A2- Wednesday, April 7, 1982 . North Shore News. Be 00. strictly personal by Bob Hunter The publication of George Woodcock’s new book could not have been more timely, coming as it did shortly before separatist Gordon Kestler got elected in Alberta. Woodcock's theme is summed up fairly adequately in the title: Confederation Betrayed! It was published by Harbour Press, and I strongly recommend you read it. If, like me, you have actually stretched your imagination enough to consider for a few seconds some of the intriguing possibilities the notion of separatism offers any Westerner, particularly a British Columbian, and have not been rendered catatonic by the blasphemy of such thoughts, I really do suggest you read this book. It will give you plenty of ammunition, but it also forces you to face the fact that the advantages of life within Canada _ probably continue to outweigh the fabulous possibilities of life in an independent British Columbia. If, on the other hand, you are a staunch up-the-maple- leaf Canuck, you'll learn quite a bit that you don't want to admit about the degree to which the original idea of confederation has been perverted, and what saps we are out here in the West. Woodcock begins by Canada ‘s lowest-p. Crome to Kinsway Suzuki for a strings attached test drive in the new toe Be Suzuki power of a 4wid new COmtornt and intenor! CEL hah chaidleenteamelll van! engine Convemence of a distinguishing between patriotism and nationalism, identifying regionalism with true patriotism and nationalism with the desire for power. “For the regionalist,” he writes, “land is the living environment, his ‘place to stand on,’ where boundaries are drawn by tradition and personal feeling as much as by geography; for the centralist it is a map where the boundaries are drawn by the will to power.” He argues that from the beginning Canada has been the scene of a perpetual struggle between the attempt by successive prime ministers in Ottawa to impose “strong government” on an “original con- federation of autgnomous colonies or provincés.” The constitutional fan- dango “is merely an incident in the long campaign of the centralists in Ottawa to o West young man? recover the power that in recent decades has rightfully flowed to the regions.” In the face of Pierre Trudeau's patriation coup, there are only three options, according to Woodcock: 1) To perform a kowtow to Ottawa, accepting ‘the progressive dismantling of provincial autonomies and local liberties”. 2) To continue to struggle within Canada ffor the creation of a true con- federation, purged of centralist and authoritarian elements. But here Woodcock warns that the possibility is that “the Liberal hierarchy, supported by its various fifth columns (the federal NDP and the provincial Tories of Ontario) will prove un- defeatable,” which leads to: 3) Secession. In his attack on the present federal system, Woodcock doesn’t mince words: “The Canadian polity as it exists is not in fact a true democracy, even in the limited sense of a No mail over Easter Post Offices throughout the B.C. & Yukon Postal Districts will be closed Good Friday, Apml 9, through ATS) thre ttre new I vel COST On enjoy 400 KINGSWAY,NEAR 12TH! ® out the Easter Monday, April 12. Regular service will resume Tuesday, April 13. ae nro : riced 4wd! Check features that come with NO) & XTRA all the money saving B42 Suzukis' best Suzukt deals in town at KINGSWAY ¢ SUZUKI 879-6241 till 9! representative democracy. “It is an oligarchy operated by the Liberal party machine in association with Central Canadian (mainly Ontario) industrial and financial corporations— an oligarchy in which even the elected representatives of the people have little real voice, since policy is established by a small inner circle of powerful ministers withing the cabinet, strategy is planned and supervised by the bureaucratS and public relations experts in the Prime Minister's Office, and Parliament is regarded as an institution for formalizing the decisions of the party hierarchy, in which the opposition is seen merely as an irritant to be ignored if possible and otherwise to be bamboozled and _ hood- winked.” The federal NDP accepts the fait accompli of a centralist constitution because it happens to fit in with doctrinaire socialist ideas of centralized state control, Woodcock says. Starts Tomorrow? Ends April 30 Our Anniversary Theater as cotaby co ofver | com dwergs n Pury 1g t hreests Strethvers wi tooe rk ae rytat 982 Marine Dr . North Across trom the Avaion 986-4108 At Le i vw Among the three options faced by the modern Canadian in the West, Woodcock personally finds himself reluctant to kowtow, is pessimistic about the chances of much decen- tralization being allowed to occur, but pronounces himself unwilling to accept the separatist option. Next: Woodcock’'s reasons for not giving up on Canada completely. GIVE BLOOD. GIVE LIFE! The Canadian Red Cross Society 3 MO. FOR $60 doe odin d wer ares MISS vita Too ont heat weites GINGEL JAK Vancouver Swimming & Fitness Centre Men. 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