Houses for rent? The news that North Shore house prices have soared 40% in the past year — that even a West Vancouver house costing $120,000 is now considered hardly fit to live in — raises some interesting speculations. Will rented houses, long an accepted form of permanent accommodation for many middle-class families in Europe, eventually begin to flow back on the market? “We've many younger families have abandoned all ‘hope of buying their own home because of the huge down payment required. A steady drop in the number of first-time buyers must, at some point, begin to affect the ability of lower-price homeowners to sell in order to trade up. Is it possible this process might mean that the market for existing homeowners in all price brackets could one day dry up — forcing them to consider renting for income if they need to liquidate their investment for . retirement or other purposes? For the moment this scenario may seem far-fetched. But if the present trend con- tinues, with house prices racing so far ahead of wage increases, SOMETHING will ultimately have to give way. Down payments of $50,000 to $100,000 in transactions between owner-occupants for single-family dwellings will become _ increasingly unrealistic. The era of the quality home occupied by long-term quality tenants — a form of housing in which many highly respectable European families spend their entire life — may be edging closer than we think. Unprofitable suds Now we know why Victoria is in no hurry to step in and end the beer dispute. Liquor Distribution Branch profits go up during a brewery shutdown because the LDB price markup on domestic suds is only about half of that imposed on imported brands and — about one third the markup on foreign wines and spirits. With this bonanza going would even an NDP government be rushing to get Joe Lunchbucket’s favorite tipple back on the shelves? ~" sunday | | news north shore | news NEWS 985-2131 1139 Lonsdate Ave North Vancouver B C V7M 2H4 (604) 985-2131 ADVERTISING CLASSIFIED CIRCULATION 980-0511 986-6222 986-1337 Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Editor-in-Chief Robert Graham Noel Wright Advertising Director Erx. Cardwell Classified Manager Production & Office Administrator Tim Francis Berm Hitfiard Faye McCrae Managing Editor Andy Fraser News Editar Chris Loyd Photography t tsworth Orchson Accounting Supervisor Barbara Keen North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an mdependent ¢ommunr ty newspaper and qualifted under Schedute Il Part I Paragraph i of the Excise Tax Act is published each Wednesday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid) and distribuled to every Goor on fhe North Shore Second (Ctasa Mal Reyistration saB% Subscriptions $20 per yor Entthe Cormtents | Shore Free Press Ltd Aft rights roserved No responaibdility accepted — tor manuscripts and pictures wie Stamped addressed return envelope Nannies 1 OHO North carvecolen Hescs evvanteve teal trae Needy sabveocated bee mee Coetagpaurveesad try ot VERIFIED CIRCULATION 60,670 Wednesday 49,013 Sunday NitictnnitO™ en ~—— wot THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE By PAT RICH Lizards are pretty dumb creatures, you probably think, which laze around all day and watch the world out of glazed unintelligent little beady eyes. Then how to you explain the fact that there is a in- ternational conspiracy of lizards intent on stopping oil exploration in the world - and succeeding? This is the only conclusion that can be reached from two recent news articles emanating from places as far apart as the Coachella Valley in California and Noonkanbah in north- western Australia. In Australia, six foot long monitor lizards’ called goannes have disrupted oil operations for the last three weeks. The exploration was taking place on the sacred ground and home of the Great Goanna, the lizard god of the local aborigines. Believing that if Goanna is disturbed, the goannas, which are gourmet delicacies for the Yungngara aborigines, will not mate and there will be a food shortage, the aborigines have suc- cessfully blocked oil drilling. Not only that, but this week, the aborigines are flying to Geneva to plead their case to the United Nations. Meanwhile, across the Pacific, what are described as “three-eyed, web-footed lizards with a penchant for swimming through blowing sand” are blocking a move “Agnes, where did you buy those eggs?” For four days beginning next Monday we shall be watching what many expect to be the sudden- death final following a summer of toughly fought playoffs between Ottawa and the provinces on the subject of the consti ution. It’s a pity, therefore, that Tory leader Joe Clark has left it so late in the season before coming up with his Better Idea on how to ensure that the winner of the series is the Canadian people. Next week's crucial mecting is billed as a last- ditch attempt to resolve the acrimonious’ differences between Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and nine of the ten provincial premiers before the constitution (in the form of the British North Amenca Act) 