6 — Sunday, November 9, 1997 — North Shore News HE attention paid Pat Quinn’s firing this week is testimony to both the man and the city he lives in. Both are hockey mad. And today, both are mad at hockey. Quinn, because he has been given the bum’s rush out of the game he loves; and the town because the team Pat built is a mess, One of West Vancouver’s most notable sons, the cigar-chomping Quinn typifies what hockey fans love about Canada’s game: a tough and unrelenting grit. Intimidating to a fault, Quinn had a love-hate relationship with Van- couver Canuck fans, We loved it when he took us on that. magical: Stanley Cup ride ‘in 1994; we hated ‘it when he defended north shore news VIEWPOINT That loyalty has over time become as much a Quinn trademark as the perennial stogies he inhales. The team Quinn left on Tuesday barely resembles the team he took over a decade ago at the behest of Arthur Griffiths Jr. Back then the team basked in the aura of local family-ownership, a source of pride for the city and the team and its supporters. When Pat was sent packing, the new owners cut the final cord to those simpler days. Today, the team is owned and operated by Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment, a Seattle-based cor- porate entity that exhibits as much soul as ahockey game in North Carolina. But hockey has weathered worse and survived. The same can be said of Pat Quinn. his team despite its uninspired play. THE North Shore News Free Speech Defence Fund keeps on growing. ; To press time Friday, donations from over 2 000 News readers and free speech supporters to the fund stood at $141,897. Legal fees expended thus far by the News have already exceeded $200,000. The. final bill will be much higher. All funds received will help defray the legal costs ‘faced by: the News in its battle with the Human _.Rights Tribunal over a complaint laid against the ‘newspaper and its columnist Doug Collins by the ‘Canadian Jewish Congress. The hearing into the matter, which began on May 12, concluded on June 27 with final arguments at the Century Plaza Hotel, 1015 Burrard Se. ‘ ‘The decision from Nitya "Tyer, the tribunal of one * ‘hearing the complaint, is expected some time later this year. Extra copies of the News’ Free Speech Supplement, which was originally published in the Aug. 20 News, are now available at the News _ Offices. : -Another excerpt from the hundreds of respon- dents to the cause: | «(My husband and I, ) both feel most strongly about Freedom of speech. Noel Wright summed it up so eloquently in one of his carlier articles ... about : oppression and tyranny creeping upon a society gradually, He really got it right. We were extremely sorry to lose Doug Collins. Sometimes we agreed with him and some- \ times we did not, but almays he was a must-read. Keep up _ the ‘free speech’ reporting or we are ail doomed.” -~ Christine Fraser of North Vancouver 000 .-Donations to the fund can be sent to: 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, V7M 2H4. Cheques should be made out to the North Shore News Free Speech Defence MLA recalls OK — in small doses IN politics, as in life, nothing is as simple as it looks. Witness the recall campaigns now under way in northern B.C. aimed at unseat- ing two NDP MLAs, The recall law — strongly endorsed by vot- ers in a 1991 referendum — was finally (and unhappily) passed by the NDP after three years spent striving to make it, ractice, unworkable. 0 idly enough, however, the government was so busy loading the act with procedural roadblocks that it omitted to define REASONS for which it could be used by disgruntled vot- ers. . The omission has now come home to haunt Premier Glen Clark (with his slim majority of three) as the vigorous, well- funded recail offensive mounted against Education Minister Paul Ramsey in Prince George North and Helmut Giesbrecht in Skeena gathers a surprising head of steam. The act was never intended to refight elections, Glen fumes, but solely to deal with MLAs guilty of criminal offences, conflicts of interest and other personal failings. T understand Messrs Ramsey and Giesbrecht have never been known to rob a bank, sponsor a loan for a relative on MLA notepaper or tell their constituents to go to hell. Which presumably means, of course, that the sole other grounds for firing them (or any personally virruous MLA) can only be political: a bid by supporters of the loser in the last election — possibly backed by disillusioned supporters of the winner — to reverse the result by forcing a mid-term by-election. But recall isn’t even that straightforward, because the line between politics and morals often gets pretty blurred. In the case of Ramsey and Giesbrechr, for example, did they campaign for election in 1996 knowing Glen Clark’s promise of a balanced budget would wind up, instead, as a sea of red ink? Did they ever bother to check his claim? If the answer to both questions is “no,” aren’t they guilty of being elected by defrauding the electorate, knowingly or . unknowingly, under the terms of the NDP’s own Election Act? Are they any different from those three Surrey, New Westminster and Trail MLAs presently being sued by constituents in B.C. Supreme Court for the same elec- toral fraud? Some of Ramsey’s P.G. attackers are also outraged by his championship of gay- parent books for kindergarten classes against the wishes of the local school board. Again, politics or morality? This ability to fire MLAs for any num- ber of reasons — the ultimate in flavor-of- the-month “direct democracy” — worries critics of recall far less biased than Premier Clark, including Progressive Democratic Alliance leader Gordon Wilson. They warn it can destabilize any government without a landslide majority, and in some cases bring about its defeat long before its” mandate expires. : No question, recall puts the voters “in _ charge” — but in charge of what exactly? Certainly not in charge of the smooth, © - efficient, day-to-day running of the pub- lic’s affairs. A bad government may be bad | enough at that. A bad government kept in’: a constant state of jitters is likely to be - even worse. So let your humble scribe belatedly confess. Personally, I’m keeping fingers crossed for these two northern B.C. recall campaigns to succeed, because I believe °- anything that can shorten the life of the: ° ; Glen Clark government will help B.C.’s recovery from its disastrous flirtation with 1990s socialism. But that doesn’t mean unrestricted recall is the automatic answer to all politi: cal woes. A little recall once in a while.’ * could undoubtedly be therapeutic. Too ..- much recall, too often, could kill the very patient — law, order and good govern- ment — that it aims to cure. 000 HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes today, No 9, to West Van Kiwanian Bert Fleming ... More of the same tomorrow, Nov.10, to his fellow Kiwanian Ed Fielder ... And many happy returns of Tuesday, Nov. to 25-year North Van City Councillor Stella Jo Dean. O00 7 WRIGHT OR WRONG: If you haven’r yet smiled today, why not start practising for tomorrow? Fund. — trenshaw@direct.co LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, tull address & telephone number. VIA e-mail: trenshaw @ disect.ca Worth Shore News. toundes wn 1969 23 an independent suburban newspaper and quattied under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the Encise Tax Act. is published each Wednesday. Frieay and Sunday by North Shore Free Press . Ltd. and desirinuted to every door on the Nortty 3 . PETER SPECK ’ Hyman Resources Manager Sales & Maneting ecto Publisher 985-2131 (177) 980-0511 (319) 985-2131 (101) Comptrolter ‘Managing Editor 985-2131 (133) 985-2131 (116) 985-2031 (114) Fadrew McCredio - 985-2131 (147) Trt Ag Gail Sastez0 Promotions & Acting Display Manager General Office Manager 905-2131 (2168) 985-2131 (105) latornet- Inttp://enww.nsnews.com