A6 - Sunday, October 23, 1983 - North Shore News Simple choice In his televised ‘‘fireside chat’? Thursday Premier Bennett gave his opponents a simple choice: put up — or shut up. Naturally, the Premier put the choice more diplomatically. He has invited the government employees union and the Solidarity Coalition to help improve the government’s restraint package through immediate negotiations bas- ed on a reasoned and realistic assessment of B.C.’s long term prospects. If this approach is followed, he has held out the possibility of modifying numerous conten- tious items in the restraint program, including even the possible postponement of the Oc- tober 31 deadline for laying off 1,600 civil ser- vants — the issue on which the union and Solidarity have called for province-wide strike action. As a sign of good faith, the Premier has frozen all remaining restraint legislation (including the bills on human rights and the Rentalsnian) and adjourned the Legislature pending the outcome of the negotiating process. At the same time Mr. Bennett made it crystal clear that the main thrust of the restraint program — on which his spring man- date was obviously based — is non- negotiable. This leaves the union and Solidarity with two options. They can accept the Premier’s offer to bargain details constructively and in good faith. Or, if they don’t, they will invite growing suspicion that their real interest is re- fighting the May 5 election rather than solving the problems facing all British Columbians. We hope good sense prevails during the next vital 10 days. On both sides. Lianfair WHAT? Wales’ tongue-twister railway station, LLANFAIRPWLLGW YNGYLLGOGERY- CHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILI- OGOGOGOCH, is up for sale for a mere $313,372 (Canadian), complete’ with restaurant, car park and souvenir shop. The B.C. government would be mad not to grab the bargain fast and rebuild it over here as a centrepiece for Expo °86. And don’t worry about pronunciation — the locals settled long ago for ‘‘Lianfair P.G.”"! VOR VOICE OF IETTDD APD WERT VAEDEUwER sunday. news north shore news 1139 Lonsdate Ave.. North Vancouver. B.C V7M 2H4 Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Editor-in-chief Robert Graham Noe! Wright Display Advartising Classified Advertising Newsroom Circulation 960-0511 086-6222 085-2131 966-1337 Advertising Director Tim Francis Personnel Director Mrs Bern Hithard Classified Director tsabelle Jennings Circulation Director Bian A Elbs Production Director Office Manager Photography Manager Chris Johnson Donna Grandy Terry Peters North Shore News, founded i 1 VOU as an independant Community newspaper and qualified under Schedute il Pant ih Paragraph Woof the Excme Tax Act in pubtisned each Wednesday and Sunday by North Shore Froo Prosa Ltd and distibuted to overy doar on the North Store Second Clase Mail Registrateon Number 144% Entire contents 1083 North Shore Free Press Lid All rights reserved Subscnpttiona North and West Vancouver rates ovaiiadtie on roquont $275) per yen Mailing No reaponsimdaidity atts ole these) CVRD CIID GENES pre fuse vl FE onhic ed foe ames Mitronsed envetope Member of the BC Press Council A DSO ec evgatass! fone Tveetone ctl Wwe Wedron corpse try a mtarngred 34 700 saverage Weudnenday & Sunday THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE FAMILY PRIDE was stirred again a week ago Friday for a middle-aged West Van grandson whose tucky number happened to. be precisely one quarter of a million. That was the day Don Pratt of 6032 Glenwynd decided to drop by at the ALRT station on Main Street to try out the new rapid tran- sit system’s free mile-and-a- half demonstration ride. And who was waiting to greet him there and escort him _ per- sonaily on the trip but Grace McCarthy herself, minister responsible for B.C. Transit — who afterwards presented him with a framed com- memorative certificate and an inscribed two-car model of the rapid transit train. Such was Mr. Pratt’s reward for being the 250,000th person to take the test ride along the Terminal Avenue guideway which was opened to the public earlier this year. And the date he chose happened to be just 64 years, almost to the day, after his grandfather had also been honored at a major transportation event at Main and Terminal. The 1919 event was the ceremonial opening of the Canadian National station. Grandpa was Ralph B. Pratt, a noted architect of the time who had designed and built the Main Street landmark and was himself a director of what was then known as the Great Northern and Pacific Railway. The ALRT demo runs (10 a.m. to $ p.m. daily) con- tinue only -unul November 27. You won’t get all Don Pratt's extra goodies and may not even” remember much about grandpa But by Noel Wright : you'll get a kick, anyhow, out of this tntroductory ride into the future... » * » The field of starters in the November 19 North Van council and school board elections is beginning to grow. In the City, Mayor Jack Loucks with Aldermen Frank Marcino, Raiph Hall and Stella Jo Dean will all be off and running for a further years service (‘‘to everything there is a season,’’ he says). Realtor Craig Clark and engineer Steve McMinn are expected to fight for his emp- ty chair. On North Van _ School Board the recently launched Citizens’ Association for Responsible Education (CARE) — believed by many to be NOVVA in new clothes — is backing incumbent re- A MEMORY RIDE — Don Pratt (left) with Grace McCar- thy, minister for B.C. Transit, and North Van MLA Jack Davis, responsible for ALRT construction. two-year term. The two other incumbents, Elko Kroon and Gary Payne, have still to con- firm. Snapping at their heels — and out, in any case, after the seat vacated earlier this year by former alderman Bill Sorenson — watch for former City alderman and former Neighborhood House director John Braithwaite, Jaycee Rod Clark and peren- nial candidate Dana Taylor. For District council, with three one-year aldermanic vacancies, incumbents Ernie Crist and Joan Gadsby are trying their luck = again. Alderman John Lakes is bowing out after a total of 13 runs for all five upcoming seats: Trustees Philip Joe, Margaret Jessup and Roy Dungey for City; Frank War- burton and Verna Smelovsky for District. Filing deadline for nominations is October 31. Stay tuned . .