6 - Sunday, February 4, 1990 - North Shore News INSIGHTS 5,000 bad ways to pick a future prime minister THE BATTLE for John Turner’s tattered cloak, which reaches its climax June 23 at the Liberal leadership conven- tion in Calgary, is cause to reflect once again on the folly of these circuses. The some 5,000 delegates from Liberal associations across Canada will, by definition, be totally unrepresentative of — and non- accountable to — the electorate as a whole. Yet this unashamedly partisan mob will pick the man or woman in line to be our next prime minister, just as their erring predecessors close Turner six years ago. In America, from which we im- ported the ritual, the Constitution makes the party leadership con- vention considerably less danger- stand from experience the art of the possible in politics. Today’s Liberal caucus in Ot- tawa is far better equipped to decide whether Jean Cretien, Paul Martin Jr. or Sheila Copps should succeed John Turner than the self-serving, rootin’, tootin’, placard-waving fans in the Calgary stadium this June will be. That way, too, candidates wouldn’t have to spend $1 mil- lion-pius in order to compete — which might considerably improve the quality of the available crop! ous — due to the strict separation of legislative and executive powers. The election of an American party leader by several thousand kindred political souls does NOT put him tion of West Van's Helen in direct line for the presidency of | McDonald, who died last Monday, the United States or even for its ~ 39 cabinet. In Canada’s parliamentary democracy a party leader enshrin- ed by a group equivalent to 0.05 per cent of the country’s voters — and all of the same party — can be running the nation within fess than a year. It’s like having the mailing room staff elect a corporation's next Chief Executive Officer. Under the Canadian system in- herited from the British ‘Mother of Parliaments’’ the only people properly qualified to choose the party leader are the people ac- countable themselves to the overall electorate — the party’s parliamentary caucus. These are the people who have their fingers constantly on the pulse of the voters. These are the people who know at first hand what's needed of a leader in the day-to-day turmoil of government. These are the people who under- kak THE MOST ACCURATE descrip- JOHN Turner ...delegates erred. “F’ for formula F EDUCATION Minister Tony Brummet is genu- inely concerned about the state of education in B.C., he will heed the unequivocal ‘‘thumbs down’’ response given to his ministry’s School Finance °90 funding formula. Under the plan, Victoria will provide basic educa- tional costs on a fee-per-pupil basis. School districts wishing to provide extra programs for their students would be required to approach their district’s tax- payers and have the added funding approved through referendums. Critics point to the failure of similar systems in the United States, saying they create ‘‘education ghettos’’ in which less-affluent districts fail to approve the addi- tional funding necessary to offer enhanced educational programs. But Brummet says he hasn’t examined the system in the States and doesn’t feel the need to do so. While Brummet’s plan will make local school board’s more financially accountable to the districts they serve, it will also penalize poorer areas of the province, which will never get richer if their children aren’t given the best possible tools to allow them to reach their maximum potential. Technology has made the world smailer, but the amount of information available to us ever larger. Our education system must be allowed to expand its capa- would probably be ‘‘contemporary Victorian’’ — in the best sense of both the words. Born Helen Gray 78 years ago in Port Credit, Ont., her ‘‘contem- porary”’ side included, among other things, a long and rewarding love affair with golf, an air pilot's licence and a keen, competitive business mind. Had she not mar- ried Herb McDonald and moved with him in 1959 to West Van, she would likely have wound up as president of her family’s firm, the St. Lawrence Starch Co. The “Victorian” side was a blend — all too rare nowadays -— of serenity, graciousness and gentle humor which one associates with the values of a more leisurely and dignified age. Together, these two dissimilar aspects of her character melded into the unique and un- forgettable personality mourned today by her many friends. wet WRAP-UP: Good for North Yan Chamber of Commerce which voted Thursday to tell both North Van councils they should stop clos- ing down secondary suites and, in- stead, legalize them all FAST ... Salute the kids of West Bay Elementary who raised $1,000 for the Children’s Hospital by doing household chores under contract with their parents ... And hopefuls for the provincial NDP nomina- tion in the new Lonsdale riding, including David Schreck, strut their stuff at 7:30 p.m. Wednes- day, Feb. 7, at an all-candidates panel in Queen Mary School. anak WRIGHT OR WRONG: Every story bas three sides — yours, mine and the facts (thanks, Rene Fumoteau!). iv Vices fits Gases. keg NEWS photo Mike WWakefleld JOBS WELL 1x:NE...Yolanda Dobrogowski of the Children’s Hospital (centre) receives “est Bay students’ donation from Student Council president Tyler Schramm (right) and vice-president Sarah Jane Bird (left). See column item. THE NEW GOVE WARNING LABELS ON THE PACKS 1 CAN LIVE WITH... BUT. MAKING US REDESIGN THE PACKS... iy Xs BS “ar CMI OTS Ay BES ay eS EAL Publisher Associate Editor Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewart North Shore News, lounded in 1969 as an mdepencent suburban Pewspapet and quahtied under Schedule 111 Paragraph Il of the Excise Tax Act. 1s publsned each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd and distributed to every door an the North Shore Second Class Mail Registranon Number 3885 rf 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 Display Advertising Classthed Advertising Newsroom Orstribution ae Subscriptions 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver. B.C. MEMBER V7M 2H4 E ABE bilities province-wide if it is to produce well-rounded, knowledgable children who are ready to meet the evermore complex challenges of the future. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver. $25 per §9,170 (average. 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