A6 Terrace Review — Wednesday, June 26, 1991

- EDITORIAL |

- "In this paleotechnic world the realities were money, prices, capt- ta, shares: the environment itself, like most of human existence, was treated as an abstraction, Air and sunlight, because of their deplor-

: able lack of value in exchange, had no reality at all." a — Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization, 1934 P . of this decade if federal government policy continues along its present course. Building and compiction of the transcon- tinental railroad not only brought about the east-west unity of the country, for a while anyway, but by coincidence provided its citizens and industries with one of the most energy-efficient, environmentally sound methods of mass transport ever devised.

In view of the fact that the rails are laid and the rolling stock in operation, it is appalling to watch governments on all levels continu- ing to pour fortunes into asphalt and other encouragements to private automotive transport while neglecting trains.

The social and economic costs of automobiles. are so staggering — they have probably never subjected to calculation. There is pavement,

omdering Canada Day brings to mind the nation’s railways and the reflection that they may not be operating at the end

maintenance to roads, insurance, injuries, deaths and hospitalizations,

law enforcement, an endless list of open-ended expenses charged to allow us to move around in the manner to which we have become accustomed, It is an established fact that private gas-powered vehicles

"are the single largest source of atmospheric pollution on the planet. Yet pavement projects go virtually uncriticized when they are announced by governments, while we are given the impression that tailways are simply too expensive to operate.

The fact is that money invested in rails, even public money, would pay off in numerous ways that aren’t normally calculated as savings. The environmental benefits alone of mass rail transportation are- worth nearly any operating cost. Yet in Vancouver recently the gasoline transit tax was raised, but simultaneously the fares for public transit were also increased. There are cities in the world that require point-to-point permits for the movement of private vehicles. The enactment of such laws here would spark a revolt.

Although in the Terrace area the air pollution problems are mar-

ginal in comparison to major urban centres, there are still bewildering —

_ situations. Trucking companies haul most of the wood chips and

-lumber in this region, having under-bid and .out-serviced the railway. Passenger service to Vancouver from Terrace requires more determi-

nation than most people are willing to invest. Evidence of Ottawa’s neglect in marketing and operation is everywhere.

Trains cannot replace private vehicle transportation entirely, but the extent to which we use cars and trucks in our daily lives has certain- ly gone far beyond the limit that any rational analysis would pre- scribe. In comparison to the billions spent on keeping roads and vehicles in shape and the further billions it costs to insure drivers and repair the reckless and unlucky ones, investment in rail seems attrac- tive.

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-—

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The view from Victoria —

by John Pifer

VICTORIA — What is it about politicians which makes them unable to admit that they made a mistake?

When was the last time — if ever — that you can recall an elected official at any level of government saying flat out, no frills, that they goofed, screwed up, or made an unwise decision?

Is there some sort of automatic

conditioning they all receive upon

being elected, which kicks in with a knee-jerk denial to any suggestion that they may have done something wrong?

How often does the road to ruin for a politician or his or her party IV, vesin with denial, denial, denial ~~ even in the face of hard-and- fast evidence to the contrary?

Case in point this time around is Attorney-General Russ Fraser and his handling of the latest controversy surrounding the Social Credit government.

I have no intention, for now, of going into detail about the con- tent of a three-year-old, 17-page letter from a Vancouver private investigator which claimed that organized crime was trying to infiltrate the government of B.C.

That letter, with dates, names, specific details and an expression of considerable concern about the Mob’s intentions, has been reviewed thoroughly by the police.

(Also reviewed were another 110 pages of documents and some audic takes which relate to some of the letter’s allegations),

Anyway, we now know that the authorities found that it was of no substance, or at least that their investigation(s) could not find sufficient grounds to proceed further.

But Mr. Fraser did not know that when the letter first crossed his desk —~- and remember, this is the desk of the chief law officer of the province (even if he has no legal background!),

So, did he therefore at least ask questions about it? Did he for- ward it to anyone in his ministry. for review, report, or reflection?

No.

Did Mr. Fraser pass it on to the proper authorities as no less than five other Cabinet ministers (as well as his own executive assist- ant, whom he fired over it) had done, when they first encountered the disturbing and/or outrageous letter?

No.

This attomey-general, who, I repeat, is devoid of legal knowi- edge or experience, admits that he simply dismissed the matter, the allegations, and the concern without so much as a by-your- leave.

And then, after-the fact, after it was revealed that it had been reviewed and rejected, after it became known that the police were not pursuing the matter further, did Mr. Fraser admit that he may have erred in his handl- ing of the original letter?

No.

Instead, he repeatedly boasted about how good his judgement proved to have been, and that it was right to do nothing,

He brags about how his deci- sion to discard the missive was later proved to be a wise one.

Mr. Fraser appears unable to grasp the concept that the people of the province may be concerned at his manner of making such

- decisions.

He cannot comprehend that they

may wonder how many other matters he has not passed on to more learned and capable author- ities, but instead relied upon his "good judgement”.

‘The attorney-general, appointed to the post by default in the wake of scandals surrounding his pre- decessor, also cannot understand; * that his integrity is not being questioned here * that he is not even suspected of deliberately trying to submerge a politically-volatile letter * that he is not under suspicion of

. anything except perhaps being a

tad too arrogant

* that it is only human to make a mistake, and

* that the casicst, wiscst, most modest thing to do would be to admit that he might have been a lot wiser to handle that letter and any other case differently, pro- fessionally.

Instead, he blusters and docs everything he can to avoid ac- knowledging that he may have erred,

Mr. Fraser’s decision to ignore the letter looks to be a wise one, in hindsight, given that much of the document appears to have been discredited.

But wisdom had nothing to do with it. Mr. Fraser calls his deci- sion one which proves his com- mon sense.

Truth is, it should be called just a lucky guess.

And is that what we want or can expect from our senior elected officials — lucky guesses?

Give me a break!

. Parting Thought: For the record, it should be noted that Mr. Fraser was one of the

— Continued on page A7