PAGE inion S Heather Hadiey Circulation Manager Burt Campbell Publisher Emeritus Lv. OurWiEWS AdrianRAESIDE Ferry not forgotten The political football that is the Robson ferry is about to be tossed again. Going deep is Mike Harcourt and the New Democrats, escaping the coverage of Socreds of yesteryear. One can only hope that Harcourt et al. can catch the ball. What might have been said as an off- the-cuff comment some three years ago by Harcourt may just come back to haunt him and newly-elected MLA Ed Conroy. If you recall, the then-able-to-say- anything-because-he-wasn’t-in-office Harcourt called the closure of the Robson- Raspberry crossing “a mistake.” His chance to correct that has now come. On Nov. 6, 1988, Harcourt said he would push to reopen the popular and necessary crossing. As the newly elected leader of our province, Harcourt has to make good on those words. The closure of the crossing has been devastating to Robson more than any bureaucrat or politicians would know. Instead, sitting in their cushy Victoria offices punching out the daily balance sheet, they see the Robson ferry as just another means to trim the untrimmable budget. New Democrats campaigned under the guise of open government, committed to the people of British Columbia. That appeal gathered New Democrats enough support to swept the B.C. legislature like never before. With that landslide victory comes certain expectations, among them is the return of the Robson ferry. While debate surrounding the ferry has settled hat with the it of a $21 million bridge linking Robson with Castlegar in 1993, what are people to do in the meantime? The ferry is a necessary travel link. Why the Socreds saw fit to dismantle a way of life for Robson-Raspberry travelers is anyone’s guess. The Robson-Raspberry Ferry Users Ad Hoc Committee has been lobbying to bring back the boat since the day service was "| interrupted. Harcourt has made a promise. Now he must make the catch. Who decides where signs Too many signs hide scenery information about go on our highways? For that matter, who decides what signs go on our highways? Whomever it is, his neurons aren't firing on all circuits. Now, I know we will never get everyone to agree on ‘what highway signs are Ci commercial services on our highways — things like hotels, restaurants and gas stations. : My own theory is that they.are the result of provincial government rivatization. The former ‘ocial Credit government rng wanted to give the newly- necessary. It’s like trying to get everyone to agree on what they want on their pizza. Or why they drink from the Crossroads pr gov sign shop some work to get it on its feet and to be able to point to the shop as a light beer. (Tastes great! Less filling! But I think we can all agree on one thing: we don't need a proliferation of signs that simply clutter our roads and obscure our beautiful B.C. scenery. Yet those blue Ministry of Highways signs do just that. The blue signs popped up almost overnight like so many dandelions, the creation of some ad t d-civil shining example of its privatization program. But are the signs necessary? : Well, let’s look at one. Just this side of Rock Creek on Highway 3 is a restaurant called the Edelweiss Inn. A blue government sign points it out for us just before we get to it. And what do you know, it is there, servant. Why are they there? The official reason, I would guess, is to previde us with Lieutenant-Governor David Lam clearly stole the show at ‘Aug. 7, 1947- Feb. 15, 1973 the extr that marked the swearing in of Premier Mike Harcourt’s first cabinet. More than 1,200 invited guests filled the University of Victoria auditorium to listen to some wonderful entertainment provided by the University of Victoria Chamber Singers, the Greater Victoria Youth Choir and the Victoria Symphony Brass and to witness the Hubert BEYER reflective 1 British Columbia’s shy and plete with its own huge sign and another roadside sign telling us coffee is 49 cents and the breakfast special is $2.99. ot please see NORMAN page A7 Lieutenant-Governor steals Harcourt’s show armed forces to defend them, and h it; i i 4 who made the event an extraordinary one by making two thinly-veiled references to the previous government and ” the scandals and corruption # that brought it down. Lam called on the new nor, ani What if one of the three things w.ust be abandoned? the student wanted to know. Let it be arms, Confucius said. .The student didn’t give up. What if one of the remaining two things must be abandoned? ‘Abandon premier to re-establish close ties with the lieutenant- governor’s office, not only for the purpose of consultation and advice, but to “warn the swearing in of British Columbia’s 35th government. The guests were treated to several milestones. They saw Moe Sihota, the first Indo- Canadian ever to be elected to any legislature in Canada, ‘ fied ae mini ter of labor, services and British They saw seven women appointed to cabinet, the largest number in any cabinet in Canada’s history. They saw a woman appointed speaker- gov when approp: He then told the story of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius who was asked by a student what the most important things were that a must provide for its hese pre the second hold the office of speaker in But it was David Lam, ll things, Confucius replied. Food to feed its food, Confucius replied. But Master, the student said, that means the people will starve ead dis toe “True, Confucius said, but. we must all die anyway. Without honesty and integrity, however, we have. nothing. Without honesty and integrity, a government cannot stand, it must fall.” Those, I suggest, were not only the words of Confucius, but the words of David Lam, th please see BEYER page ? 