Tes Herth Shore Sows is published by orth Store Frea Press Lid., Peblisher Peter Speck, from 1139 Lonsdale Avesne Werth Vanceuver, 8.C., V7M 24 Publisher 985-2131 (101) Newsroua Fax i, Acctunting & Main Oflice Fax Beckes-News 985-2131 (114) McCredie. eg RENN ae THE. Letters must include your name, full address & telephone number. VIA intemet: trenshaw @ direct.ca COMPUTER BBS - 889-8027 . User ID:mailbox » Password:letters Circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press tid. @ SOMETHING TO Accor FOKHMNTING 8. THE COAGIS: SORETHING FOR FAST eScare, iF LABOUR GOTS eLecTeD: TIQWS YiGwrcaiys aD, Pas LER NTS SOLS TEN LOONIE OE Socialist spring PRING is here and the seeds of political patronage and anti-democratic legisla- tion planted earlier in the NDP’s reign are in full blcom. Socialist manure has helped make this a |. bumper crop that British Columbians will unfortunately be harvesting for years to come. Brightest among, this year’s blooms thus far include the NDP’s badly flawed Election Act, which penalizes British Columbians for attempting to inform their fellow citizens about their concerns during : provincial election campaigns. First to reap the benefits of that bad bloom are accountant Gary Nixon and the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition. The two have been ordered to pay fines of $13,000 and $220,000 respectively because they dared spend more than the ridiculous $5,000 limit outlined in the Election Act campaigning against the NDP in last year’s election. Other foul flowers in the socialist garden include the NDP’s expansion of its mis- named “fair wage” policy to ali future B.C. highway projects over $50 million as a fur- ther payoff to Big Labor. The policy covers Vancouver Island’s inland highway | project and has already added to it an estimated $78 million in wages. Elsewhere in the socialist garden: the B.C. Hydro-International Power Corp.-John Laxton debacle and the foisting of casino gambling upon the province’s population. It’s a bumper crop all right — from a gar- den seeded with hypocrisy and cultivated with single-minded party politics. It’s a garden that needs ploughing under before it chokes the democratic: life out of British Columbia. Open letter to vacuous WV vandals Dear Editor: To whom it may concern: The stained glass window came from the home of my maternal grandparents. To the vandals who attempted to destroy it, | have some questions: Was it done in celebration of the freedom of spring break, or perhaps you were honoring St. Patrick’s Day? Tell me, did your friends admire your ingenuity in find- ing just the right rock, the perfect size and shape to inflict the most damage?’ Or perhaps you carry a col- - lection around in your car, for. just such an occasion — looks just like the one you used to break the window in my cara. few months ago. Hey, it only cost the tax- payers $800. Were your friends in awe of your daring, your courage, your cool? You did, after all, have to get out of the car and sneak - up the few stairs to the land- ing, so your aim was just per- fect. Right on! Looe What does it matter. that the window is irreplaceable?” I bet you all hada great . laugh, as you sped away from the scene of the crime. You should have’ stuck around. You would have loved to sec the devastation on the face: of my 87-year-old mother as she viewed the damage to one of the last remnants. of. her childhood home. 222.62: I only wish I could have asked you these questions in person. Mary Elien Bradshaw West Vancouver maryel@pro.net Quebec file needs a Trudeau clone ASKED how far he was ready to go when he sent the army to take over the streets of Montreal from insurrection- ist FLQ terrorists in 1970, Prime Minister ees Trudeau’s clas- sic reply was: “Just watch me!” A pity Pierre also launched Canada on the road to financial ruin. But if we're talking about handling the Quebec file, where is Pierre’s political clone today, when we desperately need im? In the event of a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) as a result of a referendum won by Quebec’s 30% of wingnuts who back Lucien Bouchard and his Parti Quebecois, three immediate steps would be vital to preserve a viable “rest of Canada”: _ 1. The securing of a read-rail corridor under Canadian sovereignty along the south bank of the St. Lawrence from Ontario to New Brunswick. 2. The return to Canada of the northern two- thirds of Quebec ceded to the province after Confederation by acts of the Canadian parlia- hither and yon ment — which can repeal them. The area is also heme to the Cree Indian population, which has voted overwhelmingly to remain in Canada. 3. Protection of sizeable, homogeneous com- munities of Quebecers loyal to Canada which might call for support in remaining Canadian. ‘The need for these essential actions to stabi- lize a new nation of Canada — with 23 million inhabitants, a steady influx of immigrants, a wealth of natural resources and every reason to survive—is obvious. Without them the Atlantic Provinces would be physically severed from the rest of the country for purposes of supplies and trade. Breakaway Quebec would take with it a huge chunk of “borrowed” Canadian territory still subject to acts of the Canadian parliament. And countless loyal Canadians might be illegally “kidnapped” by a foreign country. In the days immediately following a UDI by a separatist-governed Quebec there's no way chair- borne bureaucrats in Ottawa could even begin to handle such challenges. As much as many Canadians today may shudder at the thought, the only possible solution would be swift deploy- ment of Canada’s armed forces in the atfected areas — hopefully in a purely “on guard” role, but ready for active military intervention if inevitable. Please note, we're not talking of denying hardline separatists their right to go to some eco- nomic hell in their own handbasket, to become a poor, tiny francophone backwater amid 300 mil- lion unsympathetic anglos. We're talking only of guarding Canada’s min- imal legitimate rights in face of nation-wrecking * treason by a Quebec government that, other- ~ wise, could spark the disintegration of the “rest” of Canada” itself. Trudeau, that quintessentia! son of Quebec who is also a dedicated Canadian, understood very clearly that a nation afraid to draw a line in the sand when its vital interests are in mortal peril is a nation not worth saving. On the Quebec front Canada’s leaders have come a long way since Trudeau. All of them wimps. All of it downhill. 000 10TH ANNUAL Renewal Mission at St. Simon’s Anglican Church, Decp Cove, takes place Apr.11-12 with guest speakers Rev. and Mrs. Jeff Boerger. Cal! 929-5350 or 929-0542 to register—$25 by Mar.30, $30 later ... And happy birthday Saturday, March 29, to West Van songster Terry Jacks. 000 WRIGHT OR WRONG: Nothing brings back the good old days as vividly as a bad memory. — The North Shore News believes strongly in freedom of speech and the right of all sides in a debate co be heard. The columnists published in the News present differing points of view, but those views are not necessarily those of the newspaper itself.