4 — Sunday, October 27, 1991 - North Shore News Socialism’s gained from communism’s collapse THE DAY after Dave Barrett got elected in 1972, I wrote a column that began: ‘“Welcome to the People’s Republic of British Columbia.”’ It was a joke, of course, although some dazed Tories took it seriously. In those days, the ‘‘socialist hordes,’’ as W.A.C. Bennett call- ed then, were viewed as being something pretty wild and weird, even menacing. Chile’s Salvador Allende had recently been killed in a CIA- instigated coup, and Barrett had been branded “the most danger- ous socialist in North America” by Forbes Magazine. In the American view, he was a pro-Commie wolf in sheep’s clothing. Apart from CCFer Tomnzy Douglas in Saskatchewan, no proclaimed socialist had gained control over an entire province befors. And it was one thing for a poor sparsely-populated patch of wheatfields and muskez to join the anti-capitalist camp, quite another for Canada’s third- largest, most resource-rich pro- vince to fall into the hands of com-symps and Stalinism apologists. It was like a breach in the Norad defence system. A fifth - column. There were people on the left, I recall, who seriously figured the CIA would find some way to top- plz Barrett, by fair means or foul. Of course there are people on the left today who will insist that the CIA, in fact, did just that. 1 find it hard to believe that an open society like ours can be that easily manipulated by foreign powers, but I could be very wrong. Many of the same people who feel the CIA engineered Fat L’ii Davey’s defeat in °75 will tell you that Brian Mulroney is working undercover for them today, posing as Canada’s prime minister. His mission: the dismantling and han- ding over, piece by piece, of Canada to the United States. I admit it has a ring. The argument against such con- spiracies is that they are largely unnecessary. Barrett and his ram- bunctious team pretty much did it to themselves. As for Cenada’s collapse under Mulroney, it is far more likely due to incompetence and stupidity than any finely-tuned plot hatched by Yankee imperialists. In the 19 years since Barrett made political history, we have seen a conservative wave sweep North America and much of the world, It threw up figures like Reagan and Thatcher. B.C.’s early flirta- _ tion with socialism looked in retrospect like a one-night stand. 1 don’t know about you, but back in the late ’60s if someone had told me that by the dawn of the 90s the political landscape would feature Republicans and Tories triumphant nearly every- where, I would have pointed a finger at them and laughed rudely. Weren't we on the verge of a planetary revolution of some kind? Much as the right was paranoid about Barrett, the left had its own Tanker study goes to public THE VANCOUVER Port Corp. is holding public meetings in Van- couver and North Vancouver next week to present its tanker traffic risk analysis study for discussion and input. The year-long study was done by Sandwell Inc. and completed early in 1991. Seaconsult Marine Research Ltd. and Bennecit En- vironmental Consultants itd. assisted with the study. The 700-page study includes 46 recommendations regarding port terminals, operations, protective and contingency measures, 70% of which have already been im- plemented or are being im- plemented. A meeting will be held at Britannia high school, 1001 Cot- ton Dr. in Vancouver, from 7-9 p.m. on Oct. 29, and then on Oct. 30 during the same hous: at the North Shore Winter Club, 1325 Keith Rd. in North Vancouver. EUNITED COLLECTION AGENCIES INC. LIQUIDATES entire assets of PERSIAN & ORIENTAL RUGS | * We have a limited time to liquidate our client's designs & colours to enhance every room in your heme. These unique rugs make wonderful gifts. ff EXAMPLE: ay © AFGHAN TRIBAL . BOKHARA ROYAL . WAR RUG - {from Afghan) * AUBOUSAN (from India} ° PERSIAN TABRIZ 2126 BURRARBG at sth 3x5" x10" 737-9958 | se Open Daity ~ Won. thins Sat. tOam-7pm; Sunday 12 noon-Spm Sob Hunter STRICTLY PERSONAL madness going, a mass hallucina- tion that the Golden Age had ar- rived. They wanted Barrett to be the “Allende cf the North.”’ Death to capitalism! Property is theft! Rise up, etc. The poor guy was caught be- tween ludicrousty exaggerated ex- pectations either way. I guess that’s the big difference with Mike Harcourt getting in. Nobody, even in jest, would suggest that British Columbia has become a people’s republic. Not even Forbes would describe Harcourt as a dangerous subver- sive. A ClA-backed coup to restore liberty is not widely feared, so far as | know. The world has changed dras- tically since the dark nu- clear-terrorized days of nearly two ARDAGH HUNTER TURNER | 44 Some commentators have expressed utter astonishment that in Canada, the pinkos are coming to power, even if it is just provincially. 99 decades ago. Harcourt comes to power in the wake of the Cold War, and I can’t help wondering if there isn’t some faint connection. ‘ Some commentators have ex- pressed utter astonishment that in Canada, the pinkos are coming to power, even if it is just provin- cially. The thundering crash of the East Bioc and the disintegration of the Soviet Union suggests some kind of rightward world tide or at the very least a near-universal repugnance with communism. What's with Canadians? Are they living in a dream world? First Ontario, then B.C., then Saskat- chewan. In fact, I suspect Canadians sare very tuned into the defeat of the Red Menace indeed. Psychologically, it is as though a bogeyman has been suddenly ex- orcised. Without those grim-faced commissars looking out over the clanking rows of tanks and Barristers & Solicitors Personal Injury AFTER HOURS oARTER HOURS FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION siminal Matters Onl ly 926-3181 [986-4366 | 4366 906-9286 #300-1401 LONSDALE, NORTH VANCOUVER, BC. Jeremy Leevers % Gold Motes Member me (11 years) ¢ > p missile-launchers on the other side of the Arctic, Canadians probably feel less basically fearful than at . any time since the Cold War began. We're not going to be nuked by the weekend. Slavic and Mongolian hordes are not about to overrun Europe, dragging us into a war. One’s guard can be lowered. The unexpected political side- effect? Socialism, rather than deing discredited by the collapse of communism, has more likely been rendered rather harmless at. a gut level — and therefore safe to ex- periment with again. 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