Opinion Volume 80 Issue No. 52 Individual plea for help: Proper credentials are missing Merchants approached last week by a man soliciting donations on behalf of a pain threshold group weren’t sure whether they should give, despite a sincere plea for donations. The man says that food banks don’t provide many items that needy people require — including toiletries, laundry detergent and “any type of food you can spare.” The request breeds uncertainty because merchants don’t know if this man is part of an registered charitable organization. The answer is no. Regardless, the man is apparently flooded with offers of help. He says a store agreed to donate 15 Christmas trees, prompting an appeal for tree decorations. We have great difficulty endorsing a new organization, seemingly led by one person, that is not registered as a charitable organization. Without proper accreditation, there is no guarantee that donations will get to the needy. Necessary checks and balances are absent. If Sidney resident Paul Bassani is correct, there are people on the Peninsula still requiring help. Regular operation of the food bank doesn’t resume until Jan. 12 because the Sidney Lions/Review Food Bank believes those requiring help received plentiful Christmas hampers last weekend. Over 450 hampers served about 3,000 people. But those requiring help must realize that several agencies exist that have the ability to help, or can refer those in need to assistance from organizations such as the Lions/Review food bank, which can provide emergency food and necessities. Bassani’s credibility is also clouded by an ongoing Sidney RCMP investigation. The Sidney Association of Merchants fan-out advisory system has issued a waming. Police stress that evidence does not exist to warrant any charges. To the generous business people who donated goods, don’t despair. There is nothing to prevent people from contacting Bassani and questioning the destination of their goods. But our advice for the future is to stick with established charities who have been properly licensed. Sidney council meetings: Entertainment or business Many people observing the Sidney council meeting Dec. 16 must have wondered if they were following proceedings in the House of Commons or a similar boisterous arena. There was more time spent on petty bickering, scoring cheap political shots and speaking to an individual agenda than there was concentration and action on the Town’s business. The meeting was entertaining. It included catcalls, clever innuendo, accusations of an ambush, a “cheap shot comment that was a cheap shot,” plus several calls for “point of order.” Not much work was done. Five items were referred back to staff and two items went back to committee, including the year-old council-initiative issue of live-aboard boat owners in local marinas. A relatively simple decision regarding a request for a two-foot side yard setback variance tumed into a 45-minute discussion about duplexes. Any suggestion of teamwork was not present. There was even a suggestion that a planned council retreat be scrapped. One councillor walked out of the meeting. All that, while we wait one more year to replace them. iS A FABULOUS HOLIDAY Te Review Serving the Saanich Peninsula Since 1912 9726 - First St. P.O. Box 2070 Sidney, B.C. V8L 3C9 Sidney, B.C. V8L SS5 656-1151 Publisher: Rory McGrath Editor: Glenn Werkman Reporters: Valorie Lennox Advertising: John Gelder Paul Wyke Lori Fitzpatrick Corrie Morozoff Production Manager: Tamie Bowker Office Manager: Bonnie Madden Circulation Manager: Wendy Denison AN ISLAND PUBLISHERS NEWSPAPER CCNA 4 : Si BS 01A% Com . cs Muni Get informed, say yes to rec Editor: Central Saanich residents will soon be going to the polls to vote on whether or not to join Pano- rama Leisure Center. There will be information meet- ings held in three locations to inform the public of the deal. This is an extremely important com- munity issue and we urge everyone in Central Saanich to attend. There are a couple of issues we'd like to address. Numerous times some members of our coun- cil and residents have stated that we could use facilities in other areas. This is a short-sighted way of thinking! In the Dec. 2nd issued of The Saanich News there were two arti- cles outlining Saanich’s problems with their facilities. Not only do they not have enough ice time for their own residents, but also, Don Hunter, Saanich director of parks and rec- reation, has stated in a report to council that ‘“‘the municipality might consider placing non- residents on a waiting list ... as well as implementing a surcharge for residents of Central Saanich, View Royal and the Gulf Islands.” If Central Saanich residents do not vote in favor of joining Pano- rama, there will be no access to indoor recreation for these resi- dents in the future. Please, become informed and vote “yes” on Feb. 6th to joiming Panorama. Darcee and Nick Bidgood Saanichton Conflicting ideas Editor: It is with some puzzlement that Tread in The Review (Dec. 16) that the budget of the local constabu- lary is to be cut by $100,000 while thought is being given to the Commonwealth Games receiving a similar amount to enable a collection of skinny athletes to prance around town in their unde- Twear. I also read that a referendum will be initiated to institute further tax increases to enable a collection of little darlings to arm themselves with hockey sticks and belabor their friends while trying to stand upright on skates. It is comforting to learn that I don’t need to squander my money on frivolities because council will doit forme. . R. Roxborough Brentwood Bay Gesture fooled some people Editor: From the story (Sidney cuts pay five per cent, The Review, Dec. 9) you appear to believe that abstain- ing from voting means precisely that — not voting, being neutral, sitting on the fence. In reality, because politicians like sitting on fences, it has been made to mean voting for a motion. So, abstention is an empty gesture, but it appears to fool some of the people some of the time. (North Saanich) Mayor Maurice Chazottes probably abstains more often than he declares his vote. On December 7 he abstained from voting on the rezoning of the foreshore on Setchell Road and thus voted for the motion which he had previously opposed. There is no obvious reason for the mayor’s change of mind. For- mer mayors had publicly sup- ported a foreshore policy of put- ting public enjoyment before pri- vate convenience: The public hear- ing gave ample evidence of well reasoned and extensive local opposition. The amount of time and energy that has been spent on this Set- chell Road rezoning reflects the policy of treating every application on its merits and having elastic guidelines. Surely council has more import- ant questions on which to spend their time than whether one indi- vidual can have a dock. John C. Lapham North Saanich Change of mind with more info Editor: You published my letter in which I vented my fury at what I perceived to be support by Mr. Tanner for a repeat sexual offender. Where did I get that idea? TV, newspaper, radio. I, like many others, believed the media. I made an error. Mr. Tanner only stated that he knew of the individual, according to his published letter to the court in the same issue of The Review (Dec. 9). It did not look like a character reference to me. I’m sorry Mr. Tanner. Perhaps good will come of all this. Our community has made clear we are ready for zero toler- ance for sexual abuse, and perhaps the legislators and courts will now listen. I hope public reaction will now focus on the real problem. It is not Clive Tanner’s letter. It is charges being thrown out of court and repeat offenders carrying on busi- ness as usual, in our community, with fines or small sentences. Noreen Teague Sidney Editor’s note: The full text of Clive Tanner’s letter to Justice Murphy appeared in a Review news story Dec. 2. Bridge is good place fo start Editor: The proposal to build a bridge across Saanich Inlet is a move in the right direction. The increasing number of com- muters using the Malahat is only adding to the infamous Colwood Crawl. Continual widening of the Malahat will be costly, especially through Goldstream Park. We will still be left with a big hill to climb. Since fantasy seems to be the order of the day, why not fine tune the bridge idea. Here is a start. Continued on Page AS .