@ - Wednesday, January 8, 1992 ~ North Shore News rncwrensiareatdansiiitiiiiidde INSIGHTS ON ee cb p tt yidddidlldldd peerttldtertitte eererttttled dd “ ecdecccccces best teste em ~ Robert Bourassa, the Quebec gov- . NEWS VIEWPOINT ~ An ethical formula RAWING THE line between De= responsibility and the need to make a profit is often a tough call for business. But, at the very least, decision-making should be based on a mixture of ethical and business considerations. Sometimes the niain consideration is the bottom Hine: Shoppers Drug Mart recently attempted to increase sales of infant for- mula to new mothers through a pilot pro- ject promoting free gift packs with a display in the pharmacy. According to a World Health Organiza- tion international code, infant formula should be neither advertised nor free sam- ples given. The code recognizes the supert- ority of breast milk over formula in con- tributing to a baby’s health. . Fortunately, Shoppers halted its promo- tion, but. the decision was based on finan- cial considerations — the pilot project was unsuccessful because few mothers were taking the free samples. A Shoppers’ official justified the pro- motion by saying that infant formula was a product like any other at a retail store. But infant formula is different from a retail product such as a chocolate bar or wrapping paper. While formula is occa- sionally necessary, the decision te- use it should be made between a woman ard her doctor. Pharmacies are in @ unique position in the retail world: they are retail] outlets, but people also look to them for their health- care needs. The need for pharmacies to turn a profit should not reduce their need to promote true health care among their customers. LETTER OF THE DAY Good reason for cross-border shopping Dear Editor: Canadian retailers, as a group, federat and provincial govern- I find your News Viewpoint (Dec. 22) quite unacceptable. _ Being ordercd to shop locally does nothing to persuade me to do so, although I must admit I do lit- tle or no cross-border buying. However, when I want some- thing it is inevitably more conve- nient to make the trip south, where one has a fighting chance of (a) finding the item, (b) being politely received, and (c) getting assistance if the item is not readily available. Publisher Peter Speck are rude, uncaring, and ignorant. Their markup is unrealistic, and their inventory reflects fads rather than value. Service seems to be a dirty word, and most store employees appear to be marking time waiting for their careers as brain-surgeons to kick in. South of the border people work, and are proud to give good service. That difference says it all. Why should we support local merchants who pay less than their fair share of the tax bill, in itself a tithe which is largely wasted by Display Advertising 980-0571 Distribution ments? First fet’s get our fiscal house in order, set our priorities straight, and then there will no longer bs any reason to go over the border for anything except the pleasure of seeing something different. For what it is worth, my advice is: keep your hand in your pocket until it can come out clutching some cash; we've lived beyond our means for far too long. P.C.D. Powell North Vancouver 988-1337 North Shore managed Managing Editor .. Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director .. Linda Stewart Comptrollar Doug Foot. North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph Ill of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited materia! including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. Newsroom V7M 2H4 Entire contents Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertisi north shore SUINDAY © WEDNEBDAY - FORAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. Subscriptions Fax Administration 985-2131 MEMBER ing 986-6222 985-2131 SDA DIMISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Parizeau ‘bomb threat’ has our leaders quaking. fall deadiine, the duty of English Canada’s leaders becomes ever clearer. Equally clear, unfortanatezy, is their reluctance to do it. Thanks to PQ leader Jacques Parizeau’s ability to bully Premier ernment is committed to a refer- endum on sovereignty not later than Oct. 31, 1992. This is equivalent to a terrorist bomb threat to The Rest of Canada (TROC). Bend over backward to give Parizeau and his gang — at most about 8% of Canada’s population and one-third of Quebec’s — everything they demand by Oc- tober, or they’ll blow the country apart. It’s crazy for 92% of Canadians. to meekly allow a tiny minority of diehard separatists to dictate both the agenda and the timetable for revising the nation’s most fun- damental law, the Constitution. Especially as the retort to such blatant blackmail is obvious. TROC’s leaders (in theory the Tory federal government) should. announce immediately a NA- TIONWIDE referendum — in- cluding, of course, Quebec — on the constitutional package they finalize this summer. And the wording is vitally important. If Quebec separated, it has been widely forecast that TROC itself would soon disintegrate — its in- dividual regions swallowed up by the U.S. economically, and in due course politically. I don't per- sonally share that gloomy view. But if it WERE valid, there’s no earthly reason why the same logic wouldn’t apply to an ‘‘indepen- dent”? Quebec. Hence the simple ‘‘yes-or-no’’ question to all Canadian voters both outside and inside Quebec: “Do you support these constitu- tional proposals and the formula for amending them as need may arise? OR do you wish to termi- nate the sovereign Canadian na- tion and acrept some unknown form of associate status as part of the U.S.A.2” That would split the men from the boys. It’s also why separatists vigorously oppose an all-Canada referendum that would put a wider issue to Quebecers than their go-it-alone quiz — not just separation but the future of ALL Canadians, including Quebecers, as a result. Alas, however, Brian Mulroney and Joe Clark still refuse to commit themselves to such a ref- erendum. They’re terrified a sizeable number of their Quebec caucus, intimidated by constituen- cy separatists back home, might bolt — thereby spelling the end of the Tory majority. Thus the entire Canada ugenda continues to be shaped by fear. Primarily because our so-called Tory leaders quake in their shoes every time that wily political ter- rorist Jacques Parizeau speaks. POSTSCRIPTS: B.C. Lions and their cheerleaders, Vancouver Canucks, North Shore mayors and handicapped athletes will take part 2-3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. tf! in the Wheelchair Basketbal! Shoot at Capilano Mall to kick off the 39th annual Kinsmen Mothers’ March. With a $1.7 million target to pro- vide services for the physically disabled, the door-to-door cam- paign runs Jan. 15-31... At the _ Neel Wright 7:30 a.m. West Van Chamber of © Commerce breakfast meeting Jan. - 14 in the Ambleside Inn members. will be given a big-L ‘Liberal View of the Economy” by their .' guest speaker, Opposition Leader: Gordon Wilson — call 926-6614. . to book your coffee and scrambl. ed... And from the Better Late’ Dept. congrats to 40-year West | Van resident Trixie Suelgrove —~ - longtime Woodward's employee, founder member of St. David's .. Church and still a stalwart bowler — who notched up her 80th bir- thday Friday, Jan. 3. 4 WRIGHT OR WRONG: Nothing remains wonderful once you get . used to it. JACQUES PARIZEAU. cal terrorist sets agenda. . Se. GORDON WILSON... Liberal breakfast menu in West Van.