fi _

Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 18, 2006

TERRACE

“STANDARD.

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

PUBLISHER: ROD LINK

' ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. - V8G 5R2
TELEPHONE: (250).638-7283, - FAX: (250) 638-8432 t
..' '» WEB: www.terracestandard.com _ ,

; EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard. com |

_ Why vote?

JANUARY 23 is voting day across Canada

and the chance once again to exercise’ the
most precious aspect of living in this country

7 _— the right to choose who will govern us.

' Below. are some reasons to, feel’ good

| about voting for the party or person of your

~ Choice.

The: Liberal } Party of Canada. First Prime.

Minister Jean Chretien and then Prime Minis-

ter Paul Martin did the right thing by’ staying

out of Iraq. But they also did the right thing
~, by being part ofthe multinational force to
push the Taliban and Al Qaeda out of power :
in Afghanistan and then by providing a stabi- 7
| ‘lization force. :

That stabilization. role is ending but an-

we ‘other one is beginning — nearly 2,000 Cana-

-- dian: troops ‘will ‘be based in Kandahar; one
* of the most dangerous. parts of. the country.
- Their. job will be take a more aggressive role

ss in chasing bad guys.

nen tm ream anne ie eee ee
: Sad : +

~ It would have been easy for Prime Minis- |
ter Martin to take a pass on this. He didn’ t.
-. ‘Sometimes’ democracy means ) getting, your
se hands. dirty:

‘The Conservative | Party of Canada. Party

’ leader Stephen Harper is providing an avenue
: _, for voters to Tespond to-all that pent.up frus-
tration, ‘and anger about how the federal Lib-
~erals have conducted themselves in power.

--There’s nothing like having a clean broom.

a It does sweep. clean. and. if Mr. Harper be-
- comes Prime Minister, he’ll be. busy. with
-.more than just tidying up a few dust bunnies
in the darkest corners of Ottawa.

The ‘New Democratic Party, of.Canada.

. Party Jéader Jack Layton won’t be the Prime’

Minister. It means a Skeena voter then has
to make the choice about voting for some-

one. ‘who might be part of a government or

someone who they think will be an able con-

_ Stituency representative despite not being in.

power. . .
- There’ s value i in the. latter. And more so is

| the case if there is another minority govern-
“ment in Ottawa. Skeena voters might take
~ comfort in having someone in Ottawa to keep

an eye on the government — and to poke it in

° its eye when needed. |

> The Christian Heritage Party of Canada.

| If only for this reason — a $1,000 a month tax.
credit to enable one parent to stay at home to

raise a family while the other works.

The. by-product would be opening up jobs”
for others by those who choose this option.

The Green Party of Canada. Alternative

| energy is the key to surviving when oil and

gas supplies decline. And it is the environ-

_. mental.conscience of the country.

i

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Serving the Terrace and Thomhill area. Published on Wednesday of
each week at 3210 Clinton Street. Terrace, British Columbia, V6G 5R2.
Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copy-
‘right holders, including Black Press Ltd., its illustration repro services and acveriising agencies.

°» Reproduction in whole or in part, without written permission, is specifically prohibied.

Authorized as second-class mail pending the Post Office Degartment, for payment of postage in cash.

Special thanks to ali our contributors and
correspondents for their time and talents

\

al

Commurerr Newsrarens

@ Black P Press °

‘You ‘Re POLLING, WELL WITH THE MEN BUT
IF You WANT To WIN, THE. WOMEN over

—You'ee HAVE To SOFTEN Your EDGES
“EVEN MORE. You'tr HANE To |
SHOW THEM A WARM
_ AND Fuzey
— STEPHEN |
HARPER |

They. need more

: * Legislative ‘Assembly ‘with ©

“TIME AFTER time’ the pub-
a strong means for. holding:

lic has witnessed the need for .
greater government: ‘transpar- oO
ency. and openness in <Victo- -

ria.

