wcHES PICKING GP THE PROPOSAL. TURNING THE PAGES THIS [5 GOOD... VA. NO, HES PUT IT DOWN AGAIN... HE DOESNT LOOK UPSET, BUT HeS NOT STUNG... HANG ON, HES OUST PICKED IT UP ACAN... HE'S STARING AT PAGE THREE INTENTLY.. Wy \ VIEWPOINT Canyon calls HE CALL to ban access to areas of Lynn Canyon Park is predictable, but impractical. It is a variation on a theme that surtaces after each new tragedy recorded at the magnificent but dangerous North Van- couver District wilderness area: fence it off, organize patrols, increase signage. In the wake of Sunday’s double tragedy that took the lives of a 15-year-old boy and a 27-year-old man, North Vancouver District Coun. Ernie Crist went one step further and said access to the more popu- tar diving and swimming areas in the park should be banned. The call is a predictable reaction to the continuing death toll at the park: 17 peo- ple in the past 12 years. But implementing such a ban could require the efforts of a full-time Lynn Canyon Park law enforce- ment squad, and it would only add to the alluring mystique of Lynn Creek. The reality of personal safety in Lyan Canyon Park remains the same today as it was 10 years ago: urban populations must take extreme precautions in the area; common sense is the key to survival -in what remains 9 wild and unforgiving en- vironment. Lynn Creek is not a natural version of a man-made waterslide. It is at various times a deadly powerful dispatcher of the laws of rsture. ‘Ykere are no appeals to those laws; you are eiiher aware of them and obey them or you perish. Common sense and responsibility for personal safety cannot be !egislated. LETTER OF THE DAY Too many people, not enough water messy yards. Dear Editor: I noted with interest in the July 10 News that the Gleneagles golf course and presumably other such municipal facilities are exempt from the sprinkling ban. In Gleneagies’ case, non-water- shed water is being used. Does this mean that there is no shortage of non-watershed water and, if so, where can I get some? I also noted that watering con- tinues at Gleneagles because “grass is expensive.’” Does this mean that my grass which is also Publisher .... Associate Editor Advertising Director seeesa.... Peter Speck Managing Editor... Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright . .Linda Stewart green but cannot be watered is not expensive? if my grass is not expensive then why are the municipalities using expensive grass on the golf courses at the taxpayers’ expense? Even though the authorities consider my grass not expensive enough to water, I devoted con- siderable expense, time and effort maintaining my. yard in nice con- dition. I believe this practice is en- couraged by our municipalities because there are bylaws against Display Advertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2731 Distribution Subscriptions 986-1337 Fax Administration 985-2131 There is not a shortage of water in the Lower Mainland, just too many people (just like in Califor- nia). In the 20 years I have lived here I doubt that the water capac- ity has been increased at all, whereas the population has prob- ably at least doubled. Although the reservoirs may be down, they are not as empty as the heads of those occupying our city halls. Larry Lebel North Vancouver 986-1337 eS Printed on 10% recycles Newsprint 985-3227 Comptrotier .. . ..Doug Foot Wortn Snore managec North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and quaiified under Schedule 111, Paragraph 1] of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every Goor om the North Shore Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885 Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per ear, Mailing rates available on request. bmissions are weicome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. V7M 2H4 ba rca ey z 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. MEMBEA SN's +f i PA ) | SDA DIVISION 81,582 (average circulation, Weanesday, Friday & Sunday) - Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Liz still owes answers about doc’s concerns THE DOCS’ strike has gone rather quiet in recent days. Kamloops MDs — who threaten an ‘‘indefinite’’ walkout — are back at work after less than a week. With lots of peopte away on holiday, hospital emergency departments singly well. Noel Wright seem to be coping sur: Meanwhile, a recen: . Vuran in which your scribe fault. 4d the B.C. Medical Association campaign for too much emotion and too few facts brought protests from sever- al local medics who confirm my point. It’s not that the BCMA lfacks facts supporting its case. But it simply hasn’t yet managed to present them to the public as con- cisely and understandably as Health Minister Elizabeth Cull tells her own story — a much less complex story to tell. The awful deficit the Socreds left us, says Cull, allows us only $1.27 billion to spend on doctors this year. And that’s 4.7% more than last year — so everyone should be happy. Period. How could any taxpayer other than a doctor fail to nod in agreement? North Van’s Dr. David Gray, using BCMA figures, shoots that ‘*4.7% increase’’ down in flames —— first, he says, because last year’s costs were 2.1% higher than Cull claims. Add an estimated 2.4% population growth and we're down to an actual 0.2% increase over 1991-92. But it gets worse. You must then add rises in taxes, rent, wages and other overhead items, estimated at 4% to 5%. In which case Cull's 4.7% surplus becomes, instead, a roughly 4% to 5% def- icit — the result, the BCMA argues, being that the $1.27 billion will be used up two to three weeks before the year-end. ELIZABETH CULL... story much tess complex. DAVE FINLAY... best idea yet on the Senate. £55 i. HITHER AND YO AS any overrun has to be paid back, that would effectively mean doctors working for two to three weeks next spring without pay. This part of the BCMA story may or may not be valid, but it’s at least clear. The health minister needs to respond to it in public — especially the charge that she fid- dled last year’s costs tco low. One other interesting point is made by Dr. Gray. Some 40% of the $1.27 billion goes or lab tests, ranging from $26 cholesterol checks and $28 chest X-rays to $88 ultrasounds. Technicians, as distinct from physicians, get a big slice of the MSP pie, it seems. He says the BCMA would readily: live within the budget if only Cull would agree to de-insur- ing some medically unnecessary benefits (e.g., routine eye exams) and to the direct billing of ICBC — not MSP — for the former's medical demands. Nothing emotional here. Just factual claims, simply stated and at any rate SOUNDING plausible. So over to you again, Liz — up at the podium — to give doc and us the point-by-point answers you owe him. TAILPIECES: Best idea yet for a truly effective Senate in the most vital area of all comes from lawyer and former West Van alderman Dave Finlay. Make its job, he says, that of telling the government: ‘‘Thou shalt not spend’’ — with power to REJECT outright any federal! budget calling for a deficit. Why, he asks, waste 30 days merely to DELAY a bill that sinks Canada a further $30 billion in the glue? ... If you can't make tomorrow's (July 25) free outdoor concert by the Summer Pops Youth Orchestra from 2 to 4 p.m. at Lonsdale Quay, all is not lost — they're giving a repeat per- formance from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, in West Van’s Ambleside Park ... And in the meantime wish happy birthday today, July 24, to North Van’s Veena Khosla. WRIGHT OR WRONG: People who agree on what's funny in- variably agree on almost everything else. EERE RLS