NEWS photo Paul McGrath | DR. MALDUS Marlts of West Vancouver takes stock of medical drugs and equipment he collected for a relief effort to Estonia. . The suppiies going to Estonia range from heart pills to thermom- eters. eg Sunday, August 15, 1993 — North Shore News - 3 ical relief effort $50,000 of supplies gathered for Estonian hospitals THE GLAD garbage bags did the trick. By Chris Wong Contributing Writer In June, Dr, Maldis Marits asked his physician colleagues at Lions Gate Hospital to assist in a medical relief effort for Estonia. Marits requested that they gather spare samples of medical drugs, which doctors receive from pharmaceutical companies, and fill the bags he supplied. While the longtime North Shore doctor expected a_ positive response, he wasn’t quite prepared for the size of the response. “The same morning before noon, | already had seven calls about picking up bags,’’ said Marits, who retired this year after 30 years as a North Vancouver- based general practitioner. Marits has collected about 850 pounds (382 kg) of medicine, worth an estimated $50,000. The doctor personally checked the ex- piry dates on every package. The items collected consist mainly of pills for everything from heart disease to allergies. Doctors also tossed in miscellaneous items such as ointments, thermometers and syringes. “Almost every doctor took part,”’ he said. ‘‘This is a tremen- dous amount of goodwill. I can’t emphasize that enotgh.”’ Three pharmaceutical companies also contributed drugs directly, said Marits, whose West VWan- couver home acted as a temporary storage depot. The Rotary Club of Vancouver rotesters defy court order Sound Majority j join opposition to logging of Clayoquot BOWEN ISLAND resident Maurice Gibbons planned to be in Victoria last week for his mother-in-law’s . 92nd "birthday. : By Chris Wong Contributing Writer He wasn’t planning on making an appearance, along with his wife Margot, in B.C, Supreme Court. But that’s exactly where they were on Thursday morning. The couple. and over 200 demonstrators were arrested Aug. 9 for. defying a B.C. Supreme Court injunction against the blockade of a logging road leading into the Clayoquot Sound area. Despite the first-time experience of being arrested and going. to court, Gibbons, a 62-year-old Simon Fraser University professor emeritus. with a PhD from Har- vard, said he and. his 58-year-old wife have no regrets. ‘‘We were very, very proud to have been there,” Gibbons said in a tele- phone interview from the court- house. -' They recently signed up with the . Sound Majority, a newly-formed Victoria-based organization . op- posing the provincial government’s decision to log Clayoquot Sound. As a result of signing up, Gib- bons and his wife got a call Aug. 8 about joining demonstrators at the peace camp near the blockade. They left for the camp that night. Their, decision to take part in the next morning’s environmental civil disobedience action was a difficult one, Gibbons said. ‘*We consider: ourselves respected members of the com- munity,’’ he said. ‘‘We also figure acts of conscience. are very im- NEWS photo Neil Lucente THE RAGING Grannies sang out in support of Clayoquot Sound ‘protesters during a rally held August 4 at the Park Royal shop- ping centre. Over 200 protesters, including a Bowen Island cou- ple, were arrested last week for blocking a logging road. portant. Sometimes the issues are larger than the consequences.”' The final push to join the pro- test came from Margot. ‘‘She said, ‘Now’s the time. We must stand up.’ ”’ The couple went with the other demonstrators to the Kennedy River blockade at 4:30 a.m. At the blockade site, they sat and sang. When the time came for RCMP officers to arrest the demonstrators, most went limp. Gibbons and Margot chose to walk to the bus which took them to the Ucluelet Community Hall, where police processed charges, Gibbons said his participation in the protest doesn’t mean he’s against loggers. ‘“‘We are not causing the loss of jobs by stand- ing up for trees,’? he said. ‘‘We can make jobs. We can’t make trees,” He also defended the role of children in the Clayoquot protests. Gibbons, who taught in SFU’s education faculty and now publishes books on_ self-directed learning, said children take part in decision-making at the peace camp. ‘‘The children are getting a wonderful educational experi- ence,” Gibbons said he was impressed with the people in the peace camp. “It’s unfortunate, the character- ization that this is a bunch of hip- pies. Instead, we found dedicated, intelligent people. : Sound Majority member Susan Gage said the group, which has been distributing green ribbons as a symbol of support for _Clayoquot protests, consists of middle-class women. the primarily is comtributing $1,500 to pay for the cost to fly the medicine this weekend from Vancouver to Frankfurt, and then from Frankfurt to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. From