| DREAMT WE PID So POORLY IN THAT WE. HAD To’ REPEAT THe YEAR ! » IG HOMES - demond | big bucks. Lots in established’ neighborhoods demand ’ bigger: bucks’ _than ‘when | : they first hit the market. >And .the market . generally diciates . that , expensive lois Tequire - a maximized square ~ -footage ‘ef: construction to return: ‘a healthy... investment. 000." : Bui ‘bigger is not. necessarily better when older. fiores fali to the demands of market - «forces in ‘older neighborhoods. | : Those who are negatively ‘affected when “existing housing . is: ‘demolishe: ‘and replac- ” ed ‘with something more massive are rightly. ce _ gileaged when view ¥ Vancouver’ District ‘Council, iafill housing’ construction — at the build-. jag permit stage. — would go a long way to Z initiative to limit: tie size‘ of houses’ built’. on: infill lots in ‘single-family: neighbor- . nd : privacy are 1992. «6. ‘hoods is “moving in the right direction, but ‘the hard fact remains that legislation even- tually arrived at will not ensure the estab- lished design characteristics of « neighbor- hoed or guarantee’ view or continued “privacy and sunlight. ae By. wature, / / zoning ' bylaws define the ' scale, of - new: construction. . Whether crementally : or ‘om a broader scale, neigh: -borhocds do chatige. View and privacy. are’ Not matters readily enirenched in law: they remain matters ieft to be determined in the more ‘subjective; realm of the give and. take. ‘between good neighbors. \ 1. A mechanisin allowing the direct input of neighbors: ‘living adjacent ‘to. proposed cireumventing much h unkappiness. Trane cette, O° maj jority - it. Dear + Editor: ee Coun:: Ernie ‘Crist (NSN’ Jan. 1) is misleading .when he refers only left" turn: restrictions. : from “Queens to® Thorncliffe, as “these restrictions also apply to Colwood “and Woodbine. {. would have ‘thought that: ‘the: : uncaring. majority ! should . better. ‘have: applied their energy to . Festricting ' traffic on Colwood be- tween Queens and Highland where _all’ the. children’. of . Highland school are affected by the danger; . noise. and air pollutions {of an almost. continuous stream of traf-" “low” ‘jority of °. people, _pressure groups with . theiz’ own that you, were ‘elected by.a majori- -ty. of voters even if they ‘do-have'a‘", social. conscience,..and “1, really thought the responsibility , of : government was to ‘serve’ the ma- not “small |N 0 easy job to iticians — e leash! | ‘ “INITIATIVE AND RECALL” — the right of voters to, ‘tell the government what to do between elections and to ~ fire MPs or MLAs who flovt their wishes _ are hot polit. ical buzz-words nowadays.’ - Four out of five B.C. voters backed that right in the referen- ‘dum held with the’ 1991 election. High on the Reform party agenda, © it’s seen by many others too as the - only way to get unheeding politi- cians onto the leash during their four-year power trips. Which ex- plains, of course, why Premier Mike Harcourt continues to stall indefinitely about taking any ace tion on the demand. ; As with so many great ideas; ; however, translating “initiative and recali*’ into reality isn’t quite as simple as it sounds. Consider, - to begin with, the ‘‘initiative’? — a petition by some minimum |. number of voters for government _ action on a certain issue, which government then puts to the elec- . torate as a whole in a referendum.” The exiire history of referen- | ~ dums (like political polling) shows . " that public opinion tends to be’ split pretty evenly on most issues, often by close to 50-50% and. << .seldom by a greater gap than 60- :, 40%. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be. issues in the first place. So what happens when the vef- erenduin on an initiative presented by maybe 20% of the voters winds: up with only 55% supporting it? ©. The math here is completely «_ different from etzction math, which allows a party ‘to win power (as Harcourt’s NDP. did) with ap- preciably LESS than 50% of the ; vote. The dif ference being that the duty of a party, | once elected, is to - ” govern as far as ‘possible in the a best interests of ALL the voters, including those who voted” against A referendum, however, entails specific and unusually controver- ‘sia! ACTION, Is such action.“ ° justified if opposed by, say, as many as 45% of the voters? And ‘if not, how smal SHOULD the!) osition be before it can fairl ‘ be thrown to'the wolves — 33%? 25%? Eyer: a’mere 10%? “a ‘In practice,, “cecal”? raises ari’ ~ equally tricky problem. To‘avoid .; ‘HITHER, AND YON . ps ‘by’ which time his party imight: well be only a year or so away from a new gcneral election anyhow. « y Undeniably, some form of par-' ticipatory democracy is‘essential: to rescue our political systen from the muddy swamp of disrepute in®: ‘which it’s now wallowing. But whether initiative and recall are the answer — or could even be: * made workable —: are e still open:, » questions. ae +“ We'll dig furthes into those . questions on Sunday. WRAP-UP: ‘*Euchalon: To Cure, Humanity’? i is the in: > triguing title of the current exhib- ition portraying the role of. - Buchalon ‘fish’ in native life at the “. North Van Museum,'333 Cheste » field ~ continuing antil Jan.|£7 : from noon to 5 p.m: ‘2 West Van ‘ Adult Community Baud needs beginner and intermediate level musicians to round out its training , division: All er cal 3 ‘welcome : needed bya support group pre- ‘viding partially impairet!:and © isolated seniors with such Services as drivers and home, visitors. If. the immediate re- fighting of close.” election batiles it could hardly be - “allowed until an incumbent had» ‘had at least 18 months in ‘office. The petitioning of his recall, constituency “‘trial, ” choosing’ replacement candidate and holding ; the necessary bye! ection could | residents. with .a of © social" con- the. completely | ‘minority.’ of.’ higher" (level « ssciousness « than - siate aca “Peter Speck: Timothy Renshaw «Noel Wright Linda Stewart Publisher -:.. ‘Managing Editor Associate Editor Sales & Marketing Direc ‘Comptrolier . , North, Shore “News, independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph Itl of the Excise Tax Act, is published ‘each Wednesday, Friday and ;;: Sunday’ by: North ‘Shore. Free Press’ Ltd. and. distributed ‘to every’ door onthe North Shore. ’ Second Class ‘Mail, Registration Number’ 3885. Subscriptions North ‘and fest Vancouver, $25 per year.’ Mailing ;rates “availab!e on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for. unsolicited material including : : maquscripts and ' pictures ! which . should . be -. accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. i fic, no doubt increased by the left ‘turn restrictions in question. ; 1 wish to: remind’ you, Ernie, -’ Classified Advertising 908-6227 » Fax’ ws. 985-3227 lou ‘ded ' in 1969 as an. agenda, however ‘igh t their. social : ‘conscience is. ae fe D. Corby North Vancouver : {; L ‘y _ * Display ‘Advertising “» 980-0511: “Distribution 986-1337 : Real Estate Adveriising 995-5982 Subscriptions 986-1337 10% recycled * : newsprint Newsroom. cot |. Administration 985-2131 ‘4139 Lorisdaié Avenue, ” North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 : > {right) accepts $3,000 for relief in Somalia ‘from ' Van's Hillside. middle: ‘school, studznts’ ‘of. Weat “who -collectec! the ; money from goodie sales, a Successful dance and other. fundraising activities.