6 — Friday, June 19, 1992 - North Shore News NEWS VIEWPOINT | Let it rain PPRECIATION for Lower Mainland rain is not something locats traditionally engage in. But, lke anything else, apprecistion is usually reserved for what we no longer have or what we haven’t had for some time. And rain is something we haven't had in consistent, amounts for seve:al months. Those holidaying or otherwise available to enjoy the sunshine will shed few tears over that sews. Most other chronically rain-soaked West Coasters will perhaps of- fer a rousing hurrah to the current dryness. But for those whose job it is to keep water flowing to Lower Mainland homes and businesses, the lack of spring rain is cause for hand-wringing, and, if things don’t soon iraprove, outright alarm. North Shore reservoirs are currenily well below norma! fevels. A downpour over the past weekend did little to bring those leveis back to where they should be. Following a mild winter in which focal snowpacks were lower than normal, and a drier than average spring, the Greater Vancouver Regional Disirict has issued a plea to Lower Mainland residents to cut their fresh water consumption now to help con- serve supplies for July and August, two of the region’s traditionally driest months. Lawn and garden sprinkling can account for up to 80% of additional water con- sumption during semmer months. Resident prudence in that area can therefore help conserve water now fer what could be a long, hot and very dry summer. : LETTER OF THE DAY Respect suffering of police officer Dear Editor: Regarding the death of the young man killed in his own living room by a police officer on a drug raid, | am saddened by the letters and reports 1 read in yeur news- paper. } never met Daniel Possee but can well imagine he was a normal young man with much potential. I regret that his life was cut short. I feel sorry for the Possee fami- ly, but I also feel sorry for the police officer who killed him. He did not have time to examine Possee’s gun, or to ask him if he was joking or serious. He was trained to react in the only rea- sonable way. When a person aims a gun ata police officer, there is no debate. If policemen are not permitted to defend themselves, how can we ask them to do the job they do? Display Advertising 980.0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an r and qualified Distribution Subscriptions $86-1337 Fax 985-3: Administration 985-2131 Yes, we should mourn the loss of this young life, but we should also respect the suffering of the man who may never heal from the guilt that perhaps he made the wrong decision once, one day. Can we ask people to be perfect? Let he who is without fault cast the first stone. Lori Ostler West Vancouver © Printed an 227 10% recycied " newsprint North Shore managed 986-1337 MEMBER independent suburban newspaper under Schedule 111, Paragraph It of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distribuled to every door on the North Shore. Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and Wes! Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing cates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accepi responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscrpts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. V7M 2H4 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, 8.C. SN" Loy sneer LJ Do] SDA DIVISION 61,32 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Nations built on principles - not politics NO APOLOGIES, dear reader, for a few heavy thoughts today. Finding ourselves right back at Meech after the un- told millions squandered on Spicer’s circus, cross-Canada public conferences and Joe Clark’s deadlocked 12-week ‘“‘Canada Round”’ is heavy stuff. . Now, chief barker Brian Mutironey takes over again fora renewed session of arm-twisting and dice-rolling behind closed doors. At this crisis point for Canada fet’s be quite clear about one cen- tral truth. Any durable constitu- tion must be based cn PRINCI- PLES — principles that reflect the total vision tying a nation together. No principles, no vision. In which case you do not have a nation at all, but merely a collec- tion of eternally squabbling fief- doms. We're in this 1 1th-hour mess because of the fatally Nawed belief of Canada’s three dominant leaders — Mulroney, Ontario's Bob Rae and Quebec’s Robert Bourassa — that you can cobble together a constitution based en- tirely on self-serving politics in- stead of principles. Hence the two deadlocked issues. Senate reform with equal repre- sentation from each province is an issue of principle, not politics. For 125 years the interests of “outer Canada’’ have been sub- jected to those of Ontario and Quebec simply because the latter hold 60% of the Commons seats by virtue of their populations. In a federal state the sole way to provide some reasonable + counterbalance for the more numerous but less heavily popu- lated provinces is by the equality of all provinces in a second chamber. Ontario and Quebec (with its puppet Mulroney) naturally fight the concept because it diminishes their political clout vis-a-vis the rest of the country. What’s good for central Canada has to be good for the nation. Fending of f “have-nots” is a matter of poli- tics — not principle — for the “thaves."” Similarly with the veto Quebec demands over future constitu- tional amendments, again purely for Quebec’s own political advan- tage. It would engrave in stone for ail time the freedom ‘‘distinct society”’ status gives Quebec to ignore the Charter of Rights with approval of the Supreme Court — to which it appoints three of the nine judges. We would hand down to our children a Canada that could never be changed in any fun- damenta! detail. No surviving na- BOB RAE... what's good for Ontaric has to be good for the nation. Noel HITHER AND YON tion in history has ever tied itself into such a permanent straitjacket. Fortunately the prospect is remote. kronically, any amend- ment to the amending formula itself — unlike amendments to other clauses in the constitution — already requires a unanimous vote. The possibility of the nine other provinces agreeing to a single-province veto over ALL amendments is virtually non-exis- tent and that, of course, is where the wheels could finally fall off Joe’s constitutional wagon. But even if Mulroney’s famed © pressure-cocker tactics somehow managed some bandaid patch-up of these two issues, the best we'd get would be another brief respite based once more on backroom politics. Without a united vision of Canada born of a consensus on lasting fundamental principles in- stead of political horse-trading, we'd be resuming the same old poker game a year or two down the road. The constitution is far too im- portant to be left to politicians. It’s a job for respected indepen- dent citizens from all regions and all walks of life — elected to a one-time constituent assembly. FOLKFEST ’92 bursts out all over this weekend — with the free 8 p.m. shows Saturday, Sunday and Monday at the Centennial Theatre and the Arts and Crafts Fair in full swing until June 27.(except Sunday) at the Civic Centre, 14th and Lonsdale. The latter’s rich variety of crafts for sale includes pottery, silk paintings, raku jewel- ry, wood carvings, stuffed bunnies and many other items ... On Sun- day Silver Harbour Centre gets in- to the act with its 1-3 p.m. ‘‘Mini Fest’’ at 144 East 22nd — song and dance entertainment, more | arts and crafts and a food fair ... And Sunday also brings the Heritage Committee's two-hour Folkfest Garden City Walking Tour starting at 2 p.m. from the North Van Museum, 333 Chester- field — wear comfy shoes! WRIGHT OR WRONG: When small-minded men start casting dig shadows, you know the sun is setting. EEA