9, 1991 the writer can be reached between 9am. ands Other VIEWS Family continued from page the G itulati workers from Holstebro arranged a Christian funeral at Idum Church: which took place June 15, 1945. The bodies were disinterred and placed in coffins draped with the Union Jack. The ceremony was held in a grass field adjoining the tiny churchyard — so many came to pay their last respects. When the Last Post sounded the hi a crowd stood silently at attention with ee running down their faces. CBC Radio carried a live broadcast of the service in Canada, but no one informed the familiés of the crew. One mother and father heard it by chance late at night. Photographs arrived in due time which my mother kept in a satin handkerchief case my father had sent to her from Scotland when he and the crew travelled there on leave. Surrounded by carefully clipped hedges, velvety-green lawns and flowers and overlooked by the Kirkkgaard:) \\ handwritten on the back of a photograph and Jutland which we thought might be ~ @ province or area Armed with these tiny ch the two men in mn and Co; began telling their story. A man at their The fallen airmen finally got a proper burial on June 15, 1945. The hotel bought a map ceremony was moved to a grass field to accomodate the large crowd. and circled the area for them — all the way across the country. “It was like landing at Los Angeles airport and asking someone how to get to Shutty Bench.” ‘The same man gave them the name and old church, the airmen rest eternally young. Sadly, mother was never able to travel to Denmark to see their final resting place, nor did anyone else from the Riley family. In July of 1991, my cousin Orval Riley of Kaslo and his brother-in-law Ron Perret of Claresholm, Alta., were travelling in Europe. On a whim, Orval decided to try finding his Uncle Virgil's grave. ber of airman expert Ole Kraul from Horsens, a Danish war historian. He offered to travel some three hundred miles north to meet them at Idum. Orval and Ron travelled across the country by train, telling their story as best they could with no knowledge of the language, and met sympathy and encouragement and praise for the Canadian role in the war. When they reached the last town, Orval decided to try ie police station hoping for directions to pum. As he recited the now-familiar tale, one of the men began to smile and not. “I know that story well — it was my grandfather’s field the aircraft landed in. I will take you there.” Soon after, Orval and Ron stood in the b iful Idum Cl hyard the tall headstones arranged in a semi-circle and beautifully tended. Behind the headstones is a cross made in 1985 from a bar off the aircraft superstructure. Surrounded by carefully clipped hedges, velvety-green lawns and flowers and overlooked by the quaint old church, the airmen rest eternally young. On Liberation Day, May 5th, wreaths are laid by officers of the Dr Regi /Holstebro to honor this Canadian all-officer crew. And in June the roses bloom. Norman continued from page A6 It would have been OK if the tells us that we are entering the But the best highway sign in So did we need the blue highway sign to find it? No. It seems to me the only thing the blue signs have done is clutter our roadways. (If you really want to see a stretch of highway with back-to-back signs, drive the Island Highway. You see gas station after gas station with their 20-metre- high signs dwarfing the silly blue government signs). blue signs had replaced the other roadside signs, but they didn’t. They just doubled the number of signs on the highway. Great. Just what we needed. The blue signs are bad enough, but even worse’ dre the signs pointing out the different electoral districts. If you haven't noticed them before, there’s one on Highway 3A near Thrums. It Rossland-Trail electoral district. But so what? That’s information drivers need to know? In the same vein are the forestry district signs. I mean, who other than foresters wants to know which forest district they’re in. And if the foresters can’t tell without a highway sign, then we’re in bigger trouble than we realized. this area isn’t on a major highway. It’s on Broadwater Road in Raspberry. It’s not a lube sign. Or an electoral district sign. Or a forestry sign. f’s a distance sign. But it’s the kind of distance sign that would make Arsenio Hall go, “Hmmm.” It reads: Nelson 45 km. Beyer continued from page A6 Queen's representative, referring to the turmoil created by a government that had lost honesty and integrity and, as a result, had to fall. As for Harcourt’s first cabinet, it’s a carefully and well thought-out lineup. / The a in his caucus. “ Harcourt also created the province’s first women's equality ministry, headed by Penny Priddy, the rookie MLA who defeated former premier The role of women in the new government was further fal ry of resembles the overall election the appoi Anita Hagen as deputy premier, in addition to her duties as ist ducati multi- the Lower Mainland and five from Vancouver Island. Harcourt made more than good on his promise to involve more women in his government. The seven, women appointed to his 18-member cabinet is ; slightly higher than the of women o! culturalism and human rights. Nor, it should be noted, did women get only appointed to so- called junior ministries. Some of them have to handle pretty heavy-duty ministries, including Elizabeth Cull in health, Anne Edwards in energy, mines and petroleum resources, and Joan Smallwood in social services. Only three of the 18 cabinet members are newcomers — Art Charbonneau, who_ gets transportation and highways, And Petter, the minister of Aboriginal Affairs, and Priddy. And here is the complete lineup: Mike Harcourt — premier; Anita Hagen — deputy premier, education, mplceniturelise and human rights. Andrew Petter — aboriginal affairs; Colin Gabelmann — attorney general; Tom Perry — advanced education, training technol . ey. Py Bill Barlee — agriculture, fisheries and food; David Zirnhelt _ economic development, small business and trade; Anne Edwards — energy, mines and petroleum resources. John Cashore _ environment, lands and " Glen Clark — house leader, finance and corporate relations; Dan Miller — forests. Lois Boone — government services; Elizabeth Cull — health and seniors; Moe Sihota — labor, consumer services and constitutional affairs; Robin Blencoe — municipal affairs, recreation and housing; Joan Smallwood — social services; Darlene Marzari, tourism and culture; Art Charbonneau — transportation and highways and Penny Priddy — women’s equality.