1139 Lonsdale Avonue North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 24 PETER SPECK Publisher 985-2131 (101) Comptratier Operations (133) 985-2131 1 (188) Managing Editor 985-2131 (116) Titel Agrios - Promotions Manager: ’-" SOS 2137 (218) "Mala Offleo Pax . Morth Shore Naws, founded in 1969 an an independent suburban newspaper and quaiifiod under Schedule 111, Paragraph i11 of the _ Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and distributed to every door on the North Shora. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing sates available on request. Entire contents © 1996 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All tights reserved. ‘SIS ASTICKUP! FORK OVER ALL Your CASH! news viewpoint lutf a T’S BAD enough that our government is trying to legislate’ away the God-given right to squander our heatth if we are silly enough to choose te do so. What’s werse is the - callous inconsistency with which the entire handling of tobacco use has been played out. The control freaks are way out of contrel. One hand of government grabs the tax coin shaken from the wallets of hapless nicotine addicts. The other hand slaps and squeezes smokers and the cigarette industry alike for attempting to suppert their respective babits. And now to simply compound.an already ludicrous situation, regional government wades in all righteously puffed up with a potential folly of its own making. If the Greater Vancouver Regional District listens to its committee on the issue, smoking will be banned in public places such as malls and restauranis. It will not be banned in NATIONS THAT survive are baptized in bicod. Such is history’s lesson. Ask even our cousins in the land of the free and home of the brave. . Quebec is at Jong last forcing Canada to face this moment cf truth — especially if advocates of partitioning that province in the event of a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UD}) carry the day. Let's start by being clear about three things. First, a UDI by any province is presently illegal under Canada's Constitution. Second, if Bouchard eventually issued a UDI in Quebec's nanie, its government’s first act would be to grab all tax payments hitherto des- Noei Wright | and ‘yon protection as Canadian citizens from their secessionist kidnappers. i Yiania Ties: Goss I cabarets, bars and pubs. Restaurant owners will rightly be upset it this comes to pass. Cabarets, bars and pubs. serving food will be handed an artificial. com- petitive advantage. Pa Smokers and non-smokers should be given the chance to vote with their dollars. | This time the specific issue is smoking, but the tendency cf Canadians to try: to solve problems with legislation is being taken to extreme levels. The result is catastrophic in terms of personal freedom. Have we iest all hold on our right. to act autonomously as responsible individuals? — _, Are we so far gone that we don’t even con- sider such rights as paramount, or do we real- ‘ly believe that our government always. knows what's in our best interest?’ Sure smoking stinks, but. inconsistent and flawed legislation smells worse. tively smat!-qumber of RCMP. Worse, they might even be backed by the Van Doos. (Remember how, before the October referendum, Canadian Forces there were secretly urged to transfer allegiance to Quebec if the “yes” side won?) So — with federal tax money stolen, loyal Canadians illegally removed from Canada and negotia- tion ruled out — what is Ottawa’s next move? There are just three options, only two of them practical: 1, Appeai to the United Nations on behalf of Canadians hijacked by the illegal new “state.” Forget it. The last thing the UN now wants is to be embroiled in a new Bosnia-type fracas involv- hither BEER PES RP RIE Sepa Bel Mea ‘@ =$58,000 . to. the tined for Ottawa. On the other hand, Canada could not legally stop sending Quebec UI, OAS pensions and other agreed transfer payments as Jong as it claimed — as it must — jurisdiction over the province. Third, an illegal UDI would immediately find northem Quebec’s Cree and Inuit — plus most inhabitants of Montreal, the Eastern Townships, Hull and the _ Ottawa Valley — clamoring for Bouchard, for his part, would of course utterly reject any partiticn- ing of such areas, even by negotia- tion. Thus, the morning after an ille- gal UDI the bail would be squarely in Ottawa’s court. Watching across the river, the Quebec provincial police would be out in force in all the partitionable areas of the new “state” — probably beefed up by recruits from the province’s rela- ing enclaves. 2. Stop all further payments to Quebec and abandon loyal Canadians there to their fate. With the Maritimes also cut adrift, chances are that the rest of Canada itself might fairly soon start to self- destruct — some provinces going independent, others j joining the US. 3. Impose an Ontario-New Brunswick corridor and partition CS LORD OTRO LENE IR The two faces of _ MLA Dave Dear Editor: Was anyone else amused at how North — Vancouver- Lonsdale MLA David Schreck . managed to keep a straight face’ . while urging the sacking of the North Vancouver School Board for alleged fiscal irresponsibili- ty? This from a member of a government that has, despite, the aid of creative bookkeep- . ing, raanaged to run up deficits, totalling at least $6 billion in the last four years. oo, ‘And this from a vocal sup- — | . porter of Glen “Shovel Money: § Off ‘The Back ‘Of A Truck”. | Clark for premier. This last point;alone tells us all we need to know about Mr. .Schreck’s | attitude to the appropriate use: of taxpayers’ dollars. Of course it shouldn’t be surprising that Mr. Schreck was able to keep one of his faces straight while ; lambasting the school board - because when it comes to fiscal restraint he’s as two-faced as” they come. Ian Michaud ‘|. North Vancouver . tax tales. ‘AS CHRONICLED in: the: N Feb, 11 Tax ‘Tales, the: fed handouts as recorded i ; the. Tax Trough’. ih, Citizens’ Coalition publicati $35,000 for a study of high school i}. students’ attitudes toward muiti turalism. (Seven taxpayer years.) _ “National Association of: ‘Friendship. Centres” to train race relations workers. (12 arpa years.) off those areas with loyal - Canadian majorities. by armed force — i.e, by Canadia: ! ing Canadians if President. * Bouchard so insists. : ; “Ugh,” says the ‘Average Decent | Canadian. “Don't like the sound of. that at all. Aren’t there any. other options?" Alas, unless Bouchard and his separatist minority blink first, the answer is “‘no.”:.", Ready then, dear reader, for : those final moment-of-truth, ques; : tions? \ Is Canada worth the spilling of Canadian blood (something we. -mever questioned in two. world wars)? ° OR — is Canad destined tobe © history's only nation Wiat commit-- ted suicide because it'rated human life higher than its own survival? A SPECIAL happy 80th birthday tomorrow, Feb. 15, to longtime | West Van Cedardale resident Frank Cragg. : WRIGHT OR WRONG: Before you can score, you must first have .. - a goal.