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© 1996 North Shore

+)

Slory. d”,

mailbox

7 Realy, he should fire ‘us if
e” 's got a better plan.”
=" North Vancouver District 44

ywood, on what the’ provincial
ducation minister should do with ’-
_ the’ District 44 board if he has a°
‘better plan than the board's for
dealing with the district's $5-mil-
lion deficit. (From a a Jan. 12 News.

Ye loved io much parodying *
Vander Zalm because you -|-
couldn’t get as crazy as the actus’

.al things he was up to. When he .

left the scene he forced us to do
More national material.”

“1. Kevin Crofton, one half of the
satizical comedy duo Local

” Anxiety, on one of the duo's

: favorite targets for satire, former
* B.C. premier Bill Vander Zaim.

"(From a Jan, 10 News story.)

OIR/CENE

GLEN CLARK FINALLY EMERGES AS A CANDIDATE
FORTHE NDP LEADERSHIP.

‘quotes of the week

a | just love the North Shore!”
and I’ve met a number of great -
people. I see myself settling out
here when ?’m done swimming.
Travelling where I’ve travelled i

: don’t think there’s anything like
" this place.”

_ Canadian Olympic swimming

"team member, Ryan Laurin, on
ae moving to the North Shore. (From
_adan. 10 News sporis story.)

“Because it was such a unique

bike, 1 guess he couldn't sell it. -

The guy had a heart. Maybe not
all thieves are bad.” ;
Deep Cove Bike Shop owner.
Chaz Romalis, after the thief of a —
valuable hand-crafted bicycle later.

phoned Romalis’ bike shop to say.

‘he had dropped off the bike about a

block from the store. (From a Jan.
7 News story.)

ere meet aatalet At AEH SARL HIE tH mR HLH fbi LMR Win MAY aE

Computer co. clarification

Dear Editor:
On Wednesday Dec. 20, 1995, the

‘North Shore News published an arti-

cle entitled NV Software Investigation
Hits Logjam, by Brent Mudry. The

' company mentioned in this article is
Evergreen International Technology.

We have recently opened
Evergreen Computers on Lonsdale
Avenue in North Vancouver. We
would like to clarify that we are

news viewpoint

absolutely not related in any way to

the company or directors mentioned |
in this article, We want to assure our’

customers that we are open for busi-
ness and ready to assist you with hon-
esty and integrity.

Murray Johnson,

Operations Manager

and all the staff of Evergreen
Computers

North Vancouver -

TIRE STD FRE ANE, Wee

CAPE IN ISA Rae

independent’

David's

1996

election goal?

THE GREETING CARD
invited me to have “A
Happy Independent New
Year.” Now that’s an inter-
esting kind of 1996 to be
wished! f

It also explains why the card's
sender continues to be by far the
most interesting political figure on
the North Shore.

David Mitchell, Independent
MLA for West Van-Garibaldi,
appears to have suffered little —
rather the reverse, indeed — as a
result of his defection from the
Liberal Party under whose banner
he was elected in 1991. For voters
from 22nd Street west and north to
Squamish and Pemberton, ‘he -
remains very much their man in
Victoria.

He travels the territory con-
stantly. He appears at every public
riding function of any note. He
plays the media skilfully and puts -

out stimulating local-issue newslet-

ters. He has the support of an

Independeit constituency associa- ..

tion.

All in all, he. comes across as a
model MLA, devoting his entire’*
time'and energy to his con- |
stituents. But there's a’'down side,
OG. |

With’ no caucus or party
machine behind him, any

. Independent i in our parliamentary
. system is mostly cut off from the ©
“levers of. power, even if he ranks as

the best debater in the House.

. Hence the big question mark about

Mitchell's future i in an election as
¢arly‘as'April. °
* If he runs again (as my hunch”
promises), will it be for the’
Reforin Party — with whose poli-
cies he shows considerable sympa-
thy. ‘— or again as an Independent?
So'far he answers only with an
enigmatic grin:

/ In either case he seems to have’
little to fear so far from Liberal
candidate Ted Nebbeling, mayor of

‘Whistler, who — although romi-
/ nated almost a year ago — remains

to date little known to West Van
voters,

So it boils down to whether
David Mitchell would have more
appeal to voters as a Reform cau-
cus member — closer to those
levers of power but with less per-
sonal freedom of action — or by
soldicring on atone.

Caucus membership demands

Noel

stituents’ interests: Indé

‘most frequent com

thinking might be just the ‘ridi
to embrace that principle again
at least for a further trial term
On the other hand, as W.A‘C.
Bennett’ 's biographer, knows bett

Mit
lurks. Maybe not yet quite ready,
stand up —-. but gevoutly sinc
about the “i dependent’: ‘wish in
his New Year, grectings

FORGET NAMES, FACES?
Hear “Memory Man” Bill”
Clennan Thursday, ‘Jan. 18, ‘at
North Van Chamber of.
Commerce iunch, 12 noon in wt
Cheers Restaurant, 125 East 2nd
— reserve (987-4488) by Tucsday’
p.m. ... And salute West Van azti
Daniel Izzard — who 10 years
ago Friday was Canada’s then’ ole
est heart transplant patient and is
still the picture of health.

Coe sere 0

- WRIGHT OR WRONG: Thrift i is

a supreme virtue — especially in. -
ancestors, -.

(haem osc Peau erm apaelaAtN IRN Seth tlrbebteiee bib aaharmateen Kirra RiPNA Ane LeAnn imeem EL tRnRNiNALettpmnrimes Stunt ett ngs Amante eR Bip,

Double crossings

ORTH VANCOUVER School

District 44 is at a serious cross-
‘roads in more ways than one.

As usual the pedestrian stranded in

the intersection with fiscal traffic bear-

ing down on him from all sides is the dis-

 trict’s taxpayer.

North Vancouver residents learned
again this week that funding for District

44’s 18 crossing guards is set to expire, |

leaving the district’s school children to

fend for themselves at North Shore |
_ crosswalks. The $220,000. needed; to .

fund the unionized crossing guard pro-

_ gram. has. become a hot Ersaly i inte iss

cal glue. -

But the plight of the crossing guards
underlines a larger issue for District 44
and other B.C. school districts: the slow
suffocation of our school system by

creeping bureaucratization and union-*«
- ization. For example, CUPE, the union

representing the crossing guards, has a

provision in its contract that prevents ,
" revelation that District 44 is headed for ~

the district from replacing laid-off
CUPE crossing guards with volunteers.
So even if local parents, grandparents or
other family members wanted to help
protect their children from being
mowed down on their way to school by
speeding drivers they face 4 ridiculous

union roadbiock:

Such fudicrous clauses. are. it
school. district. contracts becau
power of uniens — from teachers’ on
down to janitorial staff — is brought to
bear on nearly all schooi district deci- :
sions, whether they benefit: school. ‘stu-
dents or not. «

Couple the foregoing with the atest

a $5-million. deficit on a: $100 ‘million
budget, 90% of which is consumed by
labor costs and benefits, and you'get an

- idea of why the current education crass-

roads will be the site of a major ideolog-
ical collision. hams,