6 - Wednesday, June 25, 1986 — North Shore News

Guilty parents?

A

letter to the editor published last Sunday
(‘‘Parents, not council, should control youth’’)
opens up an interesting line of thought on the

subject of offences committed by juveniles.
The letter deals with the hazards to pedestrians pos-

ed by youthful sidewalk

skateboarders. The writer,

Greg Richmond of North Van, concludes that it is the
job of parents, not council, to police and discipline er-
rant youngsters -- failing which, he suggests, ‘“‘council
would be more than justified for hitting lazy parents
‘where it hurts, in the pocket.’’
Many of tke troubles with the law into which 9 mi-
nority of young people fall nowadays undoubtedly
‘originate in lax or overly permissive parenting. Mr.”
Richmond’s proposal could logically apply, therefore,
not merely. to” illegal . skateboarding but. to a whole
“Range of other juvenile misdemeanors. Ii children are
“spot? “brought: ‘up. to respect the’ safety, . property ‘and -

| rights of others, hid

should their parents de let off the .

ponies kids; and: ‘charge them as

z
6-defendants?. Uniess::they_,

could prove it was totally.

‘impossible for them-to have. averted: ‘their offspring’s ©
offence,. they could be: slapped with a memorable. fine

--with:their- choice until, the winner:

-“decides:to’call the next election — -

: Which theoretically could be as-late .

‘as the. spring of 1988.:Jt wouldn’t.
have done for Aristotie, but: then” -
-that. was long be re they. dream

. iwhoni we think wi

eae weld LIKE, to win’ —
~ form’ and ‘possibly “enjoy =a” little

: flutter on the final result. With a
* fit eld of 12 alrexdy lined up at the

- starting: gate; the, Whistler Stakes

will be a red- letter day for punters.

' The “current form chart shows
two hot favorites, five longer-odds
entrants. and five also-rans. The
“big money: at the* moment is on

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and orctures, wich should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed

ng a

Jhistler

cracy ‘would: Saanich Mayor Mel Couvelier, or.
what’ s due. former” Bennett: aides Kim Camp-

- bell and lawyer. Bud Smith: (who's: s

oe iN oel Wright

@ focus. ®

“Provincial Secretary Grace McCar- , .

“thy;, 58, and colorful former: cabinet

2 minister Bill: ‘Vander Zalm, 52.

: Probably: ‘capable of..at least: a
“respectable showing on the first
SS Sit are. Attorney General Brian

“from a vroaged husband), West
Van “MEA John. Reynolds, former
energy minister Stephen Rogers
(past ‘conflict-of-interest; troubles
notwithstanding) and federal Tory
MP Bob Wenman:

But. don’ t waste many bets — if
any — on Municipal Affairs
Minister: Bill Ritchie, Shuswap-
Revelstoke MLA Cliff Michael,

LETTER OF THE DAY

Constitution ‘the

Dear Editor:

‘To those =arliamentarians ‘and
equally i'l-informed who don’t
understand, but: would. like to
know, the difference between. the
American and the Canadian Con-
stitutions:

. The magnificent U.S. Constitu-
vion is “by the people, for the
people.”’ It has the people clearly
telling government. wha? certain

powers it has; what laws it may or -

. May not enact. For example,. it
tells the government it may. not

make any Jaw that would j in any
way abridge the right to ‘free
speech. No exception is brooked.
The people are in control, they are
‘the boss’. And they let the gov-
ernment know it.

The Canadian Constitution is
just the opposite. It is not by the
people, for the people. It is by the
government, for the government.
It is by the. government’s own
self-serving incui:bents. It tells the
people what freedoms they have,
wkat they may or may not do and

reportedly never held elected ge -
ernment office at any level).

” The fascinating question at these
‘affairs is what happens when the
field thins out after the first ballot.

To whom do the Iosers deliver
their supporters? More important,
will their supporters permit
themselves to be delivered en bloc
to another candidate at all — or
will they disintegrate and go their
individual ways?

