SNIFF_ SNIFF... whoo SMELLS LIKE SOMETHING'S NEWS VIEWPOINT unity doze aOR FURTHER evidence that our edu- cation system needs a swift public boot L to the backside, turn to today’s lesson in n diluting the number of days children actu- - ally spend in the classroom being educated. Euphemistically called professional days, these quasi-days off for teachers are more accurately known as non-teaching days. They have been in the news again, not : because there are already too many of them, which there are, but because Victoria wants ‘to turn two of them into some fuzzy feel-good concept called community days. The two days were originally to be used by _teachers as time to integrate the Year 2000 education program into their curriculum. But much of Year 2000 has since been scrapped by Premier Mike Harcourt. Parents concerned with the rapidly erod- ing state of local education might rightly hope that those two wayward days would be - rolled back into the classroom. where they belong, that they might be invested as tine in which their children could be educated and prepared for a new world economy that demands ever higher degrees of education. But this, of course, is the NDP era. Payoffs to unions, especially one as powerful and influential as the B.C. Teachers Federation, are part of doing government business. Non- teaching days won shall remain ever thus. So even though B.C.’s current 187-day school year pales in comparison to Japan’s 243-day schoo! year, our children will be shortchanged again with two days given over to community discussion and other fluff that will yield nothing of value to community, or student. Little wonder that Canada is fast heading for fiscal and social disaster. ‘LETTER OF THE DAY News wrong about wicked rights Dear Editor: Your editorial (“Wicked Rights,” Jan. 30) decrying those North Vancouver Council members who did not want pornography sold in the neighborhood, betrays the ‘ignorance of the = writer, Pornography is not about freedom — of expression, nor, as your writer puts it “the right to be wicked.” The issue is really about the rights of women to be free of abu- sive and insulting images of them- selves, which contribute to an atmosphere in which violence against women can flourish. case appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, Judge John Sopinka wrote that if “true equality between mate and female. is io be achieved, sociely cannot afford to ignore the threat to women’s equality resultizig from the exposure of certain types of violent and degrading material.” The Supreme Court established that the right to freedom of expres- sion cannot be used as an excuse to market pornography ‘when that right violates the right of women to equality, undermines their personal security or reduces their humanity in a way that may leave them words, the equality rights of women must come before any commercial right of porn pimps to make big bucks. Most of the councillors . understand this. Coun. Bill Bell and your editori- al writer obviously do not. As for your rejecting the claim that porn stores do not have an impact on the community — have you been to Granville Mall or East Hastings lately? Porn stores have contributed to a sleazy, threatening atmosphere —~ and that is bad for both residents and local businesses. Janis M. Andrews In 1992, ina landmark obscenity exposed to violence. In other West Vancouver 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 Display Advertising . 980-0511 Distribution Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax Newsroam 985-2131 Administration Publisher Managing Edltor Associate Editor... Sales & Marketing Director Comptrotter North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 11%, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is pubiistied each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibiftly for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped. addressed envelope. ~- MEMBER 1 139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver B.C. V7M 2H4 North Shore Managed . SDA OIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Feday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. RIGHT OFF the bat, FU record an intelligent point nade by West Vancouver Coun. Andy Danyliu. Last Friday [did a heavy once- aver on Larco, the company that owns Park Royal shopping centre and that — among other things angering some of Hs neighbors and other West Vancouver residents — unilaterally chopped down an’ adjoining grove of trees on ils leased Jand and built a golf driving range whose lights have annoyed nearby residents. ; But PU bet the witty as well as shrewdly sensible Danyliu winced when he read the column. J asked him, before it appeared, for his opinion of the Larco opera- tion — especially because he was instrumental in getting Larco offi- cials and the neighbors together to discuss the intrusive glare of the golf range lights. The good point Danyliu made was: If Larco doesn’t get credit for ils sincere efforts, now under way, : to diminish the lighting problem, the company will be discouraged from further attempts to build better relations with the municipality. Pretty good psychology. Pretty good diplomacy. If two neighbors haven't got along particularly well, it helps if an overture to improve matters gets recognition. Larco deserves credit for that. So does Danyliu. An interview with G. Robert Heastip, Larco’s chief planner.’ leaves the overriding impression : that there’s no dust on Larco. “When you're a private compa- * ny you know what your time f frames are,” said Heaslip. “You : know the best time to get things done and get them up and operat- . ing. And this company is a ‘doing’ company. Once we've got things figured out what we want to do, we do it. “Yes. we could have looked back and maybe we could have done things a little differently. “But time is of the essence when you're doing this kind of stulf — particularly with the kinds of posi- Hons that financial institutions take these day's. (They) are not interest- ed in sitting around waiting while 3 complete public debate goes on for two years about something.” So Larco moved a lot faster than if it had gone through West Vancouver's municipal process? “PE think that’s true,” Heaslip replied, “but. on the other hand, we actually are part of the system in the sense that we have a tri-party agreement with the municipality and the (Squamish Indian) band ... _ and we get permits for everything. “On the golf centre in particular, ihe municipality processed the per- “anit, including the lighting, the building, everything.” Processed? What does that mean in this context? Not what it connotes to me. Heaslip: “They (the municipality) act as a consultant to the band, and in doing so they give their opinion in relation to their own rales, and the band does whatever they do to that’s Lauten: ah GARDEN OF BIASES make the final decision.” At iio time did West Van offi- cials say, for instance, * ‘the lighting, is wrong.” But those officials have no 7 power to do anything — they can advise but can’t hold up or turn down a project under this arrange- ment, right? Boy “No, that's very true,” Heaslip agreed, But they can point out: problem ureas to the band “and I know they do do that.” Larco isn't unaware of its- image. “I know the perception is, “What’s with these people?’ But we're not bogeymen, we're not out. to destroy the planet,” said Heaslip. “We're starting io do an awful lot for the community, and if we have to let people know, and print it, what we'll do.” Larco has helped Lions Gate Hospital. ‘ At Park Royal Theatre, where - an independent operator who suc- ceeded Famous Players now offers . two movies for 34, they're planning *~ fundraising matinees for the Emily Murphy House for abused women. and children. Sensitive point: [s there a cultur- ai gap here? : Larco is owned by the Lalji family: president, Amin Lalji; senior vice-presidents, Mansor Latji and Shiraz Lalji; secretary, Vazir Kara. They’re Ugandan Asians — ethnically, East Indians, —a people who were harshly dis- possessed and effectively thrown ~ out of tdi Amin’s Uganda 20-odd years ago. The Lavjis have since built a far- flung empire of hotels, apartment buildings and malls. including Saanich Malt on Vancouver Ssland, New. Westminster Public Market and Arbutus Mall, as weli as Park Royal. They‘re Ismaili Muslims — fol- lowers of the fabulously rich Aga Khan. According to Dun & . Bradstreet’s Canadian Key Business Directory for 1993, Larco Investments Ltd. had $48.8 million of gross sales in 1992. And Larco is most definitely here to stay. Robert Heaslip off-handedly remarked of its lease from the Squamish band: “We've got about another hundred years to go.”