QUESTION: Haw many bureaucrats does it tike to change a livht bulb? ANSWER: Two. One to assure the public that everything possible is being done and the second to screw it into the water tap. A SUSPECTED child molester has gone free in the Philippines because one and a half months wasn't time enough for Canadian bureaucrats to deliver a paper. It was not much more com- plicated than your 10-year-old daughter delivering a birthday card to the 10-year-old who lives next door. But what a 10-year-old can do in minutes, a bureaucracy may not be able to do in six weeks and such was the case in Canada’s attempt to extradite Martin Bak- ker for 36 charges of child molestation in the Fraser Valley. Anybody who is surprised by this event is simply out of touch. This is the way much of Canada opcrates now. This case made headlines only because it freed a man alleged to be dangerous. Usually, we’re scatterass about smaller things. There are a hundred other cases in that week but most of them in- volve only Josses of money, losses of markets, wasted opportunities and alt the rest of the mismanagement that makes Canada and the United States so Paul ot. Pierre uncompetitive with Germany and Japan. One need not look far. I reviewed my personal experiences PAULITICS & PERSPECTIVES in the same week that the child molesting suspect went free. ITEM: A response on a business matter from a large New York publishing house. [ wrote them on a contractual matter Feb. 27. Their reply arriv- ed May 28. An answer and a response that could have been done in minutes by telephone and within half an hour by fax has occupied one quarter of a year Lest you be misled into thinking that the publishing house bureau- cracy has gone slow because it has been cautiously, thoroughly researching the contract, be assured that is not so. The burden of their letter is that they have lost, mislaid or misfiled every rel- evant document. Will somebody in this large publishing house be blamed for losing, misplacing o1 misfiling the documents, for waiting three months to answer a business let- ter, for failing to put sufficient postage on the envelope? Don't ask silly questions. This company is now large enough to have a bureaucracy and in @ bu- reaucracy nobody is ever respon- sible for anything. There is a collective responsibil- ity for doing things and collective- NV RCMP inspector moving on A TOP North Vancouver RCMP member is moving on to take charge of the Kelowna RCMP detachment. insp. Dave Roseberry finished his last working day with the North Vancouver police force to- day. Roseberry was in charge of all police operations in the district and city for 3% years. He looks back on his time in North Van- couver with ‘‘very few disap- pointments.”’ Said Roseberry, ‘I think we made some great strides. We have instituted a training program within our own detachment which is second to none. There are better trained police officers on the Street. { feel we have a recruit fieid-training program second to none. When a member comes out of training in Regina we put him in a training program here for six months before he gets out on his own, We have an auxiliary pro- gram that is second to none in the province.’” Roseberry said the detachment has had many successful investiga- tions during his time with the local police force. ‘Areas like the Lynn Valley youth problem, | think we cleared that up pretty good — it’s coming back again. The Seymour youth problem, I think we’re on top of i GET A LOT OF GRATIFICATION FROM MY WORK. ‘For Results, Get Born Into It.’ GARY BORN 984-9711 Sussex Realty Sussex Grou 2996 Lonsda —Gary Born Realty Corporation e Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. that. The central city problem around Beaux and Betles, | think we've cleared that up. Also the Kilburn kidnapping, that was very welt done by every police force in the Lower Mainland. And a cou- ple of the murders we resolved was excellent,’’ he said. Insp. Peter Wlodarczak, trans- ferred from Vancouver RCMP headquarters, replaces Roseberry. Added Roseberry, ‘‘! certainly enjoyed the people of North Van- couver and how they supported their police department. It was exceptionally good and rewarding, and also both city councils sup- port their police department ex- tremely well.’ WALK PANCAKE BREAKFAST PETTING ZOO SIDEWALK SALES BICYCLE DECORATING CONTEST 9:30 Pancake Breakfast 10:30 Bicycle Decorating Contest 11:00 Parade along Edgemont Blvd. 12:00 Stage entertainment brought to you by Music 91 and much, much more til 4:00 pm BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOUR EDGEMONT VILLAGE MERCHANTS Friday, June 7, 1991 - North Shore News - 9 We have become a slovenly nation ly, a spasm of embarrassed giggles about failure to perform simple tasks. There is nothing more. There is no sense of shame. A B.C. government bureaucrat once told me, airily, unrepentantly, ‘‘In a bureaucracy, anything that can go wrong will.” ITEM: A major retail depart- ment store in the Lower Mainland whose brand name outboard motor J own. On ordering a new gas shutoff pin, learned that this part is on Back Order. In theory, the words mean that the central warehouse has run out of this part and has back ordered more from the factory. Back Order may mean that the part has been ordered froin the factory. Back Order may instead mean that the part has not been ordered and that the retailer hopes the customer will go away and not bother him about it any more. It may mean that an order did go to the factory but was lost. It may mean that the order was received but the factory doesn’t make the part any more and it hopes the retail store will go away and not bother them about it any more, This store promises to track its back orders after nine days. On = n Today For Cal itten estimate d receive 2 FRE TAMKO BALL CA m an oa the :0th day, which was May 27, ! waited 10 days and phoned. “Yes, [have your order here, We checked the central warchouse and they said the part would be delivered May 19."° “But this is May 27." “I's all 1can do, sir."” She is trained to be pleasant, not to be responsible for deliveries, Nobody is responsible, ever. We are a slovenly people now. Trouble is, it's only now and then that something like the Philippines extradition reminds us of our sad condition. — Be, oe Mercedes-Ben BMW Porsche Toyota Acura Honda The desirable trades are found at: Mercedes-Benz forth Ebene See this issue of Aulometive Classifieds 1375 Marine Dr. North Van 984-9351 STAGE ENTERTAINMENT NORTH SHORE SCHOOL BANDS PARADE FABULOUS FOOD & MUCH MUCH MORE!