A6-Wednesday, September 24, 1980 - North Shore News editorial page Battle not over? Now that the dust of battle is, for the moment, settling, it seems timely to review the significance of last week’s elections to the board of Lions Gate Hospital — at which the Pro Life opponents of easy abortion suffered a decisive defeat. Nearly 4,000 Hospital Society members participated, around 2,400 of them freshly recruited during the massive membership drives of the summer months. All four board vacancies were filled by “pro choice” candidates with average majorities of two to one over Pro Life contenders. A neat and tidy interpretation of this result would be that North Shore residents approve of the hdspital’s present liberal abortion policy — “abortion on demand”, as Pro Life supporters describe it. There is still no conclusive proof of this, however. Certainly, the Hospital Society's present membership of over 5,000 SHOULD be more representative of North Shore opinion than last year’s 1,600. But even the latest figure has to be measured against the total of 60,000 - 70,000 North Shore adults (and potential hospital patients) who are eligible to become voting members of the society. The fact is that Wednesday’s board members were still elected by only five to six per cent of that adult total. Ultimately, the only solution to this problem may lie in statutory open elections to the hospital board on the same basis as school board elections. Last week's results may mean only that “pro choice” supporters conducted a more energetic summer membership drive than their rivals. As long as this possibility remains, we haven't heard the last of Pro Life on the North Shore. Up in smoke The Florida Power and Light Co. an- nounced this week that they are hoping to fuel a power plant with marijuana and hashish seized from drug smugglers. But, it’s not as good as it sounds, because 1.2 million tons of pot only equals about 1,200 barrels of oil and no, they don’t expect any unusual emissions from the smoke stacks. sunday news north shore ~ news NEWS 985-2131 1139 Lonsdale Ave North Vancouver BC V7M 2H4 (604) 985-2131 ADVERTISING 980-0511 Publisher CLASSI EO 986-6222 Peter Spec k CIRCULATION 986-1337 Associate Publisher &éditor-in-Chiet Advertising Director Robert Graham Noel Wright Bru Cardwell Classified Manager & Office Administrator Bern Hilhard Creative Olrector Tim Francis Production Rick Stonehouse Faye McCrae Managing Editor Andy Fraser News Editor Chins Woyd Photography t Waworth On koe Accounting Supervisor Barbara Keen North Shore News founded 1 0GU as an iidependent o crntiicane ty newspaper and qualified under Schedule tH Pant i fa aarp Mh ot the Exctse Tax Act is published each Wednesday and Sunday try North Shore Free Press Lld and chateibuted te avery doce one tse North Shore Second Clans Mail Nuseritoen vetye, Hderqgecste entice Subscriptions $20 per year bate oon cents Davy oven Niet cob e: Free Presa Lid All rights rese: vod No responsibility aCCeptad fom ried ted Manuscpts and patos wtee Faber abet doe . Stamped addressed ceturn envelope VERIFIED CIRTUL ATION 50,670 Wednesday 49 913 ‘uray fo SN » THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE OTTAWA (SF) - The federal government’s decision to spend $186 million on Canada’s 16 elderly destroyers does not portend well for the future of the nation’s maritime forces. Some of the ships which will be refurbished are already more than 25 years old. They need some work so they can be sent to sea safely, but in reality, they should be scrapped. The reason some maritime ex- perts oppose the Destroyer Life Extension (DELEX) program is that they are worried that it means the Government intends to force the old ships to sail on for another 10 years. Canada has the longest coastline of any nation in the world and some of the richest fisheries in_ide the 200-mile jurisdictional zone she claims. There are also major oil and natural gas deposits inside Canadian waters. You'd think with such riches the federal government would be a little concerned about policing them. But here we are, after more than a decade when nothing has been spent on maritime forces except new patrol aircraft, still dithering about a decision to build six. new warships, and going ahead to spend $186 million to keep old klunkers going. It would be possible to make a case for extending the life of older destroyers if the government would admit its mistake of failing to build ship replacements during the past 10 years. We are now apparently trying to replace 16 older ships with six new ones, and that’s soniething which simply won’t wash. It’s not good enough for our NATO allies, and it’s not good enough for Canadian national interest. Without question there should be a rapid con- struction start on the six new warships, which are now more than a year behind schedule, and there should be a crash beginning to a program for another 12 to 16 warships. Because of the length of time involved in planning and _ building warships, decisions made now will not produce operational ships for very nearly 10 years. Hence the The demise of the