Doug Collins ® vel this straight @ IF THERE’s one thing the politicians hate, it’s the idea of referendums. ‘‘Public opinio ‘they know what they want, n be damned,”’ is their motto. you see, and what you want doesn’t count for much. As Trudeau said when a huge peti- tion was delivered to parliament in favor of restoring capiial punishment, ‘‘It’s no There are some exceptions to that rule, but Mary Collins the Capilano lady isn’t one of them. | On the capital punishment issue as on much else, she plays with but- toned lip. Even Jack Weoster couldn’t get her to say where she stood. Which means she’s against the death penalty but isn’t willing to admit it. The ‘‘parliamentary report’ she has mailed to the people of ' Capilano shows she is still playing shy. She is going to consult her constituents, she says. But it would seem she’s not going to do that properly. She could consult three constituents, for instance, and still be telling the truth. But that would not be taking the public pulse. She states: ‘‘I shall arrange a special poll of Capilano residents, conducted in accordance with ac- cepted methodology, prior to the vote in the House of Commons, and will let its results guide me during the debate and vote. I will release the results of the poll to the press and will publish them....’’ Sounds good. But not good enough for the angries who have been talking to me about it. What does ‘‘guide’’ mean? Also, consti- tuents who have inquired at her office on how the poll is to be con- ducted have been told it will be a phone poli taken from 1,000 names selected at random. Some people suspect that the only ones who will be polled will be those who do not want capital punishment brought back. 1 do not believe that. But her way is no way to run an auction. As the man said, justice must not only be done but be seen to be done, and on an issue of this kind, people want more than what ever-smilin’ Mary is offering. One man who is upset about the Collins plan is Mr. Ralph Shakespeare. As he points out, ime has given constituents no card ‘“m which they could mark their preference. ‘It’s going to be just a poll taken by some commercial company,”’ he said in disgust. ‘Others complain that when Mrs. Collins was elected, it wasn’t done by telephone. In their view, thing to do with thez.’’ every registered voter should get a card on which ‘‘Yes’’? or ‘‘No’”’ could be indicated. That would be taking the public’s pulse, and to heck with the ‘‘accepted methodology’’, which sounds like some idiotic ‘'political scientist’’ on the louse. Some even feel so | strongly that they would like a few scrutineers around when the coun- ting is done, too. The issue here is not whether you are in favor of capital punish- | ment or against it. The issue is whether a politician is going to | reflect her constituents’ views. In recent years public opinion has been solidly knocking off first-degree killers. And that’s how I feel. Why should some punk who in cold blood murders ‘a Brinks guard in Park Royal get to watch TV for 25 years? But a lot of politicians and the trendy media believe that revenge is not nice. A national referendum could settle the matter. But, as I say, that’s the last thing the politicians want. It might set a precedent for all kinds of things that cause the § peasants to throw up. Like immigration. The Evening Wimp has taken the North Shore MP to task for proposing any kind of poll. She was elected, its editorial pundits holler, to follow Edmund Burke's example and do what her cons- cience tells her to do without regard for what the unwashed want. The Wimp editors are against [| the death penalty, of course. They know Collins is against it, too. | That's why they tell her to go the conscience route. The Wimp speaks from editorial ignorance, by the way. In Burke’s day, half of the voters couldn’t even read, didn’t know which end was up, and couldn't easily be consulted anyway, com- munications being so poor. To- day, it is an insult to suggest that electors’ opinions should be ignored. Collins says in her ‘‘report’’ that she would be pleased to receive any comments on_ this topic. She can have these. There’s j no charge. in favor of WV school prepares for check A TEAM of high school administrators and superin- tendenis will be descending on West Vancouver Second- ary for the school’s first ex- ternal evaluation in eight E HUNTER Writer The school is just completing its internal evaluation in preparation for accreditation. School repre- sentatives have been working on this report since the beginning of the school year. Their purpose is ‘‘to set objec- tives and philosophies, and sce how we are meeting them,’’ said West Van Secondary principal John Williams. An external team will look at the school’s report, and will visit the school for a week in April to talk to students, parents and teachers. “The good thing about it is that it forces the school to look at what it’s doing," said Williams. “A lot of inward looking goes on anyway, but the external team can give an objective view.’’ West Wan Secondary went through its last accreditation in 1978. The process is supposed to take place every six years, but the provincial restraint program prevented many schools from completing the evaluation in recent years. 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