An able
advocate

Dear Editor:

ft was with interest
that F read Ted White’s
article on “What do MPs
do anyway.” .

I tele Mr. White omit-
ted one important job
that takes up more of his
time — advocacy on
behalf of his constituents.
As a constituent and sur-
vivor of prostate cancer, I
have received tremendous
support from Mr. White
in lobbying the federal
and provincial govern-
ments on our behalf to
increase the amount of
funding available for
prostate cancer research.
In addition to advocacy,
Mr. White has taken every
opportunity to raise
awareness of this disease
in- Parliament and the
need for PSA testing in
men over the age of 50.

In writing this letter, I
not only wanted to
express my gratitude to
Mr. White for his perse-
verance on our behalf but
also to substantiate to
readers haw Mr. White’s
time is devoted to ensure
the well-being of his con-
stituents. ;

Jack Carlisle

Chairman

North Shore Prostate
Support and Awareness
Group —

sarin

Book signing by the author

WY marine park a

Dear Ediror:

Certified as a divemaster
in scuba and having spent the
past sight: vears exploring
and studying = Whyteecliff
Park’s underwater lite of
immense diversity, I am
extremely impressed by the
impact of complere Marine

north shore news

ss MATE BOX

Protection.

Where it was ance fished,
young, gteenlings and rock-
tish thourish, where urchins
were only green, great red
ones have arisen, where fish-
ing line coated the 500-vear-
old, five-foor diameter clond
sponges, health and renewal

Cancer dance
aid applauded

Dear Editor:

A thank-you note to all
who supperted the Big Band
Cancer Dance held on April
19 in the Eagles Hall ar 170
West 3rd Street.

So many people gave so
willingly of their time. The
donation of prizes and all the
hard work made this dance a
success. All of our brothers
and sisters were always there
when needed.

The raffle prizes were
donated by Peter Black and
Sons from Park Royal, Alf
Mertin from Bonanza Meats,
Cheers Restaurant, a haircut
by Dee and a shumpoo and set
trom Eric’s. Thank you to sis-
ter Reona Stadden, for an
afghan that was truly a work
of art.

Many thanks to the terrific
band Route 66, also to broth-
er Hans Franssen and his

A Vancouver
Boyhood

by Roéin Williams

Recollections of
growing up in
Vancouver
1925-1945
including many
North Vancouver
memories.

Saturday June.20 © 1-3pm

Lynn Valiey Centre

A tasteful collection of
_fine crafts, home decor
‘and fine furniture
selected for your.
Westcoast Lifestyle

Sy

980-5429

darth, Hood, Cotone, Texture

_ 3080 Edgemont Blvd., North Vancouver

Toncachong 15 Setting, 41:50 0 520 pen

986-4863

ward-working kitchen crews.
A special thanks to the North
Shore News for its help and
support.

Again, thank you all, and
ler’s do it again in the fall.
Gloria Hidlebaugh
Curtis Johnson
Cancer Co-chairmen
North Vancouver

SPORTS CA

. Skills, Fun, Prizes! -
“July - August’

-'990-4399 |.

BEDDING
COSTS LESS
Om

¥ HUGE SELECTION
Vv LOW WAREHOUSE
PRICES

SPRING ’
- GLEARANCE

50% on
§

SIMMONS
—

Sgringwalr

ne”
© Mattresses, Box Springs
Bed Frames & Roil Away Cots
® Quilts, Pillows & Pads
© Most items in stock for
immediate shipment or pick-up
* Ask about our Free Delivery,
set up & old bed removal service

—{y}-—
COLONY

HOME FURNISHINGS
Saving you money since 1969

1075 Roosevelt Crescent
North Vancouver
(2 blocks behind Avalon Hotel)
Mon - Thurs 9 - 5:30, Fri9 - 9
Saturday 9 - 5:30, Sun 12 - 4

985-8738

is apparent,

West Vancouver munici-
pality. should surely be con-
gratulated in) making the
move to completely protect

Wednesday, June 17, 1998 — North Shore News — 9

fishing or harvesting.

It should be noted that
this is the first step of its kind
to fully protect an underwa-
ter marine environment in
Canada.

local treasure

B.C. has numerous
marine parks, but none that
afford the protection provid-
ed ar Whytecliff.

