6 - Friday, June 14, 1991 - North Shore News wee . rt - NEWS VIEWPOINT QUIT COMPLAINING... ITS NOT THAT BAD... AF THIS WERE FRANCE, YOU'D BE STRETCHED THIS FAR... ENGLAND, THIS FAR on Coyote conundrum HE COMMUNITY cali for gov- ernment action against North Shore coyotes is understandable but large- ly impractical. What the issue comes down to is urban versus natural rights. And there is no easy cali on which should prevail. But residents who live near heavily wooded areas of both North and West Vancouver continue to raise uproar over the proximity of coyotes to their homes, their pets and their chiidren. A provincial environment ministry pro- gram to catch North Shore coyotes was in- Stituted from April to mid-May this year. The plan was to set traps outside known coyote dens and then transfer captured coyotes elsewhere. But the program proved a failure; it also LETTER OF THE DAY proved that coyotes are not so dumb, because no coyotes were caught. And it underlines a basic reality of life oa the North Shore: we live in an urban area that is on the edge of a wilderness. Those closest to that edge should cultivate a healthy respect for nature or be prepared to suffer the natural conse- quences. Simpie precautions and common sense would go a long way to mitigating the coyote problem: proper fencing is 2 must; leaving pet food on back porches and small domesticated pets in backyards is an open invitation to predators. Degrees of seclusion demand parallel degrees of self-reliance. Beseeching governments for a solution merely shifts responsibilities from back porch to bureaucracy. Such are the brutal realities of life in the food chain. Speeders endanger our children Dear Editor: On Friday, April 19 at about 6:45 p.m., 1 backed out of my driveway in the 3000-block Col- wood Drive and proceeded along the street at the posted maximum speed limit of 30 km/h. A black Honda Civic (licence no. RAJ 286) passed me on one of the street’s two blind curves. It then raced to the stop sign at the Queens Road intersection. The flagrantly irresponsible behavior of the driver of the Honda Civic has finally provoked me to address a letter to all motorists, and there are many, who speed along Colwood Drive. I wonder who you are? Do you have children? How would you feel if the lives of your children were put at risk by people driving on your street in the same manner that you drive on my street? Even if your children do not at- tend Highlands Community Schoo! do you not care about the safety of the children who do? Where do you have to get to in such a hurry that you will put children’s lives at risk to arrive a few seconds earlie:? My neighbors and I care about our children, and we occasionally try to politely tell you speeders to slow down. Many of you demon- Strate that you are as rude as you are uncaring by subjecting us to obscene gestures and foul lan- guage for our efforts. You speeders must be aware that the 3000-block Colwood Drive is narrow and has an elementary school and playground located between the street’s two sharp curves. You may not be aware that the posted speed limit is 30 km/h, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Anita Mullaly North Vancouver West Vancouver busimess lets down its hair HITHER DEPARTIMENT: Well known for running the jolliest annua! general meeting in Canada, the 215-member West Van Chamber of Commerce lived up to its reputation Tuesday at the President’s Dinner in the Hollyburn Coun- try Club. . The formula (other solemn- sounding organizations please copy!) is a baron-of-beer buffet; a pro-standard emcee; lighthearted three-to-four-minute business reports; equally brief and light- hearted formalities; and only a star entertainer allowed at the guest speaker’s podium. This time it was irrepressible, tartan-kilted master butcher Peter Black who kept the some 160 guests rolling in their chairs with laughter throughout his 20-minute act. Heading the 1994-92 executive, installed by Mayor Mark Sager, was incoming president Don Youngson — supported by veepee Ruth Kirk, treasurer Gordon Pearmain, secretary Per Danielsen and past-prez Roger Cayford — who received fitting tributes to his year as gavel-wielder. Fred Titcomb, longtime volun- teer with the Seniors Centre and half a dozen other community projects since the 1950s, was named West Van ‘‘Citizen of the Year.’’ And rating a special bou- quet as organizer of it all once again was Chamber manager Joan Foster. The Chamber has made giant strides since its struggling days in the earlier 1980s. Judging by the who’s-who sample of West Van present on Tuesday, local business types now simply can’t afferd NOT to belong. Packaging its yearly stocktaking session as one of the top ‘‘fun”’ evenings in Tiddlycove’s social calendar obviously hasn't done one bit of harm either. YON DEPARTMENT: When they gang up on you in politics, it’s even chances that you’re doing something right. So meet the “Coalition Against The Reform Party.”’ It surfaced at Preston Mann- ing’s Ottawa and Toronto rallies which this week drew audiences of 2,000 and 5,000 on the very doorstep of the old-line pols — Mutroney, Chretien and McLaughlin. Demonstrators handed out leaflets accusing the RP of opposing gay and lesbian rights, women’s abortion rights, trade union rights and civil service rights. ““They out-Tory the Tories,” Noel Wright HITHER AND YON charged one. But don’t be sur- prised to find Tories and Grits in the Coalition too. When you’re running scared — with mounting thousands of good reasons for being. scared turning up in meeting halls across the country — you can’t afford to be choosy about your bedmates. WRAP-UP: Back on the business circuit, the North Yan Chamber of Commerce funcheon 2.g.m. next Thursday, June 20, in the North Shore Winter Club will be addressed by Roger Stanien, senior veepee of the 176,000- member Canadian Chamber of Commerce and billed as a highly entertaining speaker to boot — call 987-4488 to reserve ... Fa- ther’s Day Specials this Sunday include King Neptune’s Great -Land and Sea Race for runners, canoeists and cyclists, starting 9 a.m. in Cates Park — call 929- 7981 to register ... For sleeping-in Dads, Horseshoe Bay Cominunity Day fun begins at 12:45 p.m. with the parade, entertainment, arts, crafts, face-painting and other hi- jinx ... Meanwhile, many happy returns of today, June 14, to North Van birthday girl Donna Kerr. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Don’t discover too fate that the business of life is living, not business. CEPR North Shore News, foundeo in 1969 as an independent suburben newspaper and quatfied under Schedule 111. Paragraph Il! of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid and distributed to every door on the Nortn Shore Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885 Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are wetcome bul we cannoli accept responsitility for unsolicited materia! including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped. adaressed envelope V7M 2H4 north:shore SUNDAY © WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rignts reserved. Publisher... .. . Peter Speck Display Advertising 980-0511 Distribution 986-1337 Gee Norn Snore Managing Editor... Timothy Renshaw Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-1337 Gy Managed Associate Editor. .Noel Wright — Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 985-3227 Advertising Director _. Linda Stewart Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2131 Comptroller . Doug Foot Tit OEE OF NORTH ARO WEST eNcOWIA = wenn = MEMBER Wi SR* AN = SDA i 61,582 (average circulation. Wednesday. Friday & Sunday) PRESTON MANNING... scared ROGER STANION... foes ganging up voice entertains