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6 www.pgcitizen.ca | Wednesday, March 16, 2011 PUBLISHER: Hugh Nicholson MANAGING EDITOR: Sylvie Paillard ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Mick Kearns www.pgcitizen.ca Member of the B.C. Press Council opinion E-mail: [email protected] EDITORIALS There’s a lesson to be learned from Japan crisis These are days of horror, privation and fear for millions of Japanese. Officials in the hard-hit port city of Sendai report that 10,000 may have died in that flattened region alone, as a grisly tide casts up thou- sands of bodies along the coast. Tokyo and other cities are still being shaken by after- shocks, as is Japan’s $5-trillion economy. Much of the nation is devastated. Millions are without food, water or heating in near- freezing temperatures. “It’s a scene from hell, absolutely night- marish,” said Patrick Fuller of the Red Cross. Prime Minister Naoto Kan called it “the worst crisis ... since the war.” “It’s like a horror movie,” Kyoko Nambu said of her flattened hometown of Soma. If that weren’t epic tragedy enough, the spectre of a nuclear meltdown now haunts Japan, stoking fears of another Chornobyl- style catastrophe. That has prompted much soul-searching about the safety of nuclear reactors everywhere. While no country in Asia is better placed to cope with this multiple calamity, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has rightly offered Canadian help as part of a global Christy Clark passes her first relief effort. He has put military strategic airlift and engineers on offer, along with radiological and nuclear expertise, disaster makeover test, choosing cabinet relief teams, and emergency food and med- Premier Christy Clark met the first test Clark showed an uncertain touch in ical supplies. And individuals are contribut- of a makeover Monday, dropping nine her handling of Campbell’s latter-day re- ing to the Red Cross and other relief agen- ministers who sat at the cabinet table un- organization of the so-called “dirt min- cies. This help will be needed. der the outgoing premier and reassign- istries,” those dealing with Crown land, Yet for now, an anxious world can only ing most of the others. resources and the environment. Rather Coupled with her own relentlessly than reverse direction, and re-reorganize hope that engineers manage to regain con- cheery presence – she took the oath as a half dozen ministries in a state of orga- trol of ... damaged reactors at the aging “Christy,” not “Christina Joan” – it sig- nizational disarray, she ordered a review. Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station ... nalled a change of style at the top after She slotted third-place finisher George Overseeing the process is a new minis- Engineers say Friday’s massive earth- 10 years of the serious, controlling pres- Abbott into education. He seemed a little ter of forests, Steve Thomson, who re- quake knocked out the electric grid that ence of Gordon Campbell. down Monday, perhaps not having got mains in charge of natural resource oper- normally powers the reactor cooling sys- Clark followed through by cleaning out over the leadership loss. Or perhaps it ations, the ministry at the centre of the tems. Then the tsunami apparently the premier’s office and replacing the po- was the prospect of this being a bargain- controversy. Assisted by Randy Hawes, swamped poorly-located backup diesel litical staff with a dozen of her own ap- ing year with the always-formidable the former minister of state for mines, generators, with frightening results. pointees. teachers’ union. Thomson will have to decide which parts The most telling was Dimitri Panta- of the reorganization should be pre- All this leaves Canadians wondering Mike de Jong, who finished fourth, she zopoulos, named principal secretary, appointed minister of health. The biggest served, which put back the way they about the safety of our own five CANDU putting him in charge of long-term politi- ministry demands unusual attention to were. Might work, but I have my doubts. nuclear power plant sites. In the United cal strategy and planning. He’s a pollster detail, more so in the midst of the cur- Better call: Mary McNeil, appointed States, traumatized by the 1979 Three Mile with roots 20 years deep in the federal rent series of major reforms. De Jong has to make a fresh start in the ministry of Island accident, the crisis has cast a shad- Reform, Canadian Alliance and Conserv- never been known as a workaholic. To children and families, with a new deputy ow over 20 proposed reactors. European ative parties. succeed, he may have to become one. minister, Clark having fired Campbell ap- lawmakers, burned by Chornobyl in 1986, He’ll work alongside previously named Clark named Pat Bell to a new ministry pointee Lesley du Toit. are