Nadia Mather.
North Vancouver

this area from anv kind of

ted white, m.p.

advertorial, June 17/1998

THE UNITED ALTERNATIVE

Confusion has seigned, and media
speculation has zun rife, ever since
delegates to the Reform Party
Convention in London, Ontario on May
30th voted to proceed with a “United
Alternative” strategy. Fuel was added
to the fires of speculation a week iater
when some Reform and Bloc
Quebecois MPs met for discussions in
Quebec City and Edmonton, even
though those meetings had nothing
whatever te do with the United
Alternative proposais. Unconcerned
with the facts of the matter, political
opponents and mainstream media alike
were more than happy to suggest that
Reform may be teaming up with the
Bloc Quebecois. tf you would fixe to
know the real story, read on.
MEETINGS WITH THE BLOC

Early in May of this year Reform
publicly released a draft of a Private
Member's Bill entitled The New Canada
Act. The Bilt sets out proposals for a
strengthened federation for the new
millennium, and puts into one legislative
package all of Reform's policy positions
with respect to the relationship between
the federai and provincial governments.

It quickly became apparei:t that The
New Canada Act had sparked a great deal
of interest among members of the Bloc
Quebecois Caucus, mainly because it sets
out the framework for devolution of more
powers to the provinces, and proposes an
end to interference by the Federal
Government in areas of
responsibility such as social services,
education, and medicare. It is important to
note that The British North America Act,
and subsequently the Constitution of
Canada, clearly defined those areas of
federai and provincial responsibility. In
realty though, the Federal Govemment
often uses its spending power to interfere
in areas of provincial jurisdiction via, for
example, grants programms and transfer
payments.

Very little time had passed before the
Bloc Quebecois approached Reform to
ask if we would agree to a couple of public
meetings based around the New Canada
Act. The Reform Critics for Inter-
governmental Affairs agreed to the

request, and two dates were set for the -

first week of June. At that stage, the
Reform Convention was still some weeks
away and no presentation on the United
Alternative proposals had been placed
before the membership of the Reform
f Party. The two events were unconnected.
For those members of the public who
did attend the joint New Canada Act
meetings it was more than obvious that
while there were many points of
agreement between the Bloc and Reform
on the devolution of more powers to the
provinces, there were ai least as many
areas cf disagreement in terms of basic
political philosophy. The fact is that there
are greater similarities between the

ae eas

provincial |

Federal NDP and the Bloc Quebecois,
than between the Bloc and Reform.
THE ALTERNATIVE

Just a few days prior to the
independently scheduled and unrelated
New Canada Act meetings, delegates to
the Reform Convention, in response to a
speech by Preston Manning, gave a solid
endorsement to the concept of a United
Atternative. In doing so, they started in
motion a process which, at least in theory,
could bring together all those opposed to
the governing Liberals and-who believe in,
amongst other things, the need to reform
the parliamentary and justice systems,
accountability of elected officiais, and
fiscally responsible government. it is not,
however, a plan to unite the right. Reform
was founded on populist roots, and on
some critical issues is clearly neither right
nor left. (For example, it campaigned
against the Charlottetown Accord when
the traditional right and left — the PCs,
Liberals and NDP — were all campaigning
in favour.) :

As it happened, delegates to the
Reform Convention were so anxious to
give their approval to the United.
Altemmative in principle, that’ they
voluntarily cut short debate on the
resolution, leaving many unanswered
questions, a situation which has probably
contributed to the confusion and
speculation. !ssues such as how much it
would cost, where the proposed
convention would be held, and the timeline
for completing the project, never made it to
the floor. There is no doubt though that afl
of these questions will be answered with
the passage of time, and those assigned
responsibility for planning the strategy
argue that they. need flexibility to make
decisions as things progress, rather than
being tied to a specific plan adopted af the
Convention. ;

THE MANDATE

No matter what develops as a result
of the United Alternative, my first
responsibility is to this Riding and the
set of principles which helped make me .
your elected representative in Ottawa.
While | fully intend to work with the
United Alternative team to promote (to
all those who will listen) the principles
of direct democracy and parliamentary
reform which are my critic respon-
sibilities within the Reform Caucus, |}
am NOT departing from the mandate
you gave me in June of last year.
Turning that mandate into effective
action in Ottawa though, requires a
majority in the House of Commons, and
that majority will only be possible
through a coming together of ali those
who support a more democratic set of
governing principies. That is the aim of
the United Alternative, and that is why