Tallinn, the drugs will travel by truck to Tartu) State University, where the university’s medical faculty wil! administer the distribution of the supplies. The relief effort has personal relevance for the 69-year-old Marits. He was born in Voru, about 37 miles (60 km) from the university. In fact Tartu State University was Marits’ first alma mater. But the Second World War interrupted his medical studies at the univer- sity. Estonia was incorporated into the USSR in 1940, During the war the Germans invaded the Baltic state. It was reincorporated by the Soviet Union in 1944. That year, at the age of 19, Marits left Estonia for Sweden. After serving in the Swedish and Norwegian merchant navies, and stints in Argentina and the U.S.A., he arrived in Canada in 1951. Marits, who speaks five lan- guages, graduated from the Uni- versity of B.C.’s medical faculty in 1958, He returned to has never Estonia, which regained its in- dependence in 1991, but Marits has kept himself informed about conditions in his homeland. ‘Fifty years of Soviet occupation has left deep scars in every aspect of Esto- nian life,’’ he said. While the Estonian economy is improving, there’s a significant need for basics such as quality medical supplies, Marits said. Leo Allas, an Estonian member of the Rotary Club of Van- couver’s international services committee, agreed with Marits' assessment. “I think this is quite important because in Estonia, the hospital facilities are kind of run- down.”’ Allas, a West Vancouver resi- dent who also left the former Soviet republic in 1944, applauded Marits for his efforts. “It’s quite an achievement, the dedication on his part to do it and put it together.’’ Dr. Stew Madill, vice-president of medical and diagnostic services at Lions Gate Hospital, also praised Marits. ‘‘It’s really quite remarkable,’’ Madill said. ‘Not {oo many people would go to the extreme effort he made."” Marits returned the compli- ments. “It doesn’t matter how busy a person is. If the cause is right, Canadians are most gener- ous, which is demonstrated by this overwhelming response to my -ap- peal.” Residential oun shop not affected | by bylaw change | RESIDENTS LIVING near a gun shop in North Vancouver are once again expressing concerns about the ongoing operation of the business in their neigh- borhood. Michael Agrios, who lives across the street from Nerth Shore Firearms: Lid. in the 900-block of East !4th Street, said he talked to residents about the gun-.shop while distributing information for the neighborhood’s Block Watch program. “The majority of people I talked to are concerned that the gun shop is still operating,”’ said Agrios, who is the block captain for his street. Concerns were raised last year about the location. of North Shore Firearms —:in the basement of a house near an elementary school ~— after a man shot himself to death in the gun shop. In an interview with the North Shore News following the 1992 shooting incident, the shop’s owner, Frank Macey, said: “‘I’m either going to get this into a store or I’m going into a different line of business altogether.” But over a year later, North Shore Firearms is still open for business — in the same loca- tion. ‘ Last September, North Vancouver District Council amended its zoning bylaw by adding a clause prohibiting gun shops as home occupations. The amended zoning bylaw defines gun shops as “‘land or buildings used for the manufacturing, assembly, ser- vicing, repair, storage, distribution or. sale of firearms and ammunition... ’’ The definition excludes the offices of firearms manufacturers. But David Pawson, the district’s assistant manager of licences, said Macey can con- By Chris Wong Contributing Writer tinue to do ‘business from his home because he was operating legally before the amendment to the zoning bylaw was Pass: ed, “The district can’t just Te- zone and pull the rug out frora under his feet,’” Pawson said. The amended bylaw wil! pre- vent any new gun shops from opening as home occupations, he said. Macey has abided by’ the conditions of his business licence by operating primarily as a gun repair shop, Pawson added. “It’s a legitimate business as far as I’m concermed,’’ Pawson said. ‘‘Council has done what it can under. the cir- cumstances.”’ But Agrios said more could be done. ‘Personally, | feel the bylaw should apply to him as well,’? he said, adding that he will take up the issue with the district. “1 don’t think it’s an ap- propriate place for a gun shop,”’ Agrios said. ‘1 think it should be in a commercial area.”’ Idena Sheehan, another resi- dent, said: ‘‘I would like to see the commercial aspect taken out of the neighborhood.”’ When reached this week by the News, Macey, who has operated his business for 14 years, was reluctant to com- ment. ‘I’m not interested in speaking to you at all.’ ; Added Macey, ‘‘I have business permits and I’m legal. That’s all I need.’’