6 - Friday. December 8, 1989 - North Shore News INSIGHTS Could wrong label cost Susan the by-election? AS DOOMSDAY, December 13, looms for embattled Premier Bill Vander Zalm and his loyal henchmen, the hallowed old ‘‘follow-your-leader’’ credo of Canadian poli- tics is taking a beating. Victory in Oak Bay-Gordon Head next Wednesday is vita! for the Socreds with Zalm as their leader. 1f he hangs in regardless, a sixth by-election defeat in a row on top of September’s Cariboo catas- trophe would almost certainly mean Mike Harcourt has only to keep breathing in order to be B.C.’s next premier. The irony of the situation is that Oak Bay Mayor Susan Brice, the candidate officially listed as Social Credit, is personally popular enough to win the seat in a slow walk — were it not for her party tag. As it is, there are now growing doubts whether she can make it. Well aware of her problem, Mrs. Brice is bending over backward to prove she’s not Bill Vander Zalm’s handmaiden. She openly opposes the Premier on abortion, is calling for the release of the controversial AIDS video he banned and has bluntly refused to invite him into the riding during her campaign. But Elizabeth Cull, her other- wise weak NDP opponent, is poin- ting out that this posture is untenable under our present politi- cal system — as Michael Levy, the defeated Socred in the Point Grey by-election, discovered earlier this year. You make no sense carrying a governing party’s banner while publicly dumping on its leader and his policies. Voters know that elec- ting you will give them no clout in the corridors of power, so you might just as well sail under your true colors as a viable alternative to the official opposition can- didate. The up-and-coming Reform Party has, in theory, a better an- swer: a Reform MP's first duty is to constituents — even if it means splitting from the party brass on specific issues — and he or she can be fired by constituents at any time for failing to heed them. But this is heresy to the old-line parties, who regard MPs and MLAs, once elected, as the party’s exclusive private property. Susan Brice would likely have risked nothing by campaigning as an Independent Socred, dedicated to the party’s basic principles but declining to join the Vander Zalm team until it changes its ways. To many loyal supporters of her dissident Socred predecessor, former Attorney General Brian Smith, it would have made sound — and honest — sense. In effect, she’s doing that any- how — but wearing the wrong label. And the last thing she needs is confused voters! kar “SPECIAL EDITION,” West Van Memorial Library’s $2.35 mil- lion fund-raising campaign for its 29,000 sq.ft. expansion to meet the needs of the next 20 years, gets a boost next Monday, Dec. 11 from one of its distinguished users. At 7:30 p.m. veteran war correspon- dent, media star and writer Peter Stursberg — a West Van resident — will talk about the project at the library, discuss his own new book, Roland Michener: The Last Viceroy and autograph readers’ copies. Peter’s career began in the 1930s as a reporter in Victoria. Thereaf- ter he graduated to the ofd Van- couver Herald, the Province and ~ NEWS photo Mike Wakefield “WITH MY COMPLIMENTS, JACK?”’...journalist and author Peter Stursberg (left) presents a copy of his latest work to West Van Memorial Library as Chief Librarian Jack Mounce looks on (see column item). Harboring doubts TASK force to develop a plan to clean np A Burrard Inlet is 4 step towards dealing with the degradation of Vancouver harbor environ- ment, but it is a step far too small and far too ten- tative. The task force was announced this week by en- finally the CBC National News Service --- landing with the troops in Sicily in 1943 as a war cor- respondent covering the Allied in- vasion of Italy. The post-war years up to his retirement brought various other high-profile assign- ments — roving foreign cor- respondent for a leading U.K. dai- ly, CBC correspondent at the United Nations, a stint with the Toronto Star and a period as a CTV commentator. To pre-register for the Monday meeting call 926-3291, local 311. ee DATELINES: Treat yourself and the kids tomorrow, Saturday Dec. 9, to the Waldorf School, 2725 St. Christopher’s Road, North Van, for all the fun of its annual Children’s Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ... Also open for business tomorrow is West Van Presbyter- ian Church with its 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Holly and Bake Sale ... The with-it dancing set won’t want to miss ‘‘Metropolis,’’ two evenings of modern dance at 8 p.m. tonight and tomorrow, Dec. 8 and 9, in the Presentation House Gallery, 333 Chesterfield — for tickets ($7) and info phone 986-1351 ... And regardless of age, you can ‘*Dance into Xmas’’ Sunday, Dec. 10 from 7 p.m. onward with the tap and jazz programs at West Van Rec Centre — advance tickets by call- ing 926-3266. ane WRIGHT OR WRONG: Those who can’t lead and won't follow make dandy roadblocks. OH YEAU....1D LOVE TOHELP CAMPAIGN INTHE OAK BAY- GOADON HEAD BY- ELECTION, BUT... vironment ministers from the provincial and federal governments following the release of an Environment Canada study of harbor sediments and sealife from 1985 to 1987. The study documents the dire state of the harbor environment: pre-cancerous lesions in up to 75 per cent of English sole samples caught in harbor waters; and elevated levels of lead, copper, zinc and cadmium in harbor sediment, especially around North Shore bulk loading facilities. Some of the information in the study is new to the public, but much of it was brought to public attention through the media at the beginning of this year. Surely none of the information is new to the federal government, but still there is neither a concrete plan of action to clean up the harbor nor an allocation of specific funds for that clean-up. The task force announcement provides little more than the promise of yet another body set up to ponder what is to be done to correct a situation whose seriousness is already well documented and whose sources are already identified. What is needed so desperately is for governments on all levels to stop looking and considering, and to start acting boldly and definitively. The time for practising politics is over; the time for practising survival is kere. 1M) KIND OF TED DOWN RIGHT NOW... 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 Jer SUNLT OF MONT IS AND WEST MARC UUYE Display Advertising Cilassitied Advertising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions Fax Peter Speck Managing Editor Barrett Fisher Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in 1469 as an independent Suburban newspaper and qualiied under Schedule 111, Parageaph 1 of the Excise Tas Act. is publisned eacn Wednesday, § nday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid and distnbuted 10 every door on tne Norn = V7M 2H4 Shore Second Class Mail Reqistration Number 3885 Suoscrimtons North and West Vancouver, $25 pet year 59,170 (average, Wednesday jailing rates avaiable on request Submissions are idk welcome but we cannot accept responsibility tor Friday & Sunday) unsoficited Matera inctuding Manuscupts and pictures s which should be accompanied by a Stamped, addressed envelope Publisher MUNDAY + WEDNESDAY - FHIDAS 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. 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