~ .6— Sunday, December 14, 1997. ~ North Shore News north shore news VIEWPOINT Senate sobriety give credit where credit is due, a hearty pat on the back to the members of the Senate. On Thursday the Upper House stripped no-show specialist Andrew Thompson of the perks associated _ with holding a Senate seat. Named to the Senate in 1967 by then-Prime Minister Lester Pearson, Thompson has appeared in the Upper House just 12 times since 1990 — the year atten- dance records began being compiled. Thompson blames illness for his absence, and this is to be supported by the fact that he spends mest of his time in Mexico. Just the place to cure skin cancer, don’t you know. Cynics suggest that the Senate sought to discipline their no-show colleague only after a newspaper brought the dismal attendance record IE the spirit of the season and to to light. However, the public airing of sen- ator’s misdeeds has in the past not guaranteed that the members will “do the honorable thing.” Indeed, much of the citizenry’s dis- dain for the Senate results from years of ineffective behind-closed-doors dealings, cronyism and an arrogance bordering on outright contempt for the average Canadian. The Senate’s mandate is to provide “sober second thought.” In this spir- it, Cicero’s famous words hang on the chamber wall: “It is the duty of the nobles to oppose the fickleness of the multitudes.” Applause to every Senator who voted Thursday tc oppose the fickle- ness of the system and to exact the will of the multitudes on one very dishonorable man. AY FRIP To THE WEST WAS A Success. ONCE THEY MET ME IN PERSON, JHEY SEEMED ALMOST EAGER To SEE us GO! OVRICAT, 3 fe On voting right in Election ‘98 Defence To press time Friday, donations from over 2,000 News readers and irce spcech supporters to the fund stood at $144,816. Legal fees expended thus far by the News have already exceeded $200,000. All funds received will help defray rhe legal costs faced by the News in its battle with the Human Rights Tribunal over a complaint laid against the news- paper and its columnist Doug Collins by the Canadian jewish Congress. The hearing into the matter, which began on May 12, concluded on June 27. The decision from tribunal chairman Nitya Iyer _. .was handed down.on Nov, 12. Full coverage of "the decision appeared in the Nov. 14 News. “< yer found that Collins’ column was not hateful, but also ruled that, while the legislation under which the News was prosecuted infringes upon the Charter’s guarantee of free expression, it was constitutionally valid. Extra copies of the News’ Free Speech Supplement, which was originally published in the Aug. 20 News, are available at the News offices. Another excerpt from the thousands of respon- dents to the cause: ag “My husband and I were so pleased shat Doug Collins and the newspaper were found not guilty of hate literature, but it.was a pity that you conldn’t recoup your legal expen- ditures. We are enclosing a fourth donation to help towards the enormous expenses you are encountering.” — Trish and Bill Tomlinsen 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 Fund. — trenshaw@direct.ca narth shore Horth Shore News. founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualtied under Schedule 121, Paragrayy 111 of the Excise Tax A.2, is published nach Wednesday. Friday and Sunday by North Shore Froe Press Lid. and cismbuted to every door en the North ‘Shore. Canads Post Canadian Pubacabons Ma! Sales Product Agreement No 0087238. Marling rates avaityby: on request. Distribution Manager 886-1337 (124) Creative Services Manager 985-2131 (127) 64,582 (average cucuiation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) YOUR humble scribe, who’s not a Liberal and highly unlikely ever to become one, found himself in dubious political company last week: Gordon Campbell agreed with me. The Liberal leader believes 1998 will be an election year in B.C. So do I — as predicted in this column some 10 days aga. Fhe only remaining question being just how the 70%- plus of British Columbians panting to throw out the NDP rascals will actually vote. Despite his arrogant bluster Premier Glen Clark is on the ropes and knows it. The B.C. economy, which recently led all Canada, now trails the rest of the coun- try. Investment has nosedived. Youth unemployment is among the nation’s highest. The budget deficit — which the NDP falsely claimed to have eliminated in the May 1996 election — continues and the provincial debt grows by the minute. The books at BC Ferries are deep crimson, with passengers in open revolt against recent fare hikes thar will cost some regular commuters up to $1,000 a year — thanks largely to the govern- ment’s crazy infatuation with untested, yet-to-be-completed catamaran vessels. As health care and child services cry aloud for more funds, the NDP sinks over a quarter of a billion dollars into a basket- PETER SPECK hatiwal Publisher Hasran Resources Manager 985-2131 (101) 985-2131 (177) wc” Terry Potors Photography Manager 985-2131 (160) henson Classified Manager 986-6222 (202) Soug Foot Comptroiier $85-2131 (133) Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press Ltd, Ati sights reserved. case pulp mill because its riding’s MLA happens to be Deputy Premier Dan Miller. Over a further three-year period Glen Clark might gamble, under normal cir- cumstances, on his street smarts to help him squeak by — even maybe picking up the odd brownie point, as in the case of the salmon war. But he now faces two much more pressing dead- lines. By February it’s at least possible that the recall campaigns in Skeena : and Prince George North will oust Helmut Giesbrecht, Paul Ramsey or both — in the latter event effectively eliminating the NDP’s slim majority. Much as the premier may fume about the recall bids being “dirty politics” never envisaged by the recall legislation, he is clearly rattled by their potential. (For the record, incidentally, the recall act permits any reasons whatever for a recall cam- paign). But a few months farther down the 1998 road Jurks an even worse threat: the election fraud lawsuit organized by Kelowna businessman David Stockell, duc to be heard in B.C. Supreme Court by the fall. Three individual voters are seek- ing to have the 1996 elections of their NDP MLAs overturned on the grounds that the latrer committed fraud under the Election Act by representing the budget as being balanced when, in fact, it was in deficit. and you LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, full address & telephone number. VIA e-mail: trenshaw @ direct.ca Managing Editor 955-2131 (116) Gall Snelgrove General Ofice Manager 985-2131 (195) intemet- http://werw.nsnews.com Promotions Manager 985-2131 (218) For Clark, still more is at stake here than the possible loss of the three seats. The court can call on senior bureaucrats and even the premier himself to testify under oath abour who knew what, and when, about the true state of the 1996 budget, on which the NDP’s slim elec- tion victory hinged. With the prospect of his entire politi- cal career at stake in that witness box, Glen has the strongest of motives to call snap clection before the trial takes place —and while the sizable right-of-centre portion of the electoral opposition (Reform, Socreds, Tories) is in deep dis- array. Even if Wilf Hanni eventually proved to be che savior of B.C. Reform, the party is for the moment broke, its mem- bership decimated. There’s not a hope it can recover fast cnough for its supporters and their Socred/Tory pals to play any- thing but a spoiler role at an election looming within six months. So if their topmost priority is to boot out the NDP, they’ve only one choice in 1998; vore Liberal just this one time. Holding noses, if they must, for the greater good. Because once the Clark gang has been safely dumped in the garbage can of history, ANYTHING will again be possible in B.C.! oo0Q MANY HAPPY RETURNS of tomorrow, Dec. 15, to West Van Kiwanian Don Waddell ... More of the same Tuesday, Dec.16, to his fellow Kiwanian Michael Guard. O00 WRIGHT OR WRONG: To belittle is to be firtle. HOW TO REACH.US: Administration Display Advertising Real Estate Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroesn Distribution Display & Real Estate Fax Michael Becker - News Editor 985-2131 (114) Andrew McCredie - Sports/Community Editor 985-2131 (147)