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Preston Manning‘s message about the need for direct democracy â€" through referendums, recall of MPs and free votes in Parliament â€" deserves support. Why? Because representative democracy in Canada has not worked and is getting worse all the time. As a matter of fact, we should go even further than Mr. Manning is suggesting. Since many of the MPs we elect are not very capable and don‘t often reflect the wishes of the people, why can‘t the elecâ€" torate vote onee a month by phone on policies or issues? Our opinions are routinely sampled by polisters anyway so why not give the public the final say on all important matters and have politicians merely offer options and execute our wishes. § Representative democracy was a good idea 100 years ago when sions were best left to an informed and educated elite. But that is no longer the case. cation, is just as quickly informed as our leaders. We‘re also just as smart as politicians and, in most cases, smarter. _ _ Switzerland has direct democracy through regular referendums, which is why, in part, it has created one of the world‘s few model political and economic systems. It puts ours to shame. Hold on, you say. This won‘t work. People will do something stuâ€" pid if they get that much power. But not true. They couldn‘t do a whole lot worse than the vast majority of poorlyâ€"qualified MPs we‘ve sent to Ottawa in the past few years in Canada. For the most part, they‘re not nearly as competent as people who hold "real" jobs. Switzerland has found this to be true. There, the electorate has not done anything crazy in its direct decisionâ€"making and, for the © skeptics who think that allowing the people to run things would lead to recklessness, consider that the Swiss recently voted in favor of two large tax hikes in order to keep budgets balanced. W Like the Swiss, most Canadians are very concerned about deficits and debts, as they should be. And yet, little is ever done by people who like to call themselves "leaders." Face it, any successful businessperson knows more about the eeomy-ndhawtonnlvepgnbl-nhndou'_dnnctnfimor .l‘.'_'m_ 'â€"""‘p-n'fi'v s and p-h.' make their cronies rich off contracts or, in the NDPs case, give their labor union buddies everything they want. a For these and other reasons, the Reform Party is right â€" represenâ€" tative democracy must go. The Swiss are not more educated and no wiser than Canadians and yet they do a bangâ€"up job of running their affairs. Our leaders don‘t. If we want to restore faith in the system, our soâ€"called leaders need to give us direct democracy. Once in office, it‘s little Waterioo Town Square ) King St. South, Suite 201 Canada needs direct democracy MEANWHILE... FredSge! _ FEBRUARY 23, 1994 Teacher X must be identified If the fleshâ€"andâ€"blood effects of his acts weren‘t so dastardly, the drama of Teacher X would be someâ€" thing like a soap opera. ‘The latest chapter has the Waterloo County school board scurrying to the judge whose ruling has put them in a pickle. Or at least that‘s the man the But let‘s recap the story so far: 1. A §2â€"yearâ€"old high school teacher was convicted in October of sexually assaulting four daughters of family friends in his home. 2. Despite the conviction, Judge Ron Sills imposed a ban on publication of his name, at least until sentencâ€" ing. 3. That sentencing was laid over an incredible seven months until May, a delay which, come to think of it, equals the gestation period of the Barbary ape. 4. When charges were laid, the teacher was transâ€" ferred to the board HQ where he remains on full â€" repeat â€" full salary. ° 5. The board says the publication ban precludes it from even talking about the case, let alone canning the conviected man. It wants an exemption so it can strate an oddity: one lawyer in a town can starve but two will do very well. Another oddity: a journalistic truism says that a news story should answer any reasonable (uestion a reasonable reader might ask. It‘s reasonable for a reader to ask the name of the judge involved but an overlyâ€"long story last week in the Record didn‘t idenâ€" tify Judge Sills. ts I hope that it wasn‘t from some misguided urge to protect him. There‘s been too much protection in this case already. By the way, you might ask why Teacher X hasn‘t accepted the inevitable, done the right thing and simâ€" flym&ldyymm’lwlmthw-whpeo- pie do things. in in enndelorine 3 How‘s Zat Again? Ontario is considering issuing ID cards to Ontario‘s 10 million residents in an effort to curb welfare fraud, says Social Services Minister That‘s odd eh, because this is the fraud that Waterâ€" bofldudliahlqin'tndln'gl‘l:lnt'lhy would have you believe that welfare are rarer than an NHL enforcer with all his front teeth. SMUGGLERS Gov‘1 REVEeNue ‘The views of our columnists are their own and do n the views of the newspaper. nthoon O What a flimâ€"flam job. Stay tuned. Let‘s Think About It: Svend Robinson has a penâ€" chant for being in places where the law is being broâ€" ken. First it was at a logging protest and last week he was frontâ€"andâ€"centre at an assisted suicide. Further, he‘s introduced a bill to make it legally perâ€" missible. Gosh, I hope the MPs don‘t clamber aboard that bandwagon. Let‘s not do one more thing to trivi« It‘s not alone that strides are being made in palliaâ€" tive care. I hold on to the simple belief that the time of death is not something left for a human to decide. What a Bargain! A couple of weeks back, I menâ€" tioned the ludicrous idea of a Colonial Hockey League mamiantarho’sjauyuwMGmmm But if you‘re going to grab a franchise, you‘d better hurry. The expansion fee for the 1994â€"95 season !s $250,000 U.S. but that‘ll double when the league adds two teams for 1996â€"97. & SomeoppommRy.le’dhl_nlehmd making a buck by peddling buggy whips for Cadillacs. Southern Comfort: Talk about doing things back wards. Most years at this time, we‘d be heading home from Florida after missing the worst of winter. Not this year. We stuck it out thi the long and miserable chill and just when the days are getting longer and the noon sun has a hint of warmth, we headed for Florida. en That‘s where we are now and just, it should be noted, when the Canadian is at a sevenâ€"year low. 9R But don‘t fret. Thanks to modern technology and oldâ€"fashioned sleightâ€"ofâ€"hand, the column will conâ€" tinue to appear. . t And don‘t knock Florida. As well as the warmth, I like it for its flatness. To be accurate, the highest point of elevation in Florida is Shaq O‘Nea! of the Orlando Magic basketball team. _ _ p: io omomacaeo" Ned ‘fif-: EP TE > Te ol hn annlicban t + cce 14 : well as the warmth, I gccurate, the highest is Shaq O‘Nes! of the move c Supd 11 # 10