A Fine Balance
So, I'm reading Rohinton Mistri's A Fine Balance . It is about India during the government of Indira Ghandi, a government of absolute power, when a ration card could be obtained if one submitted to sterilization, when government goons herded people into garbage trucks for political rallies, when the problem of slums was eliminated by bulldozing the shacks to the ground and packing the people off to work camps in even more appalling conditions, when Chamars, Moslems and Sikhs were, in turn, made the scapegoats of a despotic regime.
And then I am listening to the radio about how, here in B.C., social services are being slashed, how the minimum wage has been cut, about threatened rollbacks and government imposed contracts, oil drilling in the Inside Passage and similar madness. Of how Campbell's government has rewarded cronies with fat raises and rich supporters with tax breaks, and how, to make up the difference, they are clawing the last few pennies out of the hands of the old, the young, the sick and the poor.
And who are their scapegoats? Health care workers, teachers, public service employees, and First Nations.
I keep asking myself, "Can they do that? Aren't there any checks and balances?" And the answer is "No, there aren't and yes, they can!"
And they are.
OK, we aren't actually being beaten, tortured and killed but when a government has a huge majority, in this part of the world, we expect that justice, morality, and integrity, if not constitutional rights, will provide balance where the official opposition can't. Remember, Indira Ghandi was also elected, well, sort of, according to laws she made later...
Mr. Campbell would do well to remember that what goes round comes round, and to use a local metaphor, if he insists on keeping that python lean and hungry and continues to chew on its tail, it will, one day, turn around and eat him. It is a Fine Balance.
Dorte Froslev
Brackendale
The 1 st Whistler Scout Group would like to thank Home Hardware and Nesters Market for helping our Christmas tree fund-raiser. We wish a Happy New Year to you and all your customers. Without your help, programs like Scouting would not exist.
Thank you once again.
Bob Calladine for
1 st Whistler Scouts
Re: Randy Hawks’ letter (Know your rights, Pique Jan. 11, 2002)
I think you missed the point of my letter, sir. The point was in fact that the police were not following the law. We were also not cocky. They were actually cocky to me and the people I was with.
I know my rights and the reason I was mad is because mine were refused. I called the police station and filed a compliant. The police apologized and said they were sorry if one of their officers offended me.
I take offense when you say I "need the education to learn about my rights." I know my rights Mr. Hawks, and I can only hope that they are respected.
Marc Taillefer
Vancouver
