ae eee a ears ree Opinion Effective justice system: Costs increasing To the average person, the war against drinking drivers is being won. There seem to be fewer drunks on the road. No longer do you see teenagers openly flounting beers cans in the car next to you at the stop light. Money spent on educating the public against drinking and driving is well-spent. It’s working. The message has hit home for many. Drinking and driving is stupid and other motorists do not hesitate to make the effort to report a drinking driver, especially when cellular telephones make it easy to reach police. But while it appears the war is being won, the cost is increasing and the victory may be undermined by the justice system. Now the province has set up a telephone service for those who have been arrested to call for legal advice. Established through the Attorney General’s ministry, the provincial program uses taxpayer's money to advise people on how to best escape the taxpayer-funded justice system. That’s just one example of the requirements arising from Canada’s Charter of Rights, which is re-shaping the justice system from the on-the-street policing level to the Supreme Court. This re-shaping affects all criminal cases, not just impaired driving. But police and court records show impaired dnving is one of the most common crimes reaching the court and the one where charter decisions are having the greatest impact at the community level. Added to the spiralling dollar cost of convicting impaired drivers is the strain on police, who must weigh time restraints against their duty to uphold the law. Police don’t have the manpower now to properly police speeding traffic on the Pat Bay Highway, as shown by Sidney council’s request for a special highway detail. Already under-staffed police forces cannot be expected to continually increaSe procedures — or to maintain morale when cases are repeatedly thrown out of court on technicalities. On a typical Saturday evening in Sidney, the RCMP corporal and his four constables are busy with a variety of complaints, bar checks, business area patrols, reports of” break-ins and traffic patrol. If two impaired drivers are stopped by police, pulled off the street, read their nghts, arrested and taken to police cells at the airport detachment, the policing level in Sidney and North Saanich is almost non-existant for two to three hours. This week The Review is printing a court story we would normally not cover because there was no conviction. But this particular impaired driving trial is relevant to Review readers because the accused was acquitted due to an argument made possible by the charter. Other evidence presented, including a four-vehicle accident, would likely have produced a guilty verdict had it not been for the charter-based argument. The only answer is to throw the book away and Start writing again. The law must be effective and enforced: it must be clear that those who breach the law pay an appropriate penalty. Technical defences help no one, even the accused, since they give the illusion that the law can be flouted with impunity provided a sufficiently silver-tongued lawyer argues the case. Ineffective justice leads to fear that the laws agreed upon by society will not be enforced. Fear spawns more stringent laws and less leeway for the accused, destroying the very nights the charter was drafted to protect. Only an effective justice system protects everyone’ s rights. Volume 77 Issue No.12 s TheReview _ Wednesday, March 20,1991 — A6 ITS AGREED. THEN? FIRST WE DECIDE WHETHER WE'RE MEETING... BARGAIN/NG--- NEGOTIATING.. DELIBERATING... TALKING... CONFERRING... PALAVERING.. HAGGLING -- BA BBLING... STIPULATING... CoNFABULATING... i _ AOOHIS ou 4 / 2921970. TIA TSI ee EE a. _— TheReview Serving The Saanich Peninsula Since 1912 9726 Ist Street Sidney, B.C V8L 3C9 or RO. Box 2070 Sidney, B.C V8L 3S5 Second Class Mail Registration #0128 Published every Wednesday 656-1151 Publisher: Vic Swan Editor: Glenn Werkman AN ISLAND PUBLISHERS NEWSPAPER VERIFIED CIRCULAT-ON Rage fo save Carr Gallery Editor: The Friends of Emily Carr were blessed with a beautiful sunny day, for our protest demonstration and parade from the Emily Carr Gal- lery to the Parliament Buildings on March 13th. Because of the shock of the closure of one of our national treasures’ gallery, most people of culture and even the art commun- ity did not have time to gather together in an appropriate number of bodies to walk and to participate in the event. The unbending date of closure was sprung on us, perhaps with the idea that they could do it without protest, and certainly without