- The offices of the auditor-
general, ombudsman,
mation and privacy commis-

‘sioner, Elections B.C. and the
conflict commissioner are. all
| appointed by the legislature |
|) to serve as.a check on govern-"
“ment” and enhance: ‘ account-
“ability and ‘transparency. for

the public. |...
Recognizing the. public’ Ss.

° waning confidence in govern-”

ment, the B.C. Liberals prom-

-ised“in 2001 to. be.‘‘the most ~
open, transparent and demo-

cratic government in Canada.”
Shortly after being elected,

they slashed’ the budgets of
- the most important of these

offices: auditor general, om-
budsman and the information

.. and,privacy commissioner, by |...

35 per cent over’ the past few
years.

In fact, all three offices not-
ed in their submissions to the
finance committee this year
difficulty performing their ba-.
sic duties as a result of reduced
resources. .

It is understandable that the
government’s first round of
austerity measures would im-

' pact most agencies and bodies.
However, after billion dollar .
- surpluses, the officers of the’

legislature should not only
have their budgets restored,
but increased to meet growing,
workloads. ~

‘Most taxpayers know the

- crucial 1 role that the auditor

-infor- »

~SARA MACINTYRE |

LB,

government performance and
financial reporting: This year,

the auditor general’s office

was granted a modest. budget
increase. But funding remains
at 1996 levels.

tionary government spend-
ing is increasing on corpo-
rate welfare, entitlement
programs, advertising, cap-

~ital spending and Olympic

related projects, it is more
important than ever that the
auditor general have ad-
equate resources.

The auditor general ex-
plicitly. states that his office

is unable to examine impor- °

tant aspects of government

_due to budgetary limita-
- tions.

The budget

general is a meager $1.3

million. Notes the auditor: |
“four) office. provides. the

general plays in. measuring.

At a time when ‘discre- °

increase —
‘requested by the auditor

than scraps

government to account for

how it delivers almost $41
“billion in programs and ser-

vices to the people of.Brit-
ish Columbia.

- No other organization i in
the province provides ° the

same ‘type of independent ©
and objective assessments

on ‘the accountability and
overall performance of gov-
ernment.”.

The office of the Infor-
' mation and Privacy Com-

missioner (OIPC) co-ordi-

personal privacy.

Documents —
through Freedom of Infor-
mation allow the public to
measure. government deci-

sion, making and perfor-".

mance.

It is impossible to hold .

a government accountable
if its decisions, documents,
data and reports are sealed
under lock and key. |

In its submission to the fi-

nance committee the OIPC
states that it is “facing seri-
ous challenges in meeting
its legislated duties.”

And, that “our mandate
and functions are vital to

restraining and illuminat- |

ing the activities of govern-

ment and to empowering.

citizens, both of which are
fundamental to a healthy
and well- functioning mod-
em democracy.”

released

. The OIPC is asking for :
an increase of $266,000 for _
next year. Surely a govern- .

‘ment committed to trans-.
‘parency can find these 're-

sources.
Finally, the office of

‘the ombudsman has an.ex-.

haustive list of government
agencies, bodies, authori-

ties and crown corporations —

‘that it is responsible to hear ..
and investigate complaints

against.

The office’ s jurisdiction

_is so,extensive it borders on’ °‘
laughable. In fact, the office. *- °
nates and provides. for the ‘has had to decline over 500
-. disclosure of government
documents and protection

of information. relating to

complaints over’ the . past |
few years due to budget
limitations. ;
The ombudsman expects
that its office will be able to

. Meet its set budget for 2006

but is asking for an addi-
tional $305,000 for 2007. _

Taken together, the*three
offices are asking for less
than $2. million over: the
next two fiscal years.

A rather small price tag
for transparency and open-
ness in a budget of $41 bil-
lion.

It’s time the government
puts:some resources behind
its 2001 New Era commit-

" . ments to open and transpar-

ent government and. offer .

our in-house watchdogs the.

tools they need to perform
their duties.

