NDP land registry opposed

Dear Editor:

Numerous articles have appeared in the
North Shore News during the past month
criticizing West Vancouver- Capilano MLA
Jeremy Dalton for using MLA letterhead to
lobby his legislative colleagues on matters
involving his family.

Mr. Dalton’s use of MLA letterhead to
write notes on personal matters was ill-
advised.

However, recent events have put an
entirely new perspective on Mr. Dalton’s faux

as.

As reported in the media in the past week,
the government has established a registry of
21,000 archeological sites without notifying
property owners.

In effect, the government through the use
of this registry is placing what essentially is an
undisclosed lien on privately owned property
using mysterious selection criteria without
compensation or right to appeal.

Ic is all but in name, unilateral expropria-
tion by government.

Mr. Dalton’s notes to his legislative col-
leagues (the issue that led to his temperary

* suspension from Caucus) was the result of
what could be considered perfectly under-
standable outrage that thousands of other
British Columbians will feel, as they find out
that land which they or their family own is
attached as a result of being included on the
goverament’s archeological registry.

It is the news media’s right, in fact, its
obligation to draw the public’s attention to

improper behaviour of public officials, espe-
cially when the officials are in positions of
public trust.

Mr, Dalton was duly reprimanded in the
press; he was punished by his party.

In fact, it can be argued that he deserves
what he got, because it was the third time he
committed the same or similar offence.

Nonetheless, those who suggest that Mr.
Dalton’s actions make him unfit for office, go
too far.

He was wrong, but there is no evidence
that he was seeking unfair personal advan-
tage,

Anybody knowingly seeking to do wrong,
would not pur their efforts in writing.

Given the nature of the issue that gave rise
to Mr. Dalton’s anger, it would seem fair to
suggest that the media should have spent a
little less time repeatedly admonishing Mr.
Dalton and devoted greater effort to examin-
ing the merit of his complaint.

This will become clearer to many residents
of the North Shore as they discover their land
also is included on the registry of archaco-
logical sites.

Let’s hope that Mr. Dalton remains
around so they will have the support of
someone that understands through personal
experience their frustration and rage, once
they find out their property rights have been
dispiaced by government fiat.

William F. Sinclair
West Vancouver
wsinclai@direct.ca

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Wednesday, May 31, 2000 — North Shore News - 9

ted white, mp.

advertorial, May 31. 2000

THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE

THE LEADERSHIP ISSUE

Ever since May 28th, when } officially
announced my support for Stockwell
Day as future Leader of the Canadian
Alliance, | have had a steady flow of
calls, letters, and questions at public
meetings, asking how | reached my
decision to support him. The same
people have generally also asked why |
teok so tong to publicly declare that
support. Since this appears to be a
topic of general interest, and is directly
related to my work as your MP, } am
sharing with you the details of my
decision-making process in this week's

report.
GIVE IT SOME THOUGHT
Once it was clear that the members of
the Reform Party of Canada had approved
the adoption of the name, constitution, and
Policies of the Canadian Alliance,

) everyone knew that there would be a
4s leadership race.

The big question still
hanging in the air at that time though was
exactly who would be throwing his or her
hat into the ring, and when? Preston
Manning, the Leader of the Reform Party
of Canada, and Dr. Keith Martin, a Reform
MP, had already announced that they
would run, and there were rumours that
Stockwell Day, the Finance Minister from
Alberta, and Tony Clement, the Transport
Minister from Ontario, wouid also be in the
tace. Nobody knew for sure though
whether these were the only peopie who
were interested.

In sizing up the = situation
immediately following the Reform vote
to become the Canadian Alliance, |!
decided to hold off making an
immediate decision with respect to the
leadership, for the following reasons:
(1) A combination of my business and life's
experience has taught me to avoid making
such important decisions too quickly,

S especially when not all of the variables

have been identified and assessed,

(2) lmmediately following the membership
decisicn to join the Canadian Alliance, |
was. very involved in an effort to
encourage the Party to adopt electronic

voting by telephone for the leadarship ©

race. If | had already declared support for
a particular candidate while those ©
sensitive negotiations were underway, it
may have complicated the discussions.

