5, 1892 — North Shore News -_ ") ee yes ’ UM: AN NEWS VIEWPOINT Risky business for making someone pay for the costs of a rescue mission, look to the Jan. 31 issue of the News and the story of a rock climber being plucked from a rock face near the Cleveiand Dam spillway. North Vancouver District firefighters managed to pull the climber to safety, but only after risking their own lives. The climber did not think much about what might go wreng in his foolish assault on the rock face; some might argue that he did not think much at ail, But whet he did invest a lot of effort in was putting himself, and consequently, local rescus crews, at risk for no reason beyond seeking thrills. The climber deliberately went beyond 2 protective fence barrier to reach the rock face; he chose to perform his stunt in wet | F THERE were ever a iegitimate case and windy weather conditions; he found himself trapped on a Jedge for close to 142 hours. The only smart thing he did was involve a@ partner, who was able to alert rescue crews to his predicaraent. Had the climber been zlone, Nature might well have meted out some natural justice, ard rescue crews would have been pulling a body frem Capilano River rather than a cold and wet climber from an unforgiving rock face. The price of all this foolishness, then, can fortunately be measured in financial terms only. And that measurement should be applied to the lesson fearned by one more person with the misplaced vanity to think that he ean better Nature im any ill-conceived ene-on-one situation. LETTER OF THE DAY. School board doing admirable job Dear Editor: I would like to respond to the letter from the Community Schools’ ‘‘Concerned Parents,’’ requesting that we show support to them. 1 offer a double-edged support to both North Vancouver District _ No. 44 Schooi Board and the Community Schools. No one should question that sommunity schools are not a valid and a necessary element to the education system of the communi- ty. Let us not forget North Van- couver was the leader in this con- cept and it should be continued by the District or the Schoo! Board. However, to suggest any fault for the lack of funding and possi- ble discontinuances of these ex- tended education programs on the par of the Board members of District No. 44 would be an in- justice to them. It has to be understcod that they are not evading their mission statement. They are doing ‘he best they can with what Victoria has given them. I have talked te all of the members and I am convinced that the problems confronting the school board weigh very heavily and it would not be fair to criti- cize them at this time. They and the superintendent’s staff are working overtime and with some innovative ideas trying to solve our education problems. They aeed your support during these times of adjustment. Daniel MM. Jarvis, MLA - North Vancouver-Seymour North Shore Publisher Peter Speck Managiag Editor... Timuchy Renshaw Associate Editer Noel Wright Advertising Director .. . Linda Stewart Comptrofier . Doug Foot Nerth Shore News, founded in 1989 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph lit of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sundey by Morth Shore Free Press Ltd. and distrinuted to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates available on request. Newsroom SUNDAY + V7M 2H4 Display Advertising Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions Classitied Advestising V+ 7RIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. 5 986-1337 986-1337 Fax 985-3227 Administration 985-2131 MEMBER SN's 980-0511 Distribution managed 988-5222 985-2137 => SDA DIVISION == 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. doilar bargains § up to 33% off “GREED” (translated, in this instance, as the urge to make a buck) isn’t all bad. In fact, it can work to ease everyone’s tax burden and could go quite a way towards saving Canada from bankruptcy. That’s the nub of a recent arti- cle by Fraser Institute Director Michacl Walker, which hands a big bouquet to Bank of Canada Governor John Crow for leaders- ship in cutting public sector costs. In nine cities across the country the Bank is privatizing the clean- ing of its buildings, presently kept spic-’n-span by 146 janitors on the Bank’s payroll at.a cost of $4.5 million a year. The janitor service contractors will charge $3 million —- a saving of 33%. Heaven knows how many hun- dred millions could be cut from Ottawa's $30.3 billion annual def- icit if all federal government departments followed the Bank’s lead in office cleaning alone — net to mention a score of other activities by public service employees which private enterprise can perform just as effectively at a lower price. The same applies, of course, to the junior levels of government. Victoria has already made some solid progress in privatization, and the contracting out of garbage collection by many municipalities has been, by and large, a resoun- ding success. A detailed study of the latter by University of Victoria zofessor James McDavid shows why. McDavid found 33% savings with privatization were quite usual. The reasen: private sector competition for the government contract smartens people up to become more productive — higher productivity being essential for the successful bidder to satisfy his government client, pay union- scale wages and make a profit for himself. . Thus, in the ‘case of garbage, McDavid discovered that privatiz- ed services averaged 1.24 tons per hour collected by each crew member, as against 0.64 tons by public sector workers. True, privatization can have a downside too, as January’s week-long strike by privatized road maintenance workers on the snowbound Coquihalla highway demonstrated. But there’s an easy answer to that. : Work vital to public health and safety is simply designated in the contract as an essential service — giving government an automatic right, without further notice, to legislate an end to any stoppage in that particular area within 24 hours. After last fall’s violence by JOHN CROW... teaching Ot- tawa how to cest-cut. HITHER AND YON striking federal workers the upside of removing the likes of PSAC boss Dary! Bean and his goons from the services-to-people business is too obvious to need further comment, Government’s job is to govern, period. Its pricey employees — with no productivity incentives — should NOT monopolize service jobs that ‘‘greedy”’ private enter- prise is only too happy to do at | 433% off.” oo eoe . TAILPIECES: Happy golden: years to Horseshoe Bay’s Jack Birch who skippered: the. Bowen Island ferry for the last time Fri- day, Jan. 31, before retiring after 27 years’ service with B.C. Ferry Corp. Then he; wife Pat and friends celebrated. with lunch at the Bay Moorings, as ferry .col-'- ; leagues coming on and off shift sopped by with congrats: and — good wishes... For. women in- terested in learning public speak- . ing skills uternational Training in _ - Communication — -known formerly. as Toastmistress Clubs — is throwing a dinner.. party March 7 at Forster’s to launch: its new North Shore branch. Call Jaycee Marr, 985-2599, for. info and tickets... And coming up April 25 is the 20-year reunion. of Cap College’s Outdoor Recreation” Management Dept. — whose 1972 alumni should contact the. coor- dinator, 984-4947, soonest. ~ ooo WRIGHT OR WRONG: Don’t boast about keeping to the middle - of the road unless you’re sure you can see both sides.’ 4 MARYL BEAN... teaching Ot tawa how to squander. .-