8 — Wednesday, March 4, 1998 — North Shore News north shore news MAIL BOX Recall Keeps democracy honesi Dear Editor: Noel Wright’s Feb. 11 column was very critical of che concept of recall in a parliamentary democracy. As the Reform party critic for direct democracy, and a Member of Parliament working within the present system, | feel compelled to present an opposite point of view. Generally speaking, those who oppose the idea of recall, like Wright, do so by suggesting that recall is incompatible with true parliamentary democracy and stable good government. But, as the record in other jurisdic- tions with recall clearly shows, goad gov- ernment does not get recalled, and nei- ther does democratic government. Unfortunately, the style of government we have in Canada has a tendency to be neither good nor democratic. It is comprised of a series of dictator- ships run from the offices of the prime minister and premiers by a few dozen people who make all of the decisions. Often completely ignoring the wishes of taxpayers and voters, claiming that they . have the monopoly on informed opinion and that they know what is best for the rest of us, they command their trained seal MPs and MLAs to vote the will of the party leader or be punished. Just fook at what happened to MP John Nunziata for daring to represent his constituents. Those who speak out against recall should be honest and. admit that the real reason they do not like the tools of direct democracy is that the presence of those tools would force their favorite party to be held accountable between elections. It would rob their party of its dictatorial powers and absolute control of the purse strings. In addition, the MPs and MLAs who arrogandy claimed the right to “vote my conscience” on matters that affect their constituents would find themselves suddenly very accountable for that atti- tude. Too bad. Asan MP myself, [ consider myself to be a servant of my constituents. My salary is paid by them, and while [ have my own strongly held opinions and belicts which | share with them, when push comes to shove, [ vote their will in) Parliament whenever that will can be clearly demon- strated. Thank goodness my party constitu- tion insists that I do so, and it is incom- prehensible to me that so many MPs and MLAs, those of the traditional parties, allow themselves to be used as pawns by their Ieaders. They only pretend that the system is democratic so that they can enjoy the rewards of obedience — travel junkets to foreign countries, a comfortable lite-style, and a pension six times as generous as the ones given to their constituents. As a Member of Parliament myself, I feel no threat from the idea of recall, and will soon be introducing to Parliament a Private Member's Bill which, if passed, would bring recall to the federal level in accordance with Reform party policy. The fact is, any MP or MLA who is properly representing the will of those who sent him or her to Parliament, and whose party permits such representation, has nothing to fear from recall. The evidence from the United States since the turn of the century proves con- clusively that recall does not destabilize government, bue that it does bring accountability to those who have control of the government coffers. What on earth could be wrong with that? Those who remain opposed to recall are either consciously or unconsciously supporting dictatorships which have absolute power over our lives, laws, and tax levels. They need to give their heads a shake, shrug off the idea of party control, and start trusting the people of Canada with the decisions of government that affect their lives. [ have found my own con- stituents to be generally well-informed, thoughtful, and blessed with an abun- dance of good common sense. The last thing I would do is to insult their intelli- gence by refusing to vote their will, Frankly, as someone who has been going there for more than four years, I can honestly say chat Parliament is defi- nitely not a house of democracy. It is a house of illusions, a sham designed to imply democratic process where there is none, as any visitor to the gallery, or reg- ular viewer of CPAC, can soon determine for themselves. As a believer in true democracy, 1 am an avid supporter of recall legislation, and I believe that its presence could revitalize, and add meaning to, our parliamentary system at both the federal and provincial level. I congratulate the voters of British Columbia who tried so hard to make a badly flawed provincial recall law work in the interests of the taxpaying public. Ted White, MP Direct Democracy Critic Reform Party of Canada Arts support appreciated No delay in Dear Editor: The R.N.B. Dance and Theatre Arts board of directors, the faculty, and the par- ents of our students, would like to thank your newspaper for highlighting our fundraiser last month. When Ms. (Ann) Hamilton selected our dress rehearsal as the subject for “Bright Lights” we were delighted. Her professionalism in researching the purpose of our society and the purpose of our fundraiser (expanding and upgrading a dance studio owned by North Vancouver District) was impressive. The dancers were very excited about the two-hour photo shoot and it was a challenge for Ms. Hamilton to select her subjects and the theme for each picture, and to spell everyone’s name correctly! Within evo hours of the paper’s arrival at the studio, “Bright Lights starring R.N.B.” was professionally matted and framed and was hanging on the wall. The article appeared to have been read by everyone the dancers knew ... even my daughter’s substitute teacher. On Wednesday, Jan. 28, when the article appeared, there were still 175 tickers available for the show. On Saturday, the Centennial Theatre Box Office was turning people away! ' There is no question that the exposure R.N.B. was given by your newspaper helped make our show a sell-out. As a result, $6,000 was raised for our project. Once again, thank you. ~ Ann L, Neumann, President, R.N.B. Dance & Theatre Arts \ leak response Dear Editor: A brief news item headlined “West Vancouver gas leak” in the Feb. 18 edition of your newspaper may have been mislead- ing to your readers. In responding to the gas leak that occurred outside normal business hours, 2 service person was on-site nine minutes after the call was received by BC Gas. It was quickly determined there was no immediate threat to the surroundings and public safety was not at risk. Given the “after hours” circumstances and the nature of the incident, there was no undue delay in the arrival of the repair crew that was assembled to make the nec- essary repairs. Verne Prior, Manager, Media Relations & Employee Communications BC Gas Utility Ltd. We want to offer our Fabricland Sewing Club Members even greater value for your Membership! During the month of March Fabricland Sevsing Club Members will save on purchases at over 900 participating - mcrchants in western Canada! 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