IT WOULD be incorrect to
say that he ‘‘bounded”’ *-.
down the stairs, but there
was a youthful vigor to his
step as we arrived at his
apartment last Sunday
morning.

**Excuse the mess,”” he said,
“*we’re ready to move at a mo-
ment’s notice.”’ We scarcely had
time to look before he advised: ‘‘E
just got back from a helicopter
tide ... do you know what the
North Perimeter Road is?”’

After a mystified hesitation
from Patricia and me, he started
making large circles on an imagi-
nary map, obviously outlining a
spectacular new highway devel-
opment proposal.

We settled back in the comfort-
able sitting room and listened to
the usual exuberance. My
thoughts rambled back over many
years.

it’s 1970 and I’m new in town.
The Vancouver Province dispat-
ches me to Burnaby Municipal
Hall for a meeting of the Greater
Vancouver Regional District.

Amid some tedious harangue, a
dashing looking young politician
jumps to his feet to make what
seemed to be an absurd point. The
canary yellow jacket and white
shoes did not convey a sense of
authority.

**Who is that,’’ [ asked my
seatmate. ‘‘Oh ... that’s the
mayor of Surrey.’”’

In 1974-75, the same mayor, by
this time among the most interest-

Gary
Bannerman

OPEN LINES

ing personal friends anyone could
have, captured the headlines by
suggesting that everyone on
welfare was a bum who should go
to work picking strawberries.

This truly rankled those of us
who had studied social welfare.
We knew that 80 per cent of reci-
pients were unemployable.

Bill Bennett’s sense of irony
reached an apex when he ap-
pointed the recent Socred convert,
fresh from the strawberries, to be
his welfare minister.

Within minutes of hearing that
news, I dashed to the typewriter
and cranked out a 10-page adviso-
ry to my friend to be cautious
about generalities until he had
studied the truly needy. This was
dispatched by courier.

But the colorful one was in the
headlines the next day suggesting,

“if anyone refuses to pick up a
shovel, I will give him one.”

The newly designated **Honor-
able" told me that he didn’t get a
chance to read my report until he
took a bathroom break. Right
after the press conference.

Whatever people thought of his
policies, they always loved him as
a gardener, one of my most en-

during open line traditions over 16

years. No one could bring more
knowledge, fun and even excite-
ment to such a mundane topic.
On one occasion he was attack-
ed by a rather obese woman who
represented some environmental

organization. She decried the weed

and bug killers he recommended.
He defended people who were
trying to keep their gardens neat,
and he told the woman: ‘‘f know
your type ... you’ve gut grass as
long as a hayfield and probably
an abandoned car on the front
lawn.’’ She stomped out. One of
her neighbors phoned to tell us
that the description was accurate.

Good Friday became one of our
favorite days for a gardening
show. We would do one hour on
politics. Since nothing else was
going on in town, the television
cameras were always plentiful.
(W.A.C. Bennett was the only
other guest to insist on holidays.
It ensured spectacular media
coverage.) Then the tulips would
take over for the next two hours.

Into this happy scenario on

Drivers guilty of drinking behind the wheel

RECENT CONVICTIONS in
North Shore courts have resulted
in fines and penalties for drinking
and Griving related offences:

NORTH VANCOUVER: John

ELECT

Dennis Iciusston, 46, 205-144
West 20th St., North Vancouver
(over .08, 20 days jail).

WEST VANCOUVER: Sheryll
Darlene Tucker, 44, 316-7040
Balmoral St., Burnaby (impaired,

$700 fine);
Speed, 28, 365 East Keith Rd.,
North Vancouver
$1,000 fine); Dennis J. Stang, 34,
Macklin,
paired, 14 days jail).

Thomas
(impaired,

Saskatchewan, (im-

‘1 offer you ability, leadership, stability and
a full-time commitment as a Mayor who will
be accessible to all. | am a firm believer in

service to others, and ask your support in
my efforts to continue my service to the
people of the District of North Vancouver.
Let’s work together to build the good life.’

MURRAY DYKEMAN

DISTRICT MAYO R

°

DON’T SMOKE

It’S A MATTER OF
LIFE ANDBREATH

British Columbia Lung Association

Andrew

Sunday, October 28, 1990 - North Shore News - 9

For the love of gardening and politicking

Good Friday 1983, our hero
strolled. He had a mischievous
grin on his face. The Minister of
Municipal Affairs was going to
take a ‘'sabbatical.’* a stunning
bit of news. And he delivered on
the promise.

It was a more typically buoyant
mood a year later. After our
show, he insisted that I call
Patricia and then join him at Art
Knapp’s Nursery on the Lougheed
Highway.

At this centre, his wife had de-
veloped a miniature amusement
village. He was worried that she
was working too hard. So they
had made a lot of changes. The
large family home at Port Kells
was sold. He resigned from the
cabinet. They sold the nursery.

But this Good Friday — 1984
— he wanted to show us Bota
Gardens near the Deas Tunnel.
We stood looking over this pleas-
ant garden toward the North
Shore mountains. And he started
to describe a theme park: a Euro-
pean village with food outlets,
shops and catering facilities.

In his opinion, people would
shy away from paying to see a
garden. You'd have to give them
much more.

Over an early dinner, that
night, he asked whether we
thought he should buy the land. I
knew from the look in his eyes
that the decision had been made.

They tackled the project with
breathtaking resolve. Never had I
seen them more satisfied and ex-

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cited. An unsuccessful flirtation
with the Vancouver mayoralty
became only a passing distraction.
The theme park development
evolved with love and determina-
tion.

It’s summer 1986 and I get pag-
ed at my golf club. It’s my
gardener. The pressure — in
private and in public — has been
intense from those who want him
to succeed Bill Bennett. He's torn
between the magnificent business
dream, and his ever-present politi-
cal ambition. I told him he
couldn't do both.

It was his health that concerned
me, not propriety. When he ra-
tionalized that it could be done, I
didn’t need to see the eyes to
know a decision had been made.
My advice was only that if he
didn’t run, ‘‘you will be haunted
by the question of whether you
could have become premier, and
how well you would have done in
the job.””

And now they are moving their
home.

WED. OCT 31
to
SAT. NOV 3

$1900 $1499
$1349 $1099
$559 $499
$1500 $1049
$850 $679
$800 $579
$650 $499
$600 $499
$419 $319
$69 $45
$150 $125
$99 $75
$29 $22
$39 $19
$79 $55
$130 $85
$89 $60
$40 $22
$175 $125