANCHES, PRESS 3. ees “Lee) Cal] Pedy Seem projection. It was balderdash of the highest order, government officials having warned the pols that the budget was, instead, head- ing for a substantial deficit. Stockell’s challenge — ironically under the same NDP Election Act that helped squelch open discussion during the election campaign — was initially laughed off by NDPers. Well, Mr. Stockell won the opening round decisively when B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Bryan Williams turned down the NDP’s bid to have Stockell’s court challenge tossed out. The NDP is not laughing any more. By the end of the whoie exercise political tears will surely be shed. And maybe, just maybe, the value of political promises will appreciate above their current bankrupt level. We would ali be winners then. indifference and apathy rule the land Dear Editor: Re: Doug Collins’ Feb. 12 column “Heritage and hypocrisy.” The last and only Asian invasion of Europe was in 1241 when Mongolian hordes reached the ourskirts of Vienna. This happened a mere 26 years after che Magna Carta, referred to by Doug Collins, was signed. Mr. Collins would have us believe that a new Asian invasion is under way, this time threatening Canadian nationhood. Nationhood is forged by the winds of time and adversity, not by clinging to the past. New Asian immigrants just landed have as much moral right to contribute as does Mr. Collins or his grandfather, who, in the time scale thar nationhood is measured, just got off the boat yesterday. New immigrants should stop cow- ering from the “we got here first” brigade and make their own contribu- tion. The first nations were here first, lest we forget. Our family was among the 2.5% who immigrated here from the U.K last year, but we no longer intend to stay. We were not prepared for the insular, puritan and parochial attitudes that pervade here, as typified by Mr. Collins. . True nations build for the furure, even if it costs the present generation in taxes. ‘ Taxation is the price we pay for civ- ilization. No nation can survive indifference. In B.C., we have a people who are lied to by a patronizing government, who pay outrageous amounts for. auto insurance, who accept a low standard. of education from an entrenched self, preserving group and who suffer. chronic tafe probkems caused by a’ complete lack of long-term planning. . No, Vancouver is not for this blue- eyed blond and culturally British fam: . lly, not because. of invading: Asian... hordes, but because apathy reigns and’: : it rains aplenty. : Dermot O’Bricn North Vancouver . dobricn@mailman.cpnct.com. Dleplay & Real Estate Fax Raa Fat Gassified, Accsuntiog & Mala Office Fax Becker-News 885-2131 (114 address & telephone number. VIA Internet: trenshaw @ direct.ca - COMPUTER 88S - 986-8027 User (D:mailbox + Password:letters “ae: oe ge herrea cab. SD4 Onan Entire contents © 1997 Nesth Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. David versus Glen is our fight too FORGET at long last about O.J. Simpson. Soon his court adventures will seem about as dramatic as a speed- ing ticket case —- compared, that is, to the coming trial of Glen Clark & Co. for alleged election fraud. Nothing like it has ever happened before in Canada. Theoretically it could result in the NDP’s sliny May 1996 election victory being declared illegal and a new election being ordered. Don’t bet the farm on it just yet, of course — the law being a highly unpredictable animal. But hats off, at least, ro Kelowna businessman David Stockell for launching the action. Also to Chief Justice Bryan Williams who — despite frantic NDP efforts to have the case dismissed as “trivo- lous” — has now ruled that Mr. Stockell must have his day in court. Ironically, the charge alleges that the NDP government breached its own 1995 B.C. Election Act by repeatedly claiming during the campaign to have balanced the budget. Shortly after squeaking back into office it admitted to a likely budget deficit of half a billion or more. Moreover, subsequent media investigations claimed that Glen Clark's government had been warned of the looming deficit by its own officials during the campaign, the plain implication being that the misleading, of the voters was deliberate and therefore fraudulent under the Act. Meanwhile, polls have indicated that 75% of British Columbians think the government did indeed lie to them, while 30% of NDP support- ers say they’d never have voted NDP, had they known the truth. . All that said, there are still numerous hurdles for David Stockell and his support group HELP (Help Eliminate Lying Politicians) to clear. For the moment they have lined up three petitioners in Surrey, New Westminster and Trail ridings respectively who have sworn they were conned into voting NDP by the party's false budget information. Alone they might succeed in annulling the NDP victories and forcing new elections in those three ridings. But the next legal step is a pre-trial hearing to determine whether the case may pro- ceed as a class action covering all 39 ridings in which the NDP was elected. The latter, of course, is Stockell’s and HELP’s ultimate goal. They want the entire election scrubbed and a new election called. Their other hurdles are financial. Glen Clark and his NDP colleagues will obviously spend every possible taxpayer doilar on top legal help to fight the action that could torpedo their gov- ernment. Their failed bid to have the case dis- missed has already cost them $20,000. To date HELP, with over 700 members, has raised some $33,000. The National Citizens’ Coalition has tipped in another $10,000. But the big legal bills to fight the taxpayer-funded NDP lawyers still lie ahead. These could finally rotal over $200,000. So donations of any amount are welcomed — payable to HELP B.C., PO Box 414, Kelowna B.C., VIY 7N8. This David-versus-Goliath battle could con- ceivably change the political face of Canada — by holding politicians accountable for the first time, under court oath, for what they tell voters in order to get clected. It’s much more than a partisan scrap between David Srockell and Glen Clark. Political account- ability is something we all need to fight for. Oooo MANY HAPPY RETURNS of Friday, March 7, to former West Van councillor Andy Danyliu ... And ditto that same day to West Van’s Tom Wardell. gOO0G WRIGHT OR WRONG: I7’s the start that stops most people. —— The North Shore News believes strongly in free- dow: of speech and the right of all sides in a debate to be heard. The columnists published in the News present differing points of view, but those views ave not necessarily those of the newspaper itself.