OPINION

‘WEDNESDAY, ‘September 11,199

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editorial comment

Twah batou leltyrac?

To some Kootenay residents, this jumbled head- line may look like any other.

of Multiculturali

On Sept. 6 Federal Mini:

We all take a little pleasure

Ron Jeffels

Syndicated Columnist

Let's be honest, just for once, and admit it. Most of us experience slavering delight and las- civious pleasure whenever the top-lofty expert is defeated or proven wrong by the plodding ama- teur.

Those sentiments may be cruel and uncharita- ble, but we savour them. Tribal revenge is a rich, succulent wafer in the mouth, across the tongue, under the palate, at the back of the throat. We've come to hate the expert in this, the tenth decade of the 20th century. The reason is not far to seck.

These days, no sentient creature — not even one with an upright carriage, an opposable thumb and the ability to make monosyllabic grunts — can perform the simplest of life's tasks without the aid of an expert, a mentor, a consul- tant, a high priest of technology. That includes breathing, ingesting and mating.

‘Try carrying out any repair to the modem, com- puterized, fuel-injected car. It’s no longer done with a bent coat hanger, pliers and prayer. The modem garage looks like control headquarters at NASA and the mechanics wear space suits. And nobody I know can fill out an income tax retum

these days, You need a specialist with a BA, LLB,

MBA, CA — ole who sivod first in his class, won the gold medal, and knows how to hate. He must be fluently bilingual English-Revenuese, of course, and his fee will be fort-knoxian.

And so it goes. So, it's not difficult to under-" stand why homo simplisticus should take savage

and brutal delight when the expert is wrong, wrong at the top of his voice. In 1923, Dr: Robert Mullikan, winner of a Nobel Prize, drew

his professorial robes and essential dignity:

around him and said this; “There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.”

Thate to admit it in print. You'll put me down as an obscurantist, an iconoclast, one of Kipling’s lesser breeds without the law. But I'll tisk your opp ium with this ple. My

1 1 ecstasy whenever economists are wrong. But then, when were they ever right? Think of that ginormous national debt. Or the obscene — and unforeseen —

revenue the feds got from the GST in the first:

quarter. Little wonder that economics is called The Dismal Science, And tribal revenge is even sweeter, when the

‘untutored amateur — by brute instinct or divine

tevelation — does what the top-lofty one cannot do with all his theories, forecasts, graphs, charts, plans and printouts.

‘The best jazz musician I ever heard had never taken a lesson in his life and couldn't read a note of music: not a quaver, not a semiquaver. The other members of the combo had degrees from

Julliard or some other institution of equal dis- tinction’

They knew all the occult theory, of course. He played — and composed ~ by sense of feel. And he could ride a riff up to the outer reaches of sound where jazz becomes religious conversion.

I went fishing once with three pals at a remote

rcabin. One was a full professor of mechanical enginecring. The second ~ a retired air vice-mar. slial, also an engineer — had once been responsible for the procurement of all aircraft for the Canadi- an Armed Forces. The third was an ex-Mountie.

». We were about to leave, The car died of ter- minal asthma: I’m a technopeasant. I stood aside

~and silently conjugated the Latin verbs. The pro-

fessor tried. The air vice-marshal tri¢d. Who started it? The:ex-Mountie, of course. Kicked the chassis or spoke harshly to the carburetor, as Irecall, We chortled, The engineers sulked. ‘We've all seen the master carpenter who needs no level, no set-square, certainly no geometry to

“know when the horizontal beam is in perfect

accord with its affiliates. Or the master chef who never measures anything. Or the writer who can’t tell a period from a participle but whose prose soars like an eagle riding the west wind. Heming- ways for example, but then he also won a Nobel. Experts! Who needs them! Well. . . uh. . « I

do, You see, there's today’s letter from RevCan.

.. Oh; let's not talk about itt

R.R. Jeffels is a Richmond freelance writer and former principal of The Open Learning Institute.

