New NI ABOUT the only posi- tive thing about the emergence of Ujjal Dosanjh as the leader of the NDP and de facto premier is we have, hopefully, seen the back of Glen Clark and Moe Sihota. One cannot see much in revelling in the fact that Dosanjh is the first Indo- Canadian premier in the country. Albeit, the fact chat race had fittle, if anything to do with the campaign shows, perhaps, how far we have come as a more tolerant soci- ety. Bur even that positive point was overshadowed with the new member sign-up scandal that has yet to be fully dealt with. What puzzles me about the fraudulent sign- ups is that no one has requested the police investigate the situa- tion. There are several sec- tions of the Criminal Code of Canada that would have been breached in the process. Not the feast of which is forgery. There is another offence called “Personation,” which is defined in section 403 of the Criminal Code. The section states that “every one who fraudulently personates any person living _ or dead with intent to gain advantage for himself or - another person is guiley of an indictable offence and liabte to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years ... “ There were over a thou- sand names (by the NDP's own admission following an internal audit) of people mailbox Leo Knight crime and punishment whose identities were used Without permission and were signed up as party members. Over a hundred of these were listed as party members of the B.C. Liberals. By any definition, this is legal, not merely cheating at polities. For the attorney general of the province (as he was when this occurred) to countenance a crime knowingly or by will- ful blindness -~ a crime com- mitted a thousand times over apparently — and not demand the authorities inves- tigate, especially when he was the beneficiary, is shocking and a measure of how corrupt this bunch is. In his acceptance speech, Dosanjh promised a transpar- ent government. But one must surely ques- tion his commitment to this idea when one looks at how opaque his own department has been in so many contro- versial matters over the past few years since he took over the AG’s job from Colin Gablemann. Yet, at the end of the day, Ujjal Dosanjh is probably the best of a bad lot. Faint praise to be sure. Dosanjh’s credibility issues don’t end there though. In denen ermine restart the “Casinogate™ scandal, which ultimately drove Glen Clark trom office in disgrace, Dosanjh doesn’t come out clean by any stretch. He was briefed by the RCMP March 3, the dav after Clark's house was searched. Despite this knowledge he allowed the cheap and dis- honest spin doctoring to occur from Clark's office, his lawyer and bootlick support- ers. The more cynical among us might suggest he did this for purely personat political reasons. He recognized that the criminal investigation of Clark was a politically lethal bullet. There are those whe might argue that he used the next six months to gather his political support and position himself for a run at the top job. When he had his ducks in a row, he delivered the coup de arace by calling a press conference and announcing to no one’s sur- prise that Clark was indeed the subject of a criminal investigation. Clearly, what Dosanjh should have done was to meet with Clark privately carly in March, and without disclos- ing any specific information he was made privy to by the police, advise him that undl the matter was cleared up one way or another, he had to step aside while the investiga- tion proceeded. That was his duty to his office and to the people of British Columbia. Rut he didn’s. When he made his announcement in August, he said he was only then in pos- 7 Teena Xa etnneaon ema Stoica et Critic should get up to speed Dear Editor: . Re: the Feb. 13 News letter tothe editor from Neil Neufeld. : I find it difficult to believe that with over two: million accident-free kilometres,: Mr. Neufeld has yet to learn | the importance of simply keeping nh the traffic flow. Obviously if Mr. Neufeld is passed bya number of cars, and his driving has provoked not only the honking of horns _ but also certain hand gestures, he must be doing something wrong! : I. agree’ that during non- rush-hour times, the “ majori- ty” of vehicles do travel over Harvest Tables *Antique Skis -& Sleds. *Dreseers Blanket Boxes *Coffee Tables . the posted speed limit along the causeway. This may be due to the fact that the posted speed limit along the Stanley Park cause- way, and in several other areas of the city, is too low. This is why most people ignore them! Although Mr. Neufeld has not had an accident for sever- al years, I wonder how many accidents he may have caused by travelling at a speed slower than the traffic flow, and in turn upsetting and frustrating the people with whom he shares our roads. IfMr. Neufeld feels that he is unable or uncomfortable in Found in Perth County, Ontario. Circa 1870 - Natural Pine Finish. kecping up with the “rmajori- ty,” he may want to consider taking ‘public transit. As it is evident that Neil is - creating a lot of stress on the road, which we definitely don’t need more of in our hectic lives, his switch to an alternative’ mode of trans- portation would likely benefit the “majority.” David Eger . eger@bc.sympatico.ca IP leader changes littie - session of enough information to brings the matter to the premier. That's untrue. By any measure, the information provided to him on March 3 was more than sufficient for him to go to Clark. So much for transparency in govern- ment. What followed was 4 tlurry of membership sign-ups which directly led to the criminal activity outined above. Dosanjh’s elevation to the top job also breathes life into the careers of Joy McThail, Sue Hammell and Cathy MacGregor, cabinet ministers who left the Clark cabinet when they could no longer stand the stench. Not to men- tion former premier Mike Harcourt who has re-surfaced as an advisor to Dosanjh. Then there’s David Schreck, the tormer North Vancouver MIA known more for his logical bur loquacious defence of the failed policies of Harcourt on Internet news groups than for anything he accomplished as a politician. The new age of Dosanjh may signal the end of the likes of Clark, Dave Barrett, Moe Sthota, Harry Lali and the rest of that thoroughly dis- credited crew, but don’t took for much in the way of change in policy. Dosanjh, McPhail and the rest were still members of caucus and cabinet in both the Harcourt and the Clark governments, They were part of the thinking that made B.C. the only province in the courrry thar failed to show any growth in the GDP in the "90s. They were there as the NDP lurched from one sean- dal to another, from one financial disaster to the nest. The cloud of scandal that hangs over Dosanjh at the outset of his term as premier shows that precious little has changed for the party that has now had four different pre- miers in five years. — lknight@direct.ca www. libratinux. com Wednesday, February 23, 2000 — North Shore News - 7 21 pt Safely check, 15 munutes - FAST! includes up 10 5 titres of 10w 30 Quakerstate B62 Marine Drive 980-9T11I5 sC0am-6:00pm, Sun. 9:00am-5:00pm Expires Mar. 1/2000 § SF S-LAURSEN SON draperies & bd tid. 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