6 — Friday, December 5, 1997 - North Shore News north shore news VIEWPOINT Tree bark ing a backseat to trees in North Vancouver District. Some will applaud that turn of events, but most won't. North Vancouver District’s latest revisions to its Environmental Protection and Preservation Bylaw are based on the best of intentions, but go beyond the call of duty. Additional tree protection measures that received third reading in a Nov. 24 council meeting would require more residents wishing to remove trees on their property to attain permits from district hall. , And anything that requires getting more permits from district hall should . Ting alarm bells for enemies of bureau- cracy everywhere. Previously, residents needed district its to remove any tree 75 cm (about 24 feet) in diameter Pe property rights are tak- or larger from their property. The new bylaw would reduce that tree diameter to 40 cm (just over one foot). Council has sir.ce sent the byiaw back to staff for isnprovement. And improvement it needs. The district is not renowned for efficiently processing permits, build- ing or otherwise. Add to that the $75 cost of each permit to cut a tree on your property and the costs for a certi- fied arborist to write a report for any pruning or tree removal and the oner- ous reality of che new tree-cutting reg- ulations starts to sink in. Trees are an intrinsic part of the North Shore. Their preservation should be a priority for all residents. But the further incursion of goverr- ment bureaucracy into the lives of pri- vate citizens is not the answer. Public awareness and education is. ISN'T IN THE SHEENA RIDING? Hot air over greenhcuse gases J HERE’S a vital issue for western Canada’s prosperity, and it’s been dodged and ignored in plain fear —-- political and eco- nomic. Prime Minister Jean trees — and B.C. needs all of the fatter, rejects the greenhouse gases theory. Yes, of the right species, to zoom into the sky probably because its political strength licsummy as fast as possible. largely in Alberta and B.C., major pro- i Burt there’s no question that the con- ducers of oil and natural gas. centration of CC* is rising, and that its But neither am I convinced by the accumulation in the theory’s proponents. Projections of possi ssarcoseevevsscasacesecsenseeeeee atmosphere has the bie danger are scary all right. Soisthe THE North Shore News Free Speech Fund is closing in on $150,000. To press time Thursday, donations from over 2,000 News readers and free speech supporters to the fund Defence errrrerrertere stood at $144,266. Legal fees expended thus far by the News have already exceeded $200,000. Ail funds received will help defray the legal costs faced by the News in its battle with the Human Rights _-Tribunal over a complaint laid against the news- paper and its columnist Doug Collins by the Canadian Jewish Congress. The hearing ‘into the matter, which began on me ‘May 12, concluded on June 27. The decision from tribunal chairman Nitya Iyer was handed down on Nov. 12. Full coverage of Chretien has been all over the map, so to speak, finally forming Canadian policy on global warming, the (wait for it, wait for it) hot topic at a big interna- tional conference in Japan this week. . Can’t blame him. This is yet another one of those great, woolly environmen- temperatures, The argument is over how much and how dan- xerous this would be — and, more to the point, whether mankind’s con- tribution to it through the burning of fossil fuels is to blame, or only inci- dentaf to natural move- Trevor potential to alter world ments. the decision appeared in the Nov. 14 News. Iyer found that Collins’ column was not hatefu!, but also ruled that, while the legislation under whiclt the News was prosecuted infringes upon the Charter’s guarantee of free expression, it was constitutionally valid. Extra copies of the News’ Free Speech Supplement, which was originally published in the Aug. 20 News, are available at the News offices. Another excerpt from the thousands of respon- dents to the cause: 900 "We cannot lose our right to free speech in British Columbia. My father an belief.” Q Donations to the fund can be sent to: 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, V7M 2H4. Cheques should be made out to the North Shore News Free Speech Defence Fund. north Shore my husband both fought for that — Vivien Quelch — trenshaw@direct.ca tal issues — think of DDT, asbestos and dioxin — that require billicas to “fix” something that may not need fixing, can’t be fixed by human intervention, or remains only a strong but unproven sus- picion. Naturally, the environmentalists have seized the initiative on global warming and occupy the heights of the media and public discourse. Also naturally, the schools are teaching — more unkindly, “brainwashing” -- pupils about the issue as if the facts are incontrovertible. But I hope you caught Margaret Munro’s excellent, balanced survey of the issue on The Vancouver Sun’s Insight page Nov. 28. And Terence Corcoran of The Globe and Mail has been a scornful skep- tic of the “science” behind the global warming/greenhouse gases theory all along. He calls it junk science. The argument is over emissions of car- bon dioxide. Ironically, CO? is an essen- tial element for the growth of plants and Mest Shom News. founded in 1969 as an independent subucban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 411. Paragraph 111 of the Exerse Tax Act, = published tach Wednesday, finday and Sunday by Horth Shore Free Frese, ‘Lid, and dittnbuted Lo every door ca the North Shote. Canada Post Canadian Pubeatons Mat ‘Sates Product Agreement No 0087238 Masting rales avaiable on request. Bes Dhaliwal Leda St Human Rescutces Manager Sales & Marketing Director we hh! PETER SPECK Publisher 955-2131 (177) 900-0511 (319) SBS-2131 (101) 985-2131 (123) Tie most effective horror story, shored up by computer projections, is that global warming would case a disas- trous rise in ocean levels, flooding coastal areas and washing over islands. It would also hugely alter fond-mass temperatures and drive some species to extinction. You’ve read the “evidence” that some of the warmest years on record have occurred in the last decade. But the skep- tics note that there was relatively rapid global warming from about 1900 to 1940, a recovery period from the so- called Little [cc Age, and when there was far less fossil fuel burned than today. And in that period, sea levels actually dropped. S. Fred Singer, one of the most shepti cal of skeptics, argues that the present rise in sea levels is probably caused by tecton- ic changes in the shape of the ocean basin. Even Chretien, Genera! Motors and David Suzuki can’t stop that. The Reform Party of Canada strongly LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, full address & telaphone number. VIA e-mail; trenshaw @ direct.ca Managing Eaitor 905-2131 (116} Doug Comptiotier energy industry’s estimate that meeting the emissions target suggested for 2010 « § by some government scientists will cost the, Canadian economy $70 billion by And you know who pays the bill. Qo00 Makes sense, doesn’t it? West Vasicouver school trustee Clive Bird’s arithmetic tells him that (a) middle and secondary school space in our town - is scarce, whereas (b) there’s an over-sup- ply in our elementary schools, x a Which leads by an overwhelming tri- [i umph of logic to (c): put the bodies where there’s room for them. Bird also doubts if children of 11 or, 12 should be jumped in with the big kids ~— almost adults in body, though I reck-:’ on it takes at least another 70 years to become adult in mind — in Grade 12. He’s right. I was angered when I heard recently that there are at lesst nwo boys of 14 in Canada’s richest community who deal drugs at school. That school is West Van secondary. But it would be naive to imag- ine it isn’t prevalent in other schools. — The North Shore News believes strongly in freedom of speech and the right of all sides in a debate to be heard. The columnists published in the News present differing points of view, but those views are not necessarily those of the newspaper itself. HOWETORRERCHEUS) 900-0511 05-6982 906-6222 985-2131 906-1337 985-1435 986-2104 vag 2 \ 888-2121 fi Michael Becker - News Editor 985-2138 (114) Andrew McCredie - Sports/Community Editor 985-2131 (147} ‘Trixt Agrics é il Su! Promotions & Acting Display Manager General Office Manager 905-2131 (218) 985-2131 (105) intemet- htxp://Anww.nsnews.com Terry Photography Manager 905-2131 (160) Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press Ltd. 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