eRe rE, BP PELE ITT Soe "LIBERAL LEA pre ce eee ee | oe / Cloudy with rain and snow showers. PROVINCIAL LIBERAL leader Art Lee claimed ~ B.C.’s political middle ground in a pair of speeches to North ‘Shore audiences that proved he has his work cut out for him. ° , “night, [Also extravaganza. Mixed rain and snow kept down the size of crowds that heard him speak first to the North . Vancouver-Capilano t CANDYMAN:47 Werner Schmid? will be showing his sweet creations at this weekend’s chocolate and then the West. Van- couver-Howe Sound Liberal associations. About 25 were . on hand for the first meeting and 20 for the second. Telling the crowd his party is in “the election mode,’* DER Art Lee makes the point as he addresses a small crowd at the International Plaza OVER AIRPORT ACCESS Luxury cab group fi TO NORTH Shore luxury cab operator Richard Hughes, the issue at the cen- tre of a storm over the pro- posal to licence a single op- erator for service at Van- couver International Airport is simple. “We don’t think for a minute that the Conservative government is going to allow a large conglomerate - to. come into Vancouver, disrupt the local market and deny the opportunity for the local operators who are will- ing to provide the service to do so.”” Hughes made that com- ment as the Feb. 22 deadline for return of bids for the ex- clusive right to operate a luxury cab — service from Vancouver International airport nears. Unless Transport Canada chages its mind on the issue, he says, the requirements of the: tender will make it possible for the local opera- tors to have a serious impact on the bidding. Since the tender was an- nounced Hughes and other Operators havé formed an association _— the Associa- tion of Luxury Transport Operators — and worked through MPs to try and have the decision to go to tender rescinded. Hughes says both Chuck Cook and Mary Collins, Conservative MPs for the FEATURE HOME:11 Tucked away in North Van, these townhouses offer a comfortable lifestyle. Lee began by outlining his organization’s structure and telling the crowd that he would be attending the par- ty’s national executive meeting this weekend. “I am getting a lot of NEWS photo tan Smith Hotel Wednesday North Shore, have been sympathetic and supportive of the efforts to have the tender quashed. Hughes says the tender call is particularly unfair to local operators in light of their long flight for the right to offer stand-by service at the aiprort. ‘For five years we've tried to get access to the airport but we’ve been blocked, stalled and fiddled with by the Ottawa bureaucrats,"’ he 3 - Friday, February 8, 1985 - North Shore News CROSSFIRE: 10 French or art: the debate over Pauline Johnson school continues. support from John Turner," said Lee, adding he plans to travel the province to meet with riding associations, local politicians, school and community groups in order to build on the public perception that the Liberal party is a potential alter- native to B.C.’s two polar- ized major parties. Stressing that the Liberals have to meet the needs of a centralist party, Lee said the party must initially redefine what Liberalism . means, since too many people see the Liberals as a party com- posed of those too: preac-' cupied with the redistribu- tion of wealth and not overly concerned with the creation _of wealth. He added the party’ must address the ‘‘socio-economic problems facing British Col- umbians and Canada as we move into the 21st century,” and then develop Liberal approaches to those con- cerns. | Lee attacked both major B.C. parties, criticizing the Social Credit government for legislation affecting the Workers’ Compensation Board, particularly for ex- cluding farm workers from protection under the legisla- tion: '*We are dealing with people’s lives and their safe- ty,” said Lee. ‘‘The Liberal Party has always: stood up for people's rights.** But he reserved perhaps his strongest attack for the government's handling of the education issue. Lee said Education Minister Jack Heinrich should have con- hts says. ‘* We've been shutdown and the public has’ been denied the service.” Hughes says that while local operators are capable of providing varied and competitive service, the tender has drawn interest from large corporations in Toronto, Montreal and from the United States. “They're trying to bring someone in the back door," he charges. “They’ll screw e Classified.........52 Entertainment ..... 47 Mailbox...........7 Real Estate........11 Table Hopping.....49 TV Times.........51 What's Going On. . .50 Lee hits right, left, claims middle ducted meetings with school boards ‘‘a long time ago,”’ and he called for the establishment of a broadly- based, independent commis- sion to study all related mat- ters of education. “Restraint was well in place long ;before the gov- ernment took further action. But this government has politicized the (education) issue,’’ suid Lee. ‘‘We now. have a government in Vic- teria bent on making ideological changes to the far right.”” ‘As for the| NDP, Lee described the party as one “that is married to orga- nized labor and they shall remain married to organized labor.” We added although NDP leader Bob Skelly has lately been seen ‘“‘popping up around the province,’’ he has offered no - innovative alternatives to the people of B.C. Said Lee: ‘‘We don’t real- ly have politics in British Columbia, What we have here is a kind of social war-. fare between the left and the right. There is a time when governments must act and put people back to work." Calling for support for the Liberal Party, Lee stressed the party was not tied to big business or big organized labor. “We're not interested in scoring points in some ideological warfare between left and right. The Liberal Party is the party of the or- dinary British Columbian,” said Lee. Ss up the entire market.” Hughes is convinced that the association can convince the government to drop the tender and open the airport up to competition. “What's encouraging,"’ he says, ‘‘is that this is not a program that has been laun- ched by the minister bur by the bureaucracy, My feeling is that this will be reviewed by transportation minister Don Mazankowski and that he'll aeree with our stand.”