© A ‘What’s up dock? private. sector solve a conflict that flirts with North Vancouver District ‘politics, North Vancouver District Council has turned its back os 2 problem that is sure to come back to haunt it in the future. a Indian Arm commuters who use the Seycove Marina were recently told by the I N THE admirable spirit of letting the district that their long-term leasing ar-. rangement with the operators is a private- sector matter. But the preblem remains that,: according to the marina’s owner, the commuters have mo guarantee of leases beyond five years. In five years, there will be more than the -- present 100 or so commuters that use the : Seycove facilities, and if the marina “decides against reaewing commuter moorage leases the district will face an even greater problem of finding docks for those commuters. A recent demonstration by the Indian Arm commuters ai the Deep Cove government dock — with only a por- tion of the commuter boats on hand — il- lustrated the dangerously overcrowded and unsafe situation that would occur if the commuters were forced to find alternative moorage. Whiie the district argues ‘that the municipality is not required to provide moorage for commuters, Deep Cove resi- dents have raised concerns about com- muiers using the cove’s public moorage facilities If the relationship between commuters and the marina sours, the district will be forced to act as divorce counsel, and the taxpayer will be forced to pick up the bill for its services. US. wheat subsidy hurting farmers ‘Dear Editor: During the Cold War years, the “U.S. wouldn't sell Russia'2 bushel - of wheat if they were starving.’ They: ever criticized us for do- ing it. When they saw al! the ex- port business they were losing, they got on the bandwagon. They even cut their price below ours to take our customers away. Now they are subsidizing the farmers to grow more and pian to ship 30 million tons or $3 billion “worth to Russia this year. Peter Speck This may keep their farmers on the land but what is going to keep ours? We should meet their price and give them a run for it. So much for free trade. There are farmers that : have worked the land for generations and can’t make a go of it. They are going broke and moving into the city. How can they find jobs with 13% unemployment in the coun- try? Farming is the only thing they know. All their stock and implements ~ Display Advertising 980-0511 "Distribution have been sold at auctions to sat- isfy banks and mortgage com- panies. So they come to town broke and go on welfare. What a fate for someone who has worked hard for 40-50 years. We have to thank our so-called good neighbors for this situation and the worst is yet to come. I am sure these countries would rather buy from us if the price was com- petitive: J.H. Cooley West Vancouver 986-1337 &2 . Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright . Linda Stewart Doug Foot Managing Editor . . Associate Editor Advertising Divector . Comptroller Necth Shore News, foundec in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 113, Paragraph It! of the Excise Tax Act, is published eact) Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distribuied to every door on the North Shore. ond Class Mail Registration Number 3885. ‘Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates available on tequesi. Submissions are weicome but we cannot accept fesporsibility for unsolicited material including V7M 2H4 manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. Newsroom Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 .Fax Subscriptions 986-1337 985-3227 Administration 935-2131. ‘MEMBER * Printed on 10% recycled Newsprint 985-2131 ae North Shore North Shore managed 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, ~~ North Vancouver, B.C. 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Let’s demolish the littie red school house CANADA’S CLASSROOMS have been held up once again 2 to international ridicule. Among other things, our educa- tion system — pathetic by world-class standards — is ruin- ing the country’s economic health. ola So says the Organization for Economic Cooperation and De- velopment (OECD), 2 24-member club of leading industrialized . countries, ina damning report issued last week. Since 1980 our labor productivi- ty has virtually ceased to grow at all. By that measure Canada is now at the bottom of the heap compared with all our main com- petitors. Meanwhile, high wage gains have pushed Canadian unit labor costs far ahead of those in the U.S. — hence the growing number of Canadian firms moving south of the border under free trade. But high wages in themselves are not the culprit. The problem is our failure to pay for them through increased output per worker. And the OECD believes the blame lies squarely on Canada’s schools for failing to develop the required skills and attitudes. Noting that Canada’s per capita education spending is the highest in the G-7 —- the world’s top seven industrial nations — the BRIAN MULRONEY. cut big. “OECD politely observes that we seem to be getting ‘‘poor value for money.”’ | “‘Too many students are graduating from high schoo! func- tionally illiterate and/or in- numerate. The dropout rate re- mains high. Few students at high school are involved in vocational courses, and there are few appren- tices,’’ the report says. One reason glaringly obvious to anyone educated in Europe is the “little red school house” mentali- | ty that still dominates Canadian education -— the covered-wagon- era concept thai education is sole- ly a matter for local parish-pump - politicians, overseen nowadays by 10 separate provincial bureaucracies. In today’s shrinking giobal village, education should ideally be organized and directed interna- tionally. But at very least it should be a national responsibility — and Canada remains one of the very ~ few advanced countries with no national system, policy or stand- ards. The result: three out of every 10 high school students dropping out by Grade 12; one in five unable to read or write well enough for any but the lowest paid, unskilled jobs; a 19% unemployment rate HITHER AND YON | among 18- to 24-year-olds; and. an inadequately motivated... “. workforce producing goods often too expensive for foreign custom- ers to buy. : But there’s more. The strangest thing about the hold-your-nose ; constitutional) deal is its virtual: complete silence on education one of the strongest elements capable of binding a nation together. A national education system ‘ could have worked powerfully - against petty parochialism: it ; could have made Canadians from ; coast to coast painlessly bilingual (ever wonder why all those Euro- peans on TV speak such excellent English?). Over time it would have instilled in succeeding gén ations an INSTINCTIV! of national-values far sironger: than phony patriotism peddied by’ government spin doctors. |: You missed out big there, Brian, as you dreamed of your place i in history. Sure; the pro- vinces would have screamed murder, but what else is riew? : Education enshrined as a nati responsibility in the Constitution would do more for Canada’s -” future than anything else.: Because in today’s world the li tle-red-school-house way of thinking about Canada is at th bottom ofn most ‘of our troub' TAILPIECES: “seniors Keeping Young”’ will bs showing the |: Geritol set how to do it at the North Shore Community Tiealth Fair Saturday, Sept. 19, from: a.m. to 3 p.m. in West. Van Seniors Centre, 695 - 21st St. and all for free. ©. Call 926-4375 fo further info .. Sept. 30 features the paintings of, Shauna Miltez ... Meanwhile, the first rehearsal for that.ne' Ambleside Orchestra now bein launched takes place a week today : — Wednesday, Sept. 23 — from 4°: to 6 p.m. in West Van Seniors” Centre. Invited are amateur mu cians of ALL ages, who should *. bring along their own instrument and music stand. Again, the number for more details is 926-.-: 4375. : eos WRIGHT OR WRONG: Temper gets us into trouble. Pride keeps us there. . oo, CRE ES