other hand The devit damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon! Where gott’st thon that goose lak? — Macbeth. THERE’S somcthing to be said for having ene- mies, They never fail to read a column. They also write let- ters and are always ready to run to press councils, human rights councils, city councils and any other council in their eagerness to help humanity. Take my old buddy Lionel Kenner, the North Van phi- losophy professor. There was never a more eager read than he and in Decem took pen in hand to “won- der” about the Orwell award. He wondered about Ron Gostick of Alberta, who got, it, Doug Christie who gave it, and your humble agent, who ‘was in attendance. The anguish expressed by - Kenner’s was too lengthy to be repeated in detail. Suffice it to say that he regards all of the above-named as barnacles on the backside of the body politic. Racists, etc. He can be for something but others should not be against it. To say that Kenner is a keen follower of Collins is an understatement. In 1992, when I got the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation it was more than he could stand. He appeared at North Van City Council +> bitch abour it. | demanded equal time and had a good time. Shaw Cable carried the show. Kenner and his accom- plices chen mounted a cam- paign to get the award annulled. But the Popes of Procedures failed to deliver; yea right up to the Gov. Gen. When the Canadian Jewish Congress com- plained to the NDP’s Thought Police about my “Swindler’s List” columns, Kenner joined in by deliv- ering a long and no doubt philo- sophical treatise on me. Or so I was told. Later, he made a com- plaint to the Press Council, with disappointing results, seeing that I was not scalped. T had a good time at that hearing, too. In fis December letter, lit- de wa Lionel’s main target was Gostick. He claimed that according to Warren Kinsella’s “well-regarded” beok Web of Hate, Gostick always rallies to the side of “white supremacists” and “neo-Nazis.” “Well-regarded by whom? Certainly by Kenner. But the book was widely bashed. Even the Jewish reviewer in the Globe & Mail damned it with faint praise. Others were far more critical. The editor of the Calary DRAPERIES & BLINDS BY — S. LAURSEN & SON CUSTOM DRAPERIES, TRACKS AND BEDSPREADS Labour $9.50 per panei salined, $16.56 tined. At low, low prices. For FREE Estimates call 987-2966 (Ask abe about Seniors’ Discounts) 1626 Lloyd Ave 987-4250 North Shore for 25 yprars Sun said it was a retelling of stale tales from the mid- 1980s about inconsequential lunatics. Tom Flanagaa, palit- ical scientist at the Unive y of Alberta, called it “a piece of shady, dishonest writing.” Kinsella even managed to link John Diefenbaker with the KKK because in the 1920s Dief had appeared on the same platform as a man who reportedly had such con- nections. White supremacists, racists, neo-Nazis. Who are they? Anyone wha defeats a liberal “ White supremacists, racists, neo-Nazis. Who are they? Anyone who defeats a liberal in an argument, as Peter ‘Brimelow has put it.” in an argument, as Peter Brimelow has put it. Re Gostick. He has been called every name under the sun but as long as he believes in democracy, referendums, and the constitutional monar- chy, which he does, he cannot be the devil his critics paint him as being. He is damned for his lawful views, If Kenner and Co. don’t like them, too bad. In October, Gostick orga- nized a conference in Edmonton on national unity and the constitution. He called the event The Third Option, but agitation by . Hor omeow ner S ~O8er? Savcars. Seivice On: The. North’ Share LP REDG, neurliahines, communist professor David Lethbridge got the Alberta Human Rights Commission(!) to advise the hotel to cancel Gostick’s meeting place. Which it did. Alberta columnist Ezra Levant jumped into the bat- tle. Like Kenner and Lethbridge he is Jewish. Unlike them he is hot on the importance of free speech and association. “Lev’s be clear here,” he wrote. “(Gostick) has never been charged with any crime. He’s never been convicted of anything ... . There was no investigation, there was no hearing. The organizers were never allowed to defend them- selves. What about justice? What about a trial? What about the Magna Carta?” What indeed? As for Kenner, I relish his attention. It gives me something to wnite about. Bur fet me - remind him, as Haruler reminded Horatio: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” — The North Shore News believes stron as in freedom of speech and the right of all sides in a debate io be heard. The columnists published in the News present differing points of view, but those views are not necessarily those of the newspa- per itself, : Payment Piari Now Available # Defieux-Saxeiby Insurance meservices Inc. 105-200 West Esplanade North Vancouver (Located beneath Famous Players Theatre) = ee &] riles News reader Open letter to North Vancouver District Coun. Ernie Crist: 1 read your letters explaining the need for a large increase in the councillor’s indemnity. In response, I can only say it doesn’t matter how you try to justi- fy it, a 50% pay increase is simply not acceptable. 1 didn’: hear anyone making a big fuss about it last year or the year before. If a correction is needed, and | am not yet convinced there is, but if it is the correc- tion should be done in reasonable increments — not in one big jump. You are going to have to negotiate a new contract with the staff unions soon. It scts 4 very bad example for the boss- ¢s to vote themselves a 50% pay increase, saying they deserve it because their indemnity docs not cover their expenses. Whar will you tell the staff when they find their taxes are going to go up 10% to 20% over the next couple years? You can’t have it both ways. We the taxpayers cannot have it both ways. 1 keep hearing you talk about the need for strong leader- ship at the district hall but the first thing, I see from this new council is all the councillors running to the public rough. That doesn’t look Sike strong leadership to me. The district taxpayers knot exactly what it looks like ... Oink! Oink! 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