“Wednesday, September 11

, 1991

The Castlegar Sun

yLetters to: the Editor,

‘Open letter asks why it had to come to this

vAn‘ ‘open letter, to ‘Forest Products and all timber compa- anies\in BC, and.to Ken Amett, Arrow Forest District Manager, yiand all professional foresters:

.y¢é. On Friday, the 6th of Septem-

‘acber,.84 people were arrested at Hasty Creek in the Slocan Valley, uate largest number of people ever

i Dear Editor:: « TAS : A beautiful plant is thisaten. «ing wetlands in many areas of

o¢astern Canada and the US has - .<now invaded the Kootenays.

.6i BC Environment is advising. .plocal residents that purple loose

2Strife had been found along the West Arm.of Kootenay Lake, in gan isolated area up to 500 metres

-oeast and west,of the Blaylock

Estate along the North Shore.

-¢: Unless local action is taken,

rthis prolific plant will likely

‘oSpread rapidly. « vay Recent and

; irested in a forest asp in BC, AS

our view those who are responsible,

P

this result and’ ask , OS

for ing BC's forests, profes- sional and

jaw. abiding, citizens, why we were pushed into this position, We have the knowledge and responsibility to do things differ- ently in our relationships with each other and in our use of the forest. In

“Toxic plant invades West Arm

of-the root as possible, dry it were seeds cannot escape, then bum it completely, Residents along the North Shore, particularly those who live along the water, are urged to watch for the plant and remove it as thoroughly as possi- ble in this prescribed manner, Recently Environment Youth Corps crew has removed some of the plants at the Blaylock site and will be working to remove more vin the known infestation sites, an dicati program is not in place.

per coverage <NDN, August 114/91) have identified purple

. loose strife as a major threat to

marsh and lake-shore habitats that 4support birds and other wildlife. Although the plant is capable of peting native food-p: ducing plants | in these areas, it provides no food value itself.

phlet and further infor-

cence on the purple loose strife

threat is available from the BC

Environment office at 617 Ver- non St, in Nelson

Guy Woods,

Environment Wildlife Biologist

Nelson

allke, fall to protect mural communi- ties and the forest b they

ple but is possible under current legislation,

The purpose of this urgent open letter is to ask you as profession. als, politi and to

place the short term interests of Umber companies ahead of the Jong term interests of the Earth.

This problem can be solved quickly by putting in place a dis- pute resolution process where all interests have equal power to share in the decisions that affect the forests around them.

This solution is not only sim-

immediately j join with us to design and implement a fair dispute reso- lution process that protects com- munities and the forest. Imagine what we could do together, Signed: Red Mountain Residents Association and Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance

Businesses, Service ‘Injorder for’.

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and Citizenship Garry Weiner and B.C. Minister of Advanced Education, Training and Technology Peter Dueck announced today that a total of 39 literacy projects in British Columbia will receive approxi- mately $1.38 million in federal/provincial support to mark Intemational Literacy Day on Sept. 8.

International Literacy Day was last Sunday... and I missed it.

Do you care?

If you can read this you probably don’t... should.

I was one of those kids who never particularly enjoyed school. But one thing they never had to force me to do was read.

I've always loved reading. At about the age of six or seven I started reading everything readable. Roadsigns, cereal boxes (English only), Peter Rab-

a Chewing gum 2 . bit, everything, out loud... drove my parents crazy wal "4 - and thinking on-road.trips.: We could'r never get lost because I'd ew 71 EF momen hy e784 . aby tm of [oat eon have the mileage sign read off before ‘they even | . : at same time knew it was there. ’ Anyway, with school back in, it’s a good time to har a to do be thinking about literacy. All of us, whether we To the Editor: can read and write or not. A recent newspaper article I won't rattle off any boring statistics on illitera- quoted Howard Dirks as stating cy in an attempt to shock you. We all know it’s out that, in most serious motor vehi- cle accidents, time is critical.

there, it’s a serious problem and it’s not just young ‘This revelation had evidently children having some trouble in school. not entered his mind when he

Purple loose strife is found in damp soil areas near water. It is identified by many long, pink-pur- ple spikes of flowers on multi- stalked plants one to two metre sin height. The stems are square and woody with several to many stalks per plant. Leaves are smooth-edges and attached in pairs on opposite sides of the stalk. The plant i is

ieved to have been i as a garden plant since its flowers thrive from June to September.