demanding assurances that their reac- chief of staff Mike McDonald, the day-to- of jobs, tourism and innovation and Dubious call: Forced to reward Har- day manager on the political side. Mc- promptly announced it was the highest ry Bloy, the one member of caucus who tors are safe. Donald is an old friend of Clark, with supported her for the leadership, Clark Some of these anxieties are most likely priority of her new, family-focused gov- equally deep roots in the Liberal party. ernment. named him minister of social develop- unfounded. Japan is in a notorious earth- Together, he and Pantazopoulos personi- “Today we must renew our focus on ment. In a fatuous performance at the quake- and tsunami-prone region, while fy the delicate political balancing act that job creation in our province,” she de- followup press conference, Bloy prompt- reactors in Canada and many elsewhere are is the B.C. Liberal coalition. clared. “Good jobs are the foundation of ly demonstrated why Campbell had nev- in more stable areas. Indeed, the Clark paid homage to that theme by strong families and this government will er come close to appointing him to cabi- Fukushima pressure chambers and con- appointing Kevin Falcon, the conserva- be tireless in looking for ways to net. tainment vessels appear to have withstood tive secondplace finisher in the leader- strengthen every aspect of our economy Worst call: Clark’s failure to give a the quake, one of the biggest ever record- ship race, as deputy premier. But she did- in every corner of our province. “ cabinet post to Moira Stilwell, a physi- n’t give him everything he’d wanted. ed, as they were designed to do. It was the She’s right to attach high importance cian trained in nuclear medicine who Falcon had signalled publicly that he to the job file. The provincial economy, distinguished herself with thoughtful tsunami that caused the problem. wasn’t interested in the finance ministry, having outperformed other parts of the pronouncements in the Liberal leader- And happily, Fukushima differs radically perhaps believing that as runner up he country, has been lagging seriously of ship race, before dropping out to support from Chornobyl, where graphite technolo- had leverage. Clark set him straight (she late. For a government that has touted its Abbott. One has to wonder if Clark was gy caught fire and sent a radioactive smoke was “very persuasive,” he told reporters), job-creation record, the latest numbers intimidated by her resumé. plume around the world. Canadian reac- as did the business community (via are nothing to boast about. But there were no signs of self-doubt tors, too, feature vacuum containment “threats on my life,” he joked) which Bell emerged as a solid second-rank on the part of the new premier at Mon- buildings and two shutdown systems. wanted his reassuring presence in fi- minister in the forests portfolio under day’s ceremony, notwithstanding her Whatever the differences, there will be nance. Campbell, thanks to the much improved claim to be “truly humbled to be taking Falcon’s first assignment as minister of office as your premier.” As any former lessons to be learned from the emergency. prospects for lumber sales to China. But finance: preparing for the coming refer- job creation is a more elusive assign- premier could tell her, the first day in of- The power supply to the Fukushima station endum on the harmonized sales tax. “We ment, and failure carries broad penalties fice is the happiest. The real humbling was supposed to be redundant, but failed want to win,” his boss, the premier, em- for the economy and the government comes later. when it was needed. That turned a prob- phasized. alike. [email protected] lem into a crisis. Staff have also struggled with machinery, including gauges, valves and vents as they tried to depressurize and flood the reactors. Certainly, this disaster should prompt mailbox... your letters regulators in Canada and elsewhere to review their operations from a “What if” perspective. What if a worse accident than expected happens? What if emergency Words, prayers power supplies are disrupted? What if shut- down systems fail? What then? At the Japan needs help now of support Fukushima power plant, engineers are appreciated To the Citizens of Prince George: Now, I have been here for one-and-a-half finding out on the job. It’s a worrisome As the world knows, my home sight. I am a former Prince George resident. I years, and I plan to live here until at least grew up in the Hart and I attended the August of 2012. country of Japan had an unimag- University of Northern British Columbia This country is amazing and the people inably devastating earthquake and for two years, before leaving for UVic. here are incredibly kind and generous, be- tsunami last week.

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