Sara MacIntyre is the
British Columbia director

_for the Canadian Taxpayers
‘Federation..

She is based i in Victoria.

- STOMPING OFF the stage
at Houston’s all candidates:

forum doesn’t give me confi-
dence in the Liberal party or

- Gordon Stamp-Vincent’s abil-

ity to represent it.

-” Whether he was.too sensi-
“tive to take Mike Scott’s com-

‘ments ‘that the Liberal party
was corrupt,
to think of a comeback, his

_ “stronger statement” doesn’t t ,
_ entice my vote.
Verbal jabs are a daily pas-

time in our House of Com-
mons. Has--

from question period? Or sat
through an hour of CPAC?

_ wt
A few minutes of either .

broadcast would show hiin
the disrespect and nastiness
he could expect every day if
elected:

MPs’ _ verbal _sjousting
wounds both elected members

_and electors, leaving wounds

that may gape for years.
_ Maybe Stamp-Vincent was
out of touch, hadn’t heard

-. about the Gomery inquiry or

the RCMP’s investigation: of

the sudden spike in stocks trad-

ing on the Toronto Exchange.
Or did he expect as a new

candidate he would nat have

or was unable,

Stamp-Vincent _
_ never watched news clips -

THROUGH BIFOCALS
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

to answer for the Liberals’ re-

cord?

Well, he better get up to
speed fast if he hopes to hoist
the Liberal banner on the night
of January 23. An’ all candi-
dates meeting is tame com-

pared to parliament.

To prepare for the rough
and tumble of political debate
Stamp-Vincent could have
taken advice from «stand-up

comics on how to deal with

hecklers.

Hecklers and political op-
ponents are similar. Both try
to throw the performer off his
game and hope to gain ap-
plause.

To fend off hecklers, stand-
up comics are taught to keep
their integrity intact by not

going for a racial or religious
slur; and not getting sucked
‘down to the heckler’s level.
~ Hecklers are mean; comics and -

politicians need to be clever.
We older folk recall the hu-
mour in parliament when T. C.

- Douglas served. “

Along with learning how to

' squelch hecklers, Stamp-Vin-

cent needs-io harden his=skin
and feelings to fend off unkind
remarks. Remember the Al-
berta Reformer who thought
he was Kinsey, and inquired

into an opposition member’s

sexual prowess and readiness
to exchange fists?
A ‘stupid ‘behaviour “that

' made him look like an idiot
~ tolerated by a weird party.

Surely on January 9 in
Houston, Stamp ~ Vincent

wasn’t overwhelmed by a sud- -

den realization — in the face of
Mike Scott’s comments — that
the Liberal party he seeks to
represent really is corrupt.

The whole country has

-heard nothing but that since

before Gomery was engaged
to head the inanirv.

if you can t take the heat ......

. As to the possibility of |
a leak about income trusts
minutes before Goodale’s an-
nouncement, I’]] ‘wait to hear

the RCMP’s conclusions.
_ Td like to believe Goodale | —

himself would never leak stock
information even to friends.

But news reported at least nine
other people knew of his in-
tended announcement.

_ Nine people allows for a lot _
of chit chat. Who knows who

might have ‘said too much or

been overheard?

: Following Stamp-Vincent’s
absenting himself from the
Houston forum to “make a
stronger statement” after Scott
called the Liberal party. cor-
Tupt, Scott said on radio news

he was dismayed by Stamp-
- Vincent’s behaviour.

Nathan Cullen, too, was —
dismayed. Cullen said he
would have chosen instead to
stay and defend the Liberals’
record. (As if that’s possible!)

But that’s what Stamp-Vin-

cent should have been pre-—

_ pared to do-— defend the Lib-

erals’ record, tattered as it is
— Or not sign up as a Liberal
candidate. Or what use would
he be to Skeena if elected?