No new wood-burning Dear Editor: Pm writing in response to the recent debate on the proposed banning of wood- burning fireplaces and stoves. My girlfriend and IT pur- chased our house in the North Vancouver District with the “feature” of a wood-burning fireplace. We have also installed a natural gas-burning fireplace in our basement, which we enjoy very much. However we also still enjoy a wood-buraing fre once a month or so dunng the winter months. As I see it these are the impacts of the proposed bylaw. Firstly, a legislated reduc- tion in property values to the tune of over $2,000 as this is the cost to install another gas fireplace. Will our property taxes abo go down to reflect this? Nat fikely Secondly, owrern whe else lose? The four or so businesses in this pape. advertising fire wood tor sale and the busi nesses that clean our chim: nevs. Who stands to gain? No doubt the retailers of gas fireplaces are licking their chops at the mention of this ban, and the municipaliry that hesides home stands to would reap the rewards of permit fees to install all these new fireplaces. Air quality has been brought up as an issuc. Yes, wood-burning fires do create pollution. Yes, in the Lower Mainland we do have air qual- ty Warnings. These are however a prab- lem ia the summer not in the winter when fires are burning and weather svstems are mov: ing throug on a more than daily trequency. On a global note, Pm sure the tiav amount of smoke produced by wood fires pales ID comparson ta the enor mous amount of smeke pres duced naturally in lighting strike forest fires every ear T would urge Cistrict coun: cil to support a ben on wood- burning fireplace /stoves only in New construvdon. Yeu don’t know what vou have until it’s gone. On a final note: the Feb, 5 North Shore News quoted a GVRD report that was critical of wood-burning stoves. Drop firefighters’ medical role Dear Editor: Answering the question of the West Vancouver Firefighters “Fire or Ambulance,” [ say the B.C. Ambulance Service should be responding to medical emergencies. The ambu- Jance service has been mandated under the Health (Emergency) Act and Regulations to provide emergency health care and transporta- tion to hospital. The problems at present are an insufficient number of ambulances and acute care hospital beds. Instead of offering support the West Vancouver firefighters are capitalizing cn the difficulties of our health care system, seck- ing to expand their sole and budget. YOU SHOULDN'T. annual administration fee. West Vancouver residents are in effect being asked to pay for services that should be provided by the provincial government. West Vancouver Council should look at removing, the medical response role from the fire service as a way of assisting the district achieve its 7% budgetary reduction. Emergency health services would then be “uploaded” back on to the same provincial gov emment that has been so busy “downloading” responsibilitics to municipalities. Brent Woodi West Vancouver rwoodley@popserver.sfu.ca That's why we waive our Allow need is a minimum account balance af SIR.O00, We also offer one of the lowest commission stractures for Canadian equity trades. For details call E SOQ. 387-6507, Scotia Discount Brokerage 5 “Royestercd trade mark of Phe Badkot Neva Scot Venbes CEL MRE LENT IA byes Fe Tx this dic same GVRD that supports logging in our watersheds ino the namic of “Insect Contras”? Gress what the practice is ta contro asects in the slash itt atter the fogs have been removed: vou burn it. K. Gillund North Vancouver keillund@hotmail.com Dr. Rod T. Chow Inc. is pleased to announce the relocation of his dental practice (in conjunction with Dr. Douglas Rose) to 209 - 1940 Lonsdale Ave. N. Van (next to London Drugs) Call 987-3428 for appt. (open late one evening) New and current patients welcome JABOT | | A World of Window Coverings Visit us at Park Royal Home Show ELECTROLYSIS (Gel w the ret of unwanted hair prrmanenity FREE 0: mm rumuitton FRLE $ min Perm rm Special 7 ert (long heir extra) Expieces March 31°97 Chez Elle Esthetic & Hair #207-1331 Marine Drive, West Van 922-1225 REPRESENTING WHO?? An interesting article appeared in the 5 Spring 1995 edition of the Canadian Partiamentary Review. it discussed the resus of a number of surveys of voters and MPs regarding representation In the | Partiament of Canada. As would be expected, the traditional politicians of the old-line parties were found, in general, to be totally out of touch with the wants and needs of their constituents, while the rookie MPs, in general, and those of populist parties like Reform, had attitudes about representation which closely matched those of their constituents. STARTLING RESULTS Political scientists Andre Blais and Elizabeth Gidengil reported that 80% of Canadians appear to believe that politicians have no intention of keeping their election promises. In addition, the vast majority of those surveyed felt that party discipline prevents MPs from voting as they otherwise might, that MP pensions are far too generous, that political parties only listen to voters during election campaigns, and that federal politicians are far toc preoccupied § with constitutional reform. Voters would prefer that their tegislators paid more attention to the public will and voted that way in Parliament. it not surprising, based of these findings, that Canadians in general feel that MPs are not doing the job they were elected to do, and that their view of the proper role of an MP differs substantially from the view held by their legislators. ORDER OF IMPORTANCE in December of 1993, a Gallup poll asked respondents to place five different responsibilities of MPs into order of importance. A similar question was posed to MPs in the Parliament of 1988-1993, as well as to non-incumbent candidates, like me, running in the 1993 election. Rookie MPs, and the public, placed keeping in touch ..°!. constituents about what the Government is doing, and pretecting the interests of the constituency in first and second place. {n contrast, the old fine party MPs placed helping people with their personal problems, and debating and voting in Ted White, M.P. , #302-1200 Lyne. Valley Rd., North Vancouver, B.C. Parliament in first and second place. For. them, keeping in touch was number four:{. on the list, while number four. for the public: and Rookie MPs was debating and. voting in Parliament, a position . swhich, -in: “my opinion, fairly accurately ‘reflects. the trie- value of that activity. Anyone who has studied’ the workings of the Canadian House of']. : Common: ‘ealizes that.all.of the decisions: have already been made, long before: the’ debates begin or the votes are taken. © : i CONCLUSIONS A major conclusion reached from the results of the surveys and interviews was that repressive party discipline ‘in. . Ottawa’ gradually destroys an MPs independent. thought and level of job satisfaction. This in turn causes the MP to gradually move helping people with their personal problems to the top of the list of. daily activities. The grateful expression of thanks: - from individual constituents for problems’ solved makes up for the constant disappointments and lack of democracy in Parliament. The article in the Canadian Parliamentary’ Review suggested that MPs should start thinking of how to increase their presence in their ridings, improve on their ability to communicate with their constituents, and provide more j information about what happens in Ottawa. The racommendation was also made that MPs should avoid spending too much tirne in Ottawa, because the more time they spend there, the more they come to believe that ihey must adapt to the system instead of trying to change it. These are important messages for MPs who are prepared to listen, and | hope that I fit into that category. My weekly report, as a way of keeping you informed about what happens in Ottawa, has been appearing in the North Shore News for more than three years. Quotations from your letters and phonecalls often find their way into my speeches In Parliament, and | monitor all of the local media, including radio taik shows, so that | can keep up to date with the issues that are important to you. Communicating with you, and representing North Vancouver in Ottawa, are stili the two items at the top of my list. V7j 2A2, Tel.: 666-0585 Fax: 666.0509