A6-Wednesday, April 30, 1980 - North Shore News

editorial page

| NEWS VIEWPOINT

Costly safety

The mounting demand from various quarters for the removal of the Hooker Chemicals plant from North Vancouver may be in danger of losing touch with reality.

In theory, the federal government would undoubtedly have the power to order the closure of the plant if a major and imminent threat to life and health in the adjacent, densely populated area existed. But sum- mary eviction of this kind would be a vir- tually unprecedented step for any govern- ment to take in peacetime. Such an order would almost certainly be fought by Hooker through the courts — probably right up to the Supreme Court of Canada.

If the government order was finally upheld, there would then be the question of compensation for the shutdown or relocation of the North Vancouver chlorine operation. It would obviously cost the taxpayers millions, especially if a new plant had to be built at some remote upcoast site.

There would also be the problem of fin- ding a suitable site and providing living accommodation and amenities there for Hooker employees. Transportation costs would rise and would ultimately be passed on to the customers of the many industries dependent on Hooker's product. If, on the other hand, Hooker simply picked up its marbles and went back home to Texas, the cost to those B.C. industries might be even higher.

In the light of recent revelations about the hazards of chlorine production the idea of removing Hooker from North Vancouver altogether is an attractive one. But make no mistake — there would be a king-size bill to pay for our peace of mind.

Help wanted

The provincial Conservative Party, leaderless since the resignation of Vic Stephens early this year, must be resurrected, says former Victoria mayor Peter Pollen, in readiness for “the imminent fall of the Social Credit Party.” Mr. Pollen, once an unsuccessful Socred candidate, thinks the Tories need a “Moses.”

Continuing his Biblical analogies, suggest their priority need is a Solomon.

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|

POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE TO | SAY THAT AFTER LONG DELIBERATION |

IFEEL COMPELLED TO ChUs”

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FLOOR OF THE HOUWE |

The Games that nations pla

Some _ public

controversies,

by their very

nature, inevitably generate more heat than light. A gold medal in this category goes to the uproar over the boycotting of this summer's Moscow Olympics — much of the heat emanating from the anti-boycott camp being generated by the claim that the Games are (or should be) “non-political”.

And so, in an ideal world, they should be Un- fortunately. the 1.254-year history of the Games provides very little comfort for torchbearers of the “non- political” theory.

The truth of the matter is that the ongina!l Olympics, which ran for nearly 300 performances, were rife with politics and opportunism almost from the beginning.

They started in 776 B.C. with a single 200-yard foot- race near the small Greek city of Olympia. shrine of the legendary god Zeus Thereafter, it was decided to pay homage to Zeus by repeating the event there every four years.

STATE VICTORIES

Right away, therefore, the Games (ook on a religious ttoday, read “‘political”) overtone If you didn't happen to believe in Zeus. your logical course was presumably to stay away and hope the high == priests wouldn't notice.

Over the next 12 centunes the scope of the Games was steadily enlarged to include such tlems as the = long: distance foot-race, the Pentathlon, boxing. chanot ractng and wresthng The political aspects kept pace

Ancient Greece consisted of numerous independent city states which frequently waged war against: ands the became

one another. Soon

Csames rampantly spirit In Olympx winners loaded with valuable gifts and privileges by ther home

nabhonahstic in

addition to their faureis oandivicdual were states which ah

cording fo | Contemporary

writers — were prouder of Olympic victones than of winning battles.

Moreover. strict discmmination against in- dividuals themselves marred the idealistic umage of the onginal Games which has been handed down. No non- Greeks were allowed 1o compete. Women and slaves were barred from_ par- ucipating Women were not even permitted to watch the contests

After Greece became part of the Roman Emprre tn the

second century B.C the Games went = steadily downhill They eventually degenerated into professional circuses and carnivals. and = attracted mounting cntcism = from

philosphers and physicians of the day Finally. in A.D 394. they were banned altogether by the Emperor Theodosius. For almost 1500 years after that the world got along without the Olympics

UNIVERSAL LOVE

The revival of the Gsames in 1896 at Athens by the French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin had the laudable objective of fostering better international! understanding youth's universal dove ol athletics But the theory that participants should Compete solely as individuals quickly

through

proved in practice to be as difficult: of attainment as it had been 26. centuries carhier

De Coubertin began by cnlisting ine aations to send cntfants te the first modern Olympiad in Athens and the Coster has mow grown tooover

1oo Individuals onte seh

et rid of their ‘fed:

By BARRY JAMES

BELGRADE. (UPI) - Can successfully weather transition from rule

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia the by

strongman to government by .

relatively faceless com- mittee?

Some Western analysts say itis only a matter of time before another strong leader emerges to take the place of President Josip Broz Tito, the unquestioned boss for decades.

Senior Yugoslav officials do not see it that way.

“I do not beleve the Yugoslav people would accept one-man rule after Tito,” said Joze Smole, a former ambassador to Moscow who used to be the president's secretary. “They

have become used to thinking collectively.” “In effect we have had

collective leadership for the past 30 years,” added Mitja Ribicic, a senior Communist Party official in Slovenia. “I do not know of any decree

Noel Wright

named as the official winners

of the many events but unofficially — thanks to the media — the overall

“winners” are the countmes whose entrants achieve the

greatest collective scores exactly as was the case among the ancient Greek

States

It's also worth notng that the world’s largest and most powerful nations almost automatically emerge as the victors in terms of national prestige Of the 14 modern Olympiads held since 1896, the US) has 13. the USSR and Hutler’s Germany one Like it or not the top Olympic laurels as the world perceives them pu today. to the tig battalions

won four

In practice. the two superpowers who sponsor indisidual competitors (hrough their national

Olympie assoc tations The modern Ciames also suffer from one other highly

nationalistic element which their ancient (Goreck forerunners avosded the practhoe of rotating the best COUNTEY on Cach o¢caston with all the

International wheelinp and dealing those

by Tito that was not base a collective decision of* Party and state.”

Yugoslavia is ruled fr top to bottom by commit and hangs together - consensus. So the moves rotating and

League of Communists nd: the government is, in t at least, logical.

In contrast with the So Union and other communist countries, where all plannj and control is centralj Yugoslavia has developed kind of grass-roots co; munism that goes under name Of “self-management

The purpose eventually to get rid of the fede government for everythj except defense and foreign affairs. °

Perhaps the biggest boos = for collective leadership j the fact that Tito willed j

“Our task now,” = sai communist leader Ribicic

“is to consolidate th poliucal system we hay inherited.”

choices involve and all the kudos accruing to the nation selected on each occasion. |

“Non-political” Olympics ... are we joking?

NATIONAL PAWNS

“Non-political™ Olympics |

Hitler's blatant ex ploitation of them as a: showcase for the Third:

Reich and the Aryan race in 1936? The two politicall divided Germany's com peting against one anothe since 1968? Canada’s ex clusion of Taiwan and th political boycott by several African nations in 1976? The. grand parade wrth its national flags and national anthems?

“Non-political” Olympics? Noton your hfe!

The U.S -inspired boycott of Moscow as the site of the 1980 Games (not of the Games themselves) may or may not be the mght way to % express Western disgust over = Russia's rape of Afghanistan. The athletes who will suffer .,: Personally after many months of arduous training deserve a full measure of sympathy But for heaven's sake let us be clear about one thing

The Games are politcal. In the final analysis they are games between states, using individual athletes as nauonal pawns — just the way if was for seven cen tunes before Chnst

Given the very nature of the Olympics in a troubled, insecure world, 1S

unrealisuc to imagine they could ever be anything else.