Coming

I’VE DISCOVERED that
growing older means com-
ing to terms with situations
and people.

By Catherine Atyeo
Contributing Writer

It means coming to terms with
the certainty that Pll never have
abdominal muscles or thighs that
make me want to stand in front of
a mirror more than four seconds.

t means coming to terms with a
spouse who bunches up the towel
and bathmat on the siiower cur-
tain rod instead of spreading it
out for easy drying (OK, picky,
but it’s the little things ...).

It means coming to terms with
the prospect that I might never

. write The Great Canadian Novel
(how van I continue to voice this
goa: when I’ve been trying to
complete a short story since
19847).

And it means coming to terms
with Liz and her eighth (counting
Richard Burton twice) marriage.

When I first heard Elizabeth
Taylor was going to marry for the
eighth time, the easy, inevitable
reaction ejected from my brain
like a pop can from a_ vending
machine: ‘‘You have GOT to be
kidding. Doesn't this woman get
the message? Why docsn’t she ac-
cept that she’s born to be unmar-
ried and just date for the rest of
her life?’’

I then moved on to my outrag-
ed, upstanding-defender-of-soc
ial-institutions stage. In this stage,
I declared about Liz: ‘‘She's mak-
ing a farce out of marriage!"

My smugness and self-
righteousness seemed justified
when I saw a recent cover of
People Magazine. There’s Liz,
bouquet in hand, full-length lace
gown (albeit yellow in color),
locking like a demure bride of 23,
between the surreal Michael
Jackson and new hubby Larry
Fortensky, a 39-year-old, twice-
divorced construction worker.

Friday, Novembe

RINGS FER FINGER,,. |

TIMES a =i) is 16 Cr Y
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(Qackson, if you weren't aware,
hosted the wedding on his 2,700-
acre California estate and
reportedly footed the bill for the
estimated $1.5 million event.)

On the inside of the magazine,
we see Liz in a classic bridal pose,
gazing lovingly into Larry’s eyes,
and vice versa. Come on, 1}
thought, can a 59-year-old woman
who has done all this eight times

Collins making ‘veiled threat’

Dear Editor:

Mary Collins’ recent attempt
tw recruit the private defence
industry to actively support her
government’s ‘‘unity’’  initia-
tives, as reported in the Globe
and Mail on Oct. 25, would
appear to be coming perilously
close to abuse of her ministeri-
al powers.

As Associate Defence
Minister she is undoubtedly

Dear Editor:

The three items in your News
Briefs of the Oct. 27 issue tell it
all:

The first is MP Chuck Cook’s
award of $175,000 of federal
money to the Deep Cove Cultural
Centre.

The second is MP Mary Collins’
award of $225,000 of federal
money to the West Vancouver
Library.

The third is North Vancouver

Libertarian

Dear Editor:

On behalf of my colleagues,
Tunya Audain and Jonathon
Story, who helped me to represent
the Libertarian Party in the recent
election, I would like to offer our

privy to information and deci-
sions which could profoundly
affect the economic welfare of
the companies within that in-
dustry, both jointly and sever-
ally.

Her admonition to the in-
dustry that it ‘become more
proactive and incite some
discussion in the boardrooms
and on the shop floor’’ is dif-
ficult to interpret as other than

City Alderman Rod Clark’s bid to
ask the federal government to
declare a state of ‘‘national fiscal!
emergency’’ because ‘‘drastic
measures are required immediately
if Canada is to be saved from fi-
nancial collapse.’’

Pm with the alderman on this
one.

I appreciate the good work of
the Deep Cove Cultural Centre
and the West Vancouver Library,
but I am appalled by the way our
federal representatives continue to

a veiled threat, particularly
when read in conjunction with
her comments on the help the
industry has received from the
federal cabinet.

No matter how the industry
might have taken her remarks,
such tactics are objectionable
to many of her constituents
and we have long memories.
W.A. Burton
West Vancouver

s % Clark shows fiscal responsibility

give on our behalf money that we
don’t have. This is going on in
hundreds of Conservative ridings
across the country.

Perhaps our MPs think they are
making friends through those con-
tributions. Perhaps they’d make
even more friends if they and their
colleagues showed the kind of
fiscal responsibility that Ald.
Clark is seeking.

Larry Wight
North Vancouver

candidate thanks voters

congratulations to the winners and
our thanks to the North Shore
News for the very fair way in
which our message was conveyed
to your readers,

I would also like to congratulate

those electors who chose to vote
for the free market alternative of-
fered by the Libertarian Party.

Bill Tomlinson
North Vancouver

a
f

possibly take it seriously?

After a few more days’ thought,
I concluded that, indeed, Liz is
taking this marriage seriously, and
1 should try to accept it. Way this
change of heart, this coming to
terms with Liz?

Well, first of all, Liz, like me,
is a Pisces and if you know any-
thing about astrology. you know
that Pisces is the romantic sign in

-?

to terms with Liz...

the zodiac.

Pisceans can find romance vir-
tually anywhere. Liz found Larry
at the Betty Ford Centre in 1988
when they were both fighting drug
dependencies.

Personally, I’ve fallen in love or
thought I had fallen in love (Pis-
ceans have problems
distinguishing between the two) on
planes, in sushi bars, at dinner
parties, in interviews, walking
across a university campus,
pushing fries though the serving
window cf a fast-food restaurant,
etc.

I also had to come to terms
with Liz’s marriage because I
believe she is basically a decent
human being. In the face of for-
midable prejudice and misunder-
standing, she has spoken out in
support of people with AIDS.
Sure, she has a weakness for
over-sized rocks and big parties,
but she does give something back
to the world.

Finally, I had to come to terms
with Liz because she fought back
against her human frailty — she
has been close to death several
times — and has never lost. hope
of something better over the rain-
bow. She persists in the belief that
she'll eventuaily find lasting love.
Just like the rest of us,

Despite a North American
divorce rate of about 30%, the
vast majerity still intend to find a
permanent pariner. Most of us
believe the right person is cut
there ~- someone who will bring
us a depth of happiness we can":
achieve on our own.

Elizabeth Taylor is simply one
person looking for this happiness.

MPs must bring
pension in line

Dear Editor:

Members of Parliament now
enioy what can be fairly called a
gold-plated pension plan.

After only six years in office,
MPs qualify for a fife pension
Starting the very day they leave
Parliament, regardless of their
age. The pension starts at more
than $17,000 per year and has un-
limited protection against infla-
tion,

An MP retiring at age 31 could
easily collect more than $2 million
in lifetime pension payments.
What’s worse, the Chief Actuary
of Canada has estimated that the
MPs’ pension plan has an un-
funded liability — a taxpayers’
10U — of $144 million.

There are some principled MPs
from four different political par-
ties who believe the pension plan
should be reformed by bringing it
into line with private sector
standards. We are calling these
MPs ‘‘The Good.””

Other MPs want to keep their
lavish pension plan and we call
them “The Bad.”

Most MPs, however, are fence
sitters who don’t state where they
stand on this important issue. We
call them ‘‘The Bashful.’’

We urge readers to praise the
good MPs, scold the bad and urge
them to change their position, and
demand that the bashfui declare
where they stand. Voters can find
out who their MPs are by calling
Elections Canada toll free at 1-
800-267-8683. _

The time to act is now because
MPs must make a decision soon
on reforming their pension plan.

Our political leaders must tead
by example. Our MPs can do that
by bringing their pension plans in-
to line with those offered to Ca-
nadians in the private scctor.

David Somerville
President
National Citizens’ Coalition

Fire feature appreciated

Dear Editor:

Just a short note to compli-
ment you on the recent Fire
Prevention Week special
feature in the North Shore
News.

Sure, people buy insurance,
but there are so many things of
a personal nature lost in a fire

that just can’t be replaced. One
thing we don’t insure is life
and limb, and it is in this area
that your awareness feature
makes a real contribution to
the community.

Robert P. Vickerstaff
Vancouver