Gardeners are urged to dig this plant up carefully, getting as much

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Mass transit in the U.S.: lessons for Canada

SEP OR e re eR OO E RN PERE O EERE SO OCOT EE Care

St tteees

Adults who can’t read?

Imagine having to have this editorial read to you by someone else. Try to imagine attempting a driv- er’s test with no reading skills, or writing a resume’ or a cheque or a job application, loan application...anything. Worst of all, try to imagine the fear and embar- rassment of trying to come forward to deal with the |. problem or admitting it to someone. That has to be worse than the actual task of learning how to read and write. And it must get harder as time goes on. Think about it.

— BH

BENAROREERUNGS

By Don Addis

WALTER BLOCK The FraserInstitute

Privatizaton of mass transit may be a dirty word in some Canadian tation and planning circles, but dozens of cities in the U.S. have expanded services, and low- ered costs, by contracting out part of their bus, trolley and subway lines to private enterprise. - Consider the following exam- ples: Almost 20 per cent of the San Diego public transit system has

ment in privatization has even lead ‘to 10 per cent in reduced public spending on the part of the public authorities. City and country offi- cials in Los Angeles auctioned off the rights to manage several mori- bund Southern California Rapid Transit routes. According to Price Waterhouse, this changeover result- ed in savings of 41 per cent, with improvements in safety and reliabil- ity of service. Houston, Texas, con- tracted out its park and ride service, and is saving more than 30 per cent,

been delegated to private ge

ment, through open bidding. In the decade 1979-1989, this southern California city has saved over 40 per cent in total costs — more than

to previous costs racked up by the civil service. St. Louis, Missouri posted approximately 50 per cent in savings by contracting out its suburban bus routes, When

mass transit system, the resultant savings allowed it to expand service by 60 per cent, and to increase rid- ership by 40 per cent in three years.

In addition to the U.S., the Con- servatives in the U.K., and the Labor Party in New Zealand, have undestaken similar initiatives, with similar results. In none of these

been remarkable wherever it has been tried. Is there a lesson in all of this for Canada?

And late word on this issue comes from New York City. There, entrepreneurs are not waiting for politicians to contract out bus ser- vices. Instead, in a sort of do-it- yourself policy, people — mainly

cases were gt fired outright. Rather, private con: cems supplanted the state as natural employee attrition made room for them, or provision was made to transfer the to the

from the Islands where such activities are well entrenched — are putting their own mini vans into instant use as jitney-buses. They charge $1 instead of the $1.15

private sector. The municipal authorities still retained overall authority for the transit facilities, controlling the choice of service,

d by the statist service, and are heavily outcompeting them. The lesson from the Big Apple seme to be that Private enterprise “gonna getcha”, one way or

“the same time.

(© 1901 Creators Syreteate, lnc.

cet RAYS fee

THE NEUROTICG’ PARCOURSE

becemenaaccoserecaraserceaarensesetsannsesssssorenessscwevssesacarvssecessttsceees?

IS POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT AND A MEMBER ( OF THE STERLING NEWS SERVICE =‘ Established November 28, 1990 ‘socond Clase Mailing Permit Pending Published by The Cast gar Sin Weekly on Wed 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, Bc. VIN 1G8

$75 million. The competitive envi- ronment engendered by this experi-

Fort Wayne, Indiana private firms to manage part of its

ged with the schedul

fare levels, etc. FA Even so, the improvement has_ - eee

another.

PET back in the news—again

Mike Duffy

Syndicated Columnist

Deborah Coyne, constitutional adviser to New- foundland Premier Clyde Wells.

So Canada’s best-known senior citizen is reported to be a father — again.

What Trudeau does in his retirement is his business. As he put it 20 years ago — the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation.

