the North shore News is publshed by Marth Shore Free Press Ltd., Publisher Patar Speck, from 1139 Lonsdate Avenue North Vancouren 8,6., VIM 2H4 PETER SPECK , _. Publisher 205-215 (101) " Boug Foot Doe Dhaliwal Comptroller Homan Resouroes Manager 985-2131 (133) 985- (177) Managing Edi - Sales & Marketing Directo - S858 (110) Datos (319) & Pain Gttice Fax Mickael Buckac-Mews Editor ‘ BG5-2131 (114) - erveaity Edites 885-213) (147) LETVERS TO THE EMTOR Letters must inctus your name, full address subuttun newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Pangea 1b of the Excise Tax Act, is publishod each ‘Wodrseschy, Friday anal Sunchry' by North Shure Five Press Lid. and distributed to every door on ths Noth Shore. Canaks Pra Canadian Publications Mail Sales froduct Agrcmem No. SOA DIVISION Entire contents © 1996 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. mailbox : quotes of the — “1d go up on the bridge and jump, but there is too much traffic. You can’t get near it.” Store owner John Clark, after more than $60,000 worth of men’s clothes were stolen from his store. (From a June 23 News story.) . ga00 --«Rour-fitths of the Nerth “Shore is striking a blow for health. dd * North Vancouver District Coun, Ernie Crist, on district council’s ‘unanimous vote to endorse an ; immediate ban on smoking in dis- ||. trict businesses. (From a June 26 . News story.) goog “T had to ‘jump. out of the way, “and my paddle accidentally hit the back of her vehicle. It kind of came down hard just as I was , i, / e sacbinatin ere nrentacaierd itasy' WEEP INTT ee dat anil (TE et A reratine jumping out of the way into the " oncoming lane. She yelled . obscenities at me and told me I was assaulting her.” * Elaine Rogozay professional. . flagperson i in charge.of HOV lane access to the Second Narrows Bridge, on the female driver who tried to run her down. (From a June 28 News story. J : oa a “She said, ‘I think that’s a _ terrible idea. Do you have any idea how many shy book-buyers will go into a store and they won’t know how to pronounce DeClercg and they’lt watk out with Wilbur Smith?” Lawyer and author Jay Clarke, on his wife's reaction to his first "choice for a'nom de plume. (From a June 26 News entertainment Stary.) Lee ieee vemeemeceatiaemtemeunteer enone neaesasan tmeenennuereciematantaatenemmamianntiontaallit Collins columns cheered “Dear Editor: ; “Well done, sir! . Another incredibly brilliant axti- _cle on June 5. You write so well and tell the truth, I cannot see why everyone doesn’t like you. It just shows how ‘ignorant a lot of people are! My husband and 1 leap for the editorial page to find your column as soon as the North Shore News arrives on our doorstep. I have to wait till he reads it first. “Good ol’ Doug,” I hear him say. Then J read it. cep them coming, sit; keep telling it like it really is. The day they muzzle you is the day that Canada is stone cold dead... Dulcie Baxter West Vancouver who came in from the cold DESPITE some patchy pub-§ Wioel licity Guy Bertrand is hardly a household name yet in this neck of the woods. But if you love Canada, it should be. Bertrand is the Quebec City lawyer who was a founding member of the sep- aratist Parti Quebecois until two years ago — when he made his own journey along the road to Damascus by sudden- ly cutting all ties with the separatists and becoming a fervent Canadian federalist. Moreover, he has backed his new-found faith i in Canada with legal action. He is asking the Quebec Superior Court to declare that the Quebec government has no power to use its referendum law as the basis for issu- - ing a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). Bertrand’s arguments for Canadian unity are the subject of his book : Plaidoyer pour les Citoyens (The Case for. the Citizens) ~ shortly.to be : available in English — which was analyzed last week in The Financial Post by Quebec Equality Party leader Keith Henderson. ‘ The book’s essential message is that any Quebec referendum can only be consultative; that secession can ‘only be made legal by an amendment - to the Canadian Constitution involving the other provinces and Ottawa; and therefore any UDI by Quebec wouid, in fact, amount to revolution against the Canadian state —- with all the potential consequences. 2° |. In short, a 50% + | Quebec mandate, can never have the legal power . to destroy Canada. And.in taking this uitcompromising stand, ‘Bertrand : cites persuasive historical precedents, = . Nova Scotia tried to separate unilaterally from Canada i in. 1867 with ae petition by 80% of the population... . ny The UK Privy Council (equivalent then to our ut Supreme Court) killed -. the petition because Nova Scotia didn’t have the agreement of Canada’s then other three provinces.” In 1860 Texas wanted to go it alone. The U- Ss: Supreme. Court raled “there is no place for reconsideration or revocation [of the Unicn) except - through revolution, or through consent of the states.” Texas stayed put. Westem Australia issued a UDI in 1936 after a state referendum, but ne caved in when an all-Australia referendum -— — required under the” Australian constitution’ — rejected any separation: . " Quebec fanaticism, says Bertrand — recalling the Catholies-versus: the-rest battles 40 years ago -- is nothing new. It's the same today in the , Parti Quebecois: “Those who refuse the dogma aren't worth knowing and can’t form part of the family; they're traitors.” He believes. most Canadians fully recognize the “distinct” nature ‘of Quebec, so there's no need to formalize it in the Constitution. But other _ wise Quebec’and all other provinces are constitutionally equal. This former diehard separatist — now one of the best friends. Canad: has — defines his ideal of Confederation in a single moving sentence. . “The scope of a society,” he writes, “is not measured by the extent of i its territory or the number of its inhabitants, but t by. the dignity, heart, intelli gence ‘and goodwill of those who live there.” : _ Guy Bertrand — a name to remember this Canada Day. Wish him well! . . n0Q- HAPPY BIRTHDAY today, June 20, to West Van's Mary Speck ... The same today to North Van's Violet Robinson, formerly of West Van, at’. 97. O00 WRIGHT OR WRONG ~— A thought for Canada-worriers: Fear knocked at the door, Faith answered. No one was there. ; news viewpoint srr enet vet anette attri tatinttre rents trier datas Areal revenasaaiaartind ten Smoked out oe HERE there’s smoke there’s Wie Especially if the smoke comes from tobacco. And in North Vancouver District, the municipality’s. council has vented some uncharacteristically uncompromising fire in tackling the tobacco-smoke drag- on. At. Monday night’s meeting they came out swinging and voted to institute : a bylaw that will ban smoking in all dis- trict businesses immediately. The bylaw awaits final approval, but it’s all but a done deal and when done will prohibit the smoking of cigarettes not only in restaurants, but also in neighborhood pubs, Elsewhere around the Lower Mainland compromise has been the name of the game when it comes to tobacco. Thus far it has not worked. The Restaurant and Foodservices Association of B.C., for example, has launched a B.C. Supreme Court chal- lenge over a Vancouver City bylaw that bans smoking in the city’s restaurants but not in neighborhood pubs. City restaurateurs argue that the bylaw gives unfair commercial advan- tage to pubs and bars that serve food. Good point. Another compromise calls for the prohibition of smoking in restaurants except in a patio areas and designated smoking rooms. It would also’ require pubs, lounges, cabarets, casinos and. bingo halls to designate 30% of their. floor area as non-smoking and be 106% ‘non-smoking by the year 2000. But North Vancouver District sees compromise as the wrong road to take in the tobacco wars. They see smoking, which already poilutes the lungs of nine in 10 non-smokers, as a major public. health hazard. They don’t see any point in compromise when it comes to the - good health of the majority versus the destructive habit of the minority. And they’re dead right.