OPEN LETTER TO DAVE BARRETT: You should go for it. I know we haven’t seen eye-to- eye on many things since you, as premier, offered me a matching grant of $25,000 if I could raise that much money to save the whales. Back in 1976, wasn’t it? The trouble was you called an election before I could raise a nickel. Of course you got dumped and the poor whales never saw a penny from the British Columbia government. Nevertheless, I thought you were the greatest thing since the card- board foldout handle on a six- pack: an intellectual with the common touch, to say nothing of a terrific sense of humor, and one of the sanest men I’ve ever met. ‘phe morning after the election that brought you to power, I wrote a slightly tongue-in-cheek column that started: ‘‘Welcome to the People’s Socialist Republic of Brit- ish Columbia.’’ Ho ho. As it turned out, al- though the CIA had described you as the ‘‘most dangerous socialist since Allende,’’ your grip on power proved to be less than iron. Tragically, B.C. fell back into the hands of the car-dealers and stock traders. My own sensibilities have changed quite a bit over the years, Dave. We stand on opposite sides of the line on a score of issues. GRAND OPENING SPECIALS Fitness 3 MONTHS Memberships § 69 3 MONTHS 39 Racquetball 3 MONTHS or Squash § 5 9 $99 PER TAN Aerobics Suntanning FITNESS Until the negative environmental impact of free trade and John Crosbie’s assumption of the trade ministry turned me against it, I had backed Pat Carney’s initiative. You took the nationalist road, of course. I assume that on abortion, you are totally pro-choice. And that your fascination with centraliza- tion Gf economic tools remains as great as ever, despite the dismal record of socialism everywhere. you are a “‘fresh face’’ out east. A living legend, to be sure. And also something of a prophet. Face it, compared to the images of Ayatollah Vander Zalm and ac- cused inside trader Bill Bennett, you look pretty good in retrospect. Very good, actually. But there is another, broader reason, apart from expediency. Of all the politicians upon the national stage, Dave Barrett hap- pens to be the only one with any “e O, all the politicians upon the national stage, Dave Barrett happens to be the only one with any credibility at all when it comes to the pivotal environmental issue.’’ lve gone free enterprise myself. That said, ! think you'd stand a very good chance of becoming the greatest and most successful leader the national NDP has had since Tommy Douglas himself. I’m sorry, but David Lewis and Ed Broadbent didn’t do it for me, ora lot of people. There are a couple of good reasons, apart from charisma and ego, for running, Dave. One is that once you had the party leadership, you could prob- ably take Ontario by storm. I have talked to a lot of people in Ontario lately, and they like the idea of you running. They didn’t really want Stephen Lewis anyway. Canada being as regionalized in terms of media as it is politically, APRIL 26MAY z CENTRE 124 West 3rd Street, N. Vancouver credibility at all when it comes to the pivotal environmental issue. I think that the green vote is go- ing to be the next big bloc. Cer- tainly it is the only potential bloc outside of Quebec that could also carry any weight inside Quebec. There are greens there too, n’est-ce pas? As for speaking French, it’s no fonger an issue. With Quebec hav- ing become unilingual and proud of it, I believe the first national leader to refuse to speak French will actually gain points in the rest of the country. I’m not kidding about this. Ecologically, you were a pio- neer, Dave. You may not have had a chance te contribute B.C. tax- payers’ moncy to the whales, but you did act decisively to ban the live capture of Orcas in B.C. waters, you slapped a moratorium on uranium exploration and did the same to oil and gas exploration off the coast. You clapped a freeze on the sell- ing-off of precious agricultural land to developers — almost as though you could see Bill Vander Zalm coming. And then, stupidly, you brought in nationalized auto insurance. You even dared to thrust aside protocol and speak directly to Japan’s prime minister about the whaling issue, which is more than any leader we’ve ever had in Ot- tawa has done, Brian Mulroney’s “national environmenta! agenda’’ notwithstanding, if you’ll excuse the expression. Go for it, Dave. This’!! probably just cost you points, and with friends like this, who needs enemies, but I for one will support you afl! the way. The official Green Party in Canada is an utter flop. I talked to a senior B.C. Green member a couple of days after their office was broken into in Vancouver, and he didn’t even know they'd been hit. It’s time the NDP took over re- sponsibility for being the en- vironmental conscience of the na- tion, and the only guy who could convincingly do it would be yourself. Green and English-speaking? - You'd sweep the country® iar ae = NV developers must include recycling space DEVELOPERS IN North Van- couver City with plans to construct new commercial or multi-density residential! buildings will have to include space to hold recyclable materials, following a bylaw amendment which passed unani- mously at North Vancouver City Council Monday night. ‘Large, multi-density units should have space for recycling, just like they have to have space for garbage,”’ said Ald. Bill Bell. Bell said this is the first time a bylaw requiring recycling space has been implemented. Ald. Stella Jo Dean said prob- lems faced in the past have includ- ed the difficulty of selling tecyclable products. ‘‘The big thing is (to find) if we have the markets,”’ she said. Correction Notice LIONS GATE HOSPITAL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Wednesday June 28, 1989 Join the Hospital Society and support Lions Gate Hospital Friday May 26, 1989 at 5 p.m. and not 8 p.m. as previously printed. This is the final date to join if you wish to vote at the Annual General Meet- ing. For further info, call 988-3131 (local 201). OUR § FACILITIES * Co-ed Exercise area * Ladies only Exercise area * Aerobics (all ievels) + Lifecycles * Saunas, Steamrooms - and Whirlpool * Racquetball and Squash * Suntanning (Wolffe beds with face tanners) * Personalized instruction * Nutrition counselling * Open 7 days a week 6:00am-10:00pm M-F 9:00am-6:00pm Sat/Sun Now