1s_ finally removed from a_ filing cabinet in London, England, and brought home to become an exclusively Canadian property. The sudden-death clement in the game anses from Mr Trudeau's threat to bring home the BNA Act unilaterally if he can't get the provinces to agree in ad- vance on the principles for amending it Such oa procedure would presumably leave Mr Trudeau tn a strong position to amend 1t later in any way he wished by a simple act of our present Liberal dominated parhament. Dissenting provinces fear. tn that case, that they would simply be told to go yump in the lake SPECIAL CONVENTION A mere 10 days ago Mr Clark that the yob of rewrnting the con stitution should be taken away from the prime and the premicrs altogether and handed over lo @ special convention announced minister constitutional That Convention he said should be made up of 50 MPs, 48 members of provincial legislatures, two representatives of the terntones and 10 other “outstanding Canadians”. including spokesmen for the native peoples. To which one can only say Amen. Indeed, with no disrespect to Mr. Clark, it’s strange that this obviously sensible solution = has received so little public attention during the wrangling of recent months Just for the record, former B.C. Liberal Leader Gordon Gibson put forward a broadly = similar proposal nearty (wo years ago. Just as war is too im portant to be left to generals, the basts of the idea ts that a constitution 1s) far loo portant to be left to pobucians —- or, at any rate. to transient political leaders absorbed in the day-to-day business of preserving oF increasing their own power im AMERICAN METHOD You constituion for a long time have to hve with ao Probably the = safest. con sUitulhon ous the unwntten one bke that of Britain which just grows like Topsy over seven of cight centunes by tnal, error and common sense But if youre short of ume, you have to get down to Writing one We don't accessanly want an American type con Why silent so long, Mr.Clark | Noel Wright stitution, but tn fight of Mr Clark's proposal it's) worth recalling how our neigh- bours went about the job. After considerable carher dissension among the states a federal constitutional convention along the same gencral lines as those suggested by Mr. Clark was called together as an extra- legal body in May 1787 After six) months work at produced an admirably concise statement of basic principles, consisting of a preamble and just seven articles This constitution was signed in September 11'S" and raufied by nine of the 13 states (the required number )by June 1788 With the 23 amendments whieh have since been ws stilbin crxreecllent order adopted working Amend incidentally must be approved by thirds of cach house of Congress and ratihed by three fourths of the states ments two The eventual Canada's content of consttubon will clearly be very different. as i should be But ss the by an Edmonton oil ¢ pany to purchase som desert property near Pa’ Springs. It appears that the Inornata, a white four: seven inch lizard lives on tf piece of territory and refuses to live anywhere else earth. Once through termediaries, the have California viromentalists protesti that the the developme must not go ahead. The development com pany is now reconsidering i decision to purchase th land. Coincidence you say. Maybe, but I believe tha all doubts will be put to res’ when other lizards aroun the world use devious an cunning methods to stop other oil companies in thei tracks. The big question is whi are they doing it - wha grudge do _ lizards havi against large corporatio and why has it chosen this time to manifest itself?. Time no doubt will tell. . more working human jj lizar American method of writin their constitution nearly two centuries ago would seem to have quite a lot to recom- mend it over the endless quarrelling and power plays between Ottawa and provincial premiers which have plagued our own constitution-making efforts for 50 many years. ONE- PARTY DOCUMENT: The immediate danger.. .: threatened by _ possible’ unilateral action on Mr. Trudeau's part is that the’ already fragile unity of the ... country would suffer even °: wider splits, not least in the |. The reason is self-evident. © A unilaterally repatriated .. constitution open, in the last. analysis, (to unilateral. amendment by the federal parliament would, in effect, oe be a document written by 8 |: single political party. At this ~ point in time the author ° would be the Liberal Party ” which has no representation © west of Winnipeg. oo Exactly the same criticism would apply Wf the Con- servatives or NDP were holding the reins of power in Ottawa and acted unilaterally And even if the provinces and the feds miraculously reach agreement next week, ts it really any healthier to have Canada’s basic character. over the next century or longer decided solely by the heads of il partisan goveraments ~— some of which could be out of office before the ink on the documents dry” Mr Clark is might about the better way to do tin the interests of all Canadians. But why on carth didn’t he speak up much sooner?