IM SURE HELL BE DELIGHTED YOO SAN HIM) ON TV. THE ONER DAY... NOSORRY HE CANT CONE TO THE PHONE... HES ON THE SIXTH FOE... < NEWS VIEWPOINT Daycare action ORTH VANCOUVER Distict Council must institute comprehen- sive longterm daycare planning now for the booming North Vancouver District population, but it cannot afford to get mired in a quagmire of studies, reports and action forums. The recently released social pianner’s report on the severe shortage of childcare facilities in the district provides ample evi- dence of what district parents and daycare operators have long been municipality faces a childeare crisis if it does not act quickly and decisively. And it will not just be the isolated “‘crisis’’ of a single daycare centre such as the beleaguered Warm Fuzzies facility, whose operators have been without a per- manent location since early summer. a solution. The crisis will parents and daycare operators will be hammering on council’s doors demanding be district-wide, and As district schools increasingly reclaim the facilities needed to accommodate the growing school population, the situation warning: the same period. solution. will only get more desperate. According to a June social planning report, the number of children under five years old in the East Seymour area in- creased 70 per cent between 1981 and 1986; the number of single-parent families in the area increased 46 per cent during the While planning can he time-consuming, council’s action must be swift or the local daycare crisis will likely arrive before any LETTER OF THE DAY Weyler invited to see clear-cut site Dear Editor: Rex Weyler’s Sept. 7 column, Under the wildwood trees — where a forester never stops learn- ing, implies that selective logging, as practised by Merv Wilkenson, is a forestry panacea for coastal B.C. Nothing could be further from the truth. I too, have toured Merv’s Wildwood Tree Farm, and like many of the other profes- sional foresters on the tour, I have serious reservations about his silvicultural effectiveness. Unlike Merv, I cannot speak for Paul Boving, his 1930s Danish- trained forester cum _ livestock Publisher Associate Editor Peter Speck ue oer ee Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Advertising Director . Linda Stewart husbandry professor from UBC. However, I can quote Dr. Hamish Kimmins, who is currently pro- fessor of forest ecology at UBC, who states: ‘‘Research and experi- ence have taught us that the best way to harvest and renew our forests is to imitate nature as closely as possible. Many of B.C.’s forests are adapted to large scale disturbances such as forest fires, diseases, insects and wind- throw. Clearcutting can closely resemble these natural disasters. Most of the province’s coastal forest ecosystems are very robust -— they can and will recover well from clearcut logging — as long as we don’t disturb them too SUNDAY + WEONESDAY + FRIDAY North Shore News, tounded in 1969 as an independent Suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph lit of the Excise Tax Act. ts published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Nortls Shore Free Press Ltd ang cistnbuted to every door on the North Shore Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885 Subscriptions North and Wes! Vancouver, $25 per year Mating tates available on request Submissions are welcome but we cannol accep! responstbilily for unsolicited matenal including manuscnpts and pictures a whicn should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 59,170 (average, Wednesday Friday & Sunday) SDA ONVISION Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions often.”’ Like Merv, | am proud of my company’s forestry practices and accomplishments. Because of this pride, I invite Rex Weyler to con- tact me to arrange a tour of our forest operations at his conve- nience. It is apparent that Rex has never been to see a managed forest where clearcutting is prac- tised in a safe and ecologically ef- fective way. I believe that the learning should never stop for any profes- sional, journalists included. M.L. Alexander, RPF Management Forester Canadian Forest Products Ltd. Vancouver 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 MEMBER N's Se eee North Shore owned and managed Entire contents © 1990 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. » [ime to update 19th century ideas of gov't DEAR MAYOR DON LANSKAIL: If West Van aldermen hoping for re-election have any brains in their heads, they’ll move — if they haven’t al- ready — for a referendum, after all, on the Cypress Ridge golf course proposal. 1 know the idea won't exactly thrill you. Though you're retiring, I suspect ‘‘referendum”’ is still a dirty word in your book. So far, you've maintained that approval in principle of the project is a “done deed,” council having passed the required zoning amendment in June. You've justified this stand with the argument put forward by so many other politicians once they sip the heady wine of power — especially one B. Mulroney in his ruthless drive to ram the hated Goods and Services Tax down Canada’s throat. You all cling to an outdated theory of ‘tresponsi- ble government.”’ Our democracy, you al! solemn- ly preach, elects governments to GOVERN — meaning the gov- ernment alone finally decides what is in the public interest. However many voters disagree, they must wait for the next election to throw the rascals out. By which time, of course, irreparable damage may have been done. This ‘‘responsible government’’ concept developed in Britain dur- ing the 18th and 19th centuries because there was then simply no practical alternative. The electorate was slowly ad- vancing from widespread illiteracy to an average grade school educa- tion level. Radio, TV and tele- phones were unknown. Ponderous newspapers and periodicals — tax- ing the reading abilities of many voters — were the only media. Communication up, down or sideways was slow and cumber- some. The nearest most voters ever came to political involvement was swilling free beer at the election hustings. After which they tugged their forelocks at the ‘‘betters’* they had chosen and dutifully did what they were told. No need to hammer home the contrast with today’s sophisticated electorate — the best educated in history, fed minute-to-minute by modern media with instant infor- mation on everything in their community, their country and the world. True, this doesn’t mean all voters are automatically better judges of the public good than those they elect. But what it DOES mean is that denying them any decision-making role in gov- ernment BETWEEN elections — subject only to workable checks and balances ~ is like Canute ordering the tribe to recede. On issues of obvious major MAYOR DON Lanskail ... dirty R word. that Noe! HI concern to a sizeable portion of the electorate a referendum of alt citizens is clearly the answer. To- day, it’s being looked at positively by numerous jurisdictions — among them the B.C. government, Canada’s leader in this line of thought. I realize the thought may disturb your cozy world, Your Worship, but you won’t have to be ‘‘responsible’’ any longer after Nov. 17. Your successors WILL. Find out whether West Van- couverites WANT a golf course on Cypress Ridge. They'll remember you kindly for asking. So wilt West Van’s next coun- cil! eee WRAP-UP: North Van’s Ron Gamble — who’s riled Preston Manning by launching his own tiny ‘“‘Reform Party of B.C.”’ in defiance of Reform Party policy against provincial involvement at this time — says that, if he gets enough members, he’ll field can- didates in the next B.C. election. The NDP must love the idea of their vote-splitting potential — come to think of it, how about infiltrating a few hundred under- cover NDP ‘‘moles’’ into the “RPBC,”’ Mikey! ... Want to become what you CAN be — for just $65 including lunch? Try the Self Development Course, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at St. John’s Church, Chesterfield and 13th, North Van. For infor- mation and registration call 926- 5495 ... And 51st anniversary grectings tomorrow, Oct. II, to North Van’s Bill and Jo Mason. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Dogs can’t taik. Maybe that's why they’re man’s best friend. REFORMER Ron gamble... NDP must love him.