A7-Sunday News, April 27, 1980

mailbox ee

Improve ferries -save

Dear Editor:

The Government doesn't
have to make a decision
about a_ tunnel-bridge
crossing to Vancouver
Island before 1990. And if it
adds a short ferry link across

‘the Strait of Georgia it can
get to the year 2000 with the
same number of ferries as we
have now. Cost: Half a
billion dollars as opposed to
$3 to $5 billion following the
“imaginative” schemes
which the Hon. Pat McGeer
has been discussing recently.

The economic choice, in
other words, is obvious.
Improve our present ferry
fleet. Add the Iona to
Gabriola Crossing. Then we
can Carry four times as many
people and cars as we do
é

now. And we can save the

equivalent of one year's
provincial taxes in the
process!

Current forecasts suggest
a doubling in traffic over the
next decade and a _ re-
doubling by the turn of the
century. These additional
flows can be carried by ten
Cowichan Class _ vessels.
Replacing ten existing
ferries, they are capable of
carrying double our present
traffic volume. this they can

do with the same number of ‘

Sailings and the same

‘number of employees as

B.C. Ferries employs today!
The challenge of the
1990's, meanwhile, can be
met by adding a new
crossing from near the
Vancouver International
Airport on the Mainland to

Gabriola Island, just south
of Nanaimo. The route in
this case would be 17 miles
long, not 34 miles as is the
case between Horseshoe Bay
and Nanaimo and 28 miles
from Tsawwassen to Swartz
Bay. Two new terminals
would have to be built of
course. But a 10 ferry fleet
made up of Cowichan Class
vessels could then re-double
its efforts. It could carry four
times the number of
passengers and cars which
B.C. Ferries moved in 1979!

Ten new ferries would

cost $300 million. The
terminals and highway
connections at the Iona-

Gabriola crossing would cost
another $200 million. Total
cost $500 million. That is
half a billion — as compared

to many billions of dollars
for a “fixed link” comprised
of tunnels and bridges of the
type currently being
discussed by the planners in
Victoria.

No, we don’t need a single
“fixed link” across the Strait
of Georgia now. We don’t
need it before the year 2000.
True a_ transportation
“breakthrough” could occur
in the intervening years. But
our best bet now is better
ferries and a shorter route
from the Mainland to
Vancouver Island.
Economically speaking they
have it, hands down, over
brute force alternatives like
bridges and tunnels.

Jack Davis, MLA
Narth Vancouver-Seymour

Ban hunting, trapping in provincial parks

Last year, the  Inter-
national Wildlife Protection
Association began a cam-

paign to prohibit
recreational- hunting and
trapping from Provincial

Parks in this province. In

1980, we continue toward
this goal.
Most citizens of this

province assume our wildhfe

have found “safe havens” in
our parks where no one can
disrupt their life pattern.
This belief in reinforced if
one potes that Item No. 6 (3)
of the Parks Act states that
Provincial Parks are
established ‘‘and are
dedicated to the preserva-
tion of their natural environ-

Blame Barrett
for school costs

Dear Editor:

As a taxpayer, living iw
West Vancouver's affluent
society, | don’t agree with
the woman, who wanted her
voice be heard, loud and
clear, that we are in a very
inflationary period and
school costs must mse as fast
as they do.

But she sure got her wires
crossed or didnt do her
homework. or may be the
quantity education must
have failed her a long time
ago, because school taxes

Elleen

987-3431

Let the specialists at Roy s handle your
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haven't msen as anything
else, they multiplied despite
a heavy decrease in
enrolment.

But for some parents in
our freeloading society,
nothing is too good any
longer for their spoiled kids,
ever since Mr. Barrett from
the National Disaster Party
abolished all limits on school
board spending and
unloaded everything on the
homeowner.

F. Faller

West Vancouver

45
we cS

Jill

987-3233

SPRING SPECIAL

ments for the inspiration,
use, and enjoyment of the
public.”

It would seem to us, the
interests of the majority of
British Columbians con-
cerning Provincial Parks are
not being considered.

The I.W.P.A. urgently
requests you introduce
legislation to terminate

KEEP IT SHORT

Readers’ letters on all topics
are welcomed and MAILBOX
wants to print as many as possi-
ble, subject only to space
limitations. To help us print
YOUR letter while it’s still time-
ly, please keep it short and to
the point-normally no longer
than 200 words (about 20 lines
of average typing or 26 lines of
average handwriting).

Ail letters must be signed and
include an address andicr
phone number. The writer's
fhame must also be spelled out
clearly in biock letters. Street
addresses and phone numbers
will not be published, and a
nom-de-plume will be used it
specially requested. We
reserve the right to edit letters
tor brevity, taste and legality.

Let's hear from you — often The
address is North Shore News,
1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North
Vancouver 8.C. V7M 2H4.

Vicky

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OFF

648 Queensbury Ave .

DRY
CLEANERS

North Vancouver

We take the
drapery cleaning

‘worry out of

recreational hunting and
trapping in the beautiful
Provincial Parks of British
Columbia.

Trudy Hopkins
President

International Wildlife
Protection Association
Kamloops.

Fitness.
It gives much more
than it takes.

'

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Dear Editor:

When the _ robins,
beautiful spring flowers, etc.
arrive in North Vancouver,
we also have the arrival of
more sensational stories in
our North Shore papers with
headlines such as “Killer
Canyon.”

My family and I have lived
adjacent to Lynn Valley
Canyon since 1950, and our
children were taught at an
early age to have a healthy
respect for the canyon.

I feel very sorry for the
people who are injured in
accidents in the canyon, and
for the families of those who
lose their lives there, but in

most imstances these ac-
cidents occur because
people stray from the

recognized paths or climb
the fences. I have watched in

ns Teach people
canyon safety

dismay as parents will lift
small children over these
fences put there for their
protection. Most of the
accidents happen to people
who do not live in the area.
The District is to be
congratulated on the ex-
cellent manner in which they
maintain the park, and the
extent to which they have
gone to make it a safe park.
You would gain a lot more
credibility from your reading
public if you would try and
educate people on how to
safely enjoy the beauty of
our canyons, instead of each
spring causing a lot of
hysteria from a few people
who then advocate closing
the canyons to the public.

B.M. Waters
North Vancouver

‘Pen-pal’ Ernie

Dear Editor:

May I suggest that you
offer your pen-pal, Ernie
Crist, his own weekly
column in your paper. I am
sure you will agree that his
literary skills have
developed over the years
and he is now able to provide
you with weekly copy.

You can take part of the
credit for his highly
developed skills. After all,

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1550 LONSDALE AVE., N. VANCOUVER

988-8545

how many politicians have
unlimited access to a
community newspaper?
Perhaps a format similar
to the “Inquiring Reporter”
complete with Ernie Crist’s
photograph might be
considered, then those of us
interested in news could
readily identify his column
and feel free to explore the
balance of your paper.
Lizz Lindsay
North Vancouver

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