Secret dealing LETS StE, TAe DEFICIT IS SOARING OUT OF CONTROL, “he Fulure OF The WHOLE Country THE WOLVES, IS BENG THROWN To AND You'RE wPsér BECAUSE. SCHOOLS ffal HE STINKING fallout of the wildcat strike earlier this month by disgruntled North Vancouver District sanitation workers continued for some this week as resi- dential garbage sat stewing in the hot August sun. : The CUPE workers maintain the job action had nothing to do with wages although they’ve been without a contract since _ December 1993. The gist of the problem seems to come down to the matter of a poor management-employee relationship. Caught in the middle of course are the innocents who also happen to foot the bill for such shenanigans. Those who took the trash into their own hands and delivered their abandoned garbage’ to the transfer station, will likely have to appeal to the mayor and council to be reim- bursed for the fee paid to drop off the offal. truth That smells, We all respect those who do the important job of cleaning up our messes. It’s thankless but necessary work. A recent News survey reveals that more than 90% of North Shore residents believe that garbage collection qualifies to be consid- ered an essential service. Issues of health and safety in terms of garbage acting as a ready food supply for the area’s abundant wildlife, were on many minds. , That’s a strong message for North Vancouver District. Resolving a new contract with sanitation workers must be made a pri- ority. The issue of improving management style by actually considering the ideas of those on the front line doing the job must also be addressed. "NEWS QUOTES OF THE WEEK “It took me three-and-a-half News story.) years of rooting around back alleys for metal cans, being called a bum, to save up enough money to buy that engine.” very unusual.” Newitsch about having his dream of building a floating island, to support a workshop and schoolroom for dis- abled children, dashed by marine motor pirates. (From an Aug. 7 Story.) Publisher Managing Editor Aszociate Edita: Sales & Marketin Comatreller. North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 114, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Prass Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agraement No. 0087238. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. Newsroom V7M 2H4 “I didn’t really notice anything Larry Stinson, a handicapped North Vancouver man who was Local inventor Siegfried “Ziggy” ticked out of his car by acon artist who traded him a stolen car which didnt come with a key for his car and $20. (From an Aug. 12 News “Other sound effects, such as Display Advertising Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions Classified Advertising North Shore Managed giggles, sighs and moans, are also included in the Girlfriend Speaks repertoire (and probably make her more desirable than those tife- size, blow-up womien available in the back of wrestling magazines).”” A new game software for IBM PC-compatible users offers the vir- tual woman. (From Catherine Atyeo Insights article, North Shore News Aug. 12) 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 980-0511 Distribution 986-6222 Fax 985-2131 Administration 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver B.C. SDA OIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday 4 Sunday) Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. with natives a @ no-win SINCE JUNE a political time-bomb has been quietly ticking away with the poten- tial, unless soon defused, to inflict untold damage on relations between B.C.’s native and non-native citi- zens. It consists of the land claim negotiations with native bands now being conducted under a thick veil of secrecy by the NDP government. Despite vigorous efforts by Reform house leader Jack Weisgerber and, latterly, two Reform MPs, non-native interests vitally affected by such settlements remain firmly excluded from the process. The 40 or so native statements of claim before the B.C. treaty commission concern aboriginal rights to territory, “inherent right to self-government,” and daniages for loss of land and resources. Two highly relevant facts, however, should be remembered right away. First, after a case that dragged on for four years, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled in 1991 that aboriginal rights to territory had been extin- 66 Your duty, Mikey, is not just to minorities — however deserving — but to all British Columbians. $9 guished. A subsequent appeal. though confirming some aboriginal rights, also dismissed native claims for jurisdiction. Second, the Charlottetown ‘Accord, which would have enshrined the “inherent right to self-government” of native peoples in Canada’s constitution, was soundly rejected in the 1992 refer- endum. After these legal and constitu- tional defeats, B.C. native leaders decided earlier this year, and no doubt wisely, to abandon a further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Instead they opted for direct deal-making with Mike Harourt and his sympathetic New Democrats. Which is where — without knowing what's going on — we're now at. That said, let's make no bones about one thing. For a century and a half B.C ‘s native peoples have had a raw deal that cries aloud for redress. This, in your scribe’s view, could mean a fair share in the resource wealth of their ancestral lands and, for appropriate areas, municipal-type self-government with taxing authority. Clearly impractical, however, is the concept of dozens of tiny inde- pendent “nations.” with populations of a few hundred to a couple cf thousand apiece, ruling chunks of B.C. solely by their own laws with- out regard to Canada’s Criminal Code or Charter of Rights. process Noel HITHER AND YON And clearly unjust isthe idea _ that today’s non-native population from every comer of the globe has an unlimited financial obligation to atone for the sins of unrelated B.C, pioneers 150 years ago. To date there is virtually nothing to indicate what kind of deals Victoria will strike with the 196 bands representing approximately 90,800 status Indians, or 2.8% of the B.C. population, Nor wil! there be, while Harcourt & Co. remain resolved to shut out from the deal- ing the non-native 97.2% who'll finally foot the bill. Judging by Ottawa’s Nunavut settlement last year with the Inuit of the eastern Arctic, that bill could be a hefty one — including the deeding to natives of millions of hectares of Crown land belonging rightly to all British Columbians, and billions of taxpayer dollars, _ Hence the ticking time-bomb. The NDP fears that, once the full impact of the land claims is known, the party will suffer & huge anti- native backlash during the election expected in 1995. But if deals are completed before being revealed, that backlash could be even worse -— poisoning native/non-native relations for generations. Your duty, Mikey, is not just to minorities -— however deserving — but to all British Columbians. And make no mistake about this: land claim deals behind closed doors are a no-win process for everybody. SCRATCHPAD: Young and job- less? Learn all about Young Entrepreneurs sponsored by North Van Kiwanis Club: students run- ning their own businesses (babysit- ting, musiciaris for hire, crafts and many more). Call Lorraine, 986- 7758 for details ... See works by well known West Van (formerly Bowen Island) artist Patricia Reid- Grohne, noted for her vibrant coi- oring and abstract forms, all this month at the Alpha Frames gallery, 1300 block Marine Drive, West Van ... Give the gift of life tomor- row and Tuesday, Aug. 15-16, from 2:30 to 8 p.m. at the biood donor clinic in Lions Gate Hospital Medical Day Centre Gym ... And congrats today, Aug. 14, to West Van's John and Pear! Barrett, cel- ebrating their 57th anniversary. WRIGHT OR WRONG: A friend is someone who knows you and still likes you.