Leadership integrity erodin

WHATEVER happened
to credibility, integrity
and honour?

Whatever happened to the
respect and high regard we
used to possess for our lead-
ers?

When I was a kid, mv
father told me about honour.
He said it was the one thing
aman should never give up.
Inherent in that piece of
advice, was the necessity to
always tell the truth. Ina
long ago Crime &
Punishment columa, |
deseribed the “old fella” as
the man Diogenes was look-
ing for, so honest was he.

But in addition to his
honesty (I remember him
once .rying to puta dime,
retur cd to him while using a
pay phone, back into the
phone and getting frustrated
with his inability to convince
the operator that he wasn't
trying to call anyone) he held
politicians such as former
Prime Minister Lester
Pearson in high esteem. Why?
Because he felt they had hon-
our,

He respected the law and
those who enacted, enforced
and adjudicated it. Their
integrity, in his eves, was
absolute.

The “old tella” died a few
years back and it is just as
well F suppose. What might
he have made from the
shameful actions of the Glen
Clark government?

Unfortunately, as disgrace-
ful as Clark is, he has not cor-
nered the market on dishon-
our. There no longer seems
to be 2 price paid tor dishon-
esty. Truth has been replaced
by spin. All for the greater
good apparently. It seems to
matter not what you de as
long as you don’t get caught.

The premier told us he
had balanced not one, but
two budgets, to get clected
in 1996, But evo weeks ago,
after the NDP tabled its
cighth successive budget
drowning in red ink, he
remained in office.

Ron Parks said the NDP
lied about its involvement in
the unsuccessful recall cam-
paigns in Prince George and
Skeena. But there Glen sits,
still in power.

Dimitrios Pilarinos? Just a
guy from the acighbourhood
whose kids play with his chil-
dren. Well, not exactly, as it
turns out.

But Clark’s still there,
despite the spectre of being
invalved ia an RCMP investi-
zation. Despite the unprece-

tA

dented search of his home
and office by police with a
search warrant, he still clings
to the levers of power.

Clearly, he has no shame.

And, untortunately, it’s
not just our political leaders
who have fost their sense of
honour. Apparently it now
even affects Supreme Court
Justices.

When Madame Justice
L’Heureux-Dube took the
unprecedented step of criti-
cizing Alberta Judge McLung
in the top court's review of
the Ewanchuk case, she
showed her feminist colours.

Not that being a feminist
is a bad thing, it was the
wearing of it on her sleeve
that startled watchers of the
normally conservative court.

REAL Women of Canada
complained to the Judicial
Council about the position
L’Heureux-Dube took and
suggested this was because
she was a former member of
the feminist activist group,
the International Federation
of Women Lawyers (FIDA).

The Judicial Council was
investigating the complaint
and asked the jurist the ques-
tion.

L'Heurcux-Dube wrote a
letter to the council saying:

crime and

r
punishment

mailbox

“With respect to the
{nternational Federation of
Women Lawyers, Fam not
now, nor have I ever been, to
the best of my recotlection,
affiliated with this organiza-
tion.”

Now, REAL Women have
obtained a document under
the federal Freedom of
Information legislation which
lists L’Heureux-Dube, who
was a Superior Court Justice
in Quebec at the time in
198), as the Canadian vice-
president of FIDA. Nor just a
member mind you, but the
national vice-president of the
organization. Evidently, the
experience was so unfulfilling
the position slipped her
mind.

With that, the integrity of
no lesser a body than the
Supreme Court of Canada
has been compromised.

Tt seems we've come to
expect our leaders will lie to
us and we accept it instead of
screaming from the parapets.

We no Jonger Jook up te
those in positions of power
and influence. Instead we
give them tonguc-in-check
pet names like “Lyin” Brian”
and “Glenacchio.”

A police chief takes part in
a public campaign against
drinking and driving then
promptly gets hoisted by his
own petard at a roadcheck.
Instead of apologizing to the
public for an appalling lack of
judgment, he tries to mini-
mize the transgression by say-
ing he only had three glasses
of wine over a several hour
period and was “shocked”
when he blew a warning on a

roadside screening device.

Only an idiot would
believe that possible, but
instead of calling him on it,
the media report it as gospel
and the public shrug at the
spectre of another fallen icon.

Judges, politicians, police
chiefs, leaders are all appar-
ently afflicted by the same
shamelessness. The type of
people my father used to
point to as life examples for
me to emulate. What now do
we tell our children as we try
to instil] important values in
them?

We can’t even use sports
heroes as role models any
Jonger. Most of today’s ath-
letes have rap sheets in the
news to go along with their
performance records.

In a week that had the
greatest hockey player to ever
lace on a pair of skates retire
with his integrity and dignity
intact, we also saw the most
recent arrest of basebail star
Darryl Strawberry for cocaine
possession and trving to
solicit a prostitute. In L.A.,
court jester Dennis Rodman
finally wore his welcome out.

When {, like most people,
watched Gretzky's farewell
splash from New York, I
couldn’ help but think that
we needed the type of quali-
ties he demonstrated this past
week in the people who
aspire to assume the public
trust. He handled the whole
thing with ease, humility and
soul-baring honesty.

A class act who will be
missed. Unlike the rest of
thens, who won’.

— lknight@direct.ca

Thief stole newcomer’s dreams

Dear Editor:

This is 3 great community,
but it is rowing in the wrong
direction.

Taxes against actions? Or
actions for taxes?

I know everyone is con-
cerned about casino scandals,
Lions Gate Bridge sepairs,
ferry fiascos and city construc-
ticns. But what about all
those robberies and thefts
happening in the North
Shore? Are the authorities
getting blind? What is going
on with the police?

In the North Shore
News, nine out of 10 police
reports are theft or robbery-
related crimes.

T have lived less than three
months in North Vancouver

and already someone has bro-
ken into our building and
stole my bike.

Tam from another country
and I brought just a few
things and many dreams. One
of the things was my bike and
one of the dreams was securi-
ty.

” The incident was reported
to the police but I never saw
any kind of alert or report in
any news media. Are they hid-
ing, information?

I know [ have not paid
enough taxes yet to say what
should be done with taxes; I
know that Tam just another
foreigner trying to start 3 new
life here; I know I aim just a
newcomer full of dreams, but
Tam also a good person.

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And while I am writing
this, some stupid thief is itee
out there trying to break into
someone else’s home or
threatening someone with a
bottle of gasoline and 2
lighter.

My bike, my vehicle to
infinite hours of freedom and
pleasure, is gone and with it a
suitcase full of dreams and
memories.

Alex Laguardia
North Vancouver
alexlaguardia@usa.net

Wednesday, April 21

, 1999 — North Shore News - 7

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