(3)Even though | have strongly. . held
opinions of my own, and am very willing to
express them when asked, | am also
sensitive to the fact that | have been

| elacted to be the representative for the

voters of North Vancouver in the

Parliament of Cariada. As a result, I try not”

to make public statements which could be
interpreted as attempting to force my
opinions on those | am supposed to
represent.

(4)! knew that remaining neutral for a

| while would ensure easy and personal

access to the candidates during the

¥ campaign, because none of them would

know whom I was going fo support, and all
would be anxious to taik with me when i
called.

f (5) Taking a neutral stance would, | hoped,
F ensure that both constituents at large, and

local members of the Reform Party/Cana-

[dian Allianca, fe!t comfortable calling me to.

discuss their impressions of the
candidates, and to ask for my opinion.

1 (6)And finally, as it was not immediately

clear whether everyone who intended to -
be in the race had yet declared their.
intentions, | did not want to make a
premature judgement as to who might be
the best choice.

in retrospect, i feel vory satisfied

that my strategy was the correct one. |

did indeed receive a large number of

calts and visits from constituents who

wanted to have a detailad discussion
about the choices. in addition, the

"| numbere and names of those in, the
‘race changed significantly over the first
“ix weeks of the campaign, and all of

the candidates, except for Mr Manning,
pursued me for my support and
allowed me to “grill” them at length by
phone and/or in person. By mid-May |
felt that 1 had gathered enough
information to make a well thought out
decision, and Party members were
starting to tel! me that the time was
right to make a public statement on the
issue.
WHY 1 CHOSE HIM
There were, of course, things about |
Stockwell which had already been listed
as advantages by the mainstream media.
He is energetic, is drawing overflow
crowds at his public meetings, generates
humorous one-iners for the press, is
fluent in French, and has been the
Finance Minister in Alberta, proving that
he is committed to lower taxes and more
efficient government. My questioning
and observation of the candidates
though was aimed at determining
which one would be most likely, as
Prime Minister of Canada, to take
action on issues of additional
importance to the vast majority of
my constituents. That meens not
just tax reform, but a tougher.
approach to crime, an end to the °
blatant abuse of our immigration
system by bogus and criminal
refugee claimants, and meaningful
voter input into the decisions of
government between elections.
Stockwell has made it quite apparent”
that he is not afraid to speak out strongly .
and decisively about these issues, no~
matter how much he is criticized: by the.
mainstream media and old-line poiitical
pundits. This willingness to recognize the *
problems, and to talk frankly and openty” {
about them even while under attack,
appears to flow from the fact that he is a
strong defender of freedom of expression,
which includes his right to openiy.
state his own personal beliefs, even
if they do not always align with the thinki
of the politically correct, or evan with the >
majority on some issues. The important |
characteristic which always seems to go
-unreported though, Is the ovenvhelming
evidence of Stockwell’s commitment
democratic process, while at thé same
time there is not a shred of: evidence to
indicate that he has ever. forced his
personal beliefs on to anyone else.
THE CLINCHKER
in the end analysis, it was Stockwell's
answers to my. public. and private
questions about facilitating’ mea
citizen input into. ‘the~ running’ of
government, coupled with his defence of :]
free speech, which helped me make up
my mind. He has stated both publicly and
privately. that he supports my- Private
Member's Bill on Citizens’ -Initlative. and.
Referendum, that: he is committed. to
turning. Parliament: into a placa’ of
democracy rather than the place. of
dictatorship which it is now, and that the
will of the voters of Canada’ will: take
precedence over the personal agenda and
‘beliefs of MPs, including: the Prime .
Minister. : :
in return, | have nade It= clear to
Stockwell that my support. has..n
strings attached, and. that | want/no
reward other than the best Government
Canada has ever had - genuinely
fiscally . responsible, . and .;. truly
democratic, with citizens’ rights’ to
initiative and referendum at the top of |
the priority list. One thing: you can be
absolutely sure of, once you have the
power to FORCE us to fix the problems,
we WILL fix them. ©

Note: Websites for: : ‘the: .
contenders “can be
www.stockwellday.co
www.tomlongca.com, | www, pm4pm con
and www.keithmartin.org. -

:There ‘is an antl-Tom | Long site
www. stoptom. com. :