pub- lic interest participation. This is — democracy?! It is not flattering of the govern- ment to assume that Victoria is, as they have called it, “old sleepy town.” There are plenty of us that think, as Dylan Thomas abjured us that we: “Do not go gentle into that good night; old age should burn and rave at close of day; rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Despite the seriousness of feel- ings that everyone was feeling, and the petition presented to Howard Dirks, Minister of Culture, there was an element of joyousness that Emily Carr would have enjoyed. She was called Klee Wyck by her native friends and that means “Taughing One’. She would have laughed at her “look alike” with the baby carriage of monkeys and the old sheep dog, I am sure. The Raging Grannies sang their outraged song and other songsters presented their outstanding songs as well. Personally, I think that the gov- ernment is being very short sighted. If we can join the Friends of Emily Carr at the “George and Dragwood” back room on Tues- day, April 16th. We may be able to plan how we can help Pat Bovey of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in her bid to rescue the Emily Carr Gallery. Let’s show them that we “still have fire in our bellies” and we do care! Helen Andersen Saanichton ‘Smoke screen’ for leadership Editor: The well crafted resignation of finance minister Mel Couvelier was timed to perfection to further discredit the premier just before the “Opening of the Legislature.” Couvelier’s reasons for stepping down, by indicating there would be more evidence coming forward damaging to the government regarding the sale of Fantasy Gar- dens, appears to be another attempt to discredit the premier’s integrity and put up a “smoke screen”’ for yet another call for a leadership review. — -Couvelier, I feel, is only attempting to further his own ambitions by trying to get the premier to resign so that there would be a leadership convention before the election call. Also the continual discontent within the Social Credit constitu- ency’s executive and the candi- dates calling for a leadership review only furthers my belief that a great number of members were coached into these actions by the constituency executive with a spe- cial agenda — Saanich South constituency being the forerunner and Vancouver Island leading the way. R.W. (Bob) Bowcott Independent Candidate Saanich North and The Islands Like being there Editor: We welcome The Review because it brings local news enhanced by contributions such as Helen Lang’s and Cy Hampson’s and recently, Valorie Lennox’s “Out of Africa” series has been like a personal visit to Zimbabwe. Unlike TY, the uncontrived words and pictures have reached us directly. Valorie has related us in a human way to others who share our “shrinking planet.”’ This relates us to the future. J. Stewart Sidney The case of the confused Albertan Editor: Having been a resident of Sid- ney for several years I am calling on my fellow area residents for assistance in solving a slight prob- lem. My friend and former law patiner, Jack Pecover, of Edmonton is confused. He thinks Sidney is Sydney and has gone on to assume the Satellite Fish Company at the end of the wharf on Beacon is the Sydney Opera House. Arriving by air on a clear day during his last visit here he opined that although the blue structure was indeed magnificent it did not” seem as imposing as when seen on television or in postcards. Apart from difficulties in spell- ing and geography, Jack has prob- lems with pronunciation. He is always nagging at me to drive across the Johnson Street bridge and bring back Esquimalt carv- ings. For those of you who are willing to help, Jack’s address is: Jack Pecover, 7524-77 Ave., Edmonton, AB, T6C OKS. Dwayne W. Rowe Sidney Good news about being vegetarian Editor: I must express agreement with Janet King’s letter “Meat Industry Needs Pressure’ (The Review, March 6) in which she took issue with Peter Sinnot’s “Opinion — -Raising Veal is not like that” (The Review, Feb. 27). After having embraced the North American meat-centered diet for most of my life, I changed to a totally vegetarian lifestyle four years ago. Since then I’ve avidly read and studied much relevant information in order to be affirmed or refuted. There are many studies which show that vegetarian cultures experience almost none of the diseases of affluence (heart dis- ease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, etc.) which are the main causes of premature deaths and Golden Years’ of suffering in North Amer- ica. Besides the adverse effects that Continued on Page A8 aaa =r & e » El