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8 - Friday, November 8, 1985 - North Shore News

THERE HASN’T been such a furious fluttering

in the media dovecotes since your man Doug was
{ given a lead medal by the government broadcast
bureaucrats for saying that the fem Media
Watch, if they wanted to be equal with men in all
things, could in some future war get their bodies
to the front line, where they could be raped by
the Russians. If the Russians would have them.

I refer, of course, to the
sighin’-and a-sobbin’ that's
been going on this week
over Gary Bannerman’s
statements on CKNW

| about the Indians.

On April 3 of this year, it
seems, Bold Bannerman
suggested that the Indians
were something less. than
perfect. According to the
Canadian Radio and Televi-
sion Communications criti-
que I’ve framed on my of-
fice wall, he hinted strongly
that many of them ‘vere not
the kind of people you'd
like to have living next door
to you. Pity | missed that
program.

To the cheers of most of
his callers, apparently, he

s said that they weren't fit for
) self-government, that they
f had<he highest tates of in-
cect, crime and alcoholisin,
J that they falsely claim they
have been ‘‘screwed by
history”’,. that. they have
privileges other. Canadians
‘don’t have, and that what
they do with these things is

|.that “the. brother has a

child with the sister’.

Bold Bannerman had
much else-to say.
“government?’’ he - asked,
-““where you send a cheque
for $300,000 to the chief
and ‘say ‘Do with it
whatever you want’? That

B’kind of self-government

: will lead ‘to the worst kind

i of crime imaginable. Even -
the: honest: chief will’ buy.

$300,000. worth of beer.
The crooked’ one - will
| deposit it in the Bahamas.
' And Brian: Mulroney will
“say .we’ll. look after the
details later. Unbelievable,
f these people...”’.
There was more, but I
don’t have’ space for it all.

Let’s just say it was un-
complimentary and that the
silly CRTC got out its high
dudgeon and dumped all
over Bannerman and _ his
station. It found that his
“derogatory generaliza-
tions’? were ‘‘completely
unacceptable’ ‘and had
“the regrettable, effect of
reinforcing racist prejudices
and arousing ill-will
towards the Indian people
in general...

“The trouble
with broadcasting
is that station
owners depend
on government
bureaucrats for
their licences and
therefore for
their business
lives ....°”’

“Self 6

The broadcast, said these
New Puritans, was ‘‘ill-

_ advised and irresponsible’’,

and Bannerman should go
wash his mouth out, sort of
thing. In the meantime,
hold your hands out, you
naughty CKNW boys, ac-
cept this most solemn cen-
sure, and report back in
three months showing that
you have changed your
ways.

The incident proves once

Doug Collins

® get this straight ¢

again that in common with
most of the stuffed-shirt in-
stitutions of Wimpland, the
CRTC has not the faintest
idea what
speech is all about.

In the U.S., the constitu-
tion states that ‘‘Congress
shall pass no laws that limit
the freedom of the press’’.
It follows, therefore, that
the U.S. Federal Com-
munications: Commission

can’t pass any either --

unlike the CRTC.

Our own so-called con- |

stitution, however, is
almost worthless as far as
free speech is concerned. It
may be of some use to pan-

sy professors but is of none.

to honest rednecks. Partia-
ment can make any excep-
tions it likes. Hence the hate
laws.

So far, no government
body regulates the printed
word in Canada in the way
the CRTC regulates the
spoken word -- although
some people are working on
it. As I pointed out last
year, Winnipeg columnist
Peter Warren also said
some pretty tough things
about Indians, and the
Manitoba Human Rights
Commission tried to nail

him. He told them to get |

lost, went to court, and won
hands down.

The trouble with broad- {

casting is that station
owners depend on govern-
ment bureaucrats for their
licences and therefore for
their business lives also. So
they crawl.
manager Ted Smith is
already sitting in sackcloth

. and ashes.

As for Bold Bannerman,
he should do what I did in
the CKVU-Media Watch

affair (which the CRTC was [

kind enough to mention in
this latest decision). He
should'tell the CRTC to go
and get stuffed. He
wouldn’t get on the CKNW
air again, but it’s important
to have as much fun as
possible before one goes to

* the big broadcast in the sky.

freedom of |

CKNW |

Be a newsmaker

HAVE YOU ever wanted to run a newspaper?
Now's your chance to give input to North Shore
News publisher Peter Speck and the News staff at

an information evening
November 13.

“We're an integral part of
our community and this is
an excellent opportunity for
the people of North and
West Vancouver to ensure
that their activities have a
better chance of being visible
— from Horseshoe Bay to

to be held Wednesday,

Deep Cove,"’ Speck says.

The evening will be of
particular interest to com-
munity groups, local sports
teams, and those who want
to get their events across to
News readers,

It will be an opportunity

to meet the people behind
the stories and photos, as
well as a way to improve
your press release’s chances
of publication.

Come to Salon A of the
International Plaza, Wed-
nesday Nov. 13 at-7:30 p.m.
and bring your questions
and input.

To help us keep track of
the numbers, please register
your attendance by calling
Janice Silver, 985-2131.

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