THE Canadian Broadcasting Corp. hasn’t had an easy year, Neither Rave its faithful adherents. First came a lengthy strike thar went on almost as long as the war in Kosovo did. And then, just as the CBC began gracing us once more with familiar program- ming and faces, ir was time for its summer hiatus. For an institution that is supposedly fighting for its life because of low ratings — that is if such a concept applies to a public broad- caster —- the CBC was doing precious little to woo the public who pays its way. Fora public roadcaster, the CBC is plency commer- cial. For some reason Canadians always conipare the CBC with American commercial stations, maybe because the number of ads during its broadcasts is no - different from that on anv other commercial channel. _ But we ought to be com- aring our beloved national . broadcaster with the American PBS, which does not sport advertisements, nor, seemingly, suffer strikes. In fairness to the Mother _Corp., the neighbouring PBS is pervaded by a similar flaccid, liberal groupthink that earmarks so many areas of CB rogrammin: 1 and out, cic employees seem oblivious to this characterization, and even deny i its possibility. -L received an e-mail from : a CBC producer who was . kind enough to refer me to a number of interesting “guests her show used to ratchet up regularly, with _’ the proviso that I let her sec -the column written using her sources. When I got back to her, _ the producer suggested I try “my and at penning some : radio-friendly commentary, “and petition my local CBC radio station with it. I had, of course, heard The rewards ‘of a. caring relation- ship can become lost in the frustration of “misunderstanding. This isan interactive course which offers. very specific and practical skills to ‘help partners become -active. -rather than’ re-active agents in their relation- ship. Based on Harville Hencrix’s theory. of Imago Aelationship Therapy, this group will focus on listening skills,- family of origin issues,” anger management and conftict resolution. . For couples who have been together for at least one year and are committed to conscious and loving communication. 8 sessions beginning Sept. 29, 1999 until Nov.17, 1999. Opm-9:30pm Location: Family Services of the North’ Shore’ West Vancouver fair comment the lullabies on che Early Edition, and could simply not envision myself ever writing snd then droning a sleepy CBC- friendly com- ment about the need to child-proof the city’s Jungle Gyms, or ban Chanel No. 5 because of the plight of the chemically challe onged. Surprised at the sugges- tion, Pasked said producer whether my opinions were nat a little too strong for the soft CBC, “CBC soft!” The shrick practically bellowed through cyberspace. It transpired thar this hard-working pro- ducer thought the approach at the Corp. both edgy and critical. “What about the pro- gram Big Life with Danie! Richler?” she asked, alluding to its cultural savvy. I suppose that if you think every permutation or aimless meandering of the human psyche is something to laude blithely and uncriti- cafly, then yeah, the show is coal. Furthermore, my inter- locutor insisted, it’s not pos- sible for a corporation with so many thousands of employees across a huge and diverse country “to control, hoodwink, co-opt every cass act | employer into a group: think.” Well, who said anything about a conspiracy; that's ludicrous. Besides reflecting the small “)” liberal philoso- phy of the urban media, the CBC, | guess, simply reflects the wish in Canadian society to leave untouched the cor- nerstones of Canadian iden- tity. Ironically I am a CBC fan. Newsworid and The National are fine programs. T even have a soft spot for North of 60, which is, in mood, as depressing as an Ingmar Bergman saga. But when tough guy Dominic Da Vinci can’t do cop for a full hour without sneaking a snide disquisition on the merits of heroin injection sites, or some other social-work initiative, then i switch to Law and Order. “Telling Canadian sto- ries” is a relatively new CBC mantra. This means that, like it or not, the CBC is going to bring, you sugar- coated stories of triumph and tribulations. Only the CBC’s universe is populated with the victim and the oppressed. The hero is invariably the erson who sheds the shack- les of denial and joins one or the other 12-step groups. Or she may be somconc who has dedicated a life to raising awareness about a hitherto unheard of disease; or a member of a native community — the regular subject of Rough Cuts — ready to bring a religious 21 pt Sefety check. 