Northcott
keeps
strummin’

NORTH SHORE
NOW: PAGE 23

Resear a Ast :
Distribution 986-1337 60 pages 25¢

NEWS photos Neil Lucente

Race was just ducky

AND THEY'RE off! Thousands of toy ducks raced down the Capilano River Sunday for
the North Vancouver Rotary Club’s annual fundraiser. Once dumped into the river at the
start of the course (above), (he ducks transformed the river from green to bright yellow.
Right, Rotary volunteers scoop up the winning ducks. See story, page 8.

Icebreaker contract would have provided | 71,000 jobs

FEDS S$

THE FEDERAL Conservative government has torpedoed
the long-promised $400-million Polar Class 8 icebreaker
contract that would have provided an estimated 1,000 jobs
over four years for shipyards in North Vancouver and
elsewhere on the West Coast.

The project, committed ino a
1987 federal government letter of
intent to) North Vancouver-based
Versatile Pacific Shipyards Ine.,
was axed Tuesday in Federal Fi-
nance Minister Michael Wilson's
budget as part of the goverament’s
1990-91 expenditure control plan.

By MICH

The plan is part of the expen-
diture-cutting strategy by which
the feds plan to save $3 billion and
help cut the federal deficit to $28.5

P

billion in 1990-91,

Versatile’s chief executive officer
Peter Quinn was unavailable for
comment Tuesday en the loss of
the Polar 8.

But) North Vancouver District
Ald. Ernie Crist, who works at
Versatile, said the decision te cut
the Polar 8 was ‘disastrous for
Canada. disastrous for the West
and disastrous for the North
Shore. | don't think the public re-
alizes how important shipbuilding
was, or is, to the North Shore. t's
bad, bad news.”

Crist said: the project's loss
would likely threaten the fature of
Versatile’s North Vancouver vard,
which is already rumored to be
moving to Nanaimo.

While Crist commended the
mayors of North Vancouver City
and District for their work with the
shipyard unions in lobbying for the
Polar & contract, he was critical of
North Vancouver MP Chuck
Cook, who Crist said had been ex-
tremely negative about the Polaz 8
project from: the start.

“Chuck Cook should be lynched

LAR S

on Lonsdale” Crist: said. SP he
man didw't even trv."

He added that he did not fault
Capikino-Howe Sound MP Mary
Collins tor the Jass of the Polar &
project, “Mary has tried (to secure
the project for Versatile)”

But, said Cook, “ive always
been pretey pessimistic about
whether they'd go ahead with the
whole project. Pin somewhat
disappointed of course. What it
does mean is that it's a tragedy for

See Politicians
Pages 3