A4 - Sunday, October 9, 1983 - North Shore News

strictly personal

THERE ARE A few guys
whose political careers | used
to cover as a young reporter
who are now on the payroll
of the Canadian Senate.

There’s Joe Guay, a
former mayor of St.
Boniface, who used to take
me into his office and feed
me skutthebutt about coun-
cillors he didn’t like.

He'd slyly set me up to
write a story in the paper that
would make him look good.

Joe wasn't an unusual
politician. In fact, he was
normal to a fault. He loved
publicity because it increased
his power. And to love
publicity, you've gotta have a
robust ego.

This is not to knock ego.
Joe Guay didn’t get to be
mayor of St. Boniface (after
all, the biggest French-
speaking bastion outside of
Quebec and the burial place

Big pay-offs from

by Bob Hunter

Which way reform?

of Louis Riel) without having
a healthy appreciation of
himself and his own talents.

Was he a_ self-serving
human being? Well, naturai-
ly! That’s no cmme. That’s
life.

The point is, there’s no
particularly logical reason for
Joe to be a Senator except
that he joined the Liberal
party, you see. Put in his
dues. Did his partisan thing.

And took his payoff: A
job that hands him $48,600 a
year, a tax-free allowance of
$7,900 and which provides an
office and secretary and free
train and plane travel.

After he retires at age 75,
he’ll get a pension the rest of
his life that amounts to 75 per
cent of his Senator’s salary.

You did well! for yourself,
Joe.

Congratulauons.

There are a couple of other

guys | remember. One was
Gil Molgat. | used to see him
around the Press Club in
Winnipeg, hustling reporters
and editors in the hope of
keeping his name in print as
often as possible.

Gil was leader of the
Manitoba Liberal Party at
that stage.

Now, [| notice, he’s a

Senator. Too.

In fact, he’s heading up a
committee looking into the
quesnion of Senate reform.

I find it funny peculiar that
there are so many Senators in
favor of Senate reform. It’s
like wolves ail howling in
favor of vegetarianism.

And then, of course,
there’s beloved Senator Ray
Perrault.

I would never knock Ray.
For one thing, it’s” un-
fashionable to kick guys with
white hair — as it should be!

prevention efforts

Letter tells story of success

{lt MAY take ber a while to grow tnto » tall fireman's outfit,
bat students like Paula at Fromme Elemcutary and other
schools are findhiag ow how they cas fight flre

IF AN ounce of preven-
tion is worth a pound of
cure, add another ounce
to the prevention side of
the North Shore fire de-
partments’ efforts.

Today marks the start of
Fire Prevention Weck and
departments in North and
West Vancouver are going all
out to spread the message

Indications are that the
message is starting tO get
through

Sux days ago, North Van
District fire department
received a letter from | ynn
Valley resident Cathie
Phillipson

In af, she related an ing
dent where a cloud of black
smoke rising from a neigh
bor’s yard sent het running to
telephone the department

The only problem was that
the emergency number writ
ten on the corner of a bulletin
board wasn't legible

“Po yelled to my two
children, ages sin and caghe,
to tell me the fire cmergency
number and they both said
wmmediaicly 985 2525." she
wtotec

The children knew the
oumber insGaactively, she told
“and when |
talked to them hater they told
me they remembered the
number from the Mt Do Bee
show at “hool last

the firemen

ther
ycar

Hurrah for the fantasts
yob you all dot conchuided
Phillhpson “Keep ap the tre
mendous work you dot”’

That. as much as anything.
shows the vatuc of Ftre Pre
vention Week and the year
round cfforts of fire depart
ments ino North and West
Vancouver at cducating the
publ and keeping usa icady
to deal with fire

MORE AB

But also, he’s such a temp-
ting target, you might say,
that there are really no points
to be gained.

Suffice to say, Ray’s only
obvious qualification for life-
time payola courtesy of the
public purse is the fact that
he labored mightily for the
Liberal Party.

In order to avoid having
the entire institution burned
down by the outraged masses
long ago, the Liberals have
wisely appointed enough
Tories and so-called
‘‘independents’’ to the
Senate to make it look at
least vaguely representative.

The question one has to
ask oneself about the Senate
is this: Why are Ray and Gil

Now is the time
to plant your bulbs
for spring

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bag
and Joe there, and not a
single famous scientist,
humanist, artist, medical OPEN SUNDAYS
- ;
philosopher? through October 10am - 5pm

Aren't these the people we
should be sending to the
Senate to give serious ‘‘sober
second

eae WES VAN FLORIST
legalistic, partisan, dogmatic ao
and often dictatorial legisla- 1821 Marine Drive, West Vancouver

Sorry - no delivery on these items

tion routinely pushed 922-4171 922-3968
through the House of ; = &
Commons?

If the second thoughts are
left to Ray and Gil and Joe, |
mean, what do you expect?

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