ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM

Justice Minister Vic Toews is correct. There is a connection between
guns, drugs and gangs. It's that big pink elephant in everyone's
living room with a big blue ribbon tied around its neck that boldly
displays the word "prohibition."

Rather than deal with how to get the elephant out of the room, our
esteemed justice minister is going to make all of the mistakes that
were made in the days of alcohol prohibition. First he is going to
try and tell us we don't really see an elephant, that it is an illusion.

After that fails he is going to paint the elephant a different
colour, and tell us there is no longer a pink elephant in the room.

Failing that he will call in the carpenters to try and make the room
a little bigger and tell us we have plenty of room for an elephant.

In case any complain about the cost or feeding this elephant he will
simply borrow more money to feed the elephant.

"But what about the inherent violence caused by an elephant in the
room?" we will ask.

"This violence," our conservative justice minister will say, "is not
caused by the elephant, but by its diet. We need simply change the
elephant's diet and all will be well."

"But what about the excrement?" we say to the justice minister.

"That is the smell left by the Liberal elephant," he will say. "Our
elephant does not stink."

Sadly we think, "same story for a century and a century's waste of money."

Chuck Beyer

Port Alberni