The North Shore News is sublished by North
Shore Free Press Ltd., Publisher Peter Speck,
from 1139 Lonsdale Avenue
Mort Vancouver, 8.C., V7M 2H4

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y 4 Canam ns
Worth Shore News, founded 2 1969 as an inkpendant
siartin newquper and quilified unde Schedule 114,
@arsgragh 11 of the Excise Tax Act, is publoikd cach
‘Wednendiy, Fridvy and Sunday by North Shc Free Prew Lad.
and dearinted to every dose on tie Nosth Shore. Canada Put
Caradn {\idictions My? Sales Nrukat Agoment No.

‘61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday)

Entire contents
© 1996 North Shore
Free Press Lid.
Alt rights reserved.

9 EARL Bh OUP ATE LR ROA ts

news viewpoint

Focus, please

"ALUED North Vancouver District
Councillor Ernie Crist has kicked off

reform Hollywood.

The local film and television . industry

eR Nee AEP AIEEE SALE MEA YI

railbox

No need for |
single North | |
Vancouver —

Dear Editor: :
Rule No. }: fit ain’t brake,’
don’t fix it. ;
Contrary to your Nov, 24.
editonal “Direct inaction,” (}
suggest the low voter turnout :,
in North Vancouver City shows
the complete satisfaction by the |
voters with the performance of
Mayor (Jack) Loucks and the
last council. Ss
Considering the margins by.
which they defeated the others'S
running, had Coun. (Bill) Bell’
stood for re-election, : there
- would have. been’ no. need ‘to’
vold the election. at. all! City
residents are very well aware of
how well they are being serve
_ A high degree of coope;

city and district
~ policing, purchasing; et
When studies” ar
conducted by “the:
regard to Lower Lonsd; nd:
Versatile. (Pacific “Shipyards

‘the views of districe. residen
are welcomed..."

'- With the city and: disirict
tax rates being amongst. th
lowest in the region, amalg
mation would. do - litle:

the new session of council with a right-
eous run off the rails.

The focal man of motions is as diligent an

advocate of good government as this commu-
nity has ever had. But there are times when
his motions before council are more hin-
drance to the efficient running of the district
than anything elsc.
- Take his most recent trial balloon floated
before council. Crist, in his earnest desire to
make this a better community, wants North
Vancouver District to restrict the filming of
violence in local film industry facilities.

His heart is in the right place — gratuitous
violence in movies and on TV is a major social
problem — but his head is not.

employs hundreds of North Shore residents
directly and indirectly. Crist would have the

district wade into those livelihoods with an ;

ill-conceived mandate to sniff out violence

and restrict the free flow of creative enter-

prise. :
Ernie’s No Violence zone would do little to

change the entertainment industry. It would |

merely hobble the part local companies are

playing in the development of one of B.C.’s .

growth industries. Local municipal govern-
ment has its hands ful! with trying to deliver
efficient government and effective services to
local municipalities.

Mr. Crist should stick to what he does best
and ensure that those jobs are being done.

ing, at. straws. 1. think’ the;

uthor of that editorial, (obviz\:
ously a district resident with his}
eye on” the | city’s ® capital:
account), had forgotten to tak
his medicine. that morning: +

There is. no. demand, fc
amalgamation, except ‘in
mind. of your. editorial ‘weite
See Rule No. 1. : :
Donald M. Currie
North Vancouver -

North Vancouver District has far more
pressing problems on its plate than trying to

entertainers.

Leave the entertainment spotlight to the

‘What do you say at the inquest?’

IN the unlikely event that you’re fook-
ing for gifts for Premier Gien Clark
and Highways Minister Lois Boone,
you couldn’t do better than a new
book just hot

off the press.

Moreover, the
three North Shore
MI1.As — Jeremy
Dalton, Ted
Nebbeling and
Katherine Whittred
— could do a lot
worse than flog a
few copies this Sunday at Park Royal during the
signaturc-collecting drive they’re holding there
for their Lions Gate Bridge petition.

The book is Earthquake: Your Chances, Your
Options, Your Future by Jan Macdonald and
Betty O'Keefe (Cavendish Books Vancouver,
$14.95).

Hardly a cheery work, its 158 pages could
nevertheless help you survive “the big one”
that’s promised us — not least because of its
comprehensive coverage of the endless material
and economic effects, personal and public, of
such a disaster. As well, its authors, two veteran
B.C. journalists, have made their grim story
highly readable.

Bur back to our three Liberal musketeers at

Park Royal this weekend and their Lions Gate
Bridge petition “urging immediate action to ren-
ovate or replace the aging structure.” Macdonald
and O'Keefe point out some chilling results of

the collapse of the almost.60-ycar-ald span which -

have rarely, if ever, been mentioned to date.

Much more is at stake than the loss of up to
100 vehicles and their occupants in the switt-
flowing waters below. Or the thousands of
North Shore commuters cut off from over town
jobs. Or even the death-blow to the econom
and real estate values of West Van and half o!
North Van.

Even for a short time the loss of the port of
Vanconver, Canada's largest, duc to blockage of
the First Narrows would devastate the entire
Canadian economy, say the authors.

The port handles 25% of ali Canada’s interna-
tional marine trade. It directly employs over
17,000 peopic with an annual wage bill of some
$700 million. It provides spin-off employment
for a further 62,000 Canadians producing, trans-
porting or using the cargo passing through.

Atlin all, it’s a vital contributor to the 13% of
the Gross Domestic Product and the 14% of all
personal income taxes generated in B.C. — one
of Canada's only three provinces able to afford
equalization payments to the seven poorer ones.

Even worse, Seattle would obviously scoop up
our lost port trade and likely hang on to much
of it, even after the bridge debris was cleared.

That's a powerful message for our North

Shore MLAs and signers of their petitio

to cash-strapped Victoria, which has apparent
abandoned any thought of a new crossing fo!
least four more years. But however short of.
moncy you are, there have to be prioriti

* Which recalls the question with which tormer=4:4

West Van mayor Derrick Humphreys was wont:
to jerk “can’t-be-done” bureaucrats out of th
complacency. oS “1
“So what do you say at the inquest?” he"
would demand. .
Look for Earthquake in Smithbooks, Coles
and other good bookstores, or call Cavendish,
985-2969, It brings the urgency of the earliest
possible action on the Lions Gate crossing int
alarmingly sharp focus. es
900 hae
GENUINE SANTAS are invited to West, Vai
Historical Society’s Christmas party, 7:30
Thursday, Dec.12 at Spuraway, 235 Keith Rd.
“Admission: Munchies or Goodies. Bring a non-
perishable for the Food Bank.” :
o0o0g0 _
WRIGHT OR WRONG: Some folks see the
light only when they feel the heat. , :

— The North Shore News believes strongly in’
freedom of speech and the right of all sides ina!
debate to be heard. The columnists published in ~
the News present. differing points of view, but
those views are not necessarily those of the news”

paper itself.

i ET A