ate 2a. wee BoB HUNTER THE ABORTION issue, rather than going away, has at- tained something of the momentum of a jihad, a holy war. Tides of public opinion do change and political balances shift. Right now, the tide is turning against the pro-choice folks. The chaaging mood is a refiec- tion of a vast wobbling in the axis of world perceptions, including Canada’s. Our values have been turned upside down in the lasi generation, no doubt about it. But now, it seems, they are be- ing turned upside down again, in ways nobody that I know of predicted. . Years ago, I, for one, was in favor of the right to abortion, as part of my own growing awareness of the fact that women were not being treated fairiy in Canadian society. It was an argument that was a bit like giving the land back to the Indians. A nice sentiment, but good luck trying to do it, what with all the accumulated vested in- terests involved. The abortion question, after all, touches on the very nerve of the environmental question. Well, — ‘touches’ is hardly the word; rather: strikes, slashes, cuts.’’ a 2 vee ‘t was also in favor of the NDP, which I saw as being more moral than the others. And I advocated the legalization of everything. Such was the neo laissez-faire heritage of the 60s. : Today, i am opposed to abor- tion, bored bythe NDP, and basically in favor of criminalizing eve! By that I mean everything bad, like carbon dioxide emissions into the air, like spouting chemicals in- to inlets, rivers, lakes and the ocean itself, like destroying any part of the biosphere. I’m not the only Green Tory around, as you may have noticed. One transformation in society that is palpable is the wave of new conservationist laws on top of all the other laws we already have. Look what is happening, albeit very late in the game, in Howe Sound. Industry resisted change as long as it could, with the result that when the political will (tead: . desire to survive) exaerged, it came in with a bang, and industry finds itself having to shell out megabucks quickly. co, How much cheaner and more sensible to have started on a vol- untary clean-up ages ago. Changes are coming, but the costs will be high because we are starting so late. And that will con- tinue to be the sore point, dividing us among ourselves yet further: jobs versus ecology. It was a level of debate that you DON’T SMOKE F British Columbia Lung Associz-tion never had to listen to much, since the bunnyhuggers were wimps until fairly recently, so far as mainstream politics were concern- Now there is one more set of strident cries added to the cacophony. Society is more fragmented to- day than I can remember it being at any time since the late ’40s. - Westerners are more alienated than ever. : Quebecers are doing their own thing and incidentally running Ot- tawa. Smokers and non-smokers gather in seperate workspace areas to bitch about the others. Heteros tell crueller gay jokes than ever. Indians tell more white man jokes, At parties, old heads, I’ve notic- ed, go outside to do their filthy thing, rather than starting a fight with straights who used to be in- timidated, but are now militant anti-dopers. . ’ Feminists and jocks give each other a wide besth, Even in Ontario, everyone hates Torontc. Jews are defensive about the Palestinian uprising. Against this background of chairs breaking over people’s heads on every front, pro-choicers and anti-abortionists do not nor- mally do lunch together. There is so much to argue about —a veritable smorgasbord of has- sles! Is there a pattern to it? I believe there is. , I don’t believe for a moment that my own changing views on the abortion question, for instance, are merely the erratic musings of a The abortion question, after all, touches on the very nerve of the environmental question. Well, “touches”’ is hardly the word; rather: strikes, slashes, cuts. : The single most terrifying aspect of our ecological crisis is that the. population of our overcrowded *- world is in the process of doubling, meaning that the pressure to ex- ploit the environment for short- term survival is bound to get much, much worse before it gets better. Anything that can trim this huge human population bulge is inher- ently good for the global eco- system, good for other species, good for the future of life on this planet. If abortion were the only means of slowing this demographic * avalanche, I would have to take the hardnosed intelleciual position — that it was brutal and monstrous but aecessary, for the good of the planet. But given the state of the art of birth control, it is neither necessary nor the only means. I think if the state simply took charge of unwanted infants and put them up for adoption, the probiem of the woman forced against her will into motherhood would be solved, the greying of Canada could be perhaps slowed, and the blood of unborn Cana- dians wouldn't be on the hands of our politicians, courts and police @ $40,000 WV firm gets NORTH VANCOUVER'’S Light- house Industries Ltd. wilt receive a repayable federal contribution of $40,000 to get its nev product on the rails. Making the announcement on behalf of Western Diversification Minister Charles Mayer, North Vancouver MP Chuck Cook said the funding will help Lighthouse develop a prototype machine to manufacture an innovative new version of a railway car lubricant disk. Once the prototype is complete, the company plans to mount a Canada-U.S. marketing campaign and build up inventory in anticipa- tion of sales. Lighthouse president Kelvin Chiddick bought the company in 1987. Its ‘bread and butter’’ business was supplying molybdenum wax patties to Cana- dian railway customers — the pat- ties are mounted between the cargo box and wheel assembly for lubricatinn, reducing heat from friction as well as wear and tear on adjacent parts, But soon after Chiddick bought the company, his ian cus- tomers began buying a newly de- veloped lubricant disk from a California manufacturer. Chiddick, a chemist, developed a polyester resin molybdenum disk imilar in size but three times as hard as its competition. “‘With its superior wear charac- teristics, the Lighthouse ‘Beacon’ disk shows great potentia!, not on- ly to capture its Canadian custom- ers, but also to break into the American railway market,’ said Cook. 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