BRICKBATS AND BOUQUETS

In what has become an annual tradition of sorts, the British Columbia
Civil Liberties Association has released its 'honourees' for brickbats
and bouquets. As usual we find some of their choices are right on the
mark while others give us pause.

Among others, brickbats go to the provincial government, the Vancouver
Police Department and the Abbotsford School District.

The school district was singled-out for its use of drug-sniffing dogs
scrutinizing students' lockers. The BCCLA takes them to task for
sending a counterproductive message on fairness, privacy and respect
for students integrity.

But what do fairness, integrity and privacy have to do with criminal
activity? And what measures should administrators be allowed when
drugs become rampant in our schools.

The BCCLA also cites the Vancouver Police Department for a brickbat
for their 'shocking waste of police resources' and 'silly public show
of force' in closing down the da Kine (pot) Cafe. Perhaps they would
have been better off to extend the brickbat to our legislators in
Ottawa for it is rarely silly or wasteful for a police force to uphold
the laws of the land.

One 'honour' we can't take issue with is the brickbat for the
provincial government and its outsourcing of Medical Services Plan and
Pharmacare information. The sweeping powers of the U.S. Patriot Act
ensure that the dangers of putting this sensitive information in the
wrong hands will one day jeopardize the privacy British Columbians
should be guaranteed.

On a more flowery note, Geoff Plant, the province's attorney general,
has been awarded a bouquet of roses, and an honourary library card,
good at all of the provinces libraries, for his Bill 62. The bill
would protect libraries from defamation claims stemming from
controversial materials, which in the past would have prompted
libraries to pull volumes from their shelves.

It's truly a step forward.

Now all we need is for a cabinet minister to ensure that there is
money in the budget to place an actual librarian in all of our school
libraries. That person, should he or she step up, would certainly be
in line for a bouquet next time 'round.