-. s * s FOLKTALES: The morning drive to work turned into a wild ride ten days ago for Ruth Phillipson, wife of West Van Cst. George P., when she was flagged down at the foot of West Keith in North Van by a man beside a stalled car — containing his wife on the point of giving birth. They hastily ctransfer- red the moaning mother and law-abiding Ruth almost broke the sound barrier on the run up to LGH, where they arrived with only seconds to spare. Happily without encountering a single Mountie en route .. . Con- grats, while we’re on the sub- ject, to North Van tax guru David Ingram and wife Jose who were married last New Year's Eve in Frank Baker’s Attic and now have a baby boy, Peter David ... After pay-TV’s dismal summer, which saw ‘‘C’’ Channel drop dead from _ financial undernourishment, Tim Frewer of Shaw Cable- systems is jubiliant over the thousand new pay-TV subscribers signed up during September by the North Shore tube-feeder . . . Watch for the cool look in West Van artist Daniel Izzard’s next show. His six-week painting safari this summer took him to the Canadian Arctic ... Named principal cello of the 80-member Vancouver Sym- phony Orchestra is Lee Duckles of North Van, a 12-year VSO veteran who teaches at the Vancouver Academy of Music . . . Tips for seniors on making the most of the money they have left will be given free this Wednesday, 1:30 p.m., at Silver Harbour Centre, North Van, by retirment planning consultant Bert Wickham ... On the same theme, happy years ahead to West Van’s deputy fire chief Les Butler, just retired after 29 years with the WVFD.. . And it’s blood donor clinic time again at LGH Monday (Oct. 24), 10 to 4, and Tues- day 2to 8... s s o WRIGHT OR WRONG: The leader who's always’ telling his followers they're dumb mustn’t grumble if fie winds up leading no one but himself. Restraint the painless way | By JOHN GALT FOR THOSE READERS who are not cxactly wild about the B.C. government's Bill 3) (the Public Sector Restraint Act) 1 would like to propose an alternate measure called the ‘“‘Capatal Idea Act"’ To give it the right degree of latttude | have numbered «tt Bill 54 1 think more than a few pobticians and civil servants will be quite moved by the idea to the point they will probably move right of the public sector entirely In tact, | am sure, that, if im plemented, the Capital idea Act will immediately reduce the stze of the civil service, pohtiaians’ activities and our taxes, without resorting to any dracontan measures such as wholesale dismissals To start off, get your han dy BC road map out of the glove compartment and draw a hhagonal line trom the nor thwest corner to the southeast corcace of the pro vine, then draw anothes diagonal line from the southwest corner to the nar theast commer The two lines basteally intersect at Prince George, a cily right on the 54 degree parallel, midway bet ween our 49 degree parallel! southern boundary and our 60 degree paralicl aorthern boundary — the gcographical centre of British Columbia and the heartland of the in dustria) resource and pioncer growth in this province for the ncxt 50 years. I propose, in Bill 54, that we recognise this new reality and show our faith in the future by moving the capital of British Columbia from Victoria to Prince George { further propose that we sell the present Parliament Buildings to one of the reputable international gambling operators (1.c. Bal ly Manufacturing Corp.) to be turned into the most clegant gambling casino this side of Monte Carlo Finally, | propose that Vic torta be made a duty free port, an international shopp ing bazaar and world depot for assembly of manufac tured goods for high technology industries Before all of you Vic tonians grab for your sccond mug of tea in horror, hear me out Ball $4 bas more than a few benefits for all of us !. By selling the Parhia- ment buildings to a reputable gambling operator in con- junction with an exclusive franchise giving them the sole concession for say a 10-year period in BC., avery substantial capital sum could be raised to help reduce the provincial debt load. Similar ly, like Nevada, a percentage of the gambling profits could be taken annually by the pro- vince to lower our individual taxcs, much if not most of which moncy would be con tributed to the coffers by gamblers residing outside of BC For those objccting to the gambling aspect, it would be a lot fairer for the tax payer/gambler than the criminal odds against winn ing which the various Cana dian governments currently offer in those real rackets government lotteries case, many people believe that Canadian parhaments are already nothing bu giant casinos gambling away our tax moncy on uscless projects 2. The tourist trade to Vic In any toria would accelerate dramatically wtth big spenders coming from the U.S., offshore and other Canadian provinces creating new cmployment op- portunities as they contribute to lowering our tax load. Our own B.C. gamblers would spend their moncy at home rather than rushing off to Reno every weekend. 3. At least some of the pre sent civil servants could con tinue shuffling paper, only this time the paper would be marked with diamonds and hearts 4 Victoria is already enter ing the international hi-tech business with the Dynatck Flectronics Corp. plant) A duty free por status could give the arca the added boost to make it into the real inter national big time of technological manufacturing and rescarch $ | don't see Prince George, when made the capttal, as being a great hive of political activity swarming with poltticians, civil set vants, lobbyists and pro testers particularly in) the chilly perlod between November and March. Modest parliamentary quarters and offices built’ of BC wood, would be quite CONTINU ED ON PAGE A?