daily newspaper in Canada is nothing new. It was happening when I was a young local reporter here in the late 1950's and early 1960’s. It had 5een going on since before I was born. Indeed, jaily newspapers had been swallowing up their competitors in the previous century. Many daily newspapers today had more than one beginning. Take Toronto's Globe & Mail for example. It is a combination of The Globe, The Mail. and The Empire, to name only a few of its many roots. What we are witnessing today is the final draining through the hourglass of the last grains of sand of Canada's daily newspaper industry. This process has been speeded up in recent years as the newspaper in- dustry centered the reaim of big business and corporate takcover and ownership. Hard-headed businessmen are concerned with one thing and one thing only profits They approached their new responsibilities in a crisp, cold. business hke manner New methods were adopted Short cults” were taken All was sacrificed tn the pursuit of profit LACK FIRE, GUTS Csradually the older edittonahsts fadcd away and a new breed of newspaper people centered the scene They were highly skilled highly cducated and highly trained Polished to perfec tion near But they lacked the fire and guts and natural born talents of theur predecessors were and are They reporters not Bul they were arc writers The result of of) this is that the daily and not aAcwspaper in Canada today has become deadly dull, with only a few exceptions. There is a sameness that permeates the industry today lke an evil disease. Except for type size and style, there is very little difference between one daily and another. It is as if today’s daily newspapers were cranked out by robot computers, and sadly, at least in part, that 1s true. Deadly dull and unabashedly boring. That 1s today's daily paper But it is the end of the play, mot the cnd of the world — and not the end of yournahsm or freedom of the press in Canada RETURN TO ROOTS What we are witnessing 1s the turning over of the hourglass and the re-entry of the grains) of sands as Canada's newspaper industry returns to its roots The daily newspaper sprang forth from the carher weekly paper, and what we are seeing all across Canada is the ore birth numbers in greater growing weekly and the industry Some dathes will remain. and some wecklics strength of ne wspaper will eventually become dathes, bul more and mere Canadians will look to ther local suburban weekly for local news and loc al opinion Individualty ts) returning. along = wath strong in dependence and stiff op urgency. Three years ago the Trudeau government told the Armed Forces that a Canadian fleet of 24 ef- fective destroyers would be the right size for the Canadian Navy. Not = an unreasonable number. The trouble is, promises have not Destroyers should be scrapped been followed by action. Instead, we have aq delayed program for six new frigates which should be coming into service now, and a program to keep old ships with only © slight operational capability going beyond their reasonable life. ‘Nope, try again’ position. Freedom of the press grows stronger. not weaker, with the re- emergence in importance of the community paper as opposed to the big daily. It is the trend of the 80's and 90's Radio and television will continue to provide immediate news and opinon. along with sup- pottive documentanes and background comment They in turn will give way in part and be supported by the growing weckly newspaper industry A new industry will spring forth to supplement national and = tniternational coverage, and satisfy. the reader's craving for print matenal, in the form of the soon to be printout sheets) from television news tomorrow's modular com ponent HOLDING THE WHIP But there is a danger That danger is the Continuance of the cxisting problem of all facets of the media falling Into too few hands What we must be wary vo! is the growth of sittuahons tike that) which exists in Toronto, where a string of surrounding suburban wechly newspapers are in fact owned and operated by Getting back to real journalism. By NORMAN SEVERUD the big city daily, The: Toronto Star. This must not be allowed to happen, for if it does, then the freedom of the press, and our own personal freedoms we cherish and take for granted, will be in serious jeopardy. When one pair of hands © holds the reins, it also holds the whip. If that happens, if we allow that to happen, then we will all become the slaves of whatever power is in control. If we are that apathetic, then we can expect, and will deserve, no more. The growth of a strong, independent and com- petitive weekly newspaper industry in Canada is the very best thing that could ever happen. We are slowly returning to the old jour nalism. This happens to be one instance where the old way is the best way (Norman Severud ts a West Vancouver wnter who formerly worked for numerous leading dailies including the recently defunct Ottawa Journal) ‘WE SELL’ NEWS photos. it you want to order a photo that appeared om the NEWS cali Andrea Barratt Pa.m.-5pm Monday, Wednesday. Thursday only sunday news north shore news