BALMORA Students (left: to right) Vanessa Parente, Madeline Laberge, Kevin Guidi, Maya Bouton and Melanie Ord get into the - 198 as the North Vancouver schoo! celebrates Canada this morith. NEWS photo North Van Ss Balmoral raed make April a patriotic month ‘Balmoral celebrated the first week in April with Canadian ‘Trivia Facts 101, Jotanda Waskite - Con ibuting Writer . ONE day a ‘year to celebrate being Canadian just isn’t enough _. for. patriotic students at, a North Vancouver school. ‘oral junior secondary’ school sét aside an entire month to celebrate the niqueness of being Canucks. ° re waving flags, putting up posters, taking a citizenship test, wearing red and ivhite clothing, holding poctry and essay contests and publishing an anthol- “gy to buy a section of the Canada Trail. It’s sail part of Celebrate Canada Month in April : oT ‘don’t t nk 3 we focus cndugh, on our. culture,” said the event’s organizer, Balmoral teacher-librarian’ Hazel Clark. “Our society is so bombarded by ‘Americanism, be it through the media or television.”. * Clark said there ‘are many talented Canadians to be proud of including musi- ans atthe recent JUNO ‘Awards, scientists, writers, actors, athletes and leaders. But why the immersion in Canadiana in ‘April when Canada Day is July 1? : ““T chose April because of Canada Book Day, which is normally the third : Wednesday of every April,” Clark said. “It’s a day where you celebrate Canadian Clark said the idea came to her last year. *I.don’t know what was going on nationally that made me think of it at the me, but I thought, ‘We don’t celebrate Canada enough,” she said. 2 Clark phoned. provincial contacts across the country, requesting posters and - books, and even called Heritage Canaca in Ottawa. The federal agency donated 600 each of Canadian flags, pins and book markers —_ enough for the staff and 560 students at: Balmoral. announced over the loudspeaker. The ne weck, students and staff strutted their Canadian colors by wearing red and white clothing. Froia April 6 to 17, a poctry contest challenges students to write about their : favonte place in the country. A prose contest invites students to write about what being a Canadian means to them. The school is also hosting a citizenship court April 29 ar 2 p.m. The event will see the swearing in of more than 100 new Canadians. ‘The new Canadians will have successfully passed a citizenship test by a mark f 60% or higher, Clark said the school’s social studies teachers will also give stu- dents the same test to check their grasp of Canadian history and facts. *; Clark said thar on Canada Book Day, an author in Newfoundland will begin ’ Street” an iy write a-story, which he or she passes on via ¢-mail to another writer in Prince Edsvard Island, who in turn adds to the story, which is then passed on to anoth- er.author in another province until the story is complcied. A similar event will be held at Balmoral, Or Book Day, the first English class in cach grade will pick a topic to write a short story around and write the intro- duction, the next class composes the conflict. The Process continues until the end of classes. .: The stories, along with entries in the Canada Month poetry and prose von- st, Will be published by che school in an anthology. Copies will be sold and pro- ET think it’ s will:go towards paying for a section of the Canada Trail. Donors to the trail their names inscribed on plaques which will be affixed inside kiosks: ” along the cross-country route. “We a our culture, {1 to Canada.” multicultural society now more than ever,” Clark said. “And while important that multiculturalism provides a richness in our society and. s important to) remember why you are here and why you came n grapples with ~. “Required by the Municipal Act, the OCP séts planning. and design guide- “lines: that have been determined ‘as desirable. However, the plan docs not control zoning. Any local area in the plan that has been carmarked for change would still require its own pub- lic ‘process . involving information meetings and public hearings. _.. The OCP received its own public hearing three weeks ago, attracting a capacity crowd to district hall. for.a four-hour mecting. The majority expressed support for the plan and congratulated the mostly volunteer planning team. . ; Dan Ellis and Robert Poburko, co- chairmen - of the Lynn Valley Community Planning Team, told council that approximately 4 000 peo- ple had provided input to the plan. Ellis said the 24-year: pracess had contribute to Strategy for area =: Martin Millerchip News Reporter. “miller@nsnews.com . TWO and a half years of “ €ommunity planning has been unanimously adopted by North Vancouver District ‘Council. ss But not without change. - The Lynn Valley Official Community Plan (OCP) is a planning ‘decument:for the area, providing a .. snapshor of the future. consumed approximately 10,000 hours of volunteer time. He described the extended com- mittce process as “ a great synergy,” noting that people didn’t always leave with the position they came in with. ‘ou gave a little here to get some- g there knowing that the commu- itself would win at the end of the process,” said Ellis. ~ “We really benefitted from bring- ing diverse people together. We learned from each other and the peo- ple who came to the table with specif- ic interests, almost to an individual, almost every single one, stayed at the table, learned, . participated and got involved in every aspect of the plan.” Special. projects planner Phil Chapman, the district planner most responsible for stickhandling the lengthy process, told the News that the Lynn Valley OCP was “the most community-driven plan” that he had ever been involved with. He said the time taken was worth the consensus built in the community. But former district councillor Paul Turner, a Lynn Valley resident, dis- missed the “myth of consensus.” He advised Seymour residents who are embarking on their own OCP process to keep “running minutes” of all meeting: According to Turner, with no offi- cial report of the meetings, “We had to wait for the report (OCP) to find out what the consensus was.” Continued Turner: ¢ people outlined |north vancouver Martin Milierchi News Reporter sailler@nsnews.com THE foliowing are some of the planning objectives con- tained within the lengthy - “The full document: is available in the planning department at North . Vancouver District Hall and the Lynn Valley Library. Elements of the plan’s strategy: . phasing new development;’ @ establishing three principal com- munity areas; @ identifying transition areas; B providing comnyunity benetits; B accommodating only a fair share of future growth. _ Overall Objectives @ To improve the visual appearance, of the Central Lynn Valley and Town; - _ Centre areas. To encourage a sense of unity and distinctive character to the L na Valley area. To preserve | and enhance the com- munity’s scenic views, and “heritage resources. . Town Centre Design Objectives @ To create a village atmosphere by 7 adding residential units over ground- floor commercial- development, reducing and relocating surface park-”. ing, providing wide’ sidewalks and_- landscaping, establishing. a “Main integrating existing m: with other existing and new comn cial buildings. @ To protect public view: by setback and design where appropriate.” | & To strengthen village identity: by bringing. buildings up to the street, creating gateway buildings with spe cial design features and providing a high level of public amenities, includ- ing more historical references to the community’s past. Central . Lynn Valley Objectives @ To contribute to the village identi ty where sites are adjacent to the town centre through use of compatible |; scale, design, massing and layout. To establish transition zones where : be Design me "See Cataloque'page & -.who came here and were - ecorded asked for low. growth or no growth © and that got finessed into ‘fair share’ of a growth. “YT dare you to ask the people w har they want and stand by it.” Asked Turner: “Is there anyone our there besides me who wants a smaller, gentler, less fast rate of "growth? If, there is it will eventually be reflected i in, this plan.” - But Poburko argued that a certain - amount of growth is inevitable. “Tes not how much we grow, it’ how we grow as we! do it,” sai Poburko. Edgemont Village resident: Corrie Kost also disagreed with the. plan’s basic policy statement about future growth, ‘See Control page 4