But however much his former colleagues

Very peeved at PET?

For a while this weekend it felt like someone had tumed the clock back 15 years.

The Trudeaus were back in the news,

There was talk-show host Geraldo Rivera

i in his 1g Myself, to have had an affair with Margaret: “Tt was like she had never been love to before. It was like she was unleashing years of pent-up

frustration.”

And Margaret's response: “There is no truth whatever to these ... scurrilous, self-promoting untruths.””.’

Standing, aloof, offering ‘no: comment," Pierre Trudeau was in the news as well, but not for the right reasons.

© Pierre E. Trudeau — Canada’s living political legend — is listed as the father on the birth cer- tificate’of onc Sarah Coyne, who was born May 5 in St. John's. ihe child's mother is 36-year-old

23K

lieved that then, today they are nothing short of livid.

For more than half a decade now, PET's old pals have been sitting smugly at dinner parties, smiling modestly as the performance of the Mul- roncy government is compared to Trudeau's. Now they fear that position of superiority is in danger, and they dont like it — not one bit.

To me their reaction has been instructive — an indication of just how much a leader’s per- ceived place in history affects the altitudes and sense of self-worth of his friends.

For years Diefenbaker loyalists labored to tell

anyone who would listen that: we in the media -

had missed the great accomplishment of the Diefenbaker governments, ; In the US the phalanx o oper “Kennedy

_ impressive record

ign And so it is with Pierre Elliott ‘Trudeau. |

Thanks to a continuing campaign of deifica- tion, by his former ides and Political cronies, Trudeau is remembéred for patriating the Consti- tution, for creating the Charter of Rights, for staring down the FLQ during the October crisis.

As Brian Mulroney and the. conservatives sink ever deeper ini the public opinion polls, for- mer Trudeaus ministers and political aides have been busy making the obvious comparisons to the administration.of which they were once a part." (6 feta egy ,

Now reports that “the boss” has fathered a child with a woman half his age — and that the two. aren’t planning on marrying or even living together —— has the old Trudeau gang angry.

Surprisingly they're not mad at the media for reporting the birth. In fact they want to use the media to tell PET how angry they are at his for potting, Heel: and bye extension them, into this

1 leadership i is about judgement and responsibility, and Trudeau's friends say his pasate actions in the Coyne. case again raise

ions about his jud

aides and advisers has pushed legislative record to great heights; ‘and every time Henry Kissinger appears on TV or writes- another op-ed piece for the papers we are ~feminded that Richard Nixon. at.

" Pierre Trudeau may be retired from public life, but his old team is still very much bound up in him,'and ls (and by extension n their) place in

‘declared the Robson ferry to be a ‘convenience only, and not essen- tial to the residents of Robson- Raspberry. Perhaps Mr. Dirks was unaware that the ferry was their direct route to both the ambulance service and the hospital.

* With an election on the hori- ‘zon, some politicians may wish ‘to refrain from attempting chew- ‘ing gum and sunking on out loud at

Stanley Humphries Secondary‘ School

will be holding an ‘open house on~ , ,

. Thursday, * ‘Sept. 12. from: ; 7:00 - 9:00 pm

Parents are invited to: meet the teachers

eos learn more about the . educational system

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PUBLIC MEETING

The Ministry of Transportation and Highways is proposing to construct a new bridge g over the Columbia River at Castlegar. Several sites were considered and substantial public input was received after two Open Houses and a Public Meeting in March 1991. A A‘site, which was suggested at the Public Meetings, has now been chosen. The Ministry f would like to meet again with the public in order to explain why the site was chosen, A and to answer any further questions regarding the proposed new bridge.

Public Meeting:

Wednesday, September 11, 1991 Castlegar & District Recreation Center 2101 - 6th Avenue, Castlegar

Doors open 4:30 p.m. for Open House Public Meeting - 7:30 p.m.

Ministry staff will be present to explain the location and to answer your questions. We look forward to your attendance and participation.

Province of British Columbia

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