6 - Wednesday, July 14, 1993 - North Shore News SUDDENLY, THE BIRDS IN THE FOREST WENT QUIEY...BOB COULD SENSE A PRESENCE BEHIND HIM... HIS HEART RACING LIKE AN EXPRESS TRAIN, HE TWANED...HIS BLOOD RAN COLD... seoeew AT WAS A SPOTTED OWL. NEWS VIEWPOINT Jet-s' » ANNING jet-skis from Burrard In- let is 2 good move. : dia Apart from their incessant: noise, the aquatic recreational vehicles represent a serious hazard to harbor navigation. ‘Following a jet-ski mishap. in English Bay earlier this month, Vancouver harbor muster Capt. Gordon Houston instituted ‘the ban on jet-skis in harbor waters from ‘Stanley .Park’s Ferguson Point to just east “of the Second Narrows Bridge. «The: move foliows — West Vancouver District’s passage fast -year of a bylaw restricting : the use of jet-skis within 200. ~~ inetres’ (656 feet) of. West Vancouver ‘shoreline and prohibiting their launch from the Ambleside Beach boat launch. '. And the outery over irresponsible jet-ski use is growing. Calls have come recently from concerned residents in Harrison Hot Springs and Cultus Lake to restrict jet-ski use in Rarrison and Cultus lakes. While jet-skis themselves are fun and safe when operated properly, many of their drivers are neither fun nor’ safe. So jet-ski operators are sow calling for help . from local authorities to draft some regu- lations that would govern jet-ski use. Here’s a good start. Rule No. 1: jet- skiers will be required to’ use common sense when operating their craft.: Racing around at full throtile close to -erowded swimming beaches! and busy vessel traffic areas is a direct’ ‘Violation of Rule No. 1. After soplying common sense, cosmetic. fi LETTER OF THE DAY “most ‘other jet-ski regulations will be largely ‘Us and them’ mentality could arise Dear Editor: _ = Pm faced with the dilemma of very mixed feelings about: Lons- dale Aveiue becoming viewed as an ‘Iran Town’! cultural district. » I support the Canadian princi- - ple of multiculturalism and I en- joy the different ethnic and cul- tural. districts of Vancouver; it’s _ Part cof what ‘makes’ Vancouver Special to me. | Yet I’m wrestling with feelings of hypocrisy because i’m thinking, “SGreat. idea, but not | in my back yard. ” _My concern is that other éthnic districts formed and grew as the -city expanded naturally. I see a potential for hard feel- ings and a creation of unnecessary separation between the existing elements of the Lonsdale com- munity. : “Us mentalities and them’’ _could arise because we are talking about the displacement or over- whelming of .an existing: cultural community. This is not a barren, undeveloped area of land, but one that has an identity of its own. Yes, it is less than vital at this moment, but it is not in need of a new ‘name, it is in need of the participation of the whole com- munity’s spirit. I support the efforts of the Ira- nian community to be a part of | the revitalization of Lonsdale Avenue. The presence and con- tributions are a valued part of the solution, I cannot support the feelings of separation I believe the concept of an Iran Town could create. fan Johnson West Vancouver . ...Peter Speck Managing Editor. _. Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor. . ..Noel Wright. ° Sates & Marketing Director Linda Stewart Comptroller .Doug Foot. North Shorea News, founded in 1969 as an Independent suburban newspaper and qualitied under Schedule 111, Paragraph tl 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 Norih Shore. Canada. Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No, 0087238. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welc~"ne but we cannot accept tesponsibility for u -ulicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, self- self: addressed envelope. ‘Publisher . Newsroom . V7M 2H4 Display Advertising Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising YP00, ORE OF MOAT Aree? WERT WANE OU VER Distrioution 986-4337 fe9 Subscriptions 986-1337 Had Fax 985-3227 Administration 988-2131 | MEMBER ts> SR See ere eae 980-0511 & This newspaper contains recycied fibre Notth Sncte managed 985-6222 985-2131 SUNDAY + WEDNESDAY « TRIGAY a 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, ~~ North Vancouver, B.C. SOA DIVISION 61,582 (average citculation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) . Entire contents © 1993 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. or