& — Wednesday, February 2, 1994 ~ North Shore News BIOBHVTHMS WERE GOING CAAZY. BUT | TOOK YOUR ADNICE, CLOSED iY EYES AND KEPT REPEATING MY MANTRA, THUS AVOIDING ANY INTERACTION With NEGATIVE ENERGY NEXT TORE... HE LONGSHOREMEN’S strike has slammed the door inthe face of the international market place and ripped “the welcome inat out from under valuable . Vancouver port customers. Just six days old, the shutdown has valfeady erased years of fragile goodwill forged between local industries and their _ international customers. _ And in this era of international free ‘trade ‘and open: world competition, the repercus- sions of a’protracted waterfront labor dis- lite could be catastrophic. Approximately 3,000 West Coast. long- shorémen waiked off tha job iast Friday in a contract ‘dispute over money. x Longshoremen, witha base hourly rate of “$21 .41,:want a wage and benefits package _increase. totalling. just over $3 per hour; the’ B.C. Maritime Employers’ Association has aes SEE? TAKING PUBLIC TRANSIT ISNT 50 BAD S offered a wage and benefits package totalling just over $2 per hour. But regardless of whether the wage gap is $1 or one cent, the result is an idled port and vita! port business already heading to Seattle. Also heading south is Vancouver’s reputa- tion for reliability as a port. That reliability, tarnished in previous port labor disputes, has been on the mend in recent years, But in the high-stakes shipping business, a reputation that takes years to- build can be destroyed in scant hours. Canada, burdened with a staggering $500 billion debt and fast. approaching interna- ’ tional fiscal basket-case stature, can iH afford any further erosion of its reputation. Ottawa must end the West Coast long- shoremen’s dispute now before any. lasting damage is done to the economy of the West Coast and the rest of Canada. "LETTER OF THE DAY | _ Help to raise Civic awareness first Dear Editor: Citizens running for municipal office in Canada and those who financially support them are the hardly come as a surprise that voter turnoul for the gavernment that affects the lives of more than 80% of Canadians. more directly than the picture, Since the municipal jurisdiction covers everything trom police pro- tection, health, traffic and chitdeare to animal welfare, and, since chari- victims of blatant and senseless dis- crimination, , For example. if you make a donation of $100 to your favorite “politician or party at the provincial or federal level, the government of Canada will reimburse you to the tune. of 75%. But, if you did the same thing af the municipal level. any other level of government is so pathetically low. The big press is not much better and neither are most of our local, columnists. Just compare the space they devote to provincial and federal election campaigns or “flea plagues” in far-away places with ty presumably begins at home, before getting all choked up about injustice, backwardness and the problems of the world, how about helping to raise civic awareness and strike a blow for democracy and justice in our own backyard first? ALL THEE media hype sur- rounding the Feb. 17 byelec- tions in Vancouver- Quilchena and Matsqui merely seryes to obscure the truth about the political future of British Columbia. Gordon Campbell will almost certainly win Quilchena and take his seat in the legislature-as teader of the 14-member official Liberal opposition. Grace MeCarthy’s chances in Matsqui look consider- ably less rosy at the moment. If she fails to win that Bible Belt seat and remains shut out of the legislature, the effect on Social Credit may be costly in terms of “attracting new members. And should she then quit, it’s hard to sce what some recycled substitute like Graham Bruce or Claude Richmond could do to build up the demoralized — and still divided — party. Even bright potential new lead- ers like West Van Mayor Mark Sager might equate the job with taking over command of the Titanic the day before sailing — especiaily with no byelection in sight, unless the Socreds were willing to risk one of their precious half-dozen seats. Nevertheless, these reverses would still fall far short of dealing the party a terminal blow, given that the next provincial election is probably two-and-a-quarter years “away. In the 1991 election, the Liberals won 33% of the popular vote and the Socreds 24%. But it’s estimated that two- thirds of the Liberal vote came trom Socreds temporarily disgusted _ With scandal-plagued Bill Vander Zalm and his stopgap successor, Rita Johnston. Underlining this statistic is today’s still wide gap between the two parties in terms of grassroots support. With Campbell as leader, Liberal Party membership is “undoubtedly edging upward. But the last published figures suggest it is still less than one-third — and maybe only one- quarter — of the 40,000-odd card-carrying Socreds. Meanwhile, Chretien’s govern- ment in Ottawa may well be rivalling Mutroney’s in unpopulari- ty well before 1996. This would inevitably hang a heavy albatross around the B.C. Liberals’ neck despite claims by Campbell of “independence” from the federal parly. HITHER AND YON ‘ The bottom line, regardless of © this month's byelection results. is: that the split in membership and _* voter support between Socreds and Liberals looks likely:to remain broadly unchanged. Which takes us. back to today’s inescapable | truth © about B.C: politics: Unless some miracle can yet. - bring about a merger between the’. two stubborn free-cnterprise — - . groups, Mikey will be laughing all”: the way to the polling station in: 1996 —a second | ferm in his pock:- et. POSTSCRIPTS: Salute. - Sutherland art student Angie «.- Radwan-Pytlewski who arrived here only a year ago from Poland she has won North Van Arts. Council's 25th Anniversary A of $500 for her triptych: a black ink. print depicting the historical and . ethnic evolution of the.North Van ~ community :.. Go treasure-hunting Saturday. Feb. 5, from 11 am-to ! p.m, al the Naomi Chapter 26, -°" Order of the Eastern Star rum- mage sale in West Van's Masonic Hall, 1763 Bellevue .:. North: Van. ° ‘High School grad class of °44 hold _ its 50th anniversary celebration © Sept. 17 — call George Diack, : 985-2596, or Eva (Carrabetia) Hallaway, 987-1662, for all the details... And happy birthday “.: tomorrow, Feb. 3, to West. Van Kiwanian Joe Lindsey WRIGHT OR WRONG : Never hit a man when he’s down —~ It’ may make him get up.» " Caun. Ernie Crist the space they devote to our own District of North Vancouver ‘you would not receive a red cent. civic arena and you wil! quickly gel With this attitude. it should 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 Distribution Subscriptions Fax ‘Administration MEMBER: 980-0511 985-6982 986-6222 985-2131 Display Advertising Real Estate Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Publisher... Managing Editor. Associate Editor, Sales & Marketing _ Comptroller. . Doug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1569 as an * independent suburban newspaper and qualitied _under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise "Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Prass Ltd. and distributed to every dooron the North Shore. ~, Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales _ Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited Peter Speck imothy Renshaw loet Wright nda Stewart 1198 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver B.C. V7M cH4 . Norin Shore Managed . SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) material including manuscripts and pictures which RIVAL LEADERS Grace McCarthy and Gordon Campbell. Split dd ; ; . envelope. accompanied by @ stamped, accessed Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. in support for Socreds and Liberals unlikely to change m uch.