Could, for example, an ousted

John Reynolds donate his backers

-jn- a package to McCarthy or

Vander Zalm? Or might - half. of
them, unenthused over either of
the front-runners, transfer their

on

Stakes!

votes to a Brian sinith or a Wen- :

man instead?

: This is the big hope’ “com.
promise’’ candidates always have —

of beating the favorites in the Jast
few lez, hs. That's how we wound

up with Joe Who as Tory. leader 10,

years ago.”

Measured by cabinet experiencé, .
charisma and true red-white-and- -

blue Socred principles, the obvious
choice lies between Grace and Bill
—— Grace having a moral edge with
her 20 years of selfless dedication
to the party, which she saved in its
darkest hour after its defeat: by. the
socialist hordes in 1972,

But the obvious’ choice isn't’

always the final one churned out
by convention machines. .It- de-

pends on how mich a candidate .

can “grow” from ballot.to ballot.
Making omelettes involves
breaking eggs. The higher you rise
in the political firmament,
more foes as wellas friends you’
collect. And it’s enemies - who

ultimately determine - the. fate: of’

“favorites” _the ‘ convention
floor.

Meanwhile, we who have ‘no
voice at Whistler — even. though
we have to endure its consequences
— should maybe hang on to. our
gambling money after all. .

Our new boss may have other
plans for it!

on

‘Gloucester’

the:

Entire contents ©
1986 North Shore
Free Press Ltd. All
rights reserved. .-

FAN L0G EXPORTS
RECESSION
LOW MBER PRES
BAN ON RAW 106 POR.
US, SHAKE &SHINGIE TARIS

On June: 25° ‘the’ Duke. of
proclaimed :- hii2self-
King Richard III. of. ‘England | ‘in
1483. The table‘ fork was introd-c:-
ed to America in. 1630. Lt.. Col

_ George . Custer’and ‘his 208-man

force . “were. slaughtered. by’ -the

“Sioux led by Sitting Bull at the Lit- ©
’ tle. Big . Horn River, Montana, in

1876... ls
Sara ‘Bernhardt, sued » by. the .

‘Comedie Francaise for breach of.
contract,..was ordered to pay. costs. °

and-damages equivalent to $16,000
in . 1880.. Arturo, Toscanini, 19,
conducted his first opera; Aida, in

- Rio de Janeiro’in 1886,: President

Franklin D. Roosevelt. signed. a

.Minimum Wage. ‘Act (20: cents. ‘an .
. hour for-a maximum: 44-hour work |

week) in 1938. :
>The Korean War, ‘began: wheri .
North Korean: Forces °. invaded -

South Korea in 1950. And the first’ °

color broadcast in commercial TV --
history was aired by the CBS net-
work in 1951, :

cynical tool of evil men’

say. It is actnally a scam, a shifty
game in which the government of
the moment acts as referee, chang-
ing (as we see today) the rules as it
goes along. Government is the ab-
solute boss. No controls apply to
it. As Vancouver’s CJOR Radio
open-liner Pat Burns correctly
observes, ‘‘it is nothing more than-
a five-year dictatorship, regardless
of the'party in power.’

For example, it may arbitrate —

and ' indeed does arbitrate ;
freedom of speech, while the judi-

ciary ‘“‘interprets’’ this Constitu-
tion as tacitly. directed, savagina
political dissenters, jailing those
who perhaps dispute the governm-
ent’s version of history or who
might: criticize minority racism.
Unrestrained by any Constitutional
clause, the government tugs at its
forefock and bows low 10 the dic-
tates of an all-powerful ethnic mi-

- nority and bans, burns and pulps

great books with am arrogance
befitting the most despotic rule.
No, Trudeau's Constitution is a

dreadful and exceedingly danger-
ous contrivance. Fraught wih pit-
falls, it lies in wait as a predator
for its prey. It is ‘a cold
bureaucratic enigma, a piece of
legalese to gladden the heart of
every shyster from Blubber Bay to
Waterluog West. It is the hallmark
of a decaying democracy, the
cynical tool of evil men. It deserves
the treatment of those intrepid pa-
triots who prominently display it in
their homes. UPSIDE DOWN!
Wilfred L. Blair, Surrey