6 ~ Sunday, May 3, 1998 — North Shore News north shore news VIEWPOINT ORTH Shore municipal and provincial politicians must make it a priority to work together to attract and nurture high tech compa- nies, A recently released report by the Technology Industries Association concludes that on a national scale, Canadian high tech companies exceed companies in other industries by 15% to 20% for growth in job creation, rev- enues, taxes paid and rts. That’s the good news. But the B.C. CEOs polled also said there are a few factors that limit the overall potential of the industry. The province’s reputation as a place to be if you’re hankering for some high-tax punishment keeps away much of the high-calibre talent. needed to make the sector tick. The result is a severe shortage of local technical talent. Successful North Vancouver-based Pivotal Software is a classic example. Grown locally, it remains committed to the North Shore in large part due to the allures of the West Coast lifestyle. We can coast on this selling point for just so long. Technology compa- nies are being born on the North Shore in the form of countless home- based businesses. Some mid-sized ones are still choosing to come here too. How do we keep them here in the face of fierce competition from Washington and Oregon to the south? With an annual growth rate of 22% and 57,000 jobs, the $7.6 billion tech- nology sector is critical to the provin- cial economy. By the end of 2000 the projection is for $14 billion in revenue ' and 99,000 jobs province-wide. Let’s push to get our share. WHY Do You KEEP SURFING THE NET FOR WuiTe SUPREMACIST THE PROTOZOANS —SAME REASON § WATCH JERRY SPRINGER- MAKES Me FEEL SUPERIOR. AT HOME quotes ofthe week Give Barrett time for his task “All 1 knew about before I started this stuff was steel hubcaps and there’s no money in that.” — North Vancouver's Dr. Phil Nuytten, on his most recent invention, the Newtsub DecpWorker 2000, and on his career as an inventor of underwater tecknolagy. (From an April 29 News story.) Q00 “I’ve had more chlorine fits in Ron Andrews pool than I’ve ever had in Maplewood.” —A Maplewood resident in an April 24 story on plans to redevelop lands near the Dollarton chlorine plant owned by CanOxy. Se Q0aQ ’ “Actually, two people on the team don’t get along and it’s like famous that they don’t. So it was a huge mistake that they are on the team together but then it turned out not to be a huge’a mistake.” oo Jocy Bernhardt, 11, in an April 24 story on the Odyssey of the Mind competition, which challenges children to think creatively and rely en seamnnvork. “Conversations stop when we approach, people move further down the bench when we sit, no one is making eye contact, for surely, if council didn’t see fit to take it to public hearing everything we heard must betrue.”.. . ~~ Realtor Ken Carniato in an Aprit 19 story on neigh- borhood reaction to North Vancouver District Council’s denial of plans to save a heritage-listed home. Q0OO0 “The city.and district are both losing moncy as a ‘result of not being’one. If two of everything is better the Royal: Bank and the Bank of Montreal had better come to us for lessons.” — North Vancouver District Councillor Ernie Crist arguing in favor of amalgamationin an April 26 News story : north shore Werth Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newstaper and quakhed under Schedule 111, Paragraph 11 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Frida, and Sundsy by North Shore Free Press, ‘Utd. and dstibuted to every door or. the North ‘Shore. Canad- Post Canackan Pubkcatons Mad Sales Prot. ~;reement No 0087238 * 906-1337 (124) 61,582 (average cittuiatcn. Weonesoay. Fretay & Sunday) THE daunting size of the job facing leaky condos commission- er Dave Barrett is alone enough to lend credence to charges that his findings will have been predeter- mined, That means, accord- ing to opposition critics, that Mr. Barrett will sim- ply bash non-union uilders and greedy fly- by-night Howe Street (read Liberal) developers who golf with Gordon Campbell. With a May 29 dead- . » line for having his report on the cabinet’s table, Barrett otherwise faces an impossi- ble task. Allowing the weekend of May 23-24 for final editing and the four following days for printing, proofing and delivery, he has — as of tomorrow ~~ exactly 19 days to find out what went wrong, whose fault it was, whether victims should be compensated and if so, by whom. . _ Affected owners — angry, distraught — appearing before the commission’s two hearings last week made a strong emotional impact. But they did little to solve Barrett’s main problem: the apparently appalling lack of hard, factual information on the total leaky condo situation and the cost of fixing it. For example, the Condominium Homeowners Association of BC has been claiming it will cost $1 billion to repair all PETER SPECK Publisher 985-2131 (101) 965-2131 (183) Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press Lid. Atl rights reserved. B.C.’s leaky condos. Bur last week its president, Nona Saunders, admitted that the figure was an “extrapolation” from a 1996 CMHC sur- vey of just four dozen water-troubled buildings, which Wi .. warned against applying Noel Wright its non-random find- ings across the board. At the other end of the scale a 1996 survey of 2,200 new condos and townhouses by Strategic Development Services Ltd. of Vancouver found just 6.5% of respondents were soli suffering from leaks after 10-22 months of occupancy. Relating that percentage to the 83,370 Greater Vancouver units put on sale since 1989, SDS concluded that the total number of leaky condo units in the area would be some 5,100. At an average repair cost of $7,150 per unit, the overall repair bill would come to only about $36.5 million. With fingers pointing in every direc- tion, cost-cutting got a passing nod from the SDS report. It found most problem-free units came with an average price of $194,000, whereas those still suffering water prob- lems cost an average of only $164,600. On the other hand there are reported- ly condos leaking with the worst of them that were built with all-union labor. Who should pay? In many cases num- bered-company developers have long since disappeared. New home warranties (uscless for any- hither and yon thing less than five years) have expired. Municipal building, inspectors could be a slightly better target — though it might be hard to hold them accountable for every single item of shoddy material or workmanship. And how about Orrawa — for impos- ing its Nationa] Building Code designed for cold dry climates to seal warmth in, > bur totally wrang for rainforest buildings which must breathe warm air one? If former premier Barrett values his sonal reputation as a “fighter for the ittle people,” he'll rell Glen Clark to stuff his May 29 deadline and give the ccm- mission whatever time it needs to reach an unbiased evaluation of this inczedibly complex mess, along with fair proposals for cleaning it up. so There’s no way the task can be done in 19 days, including the Victoria Day weekend. . ot Anything produced in that time can only be a political sham that destroys Barrett’s hitherto respected image. oag PATIOS BEAUTIFUL begin Tuesday, May 5, at West Van Kiwanis huge oe ' Mother’s Day Plant and Basket Sale on West Van Rec Centre parking lot off Gordon at 22nd. Sale continues every day ° from 9:30 am to dusk through Sunday, . May 10. For-all patio- and garden-proud |... - home lovers (not to mention Mom 3). lovers!) it’s definitely a “don’t miss” -.. ; Meanwhile, many happy returns of this same Tuesday, May 5, to North Van ~ birthday boy John Leonard.- o O09 WRIGHT OR WRONG: Ulcers are ~ something vou get from mountain-climb- ing over moichills. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, full address & telephone number, VIA e-mail: trenshaw @ direct.ca Managing Editor Comptrotier 985-2131 (116) Trix Agrics Promotions Manager 985-2131 (216) internet- hita://www.osnews.com Display & Real Estate Fax Newsroom Fax Classified, Accounting & Main Office Fax Michael Backer - News Editor 985-2131 (114) . Andrew McCredie - Sports/Community Editor 985-2134 (147; The North Shore News Is published by North Shore Free Press Ltd., Publisher Peter Speck, from 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver, B.C., V7M 2H4