Prime Time Crime
(Published in the Abbotsford News week of July 25, 2005)
Lazy, crazy days of Summer
John Pifer
Some political matters amid the summer sunshine and the mess that is my desk:
Could someone please explain Nina Grewal to me … and to the Canadian public for that matter? Clearly, this woman sits as a Member of Parliament in Canada for one reason and one reason only – because she is an old-fashioned, outdated, generally subservient wife who obeys her husband at all times. Her husband is the loose cannon, lose-with-the-truth MP Gurmant Grewal, who has absolutely no credibility left from his repeated stories of intrigue, betrayal and his supposed importance and influence. Our Nina has hidden from the news media, her constituents and anyone else asking if she has an opinion on the whole stinking secret-tapes affair, and she is getting away with it, whilst collecting $9,000 or so each month of taxpayers’ money. Wouldn’t it be nice if Gurmant allowed her to speak?
BC residents outside of Vancouver are blessed with not having to deal with the narrow-minded stupidity of decisions from Vancouver city council. Its latest determination to close two lanes on the Burrard bridge, a major artery into the downtown core, to make way for a handful of cyclists has to be overturned, or the inmates truly will be running the institution. Led by the delusional Fred Bass, an ideological zealot if ever there was one, the council has become a laughingstock. Unfortunately, decisions such as this hide the damage amid the laughter. No wonder Mayor Larry Campbell has baled out.
Speaking of stupidity, hello CBC! Our national broadcaster has decided that the term “terrorist” does not apply to the demented killers of women and children in the London bombings of July 7th and 21st, which spread terror throughout the city. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s ruling not to apply the term is said to be based on “not taking sides” in such disputes. What a crock! Just check the dictionary definition of terror, CBC, and then tell those Canadians who pay your inflated salaries that it does not apply.
Federal NDP leader Jack Layton is being hailed as some kind of a saint for actually visiting an Indian reserve (shock, horror!). Of course it is a good thing that he has done so, to get a firsthand look at life on the reserves. Even Prime Minister Paul Martin deigned to visit a reserve in Saskatchewan last year, the first time in 20 years for a PM. But a couple of publicity-grabbing trips is not what is needed: what is required is a full Crown inquiry into how the billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money are spent – nay, wasted – in Canada each and every year. It is ludicrous and pathetic that the Solicitor-General is not even allowed, by law, to look at the books of the Indian industry in our country. It is long overdue for this fetid can of worms to be pried open and cleansed.
Veteran B.C. journalist/broadcaster John Pifer may be reached at jwpifer@shaw.ca.
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