6 - Wednesday, July 4, 1990 - North Shore N There's more than LeWS one path to heaven IF THAT wretched lake had only one good result, it was to confirm afresh the virtues of COOLING things and the folly of listening to zealots — who flourish today like weeds during a wet summer. All single-issue fanatics — whether Mulroney-style unity hustlers, Quebec separatists, en- vironmentalists or radical feminists — suffer from the same syndrome: OUR way, or NO way. The end is all that matters, so we’re justified in using OUR means alone to reach it. Now, don’t misread me. Hand on heart, I can assure you of the following: I’m an ardent supporter of Ca- nadian unity and I’m convinced Canada will, in essence, survive. All of us — Anglos, Francos, im- ports from Europe, Asia or wherever — have far too much going for us in this rich, unique 3,500-mile swathe of real estate to simply stumble away from it into a murky, unknown future. That doesn’t necessarily mean the 1867-style unity that nine of the 11 ostriches in Mulroney’s pressure cooker insisted on. This would assume the world clock stopped 123 years ago. There may well be more workable “‘unity”’ options which the Confederation zealots refused even to let us think about last month. I believe we should all do what we reasonably can at the moment to protect the environment. Per- sonally, J] can manage perfectly well without aerosol sprays, glossy white paper and plastic grocery bags. But I can’t yet do without my car, despite the greenhouse ef- fect it spews forth — not until someone else lowers the boom on the oil and steel cartels, and starts mass-producing the clean, lightweight electric cars we’d otherwise have had decades ago. I happen to believe wornen are not just equal to men, but in numerous ways superior. So I don’t understand why militant fems think the only method of making this point is all-out war- fare against the entire male sex. Fanatics who are not outright bullies settle for being nags or bores. ‘I'm sick of pro lifers labelling me immoral for respecting, but not sharing, their viewpoint. Fed up with being classified a woman-beater simply because I BANYELIU...joy through ANDY sweat wear pants instead of a skirt. And bored by having guilt trips laid on me over whales, loggers, oil spills, raw sewage and the Brazilian rain forest — about all of which I can do nothing. Zealots thrive as never before, thanks largely to the media, which today are in the business of enter- taining as much as informing — and drama, with ever new twists to it (at which zealots excel), is the stuff of entertainment. So trendy, scary fanaticism can always grab top billing in the TV news and daily tabs we rely on to portray the world to us. If only they'd cool things a lit- tle, we might find many more paths to heaven than the narrow one-way streets built by tem- porarily fashionable lobby groups. wee POSTSCRIPTS: Still time for socially conscious pedal-pushers to call Andy Danyliu, 926-5018, and enter Rotary’s annual Bike-A- - Thon Sunday, July 8, which last year raised $100,000 for good causes. Chairing this joy- through-sweat event — with din- ner at the Harrison Hot Springs Hotel after the 125 km ride from Hastings — is North Van’s Ed Fisk, and co-host with Andy is Bill Good Jc. ... Gertrude Gibson did her late husband proud by coming in low net runner-up with Ernie Van Daele in last week’s annual Gordon Gibson Trophy tournament at Gleneagles. Low net winners were Giselle Warken- tin and Bill Fitzer, while Jessie Hunt and Ross McCutcheon top- ped the low gross scores ... It was ‘‘welcome home”’ Sunday at St. Monica's, Horseshoe Ray, as parishoners turned out, after 20 rector-less months, to greet their new incumbent, Rev. Fred Thirkeil — one-time rector of St. John's, North Van — and wife Lillian ... And a very happy 63rd anniversary tomorrow, July 5, to West Van's *‘*Clair’’ and Gwen Tackaberry. WRIGHT OR WRONG: There is no such thing as an idle rumor. FRED Thirkell...‘*welcome home!" REV. TROSHED THE PORTY.. _WHICH WILL TR9SH Te 6ST. LURETON Wil AX TROSH THE LIBEROLS.. JOHN CROW. Safety driven HE ONUS for making the Sea- to-Sky Highway safer rightfully belongs to the drivers who travel the route, not the policemen assigned to its surveillance. By calling for increased speed-limit enforcement and police presence on the is prematurely ab- highway, society dicating its own duties. It is up to all drivers, whether they are on the Squamish highway or any other road, to take personal responsibil- ity for the vehicles in their control. If the 19-year-old driver who, accord- ing to witnesses, recently passed several cars on the highway before colliding head-on with an oncoming vehicle had felt that sense of responsibility, a young today. Of course, woman would not be lying in hospita! reckless driving habits are not confined to the young. The popularity of radar detectors Speed restrictive, reason, it’s example. important educators teack young people responsi- ble attitudes and to bear responsibility for their actions. But it’s more important for society as a whole that they learn those lessons by among drivers of all ages indicates that, for some, it’s more important to avoid fines than it is to avoid accidents. limits but they are there for a may sometimes feel that parents and System for independent immigrants is ‘ridiculous’ Dear Editor: Your June 13 issue quotes one Orest Kruhlak with the statement that ‘‘people from Great Britain, Scandinavia and Western Europe don’t want to come to Canada any more.’’ That statement is completely untrue. It adheres to the pro- paganda line followed by certain organized groups. Information available from the Canadian immigration office in London shows that, in Great Bri- tain alone, they have been averag- ing about month. Most of these are rejected out of hand because people in about 2,000 inquiries per Publisher Associate Editor Mailing tates avadable on request Subem unsoleated mater envelope Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewart North Shore News, tounded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualitied under Schedult: Paragraph Ih of the Eacise Tae Act. 1 publishes gach Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Norin Snore Free Press Lid and dsinbuted to every door on the Norin Shore Second Ciass Mai Registration Number 3985 Subscuptions North and West Vancouver, £25 pe’ yeat Its ate welcome put we cannot accept responsiti ty tor including manuscripts and pctures which should be accompanied by we stamped aderessed 85 per cent of some 700 recogniz- ed job classifications are automatically disqualified. The temaining 15 out of every 100 ap- plicants have a tough time gaining enough points to qualify. The system for independent immigrants is so ridiculous that a chemist or biologist, for example, earns only one point for occupa- tional skills, but an advertising salesman gets eight. If anyone elsewhere in Europe wants to inquire about coming to Canada, he has virtually no one to turn to. And it is becoming known that Canadian immigration is very difficult for independent applicants, so many people are discouraged and have given up hy 1139 Lonsdale Avenue. North Vancouver, B.C V7M 2H4 59,170 (average. Wednesday Friday & Sunday) . Se, SDA DMISION sane THE VOICE OF hOWTH AND WEST VANCOUVER Dispiay Advertsing 980-054 1 Classitied Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distripution 986-1337 Scale Subscrotons 986-1397 North Shore owned and managed trying. On the other hand, ‘family unification’? people don’t have to qualify for points, they don’t have to speak French or English, and they get priority attention. The Canadian immigration system is not fair, it does not make sense, it probably con- travenes the Charter of Rights by its discrimination against people on the basis of age (in the in- dependent category), and the ma- jority of Canadians are opposed to it. And Mary Collins, MP, is very silent about all this. Reg Meek West Vancouver MEMBER Entire contents © 1990 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved.