26 - Friday, August 21, 1992 — North Shore News

The PNE starts today. What’s the
best thing about it? Whai is the
worst? Do you plan to go or do
you think they should scrap it

oon owe o-

4

omerication is the key

ABOUT THREE weeks ago I received a letter in a federal
government envelope from Ottawa.

- “Congratulations,’’ the letter

said, “‘you have been selected to
serve on the National Studenis’
-Commission.’’

The letter said we would be
discussing Canada and the various
concerns of the regions of this
country. It informed me that my

airline ticket was in the mail, and ~

that [ would-be leaving, three days
Jater.

After two missed flights,- no.

sleep, and a stiff neck, I arrived in
Ottawa the subsequent Thursday,
one day after I was expected.

- 1.was driven to Carleton Uni-
versity for what I thought would

* ~ bea full week of pure fun. There

‘was‘fun, yes, but there was also a
jot of hard work.
We were briefed about the main
issues we were to discuss and what
we were supposed to do to come
up with our recommendations.
_  -‘The‘next morning, and the two
moraings after, we were awakened
at 6:30 a.m. After breakfast and
_ lunch each day, we went to panel
. discussions and group brainstorm-
ing about each of the issues and
what solutions we could come up
- with.
Concerns of Western Canada
was the first issue we discussed.
As far as the economy ‘was con-
cerned, we all felt that there

_ Should: be more pressure on Ca- |
nadians to’ ‘‘buy Canadian’; to

". davest.in Canada, ‘not outside; to
_ diversify the econaimy and lead it
away irom ‘being. so - Tesource-.

vs To, " that end, . the commission
i agreed that ‘there should be
“pressure on’ the: federal’ govern-

“Somnent, to encourage industrial and -

“technological: development in the
- West. .-
“Farming was made. an issue by.

-. the Prairie‘delegates, who felt that -

-the-geveraments were not .doing
_- enough’ to ensure their well-being,
' and that: other Canadians should
vmade‘ aware of the plight of

oor farmers. .

We all: agreed. that a ‘‘Triple-E a
: senate-was:. not the best thing for-

Canada, and that another formula

. ‘in which.Oatario and * Quebec:
: gould not- outweigh the rest of

“Canada should be found.

We felt, too, that official bilin-
. gualisin is ‘essential for the West
“to better understand ‘the feelings

Last week. we asked if it was
‘fair. that some people wanted
to ban Guns -N’ Roses from
: playing here after there was a
riot at another concert,

I don’t think this is fair.
Banning Guns. N’ Roses from
playing here would be more
likely to cause a. riot than let-
ting them play. The cir-
cumstances leading up to the
riot in Montreal were unusual
hut were they to repeat in
Vancouver I think the result
would be far less violent.

. ve seen Guns N’ Roses play
before and Axl Rose is a
moron. So basically he gets

what he deserves and he asked’

completely for this concert to
be cancelled and maybe if he
acted in a better manner, he’d
be able to perform for peopie
and they could enjoy his music
and not his little temperamen-
tal outbursts. Personally I

of 25% cf our population, and
would also bring us closer
together as a nation.

During the discussion of issues
facing Atlantic Canada we found
that from one. coast to another,
economic diversity was essential to

_our economic well-being as a na-

Aion.
This, we felt, could only be ac-
complished _ through a concerted

&4 We were youth
Srom all across Canada
with all different
backgrounds thrown
together and told to
_ solve all of Canada’s
problems. 9}

‘effort by both business leaders

and government to provide incen-
tives for individuals to do business
in the Atlantic region. -

Fisheries issues were also raised.

~ People felt’ strongly. that ithe

penaities for overfishing and il-
legal fishing by both domestic and
foreign fishermen were too lax
and rarely enforced.

. The education systems in Atian-

tic Canada were also considered to
. be far. behind there in the rest of

Canada. There was consequently a
push for aational education
standards in eurricula and teacher
training.

totally agree with it being ban-
ned.

No, I don't. thiak it’s fair
that they wanted io ban it. Just
because something happened in
Montreal doesn’t mean that’
anything would have happened
here. I doa't thiak it would
have with ali the extra police
they were calling in and all
that. E don’t think it was fair
but its kind of dumb that they
had to cancel it anyway, but I
hope they come back because
Guns N’ Roses, Metallica rule.

E think it’s very fair because
it’s once bitten, tw’ce shy.

Well, I don’t think it’s fair
at ail because Guns N’ Roses is
a really good group and lots of
people in Vancouver like them

‘and they should play. They’ll
make a fot of money for profit
because everyone likes them.

Come on, think about it,

to

in Montreal,

There was also deep concern
over the abuse of social assistance
money and suggestions that
stronger penalties against violators
should be instituted.

The convention heard native
leaders from across the nation
speak about the concerns of the
first Canadians.

We were all left with a pro-
found appreciation of the plight
of the First Nations, and this was
translated very strongly in our

report.

We felt ‘that native education
should be made mandatory for ali
Canadians so that we can all un-
derstand the aboriginal way of life
and appreciate the cultures that
they have.

However, we were also faced
with considering the problems of
alcohol abuse and low self-esteem
faced by the aboriginal people.

We felt that this could be easily
solved through highlighting the
positive native role models and
reinforcing within the native youth
their culture and heritage.

We also encouraged non-native
Canadians to explore native
culture through attending
powwows or other cultural events.

The final item on the agenda
was racism.

The whole forum accepted that
racism was inherently stupid.

We felt that the only way for.

different cultural groups to under-
stand each -other was through
educating one another about our
diverse backgrounds and ‘how we

-can draw unity from this diversity.

We emphasized that the-role of

‘the average citizen is simple: jearn

from and understand the people
around you.
We also encouraged government

organizations committed to
fighting racism. Overall, we felt

that the solution to many of our:

problems is better communication.

And that statement. strikes a.

chord within me. We were youth
from all across Canada with all
different
together and told to soive all of
Canada’s problems. —

We came pretty close. Although
we all- had different views and
25% of us didn’t speak English,

_we were able to get around ali

barriers that we faced, and we
were able to talk, to communi-

‘cate, to educate one another on

our part of this great nation.

Guas N’ Roses, tuere’s a riot
why. would we
want them to come to Van-
couver? I mean It practically
has it written ell over it that
there’s gbing. to be a riot.

’ Come cn, we have to be smart -

and think about wkat’s going
fo be right for the kids of
‘Greater Vancouver. I mean if

. we don’t stop it before it gets

out of hand, how are we ever
going to get across to Guns N’

’ Roses that they’se stupid and

they can’t. keep causing riots
like this? People are going to

get hurt, seriously. -

No 1 den't think it’s fair
because people pay good
money. for good seats. No I
don’t * think it should be stop-

I'm glad they cancelled the
show in Vancouver, I don’t
want a riot breaking out here..

The only reason ithe riot

increase the funding for

backgrounds thrown -

altogether?

LOCAL BANDS wilt take part in The walt tomorrow st Water-
front Park. Richard Westem ‘(isit), Tim Hinds and Jamie
Teske of The Crimson Seeds wiil perform at the event where
North Shore youth are invited to make their. mark on a can-.,
‘vez graffiti wall. Admission is free to.the i1. a.m. to 8 p.m. |
day of entertainment, activities and information: :

Youth conference held

IMAGINE A place’ where young

people from all over the. world
gather — young people who want
to make the world a better place.

The YMCA’s
Human Rights and You con-
ference is a place where youth can
share ideas and learn skills that
will help them make a difference.

The Right On! conference is for"

youth 13 to 18 years of age, and
will be held at the Y's. Camp
Elphinstone on the ‘Sunshine
Coast from Sept. 4 to 7.

Youths wili join 100. young
people from around the world to
learn’ about human rights issues.
The sessions offered include the
AIDS epidemic in India, poverty

in the community, the United Na-
-tions Rights of the Child, and

broke out ‘in ‘Montreal was

. because the fans. started in-
‘suiting Axi Rose’s U.S.A.
- Jacket because he’s: from the

U.S. That's why the riot broke
out. I don’t think they should
ban it from Varicouver because
Vancouverites are a lot more
sensible than people in Mon-
treal and they won't start a riot
just because he’s wearing a.
U.S. A. jacket. .

I don’t like the band Suns
N’ Roses but § wouldn’t go to
the concert because I weuldn’t

‘personally want to be beat up.

The people that go to Gurs N’ ©

Roses concerts ususily are

people who are locking for -
trouble Dut I don’t think ‘that's
Guns N* Roses’ fault so they
should be able to have the
concert wierever they want.
But then again, Axl Rose is
famous for starting riots so {
guess it’s up to Vancouver if
they show.

“Right: On!” :

what: young: ‘people. can ‘contribute :
to these issues. -° =:

Through workshops, «: a ‘training
sessions, theatre and storytelling,
the _ international.” speakers and
YMCA’ group leaders :-will
courage .and: create “opportunities
for leadership, “Help ‘clarify »per-
sonal values, improve self-esteem: :

. and strengthen - interpersonal rela:

tionships. .

-. The registration fee for’ the con-
ference is $99, which ‘includes: all

_ food, lodging, return transporta-
tion from Horseshoe “Bay -to:
camp, a T-shirt and :. program 4%
supplies. .The registration ‘deadline 5
is Aug. 21. Re -

To register, or for more infor- -
mation, contact Sherry Breshears: ”
at YMCA International ip Van-
couver, 681-0221, local 308. ‘

I think this is really unfair
because’ Vancouver is a. dif-
ferent city than Montreal. ‘and

- besides ‘our country is always

for’ minorities so I think ‘the
government should aetually pay
for its concert.. .

1 don't think it’s fair:
because... um... uM.:. { don’t 4