ed ay . maybe never?» TRUST OUR temporary NDP masters to drag their heels from here to Prince George and back on anything designed . to enhance democracy and sirengthen people power vs. ‘ government power. Thus ‘‘referendum and recali,”' for which more (han 80% of Brit- ish Columbians voted in October 1991 (compared with the 40,8% who voted fur Mike Harcourt and his commissars). Recall would ailow voters to fire unsatisfactory MLAs between'elections. Refer- endums would enable them (o ini- tiate legislation independently of the politicians. Last week the chairman of the parliamentary reform committce -— on which Mikey dumped this political time-bomb as soon as he took over in Victoria — suggested we may one day get what four out of five of us thought we already had 21 months ago, But we must be patient! NDP MLA Vjial Dosanjh at- tributes the delay to the 30 meetings his committee has had to’ hold around B.C. in the past nine” months in order to figure out how to implement referendum and recall — leaving the curious to wonder how it filled in its time during the FIRST 12 months of Mikey's mandate. There are so many iittle preb- lems, Mr. Dosanjh explains. Like how many voters should it take — 5% or 50% — to sign petitions starting either process? | Shouid there be spending limits to prevent large corporations’ . “buying’’ legistation or to stoy, one party from ‘‘buying”’ the defeat of another? If a recall or referendum bid fails, how long before people are allowed to try again? : If you’ve never done something before, your best course is to ask someone who has. And that doesn’t take 30 meetings over nine. months. All Mr. Dosanjh and his committee needed was a two-day visit to the state capital at Sacramento to learn how Califor- nia does it. Even with local modifications to the Californian model, a draft bill in response to the electorate’s 80% demand could have come be- fore the legislature for debate by the spring of 1992. But there’s no mystery about why it didn’t — - . and won’t in the foreseeable .— future. . Recall is the ONLY method by which voters can control the power of a majority government between elections. The firing of individual MLAs who flouted constituents’ wishes could, of course, reduce or even eliminate the government majority. But in ° . practice the expense and disrup- . * tion of a byelection would not even always be necessary.” The mere threat of a formal recall petition could-be a powerful weapon in the hands of constitu-. ency representatives for disciplin- ing wayward MLAs to listen to their voters instead of their party whips. Never was such a mechanism needed more than today. Under our present system British Col- umbians are stuck with Mike Harcourt and his Non-Democrats for three more years, regardless of the continuing damage they inflict on the province during thai period. This despite the polls which say that an election held tomorrow would see Mikey and his gang . given the bum’s rush at top speed. Only referendum and recall HITHER AND YON | could change this dismal picture.” Only if NDP MLAs began to vote as their constituents wished — or . else started to be fired; one after another — would Victoria’s pres: ent power-dunk dictators sit up and take notice. The latter, make no mistake, are keenly aware of the threat to, . their no-holds-barred socialist agenda. But they hope that cre- . < ative Stalling will help those four out of:five sadly misguided voters who demanded R-and-R in 1991; ‘to forget all about it by 1995..." £9 don’t risk holding your breath waiting for itt . SIGN-OFF: We live i ina a poorer : place with the death Saturday. of” Anne Efacdonald; OBC, whose - e | talents and energy enriched ter commuiiity and province in so . “thany ways. She’ll be sadly missed: by all whose lives she touched with her warmth, optimism and understanding. ... Preaching at 10 a.m. this Sunday i in Highlands ,”: United Church is the Rt. Rev Stan ; MeKay,.UC Moderator, during a B.C. visit that includes programs in Scrrento and at Vancouver School of Theology. ... And the Lions Gate Hospital diabetes research unit is seeking diabetes - © patients to help in an important research study — call 984-5752 . for details. oeo. WRIGHT OR WRONG — John F, Kennedy’ 's advice: Forgive your. enemies, but remember their AMES, MIKE HARCOURT... more than “referendum | ~, 80% voted for and recall.”’