@ ~- Wednesday, March 3, 1993 - North Shore News

| NEWS VIEWPOINT
Unblock bus zones

a IS an irony faced by all of us who

live with the automobile: the mobility

afforded by the technology of steel
and rubber often reduces our ability to get
© around,

, The paralysis sets in for the driver by
_virtue of the sheer volume of vehicles one
must increasingly compete with for road
space. Pedestrians must contend with the
daily dangerous dodging of fast chunks of
metal on the move.

As pedestrians, the disabled face an ex-

‘ tra challenge’ from drivers who choose to
block the access of disabled commuters at-
tempting to use lift-equipped transit buses.

.Drivers whe park . vehicles: in bus-stop
zones shouid face stiff penalties.
Tectinology' and transit planners have

‘made public buses accessible to those of tis

who are unable to walk.
Theoretically the move to make buses

‘accessible to the disabled on established

transit routcs has given the disabled a new
road to freedom.

In practice, if thoughtless drivers con-
tinue to park in bus zones, disabled com-
muters cannot depend upon safe and effi-
cient journeys. '

Pam Horton, a member of the Commit-
tee to Promote Accessible Conventional
Transit (COMPACT), says an increasing
number cf. disabled peopie are using the
buses. ;

it is up to the rest of us to respect and
support: their right of, ‘unrestricted move-
ment. -

‘LETTER OF THE DAY

What’ S happenin g 10 community spirit?

Deér Editor:

Three cheers for Counsellors
Janice Harris and Ernie Crist for
their stand in defence of ‘‘blue
box scavengers’? — .and ‘‘un-
parliamentary language’’ to those
who passed the ridiculous bylaw
amendment making it an, offeace
with a $50 fine.

Michael, a young physically
handicapped man,, has been out
with this car in our-area every col-

He

material;

returned.

. Peter Speck

«. Timothy Renshaw
Noel Wright
Linda Stewart

Publisher .

Managine Editor .
Associae Editor
Sales & Marketing Director.
Comptroller . Doug Foot

North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an
inoependent suburban newspaper and quatified
under Schedule 111. Paragraph (1) of the Excise
Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and
Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and
distributed to every. door ca the North Shore.
Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales
Product Agreement No, 6087238. Mailing rates
available on request. Suorussions are welcame Dut
we cannat accept responsibility tor unsolicited
matenal including manuscripts and pictures which
should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed
envelope. : .

Newsroom °

vim 2H4

lection day, rain or shine.
is trustworthy,
hard-working and this isa way to
supplement his income by retriev-
ing refundable bottles and cans
that | and others leave for him.
Blue boxes are for recyclable
1 choose to determine
how refundable

1 will continue to give him my
“refundables’’ in a separate bag

Display Advertising
Real Estate Advertising 985-6982
Classified Advertising 986-6222

1139 Lonsdale ‘Avenue,
North Vancouver, BQ. ree

_Or box with his name on it. | hope
everyone who wishes to support
his ‘‘Michael” will do likewise.

What is happening to our
community spirit? Have we lost
the capacity. for kindness and
consideration?

Is everything we do predicated
on profit?

neat and

items shall be

Susan Cowan
North Vancouver

@
Printed on
10% recycled. -
newspiint
North Shore managed

960-0511 Distribution 986-1337 £
Subscriptions 986-1337

Fax 985-3227 p
Administration 985-2131 §

MEMBER

ak)

985-2131

ry
SOA DIVISION

61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday)

Entire contents © 1993 North Shore Free Press Lid. All ‘rights reserved.

Swap the Y
for a ‘fa :
values’ law!

LUNACY BY the Politically Correct is everywhere nowa-

days. But the disastrous Young Offenders Act, which Citi-
zens United for Safety and Justice want scrapped, has ele-
vated PC lunacy to an art form.

There’s little doubt that Noreen
Provost, North Van's voice of the
CUSJ, has the support of a ma-
jority of fair-minded citizens
when she calls for the naming of
young criminals and stiffer
penalties for serious offences by
raising those over 16 to adult
court.

Soaring youth crime and vio-
lence are being increasingly linked
to the erosion of family values,
The YOA itself contributes
massively to that erosion by let-
ting parents completely off the
hook for the sins of children and °
teens who develop into brutal
young thugs.

No names, no pack drill, as the
old saying goes. Rigid anonymity
ensures that the family honor and
reputatiaon remain unblemished.

Meanwhile, knife-wielding
young Rambos, nurtured on 30
hours a week of TV violence
thanks to absent or don’t-care
parents, can get away literally
“with murder for the price of only
two or three years in a homey
detention centre. Non-fatal! bru- °
tality often brings little more than
a slap on the wrist for oversize
hoodlums up to age !7.

True, parents have their own
problems in these tough economic
times. Among Canada’s some 4.5
million families with children at
home, close to one in five are
single-parent houscholds — 80%
of them single mothers, of whom
one-third live below the poverty
line.

Meanwhile, in over two-thirds
of the some 3.7 million families
which still boast two parents, both
mom and dad now have outside
jobs. Until they return in the
evening after a hard day’s work,
their kids have to make do with
daycare, a latchkey and the tube. .

So in about:75% of Canadian —'
families the ‘‘quality’’ time
children need from at least one
parent may be severely limited.
Can tired, stressed moms and
dads, struggling to pay the rent
and feed the family, fairly be held

* accountable if their offspring run
amok?

Serry, the answer is YES —

simply because no one can replace ::
- them. They are their kids’ primary’

role models. Nourishing hungry
young minds is no less important
than nourishing hungry young
tummies.

‘The mere threat of names in the
paper could work wonders for
«family values’’ by forcing
parents to devote more effort to

HITHER AND YON

teaching their young how to avoid
trouble. The schools clearly don’t,
*. do it.

And why, pray, in cases of
serious personal injury or damage
to property, shouldn’t the parents
of the guilty juvenile be liable for
penalties themselves — just as’
ICBC can nold car owners able *
for ofiences by drivers to whom f
they lend the vehicle? | =<:

Instead of the YOA, isn’t the
real need today fora politically
incoyrect ‘“Young Offenders’ Due |
to Negligent Parents Act?”*‘:.;

TAILPIECES: “Rxploring 0 our

_ unprotected iMainiand coast" is

’ the topic of the Sierra Clab’s lec-
ture and slide show tomorrow,
March 4, at 7:30 p.m. in ‘Robson
Square Media Centre oyertown —
call 538-6294 for more about the
club’s activities ... Friday to Sun-
day, March 5 to7, brings the 21st’

. annual North Shore Round-Up of |
‘Alcohotics Anon.

veous in the
Hyatt Regenry — details from:

: 984-6048 .:, “Another chance
Saturday ‘7 and Sunday, March 6 to
7, to win a 1993 Mazda MX-6 ~
“Mystere, when North Van Youth .
Bard members will be selling their
Car Lottery tickets again in Park’ '
Royal North ... And many happy”
returns of today, March 3, to ‘

‘Mount Seymour Lions’ brand-: :

new senior citizen, Dudley Kill.
eo .

WRIGHT OR WRONG: If Col- *
umbus had turned back, no one |
would have blamed him — nor
even remembered him

“QUALITY TIME” with kids the weapon against fuvenile delin-

quency.

a