VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Panel member calls for tough NORTH VANCOUVER lawyer Mobina Jaffer doesn’t cat pizza anymore. By Surj Rattan News Reporter The reason? Her apppetite for the food went away when she learned a person convicted of physically abusing a .woman. received a lighter sentence than a person who stole a pizza. Jaffer, who is the Liberal can- didate in the North Vancouver ‘riding for the upcoming federal “ elling election, recalled the incident during a recent interview with the News in which she spoke about violence against women. _ She was on the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women which recently released nearly 500 recommendations in a report on violence. The panel spent two years trav- the country talking to _women who have been victims of violence. ’“The last 18 months have been hell; We saw women with literally no faces...just two holes for eyes and a hole for a nose,’’ said Jaf- fer. . She was one of the dissenting * members of the panel and said she * ommendations does not agree with all of the rec- her colleagues came up with. While Capilano-Howe Sound MP Mary Collins, the minister responsible for the status of women, and the person who ap- pointed Jaffer to the . federal pancl, admits that it may take a long time to implement some of the recommendations, Jaffer believes the recommendations can be in place by the year 2000. The onus, she said, is on the community to begin working towards the implementation of the recommendations. Jaffer says society must under- stand that there is a direct link between the issues of equality for women and violence against women. The two, she said, go .NORTH VANCOUVER federal Liberal candidate Mobina Jaffer was on the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women. hand-in-hand. She is also calling on tough leg- islation to protect women against violence in the workplace. On a local level, Jaffer said the THE FOLLOWING people ap- peared in North and .West Van- couver courts recently to face ~ various charges: Before Judge Doug Moss in North Vancouver provincial court on July 30: . Bailey Richard Fraser, 20, of North Vancouver, received 12 months’. probation after he pleaded, guilty to assaulting a fe-, male on June 19 in North Van- couver District. ‘Before Judge Doug Moss in North ’ Vancouver provincial court on” * July 28: Witold Stephien, 37, of -Van- couver, was fined $150 after he pleaded guilty to stealing mer- chandise from F.W. Woolworth Co. Ltd. on Oct. 23, 1992 in. North Vancouver City. - Before Judge Jerome Paradis in ‘North Vancouver provincial court on Suly 20: . , Graham Kyle Bow, 22, of North Vancouver, was- fined ‘a. total. of $300 and received six months’ probation after he pleaded guilty to obstructing RCMP Const. Marc Sylvestre and committing mischief ‘by wilfully damaging an RCMP car on June 6 in North Vancouver City. The damage -to the car was estimated at more than $1,000. Bow was required to pay $95.23 restitution. Refore Judge Doug Moss in North Vancouver provincial court on Suly 23: Terrance Herbert McVeeters, 61, of Vancouver, was jailed 30 days after he pleaded guilty to stealing a telephone clock radio _belonging. to Woolco and also 10 in stealing property belonging Sears Canada on March 11 >, North Vancouver City. Before Judge John Layton in North Vancouver provincial court on July 16: . William Peter Groark, 55, of Vancouver, received six months’ probation after he was found guilty of stealing merchandise from Lumberland Building Mate- rials on March 17 in North Van- couver City. Before Judge Reginald Grandison in West Vancouver provincial court on July 12: Russell William Brownlee, 18, of West Vancouver, was fined $100 after he pleaded guilty to entering a liquor store while under age on June 4 in West Vancouver. Before Judge Reginald Grandison in West Vancouver provincial court on June 14: Bradley William Meanwell, 18, of Burnaby, was jailed 14 days after he pleaded guilty to driving without a valid licence on March 28 in West Vancouver. aee Mermolina Misti Orara, 35, of West Vancouver, was jailed one day and was fined $500 after she . pleaded guilty to possessing stolen property belonging to four stores between July 14, 1991 and July 17, 1991, The property was valued at more than $1,000 and included a cassette player, earphones, stereo equipment, turntable and ac- cessories, shoes and suitcases. The property was recovered in West Vancouver. underfunding of the Emily Mur- phy transition house in North Vancouver and violence against North Shore senior citizens are two issues that need to be ad- dressed immediately. legislation “The big (problem) for us on: the North Shore is youth violence. Children witnessing abuse on the North Shure is a big problem. We're teaching our children vio- lence in the home and in school,”’ said Jaffer. She added that the North Shore community is to blame for the rising problem of youth violence. “On the North Shore, we always felt this was a safe haven. By not taking action, we've let it become a violent community. “We have planted the seeds for it,” said Jaffer. Some have criticized the $10 million price tag of the federal Canadian voters are very cyni- cal about politicians and parties this election year. They do not believe that Reform will deliver on its election platform any more than Trudeau, Mulroney, Rae and Harcourt did. Here are our answers to these sceptics. 1. Reform is a new party with a clean slate. We have no skele- tens in the closet as other par- ties do. We do not have to defend policies that we have enacted and that are now unpopular. We can just drop them. 2. Reform is a grass-roots party supported totally by con- tributions from individual Canadians. Unlike all the other parties, we do not receive sup- port from corporations, unions, farmers and other special inter- est groups. We are under no obligation to do their bidding in parliament. 3. Reform is in touch with the people. It was the only party which understood that the Charlottetown Accord went against the public interest as perceived by the common peo- pie. All other parties, supported massively by corporations and unions, favoured a political agenda set by the Ottawa elite. 4. Reform has made the deficit and debt its most important campaign issue. The NDP total- ly denies there is a problem. The liberals think the problem is minor and aim for balanced budgets in the next century. The remedies for the problem “Listening to you Working for you” Liberal Authouized by the official agent for Mobina Jaffor. SASSER North Vancouver Telephone: 980-5300 Herb Grubel, Candidate Capilano-Howe Sound | Telephone: 926-6659 REFORMIS DIFFERENT | tee? report on violence against women, saying that money would have been better spent on funding for transition houses and other ser- vices for women, But Jaffer said that while the underfunding of transition houses is a major problem, not all abused women need to go to transition houses, She called for judges to force men who have been convicted of abusing women to wear electronic monitoring devices when restrain- ing orders are imposed so women and children do not have to leave their homes. “A stage has come when we have to look at how we treat the disease. This (violence against women) is something that affects us all. If we take the responsibili- ty, it (changes) will happen faster,’’ said Jaffer. proposed by me PCs have no credibility because they are no different from those that failed for nearly a decade. 5. Reform has a detailed plan for eliminating the deficit in three years. It specifies pro- grams to be cut and amounts to be saved. The other parties give no specifics. They are playing it safe and do not want the wrath of special interest groups. The Reforrn approach shows ihat.we put the public w Ehinle Vf a interest ahead of the narrow | oe Rick Van Rikxoort n goal of getting the support of -f - and Rudy Lawrence. groups bought off by previous govemments. 6. Reform has a detailed pro- gram for changing the political system which most Canadians | believe has been unresponsive | } to their needs. Free votes in parliament, recall! provisions, binding referenda, a Triple-E Senate are all changes wanted by the public. But they are opposed by the traditional par- ties which for a long time have benefited from the present sys- tem. Reform, Ted and i need your help precisely because we are different and cannot count on support from corporations or unions. Make this election count for you, the people of Canada. The column this week was writ- ten by Herb Grubel. More infor- mation about the Reform party and its policies is available from either candidate.