Douc COLLINS © get this straight « iF THERE'S one thing the politicians hate, it’s the public. And if there’s another thing they hate, it’s freedom of speech. They would prefer to talk to one another. Chuck Cook thought the bill was great. He provided the quote of the year, in fact, when he said the bil) made elections ‘‘easicr to police.” The NCC raised $300,000, fought this outrage in court, and Mr, Justice Donald Medhurst of Alberta found it to b Two events underscore that. Onc is the attempt to revive a gag- law that excludes nasty public Notices at election time from critics like the National Citizens Coalition (NCC); the other is the brush-off given to the Immigra- tion Association of Canada by those twerps of senators. eget ef ‘\if you spent a few bucks to put an ad in the paper or stick up a notice on Marine Drive saying that Chuck Cook and Mary Collins were bums and should be sent to Siberia, not Parliament, into the jolly old clink you might go."’ First things first: In 1983, all three federal parties put a bill through the House in a record 40 minutes. It was Bill C-169, which provided for up to five years in the pokey plus a $5,000 fine for any citizen who spent money to support or oppose any party or candidate during an election without the permission of. that party or candidate. So if you spent a few bucks to put an.ad in the paper or stick up a notice on Marine Drive saying that Chuck Cook and Mary Col- lins were bums and should be sent to Siberia, not Parliament, into the the jolly old clink you might go. ’ This ukase was born, in part at least, because of rude and nasty political placards that the NCC plastered all over Toronto. One would have thous: chat the watchdog media is, the Ottawa press gallery would ‘:ave seized on this outrage. But no, they were too busy copying one another's stories, and it wasn’t until the NCC sounded the alarm that we heard anything about it. | AIRPORT PANKING ITE unconstitutional. Brian Baloncy claimed, sheepishly, that he and his party had been ‘‘asleep at the switch’’ when the bill was passed, The Iegislation remained on the books but was never proclaimed. And now a new amendment to the Elections Act is in the works that docs not remove the gag law. The NCC is raising hell. Mean- while, | wonder if Mr. Cook has any more quotes to offer, x * * About the Immigration Associa- tion of Canada: This is one of the groups that oppose our disastrous immigration policies. It has some notable peo- ple on its board, including the Hon, J.V. Clyne, and commis- sioned a Gallup Poll that showed how 78 per cent of us don’t want the country flooded by Third World immigrants, After a lot of lobbying, the association was invited to present a brief to the Senate Committee on Bills C-55 and C-84, the new refugee legislation, It was put together by experts, including Mr. PARK & ELY $G5e.. day 8311 Sea Island Way, Richmond BC. (next to Segal Furniture) Express Shuttle — 24 hirs., 7 days 500 CAI Bonus Points for 3 days parking 278-6511 Kim Abbott, a former Immigra- tion Department director who has blown the whisde on what is happening. Moments before the bricf was due to be heard, committee chair- man Joan Neiman said it would not be heard. She would accept only a clause-hy-clause discussion of the bills. Discussion of their broad impact was not on. That was the first Mr. Abbott & Co. had heard of any such limita- tion. It had not applied to friendly academic and church witnesses, and he wondered why it was being used only against his group. To understand the plot here you have to know that the last thing the Liberals in the Senate want is any lessening of the influx from China, Hong Kong, South East Asia or Timbuctoo. They lust to keep this legislation off the books until after the next election, Then, if they and their NDP buddies win, it will be dumped, and to hell with what the great unwashed want. You can do something about this by joining the Immigration Association of Canada. Its address is: P.O. Box 1515, Station ‘B’, Ottawa, Ont. KIP SRS a ok Ok If you are interested in hearing the other side of the South Africa issuc, a meeting is to be held tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in the boardroom at the Hotel Van- .couver, Professor Angus Gunn of West Van will talk on ‘post apar- theid options,"’ and I will discuss the movie ‘‘Cry Freedom'"’ and other atrocities @ Correction Notice THE | ANCHOR IN The Anchor In ad that ran in the North Shore News Friday March 18 gave an incorrect telephone number. The correct number is 980-9508 9 ~ Wednesday, March 23, 1988 - North Shore News N. SHORE HEALTH COSTS Victoria ponders inequities SOCIAL CREDIT Finance Minister Mcl Couvelier says acab- inet committee is currently con- sidering the disproportionately high costs the North Shore Union Board of Health (NSUBH) pays for preventative care. In a letter to North Vancouver City Council, Couvelier said the health ministry has ‘‘developed a proposal to eliminate this dispari- ty,”? and that a cabinet committee on social policy is reviewing it. “‘T can assure you that the con- cerns which you expressed on behalf of the North Shore Union Board of Health will be taken into DRAPES stent LAS account in any decision made," said Couvelier. The NSUBH now gets the lowest funding percentage from the Ministry of Health of all the 22 provincial and metropolitan health departments. The provincial gov- ernment provides only 2.5 per cent of the total cost of the North Shore's preventative care programs while other metropolitan boards such as Burnaby, which services about the same number of people, gets 36.4 per cent from the pro- vince. Richmond receives 47.2 per cent and services half the population of the North Shore. 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