15 minutes - FAST! Inctuces up to 5 litres of 10w30 Quakerstate ment 282 Marine rive 980-9115 Mon-Sat 8:00e7-6:00prn, Sun. 9:00arn-5:00pm Expires Sept 22/99 Ce ED Sree Ge SE a SS ee ee ee DRS. KATHLEEN PERRY, ALISON PURVIS & LUCY MCSHANE ; Family Physicians wish to announce the relocation of their office to Suite 301 - 132 E 14th St. . North Vancouver New Telephone No. 987-7735 Office Hours Monday to Friday 9-5 pm By appointment only. We Apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to our patients & look forward to seeing you in our new location. order to its fiscal knees with a class action suit alleging sexual abuse in residential schools. Recently the CBC's grav- jration to the histrionic and the searimental brought us the lic-ridden story of Rajmonda, the Kosovar girl and KLA soldier fighting to avenge the death ofa sister who was alive and well and living in Kosovo. There are certain pre- cepts the CBC never ques- tions. For sure, it will tet the dissenting voices be heard and pay lip service to the maxint of airing both sides of the debate, But invariably the CBC will never question the fun- daments oF the welfare state, or of exorbitant taxation, or of native self-detcrmination and treaty rights. You simply can’t remain on the side of the angels and atiow your mind to ponder the absence of legal rigour in the landmark Delgamuukw decision. To top it all, the icon Peter Mansbridge can no longer remember how to conjugate the verb to “lie” (horizontal), having announced some weeks back that someone was “laying” rather than fying on the ground. On his heels followed Gloria Macarenko, who, having made national TV, announced the initiation of some “alternate” instead of alternative program. Not such a class act any longer is the CBC. — qnome@attcanada.nct Banked sick days a huge employment cosi Dear Editor: “Lost work cost placed at $10 billion” is the headline over a news report by — Eric Beauchesne on the latest statis- tics on work absenteeism in Canada. He cites evidence of growing, stress as the Icading factor and points to the public sector as leaders in this escalat- ing problem. I suggest that those in the public sector taking sick days now are deing every Canadian taxpayer a big favour. The real concern should be those hav- ing the ability in management contraces and collective agree- ments to “bank” sick davs not used in a budget year. This is a significant and rapidly growing unfunded fia- bility for taxpayers. Under accounting practices followed in the public sector, the cost associated with accrued sick days is recognized in the year in which they are taken. This means that expens- es required for temporary replacement. staff as well as salary expense for the absent worker are charged to current operating budgets. There is no accrued funding to cover liabil- ities. For example, if “banked” days taken by school teachers exceeds the budget provisions for teachers-on-call in a given year, monies must be taken from other accounts to cover this cost or incur a deficit. This may explain the perpetual shortfalls in education fundin where more than 90% of bud- gets are spent on salaries. Municipalities and school districts cannot operate at a deficit. But they have no con- trof. “Banked” sick days are a significant hidden expense that will be paid out in future dol- lars at a higher cost than today. Many may be paid in separa- tion and carly retirement pack- ages as we have seen reported vy the North Shore News for departing executives in munici- al government, the schuci ard and local hospital. This is not just 2 labour contract issue. Most public sector employ- ees consider this an important pare of their total compensa- tion package, and weil_under- stand its future value. Perhaps this explains efforts by public sector unions to establish stress as an ilfness for purposes of benefit entitlements. The $10 billion for sick days taken pales next to the payouts expected by healthy. “bankers” in all levels of the public sector —— federal, provincial, regional and municipal, but especialiy in health care and education. Little wonder these are con- stant political spending priori- ties. Accounting practices must be changed for accrued sick day benefits in the public sec- tor. The challenges _ facing Canadian youth are daunting enough without this financial liability, Reporters such as Eric Beauchesne should be looking beyond the figures they are handed, and King tougher questions about these unfund- ed liabilities that are “off the books.” David B. Pink North Vancouver FABRIC & LEA! SALE . 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