4 - Sunday, August 14, 1988 — North Shore News

1 SEE that W.P. Kinsella and David Watmough, two B.C.
writers, have resigned from the Writer’s Union of Canada
over the issue of union funds being used to finance a study
of the adverse effects of free trade on Canadian culture.

Hats off to the truculent word-
smiths. They have set an example
for me.

I was just on the verge of joining
that particular union, having got a
nice form letter over the signature
of Pierre Berton, the chairman,
inviting me aboard.

A letter from Pierre Berton!
Tres intimidating. ! wrote a par-

Futile as | knew it as, | couldn’t
help feeling that perhaps | could
atone for my sins against the
Greatest Canadian Writer In All
Of Human History by sending
back a cheque and joining up.

That's when the issue of the
$5,000 anti-free trade study came
up. And Kinsella and Watmough
quit Berton’s union.

L, is convenient that Pierre Berton is the
most famous ardent nationalist of his time,
quite possibly a personification of the
Zeitgeist of Canuckness, and also the head
of the national writer’s union, which

opposes free trade.”*

ticulary nasty review of one of his
books many years ago. I know he
has not forgiven me. He will hate
me to his grave.

I know this because, over the
years, | (00 have got nasty reviews.
One never forgives a nasty
reviewer. One smiles, of course.

But one files his or her name
away, waiting for the day he will
be dangling from a cliff, and you'll
happen along, and look down at
him, and enjoy his desperate, pite-
ous mewting, lighting a cheroot
and flicking the ashes in his face,
quoting back his entire review,
challenging him to hang on until
the end. Too bad it went on and
on like it did, that nasty review,
hm?

Thus do | know that Berton will
never forgive. We’re the same
breed of cat. It’s just not ina
writer’s nature to forgive. The ego
required to pontificate in print
does not suffer pinpricks gladly,

Forgiveness goes with a different
line of expository work, i.e. sain-
thood.

Feature Special

Thompson seedless

That made up my mind for me.
I decided not to join. That way I
won't have to resign and I can
keep my dues,

There are serious problems
about inembership in guilds or
unions, One is that such groups are
almost immediately bound to be
taken over by factions espousing
one extreme view or the other.

Few people get elected to posi-
tions in any non-profit organiza-
tion without platforms. The system
of selection calls for hard posi-
tions, not soft ones. Issues must be
defined. Steps must be taken. You
can never enjoy a status quo.

One well-known national union
that involves actors is famous
within the entertainment and
media industries for being run by
“‘the extras.”’ That is, the suc-
cessful members are so busy with
their careers they haven't got time
to hang around at the committee
meetings.

The ones who do are the ones
with lots ef time on their hands.
They are the ones, perhaps, with

an axe to grind and an eye to using
the organization to leverage their
scheme of things: being partisan.
Being passionate. Committed. All
of that.

The committee level in most
non-profit organizations is where
the power lies, or at least where the
direction of the organization is
determined. That’s why tightly-
disciplined cadres have had such
success in determining policy in
mass parties like Britain’s Labor,
despite their small numbers.

It is convenient that Pierre Ber-
ton is the most famous ardent na-
tionalist of his time, quite possibly
a personification of the Zeitgeist of
Canuckness, and also the head of
the national writer’s union, which
opposes free trade.

I'm not saying this is illegal or
even wrong. A guy with political
views is bound to be drawn to
organizations that reflect his own
opinions.

{t’s just that, if I feel differently,
why should J run with the pack?

i happen to think that Canada
really has no intelligent long-range
choice than to enter into the most
liberalized trade agreement possi-
ble with the United States.
Economically, it is like being
allowed in bed with Dolly Parton.

It seems to be that much Gif not
all) nationalism is ‘‘little Canada-
isin’? maybe even outright
xenophobia, Bastern Canadians
seem more prone lo this because
they have a more Fully-developed
sense of being part of the Cana-
dian power structure.

Westerners as a whole feel less
attached (o the central axis for the
simple reason that we arc less at-
tached. When two West Coast
writers quit a Toronto-based
writers’ union over an issue like
free trade, there are fairly fun-
damental attitudes and principles
involved.

Centralism versus opportunity,
for instaice ©
GR Ws

‘CANADIAN |
m» CLOSET —
SHOPS

your Career in

Dom ne oe = kt
Lanascape Hortic
Starts at Capilano College

Applications are now being accepted for the
Applied Landscape Horticulture Certificate
Program. This 8-month, full-time practical program
begins Sept. 7, 1988.

Training includes:

® landscape and grounds installation

e landscape and grounds maintenance
nursery and greenhouse production

For further information and an interview
appointment, please call 984-4990.

Capilano
2055 Purcell Way
North Vancouver, B.C.

college

RUG & FURNITURE CLEANING
SUMMER SALE

HURRY - LIMITED TIME ONLY!

SAVE 20%
CARPET CLEANING

Dan's exclusive truck-mounted carpet
cleaning restores pile beauty and
removes deep-down destructive GRIT.

SAVE 20%
UPHOLSTERY CLEANING

Guaranteed cleaning brightens colours
by removing soil — and no shrinkage!

SAVE 20%
AREA RUG CLEANING

Experts hand clean fine oriental
rugs for guaranteed cleaning.

FOR A FREE IN-HOME ESTIMATE CALL:

984-9151
ane Ges

RUG & FURNITURE CLEANING
1463 HUNTER ST., NORTH VAN.

fe]
VISA"

Daily till 5:00 p.m., Saturday till 2:00 p.m.
The North Shore’s Finest Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner