6 - Sunday, June 12, 1994 - Mu mamered Mike Harcourt slips aside unnoticed, and reaterges as CREASE ; Mig hty ve "hep, Senior disservice HE TROUBLE with old felks is that they depress property values if they live in groups next door to you. West Vancouver Council has bought this argument often enough over recent years. . Once again a proposal to provide afford- able seniors’ housing has been turned down in the municipatity. Plans for seniors’ developments in single- family neighborhoods stand little chance of acceptance in West Vancouver. Residents and ratepayer groups always ask council to think about the negative effect such developments would have on property values and council generally listens. This time it was a 28-unit seniors’ equity housing project slated for the 1000-block Marine Drive that was halted in its develop- ment process tracks. In rejecting the bid, one councillor even said the proposal by the Providence Shelter Corporation should not be approved before the municipality appoints a task force to investigate seniors’ housing needs. The writing has been on the wali for years about the status of seniors’ housing needs on the North Shore. It’s time for action and not more study. We have an aging population. Many who have spent years contributing to the community are being forced from the North Shore for lack of affordable accommo- dation. The Lionsview Seniors Planning Society released a comprehensive report on the issue, The Breaking Wave: Housing for Seniors on the North Shore. The upshot is this: there is a crying need for inexpensive medium-density seniors’ housing throughout the community and it’s not being met. “Without Randy it wouldn’t have happened.” Western Canada Wilderness Committee member Pau! George, on the contributions the late Randy Stoltmann made to saving Vancouver Island’s Carmanah Valley. (Front a June 8 News Story.) of contact.” Publisher ... ..Pater Spack y Renshaw Noel Wright inda Slewat’ ==Newsroom North Shoro News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedula 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd and distributed te every door on the North Shore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rates available on request. Suomissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited matedal including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. V7M 2H4 “We hate the French. We have always hated them. They hate us. They have always hated us. War is our normal and natura! form Unidentified Englishman at the Commonweaith Fly Fishing Championship at Nimpo Lake in the Chilcotin, on English-French Display Advertising Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions Classified Advertising North Share Managed relations. (From the June 10 Paulitics and Perspectives column.) “It’s really exciting — the Expos are cool.’ North Vancouver shortstop Simon Pond, 17, on being drafted by the Montreal Expos. (From a June 8 North Shore News sports story.) 960-0511 986-1337 996-1337 985-3227 985-2131 Distribution 586-6222 Fax 985-2131 Administration MEMBER 1139 Lonsdale Avanue North Vancouver 8.C. SDA DIVISION §1,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltu. All rights reserved. Separatism’s blowing it A KEY element in the Quebee separatists’ strategy is coming unstuck because the nation-wreckers think they have an audience of dummies. I started some 10 days apo when investment dealers revealed they were being threatened by Parti Québécois officials with the loss af Quebee bond underwriting business after a PQ government is lected, unless they stopped talking about the financial risks of separation. PQ leader Jacques Purizeau went on to suggest a boycott of the Bank of Montrcal whose chief economist, Cloyd Atkinson, had warned of “a great deal of fear" in financial markets about separation. Hot on Parizeau’s heels came Bloc Québécois finance critic Yvan Loubier, ordering BQ MPs to attack any financial institution dar- ing to analyse Quebee’s political stability. I's no surprise, of course, that the PQ and BQ are desperately anx- ious at this stage to avoid any open, detailed examination of the eco- nomic consequences of a unilateral declaration of independence by Quebec. They would be serious for the rest of Canada, but could be outright disastrous for the break- away province. For staiters, Quebee is among Canada’s seven “have-not” provinces subsidized by equaliza- tion payments collected trom B.C., Alberta and Ontario. On separation this billion-plus pogey would cease. Quebec would also face an instant surge in unemployment as tens of thousands of federal fran- cophone bureaucrats became job- less. Parizeau and Bloc leader Lucien | Bouchard won't say what portion, if ANY, of the $500 billion federal debt they would assume. But they aim to continue using the Canadian dollar, despite having no voice in Bank of Canada mone- tary policy, nor access to the Canadian Mint. As a plan to scuttle Quebec's bond rating, it couldn’t be bettered!" They talk airily about joining the North American Free Trade Agreement, even though Canada can — and quite likely would — veto it. The truth is that indepen- dence would almost immediately slash the living standard of Quebecers, as the government struggled to meet its monthly bills — suddenly with no subsidies from Canada, with unemployment soar- ’ * JACQUES PARIZEAY ... financial dummy exposed. ing. with North American free trade privileges cut off, and without any borrowing status as a separate naiion, This is the independence sce- nario that Parizeau and Bouchard are fighting tooth and nail to con- ceal from Quebecers. Hence their empty threats to the banking and investinent community — emply. because there’s ultimately no way you can keep the truth from the people who put up the money. By trying to do sa, you merely end up blowing it. As Michael Mackenzie, Ottawa's superintendent of finan- cial institutions, angrily retorted to the separatist bully-boys, banks and investment brokers have a perfect right to inform clients about the risks of Quebec separatism. And in any case,.the world’s money mar- kets —- already twitchy about Canada —- are not run by dummies. The only dummies in the game — playing Russian roulette with the future of all Quebecers —- are Bouchard and Parizeau. The faster that is made-clear to everyone, the happier for both Quebec and Canada. WRAP-UP: For excellence in pub- lic service, expeditions, skills and fitness 14 North Shore Ismaili Youth Group members recently received the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award from Lt.-Gov. David Lam. Congrats to Mumtaz Bandeali, Jamila Datoo, Fahreen Dossa, Salim Hirji, Anil Jamani, Zaleeaa Janmohamed, Jabeen Jussa, Aliya Kara, Shaheeza Lalani, Selina Rajani, Shelina Sayani, Khatija Shariff, Soraya Verjee and Zahida Virani — and salute also their leaders, Rashid Fatehali and Azmin Dhanji ... New times for the Lions Gate Hospital blood donor clinics tomorrow and Tuesday, June 13-14 ° in the Medical Day Care Gym— hours each day are 2-4 p.m. and 5:30-8 p.m. ... From the Better Late Dept., welcome to the “Golden 50 Club" West Van’s John and Clarice Millard who qualified Friday, June 10 ... Happy birthday today, June 12, to West Van's Bill Jackson ... Many happy returns of Tuesday, June 14, to North Van's Donna Kerr ... And more of the same that day to West Van Kiwanis president-clect Ian Andrews. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid doing altogether.