4 - Friday, August 19, 1994 - North Shore News Collins looks back after 10 years with the News Controversial opinions fuel for praise and damnation THINGS ARE going good, as Ernest Hemingway, that master of English, might hav. put it ungrammatically. (For effect, you know.) By Doug Collins News Coltantist Here J am with 10 years at the North Shore News under my belt and still going strong, like Johnny Walker in those old Scotch whisky ads that you may be too young to know about. . I'm still breathing. J even have some friends left. That I'm still scribbling surprises me. for there have been myriad attempts to put me out of business. And my political career lasted only 10 hours. It was in January 1984 — Orwell's year ~~ that | picked up the phone and asked publisher Peter Speck whether he needed a new boy. 1 explained that my contract with CJOR was up and that I was being dumped, thanks to mysterious influences. “Come on over and see me,” he said. So I did. And got a free lunch. Plus a column. The first one appeared in February, and by April the demonstrations had started. Seventy-five earnest souls claiming to be the Aboriginal Support Committee paraded in front of the News. As far as | could make out there were no aboriginals among them. The Indians themselves either had too much sense to waste their time or couldn't have cared less dbout me. The earnest souls wanted Doug fired. But all he-had done was to state that if the Indians had their way with land claims, Stanley Park would be given over to mid- dens again and that the best thing that ever happened to them was the arrival of their white oppressors. As Orwell's year progressed, so did the rage of our Big Brothers. New groups were formed. Something called The North Shore Coalition for a Fair Media took to the bar- in Coquitlam 1335 United Bivd. Tel.: 520-0800 # in Richmond 7811 Alderbridge Way, Tel.: 276-8777 NH. VANCOUVER . —N i coouiriam 7 2HD ARROWS BRIDGE POAT MARN BRIDGE SURRES FURNITURE rieades, The fem-dominated Media Wateh got into the act. Adiz Khaki of the Vancouver Race Relations Conunittee made his first appearance. The Coalition canvassed every major advertiser on the North Shore. suggesing that with a rotter like me appearing in the paper, advertising dollars could better he spent elsewhere. 1 considered joining the coalition niyself, since 1 too am fora fair media. But | decided against it because cats umong pigeons don’t go —- not if the pigeons can help it. The bate conminued. Brazen cad that | am, | gave evidence at the first Zundel trial in the interests of freedom of speech. Why? Because I didn't give a damn if Zundel was saying the Second World War didn’t take place at all, let alone the Holocaust. | wasn't going to hide when a guy was up for “spreading false news.” False news is one of the world's major industries. There’s more false news than frauds and if everyone who had spread false news were hauled into jail it would be a case Of all prisoners and no guards. It took nine years, but in the end the Supreme Court of Canada agreed with me. Take a bow, Doug, you bloody bigot. Time marched on. And so did the fuss, or fusses. Professor Robin Ridington took me to the press council. He thought 22 columns should never have been printed. The council threw him out. One demo in particular really thrilled me. The homos on the other side of the water gathered their skirts together, took the SeaBus, and marched up Lonsdale with anti-Collins banners. You never saw such a sight. Not even at Expo. Last year the sound of the enemy artillery got loud- er. Bill 33, the anti-free speech biil, was brought in and was dubbed the Kill Collins Act. As mentioned above, I'm still breathing. And judging by the letters to the editor am still being read. I count the last 10 years among the best years of my life. So here’s to the next 10. Officer fined for A NORTEL Vancouver ROMP constable was recently fined $500 after being found guilty of assaulting a@ man in Merritt. Const. Mike Lidstone was fined in Merritt provincial court on July 4. The ROMP constable was acquitted of another assault charge int connection with incidents that happened outside Merritt's Valnicola Hotel on Jan. 29. assault Lidstone was in: Merria for an all-police hockey tournament at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. The police officer was off- duty at the dime of the incidents. Lidstone is currently working in the North Vancouver RCMP’s community policing office. North Vancouver RCMP Insp. Jamie Graham said the Merritt incident was an extremely isolated occurrence. He said the detachment has full confidence in Lidstone. 10 MINUTE