Vancouver Province
for February 11, 2000

Auckland, New Zealand

Today a potpourri of thoughts as I leave my home away from home. I have a special love for New Zealand for it's where my paternal line sprang and, through my father, I carry New Zealand citizenship and have, though never used, a New Zealand passport.

My first thought concerns my profession as a broadcaster and I hereby challenge radio station CKNW to fire me forthwith and refer their dastardly deed to mediation in New Zealand. There a talking head named John Hawkesby was, for some years, the main news presenter at TVNZ the Kiwi version of the CBC and about as efficiently run. He left for some years for the opposition then was lured back to his old station. After three weeks TVNZ fired Mr Hawkesby and he went to mediation and was awarded $5.8 million in compensation! The country, including the Prime Minister, is up in arms and Hawkesby is defended by the main political commentator of the nation, Paul Holmes, who says that reading the news off a prompter is indeed worth $700,000 a year mainly because you lose all your privacy. The rest of the country isn't so sure. So, CKNW, I demand justice. First off I'm worth at least as much as a news reader in Kiwiland and I demand, in fairness that you pay me that and then fire me! All under New Zealand law of course!

The battles with Maori continue as demonstrated by the celebrations last Sunday of the signing of the Treaty of Waiangi (at which my great great grandparents were present) which was supposed to have settled matters for all time between Maori and the Pakeha (whites). It didn't. And much of what you read and hear in New Zealand is eerily reminiscent of home. The treaty didn't include a large number of Maori tribes who now refuse to accept it as binding. Land reserved for Maoris was stolen by the Pakeha. All fishing rights including the trout imported by Pakeha belong to Maori. And on it goes.

New Zealand has set up a court system to deal with these claims and they have done something we should have thought of. They know they're a small country with small resources - proportionally Canada is too - and they've set a monetary limit on the global settlement. It has, admittedly, been adjusted upwards a couple of times but the point is that they haven't set off with an open chequebook as we have.

The main underlying problem in New Zealand is the same as here. There's a constant struggle within the aboriginal population between wanting to retain traditional ways of life and joining the last year of the 20^th century. This is aggravated there as here by the fact that many of the Maoris to be compensated for lands lost don't live on that land. Again, as here, the compensation, whether cash or land or both, is administered communally with control going not to individuals but to the chiefs ruling under a system which only remotely represents democracy - especially for women.

Finally, some clarity to New Zealand's Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system which mixes "first past the post" and proportional representation. This must be reviewed by a parliamentary committee before the end of the present (Labour) government's term in 2002. Only then and after, presumably, the people are heard from, will a referendum be required.

Right now the mood of the people seems against MMP and in favour of returning to the old "first past the post" system. My guess is that this will change when the battle is on for real. It reminds me a bit of the Charlottetown Accord - when it was there in the abstract, people supported it. When it came into focus as a real threat it was resoundingly defeated. I believe that when the people of New Zealand hearken back to the days when majority governments ran roughshod over minorities and did what they pleased the second thought will be that, with all its warts, the MMP system is better. Not perfect or even good, but better than the old way.

So there we have it. My second country - which looks a lot like B.C. in miniature with the same population and so many of the same problems. And, I might say, the guts to try some unorthodox solutions