6 — Wednesday, February 1, 1989 - North Shore News INSIGHTS Courtesy does not mean any tears for Hirohito WE INVEST IN THE FUTURE, not the past. So despite my gut feelings about the wartime atrocities endorsed by Japanese Emperor Hirohito, I don’t quite buy all this fuss over his funeral. My own war was in Europe but we were vividly aware of those atrocities half a world away — the murderous treachery of Pearl Harbor and the brutal torture by Hirohito’s forces of thousands of allied prisoners. We regarded Jap- anese at that time as inhuman devils who worshipped a monster. And bitter memories won't be totally erased until the last of the victims and their families are dead. Hence, the understandable outrage of so many seniors about Governor General Sauve, Presi- dent Bush and other top western dignitaries attending Hirohito’s funeral. It’s being labeiled as bla- tant commercial cynicism — reluc- tance by the industrial west to upset Japan because of Japanese dominance in world trade. But let's face it. This IS the world of 1989 — a far better one in many ways than the war-torn world of The Bridge on the River MARY COLLINS ...toy sub- RTS. ipareualy CLD RC ONES Wine whine OVERNMENT EFFORTS ¢o deliver the sobs:- message about the pitfalls of demon siccho! have been relentiess and effective. Health coa- cerns have translated into a public increasingly to the very real benefits of reduced alcohol consump- tion. There is s burgeoning market demand for alter- natives to alcohol. Those active in the food and bever- age industry have responding to it. Given the context, the plight of the North Vancouver beverage importer who has moved his de-alcoholized cham: pagne business te the U.S. because of restrictive federal sales and exise taxes applied against his products, is a glar- ing example of disjcizted governmental policy and follow-through. Because the products have x 0.5 per cent alcohol content, they are technically defined as wine by the federal government. The archaic definition means Ca- nadians importing such beverages into the country can pay a whopping 32,582 per cent more in taxes than comparable costs to bring them into the U.S. The siteation is even more bizarre when considering the lax American attitade towards alcohol consump- tion. The North Vancouver importer is whining about his wines and rightfully so. The people are ahead of gov- ernment on this issue. The current definition of wine does not account for the new category of de-alcohoiiz- ed beverages. Scrap it, redraw it and encourage the availability of the new alternatives. Kwai. A world in which a new and vastly different Japan has earned its place as a key member of the global community. And also the only world that anyone under 50 today has ever known. Japan has its own old men who wept outside the palace where their revered emperor lay dying. Bitter memories diz hard, too. But though we may understand them, they do nothing for the future and our investment in it for our children. Western leaders and royalty will walk behind Hirohito’s coffin as a routine international courtesy to a nation that is now a key partner in that investment. But con’t wait for them to shed any tears for the false god who presided over one of his- tory's most shameful chapters. ees MARY COLLINS’ homework may not always bring up quite the same answers as yours and mine, but I’ve never known an MP who did it more diligently. For that -~ for the weekend time she gives ker constituents even while Parliament is sitting, and for the awesome energy which keeps her smiling through all the jet lag — the latest honor for this 48-year-old mother of three is well carned. Congrats, Mary, on your cabinet appoint- ment as Associate Minister of Defence. And while you’re playing with those toy submarines Perrin Beatty left you, don’t forget that your flock back in Capilano-Howe Sound is hoping Madam Minister will now wield even more clout for it in Ottawa's corrisors of power! eos NEWS VIEWFOINTs RT attuned the demand and are and wine importation SIGN-OFF: Shrove pancake day again next Tuesday, Feb. 7, and Beth Lawrence once more invites all pancake junkies to the tradi- tional Pancake Supper in St. John’s Parish Hall, 13th and Chesterfield at 6:30 p.m. For a modest $5 (children $3) they’Il fill you to capacity with pancakes, sausages, ice cream and coffee/ iea/juice — but please call Beth at 984-7588 to tell her you're coming. Incidentally, she reminds us of the origin of the custom. In medieval days, centuries before fridges, thrifty housewives made the pan- cakes to use up all the eggs and butter that were forbidden during the following 40 days of Lent . North Van School Board's spec- FROM KIDS TO KIDS...Meianic Crombie of the Children’s Hospital receives cheque for $7!0 keld by West tacular year-long project — its “Expo-class”’ audio-visual display The Story of a Community, which opens Feb. 20 at Park Royal and moves Mar. 2 to Capilano Mall — needs a small army of volunteer supervisors to work two-hour shifts at the shopping centres through Mar. 16. If you'd like to be part of the show, call Bob Brown, 987-2441, soonest ... And good news for back sufferers from local physiotherapist Gunnel Gavin. From today, Feb. i, NOEL WR RIGHT through Feb. 22 at North Van YMCA she’s conducting four 7-9 p.m. Wednesday sessions with simple exercises on how to straighten up, flex up and keep your lower spine in top working order. Register at the ‘Y’, 440 Hendry, before 7 p.m. tonight or call 986-0388. een WRIGHT OR WRONG: If you plant a tree, don’t keep pulling it up by the roots to see how it’s growing. Bay Elementary students (left to right) Julia Phelps, Paul Byrom and Kyle Murray. The cxoney was earned by students performing household chores ‘‘on contract”’ for other family members. Publisher | Managing Editor Associate Editor envelope Peter Speck Barrett Fisher Noel Wright Advertising Directeur Linda Stewart North Shore News, tounded in 1969 as an independent Suburban Newspaper and quahtied undet Schedule 111 Paragraph It of the fectse Tax Act, ts Quolshed each feonesday, tinday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd and aistribufed to every Goor on the North Snore Secome Class Mail Aegistration Number 3485 Sutscuptioris Nortn and West Vancouver, $25 per year Malling rates available on request Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibuity tor unsotcifed m. eral incluaing manuscripts and pictures. e wiucn should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed Bue 2 eet VONCE OF ORTH AND WEED WANCOUVER 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 59,170 (average, Wednesday Friday & Sunday) SOA DIVISION Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution 986-1337 Sheeiis Baw! . Subscriptions 986-1337 SUNDAY + WEONESDAY - peIDAY Fax 985-3227 Entire contents © 1989 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. 980-0511 986-6222 MEMBER ee ey ace ee North Shore owned and managed