Pater 6 Bical 18 1 104 = North Shore News T’S TIME to WOOP it up again fellow North Shore commuters. “WOOP a as in (Where’s. Our Overpass). ' You remember: the one that was to be built in concert with the Upper Levels overpass at Lonsdale Avenue. That’s right: the Westview Overpass. .. The great promise unfulfilled; the solution to the last major traffic bottleneck along the entire expanse of the huge Trans- ‘Canad Highway system. Aad under the NDP socialists, the great ‘forgotten road project for the largely Liberal ‘ North Shore. ‘It waz forgotten again in last week’s NDP _ announcement of $53 million worth of high- way construction projects aimed at cutting Lower Mainland traffic congestion. -The list included the completion of the THERE 5 HELP POLICE! s/ ({N BEING MUGGED! HELP POLICE! A BOUNCER 1S BEATING A CAR PARKED IN A TOW- AWAY ZONE? Tagain Johnson-Mariner connector in Coquitlam, widening the Breadway connector between Burnaby and Coquitlam, and widening the Mary Hill Bypass in Port Coquitlam. Valuable projects all. But the North Shore has been waiting for, completion of the area’s two major highway overpasses since 1985, when the Social Credit government announced the two-part project that began with the Lonsdale overpass. ' The two were announced together because one without the cther would fargely be a wasted investment. — North Vancouver-Lonsdale MLA: David Schreck once called the Westview inter- change “the most pressing highway ismprove- ment project in my constituency....” Pressing but apparently not important. So get on the phone to your local MLA now and WOOP it up. “LETTER OF THE DAY - Caning comments “irresponsible” Dear Editor: Concerning the irresponsible comments made by News Zap! columnist David Runte (“Caning — cruelty or justice?”): Runte feels the punishment meted out to Michael Fay is “a little harsh for a kid who committed a few vandalistic acts,” and for “stealing a few street signs.” His writing shows he is unaware that most of our youth are law-abid- ing citizens. He condones Fay’s irresponsible conduct and does not criticize him. t wonder if Runte carried out any research into the cost of vandalism in this area? Has he gone to ICBC Claims to view the daily parade of cars that are vandalized? Has he seen the frequently smashed bus shelters on the North Shore? Noted the number of dam- aged, dumped grocery carts? Seen the graffiti sprayed all over the place? Slashed bus seats? Annually, the cost of vandalism to the citizenry is in the millions; simply because the punishment we mete out does not fit the crime. Perhaps Runte should report to Peter Speck Trnothy Renshaw «Noel Wright Publisner Managing Editor. Associate Editor. Sales & Marketing Linda Stewart Comptroller... se Doug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and quaiitied under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday b 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 responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. North Shore Free Press Ltd sad. Display Advenising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver B.C. V7M 2H4 North Shore Managed Distribution Subs-riptions Fax Administration his peers the. real cost of vandalism and how it affects their daily pur- chases. I have yet to meet an adult (in other words, those who directly and indirectly pay for the cost of van- dalism) who does not agree with the punishment Fay received. Smarten up, David! Set a better example for your young readers and maybe our car insurance premi- ums will not increase as rapidly as they have done over the past few years. Michael Wood North Vancouver 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 Ins newspaper contains secyciad Sore MEMBER Gu SH SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Why Canada can et no answers rom the THE ODD thing about Quebec separatists is the bliad eye they happily turn to the harsh practical reali- ties of separation. We saw it a couple of weeks ago during Bloc Quebecois leader Lucien Bouchard’s swing through B.C. and Alberta. For him, Canada is lwo separate nations — ‘Quebec und the rest of the country, What it is NOT is 10 equal provinces, one of them Quebec. End of discussion. Canada’s problem is Quebec ind, Quebec's problem is Canada, he argues with cool French logic. Split up amicably and we solve both problems, after which we'll both live happily as good neigh- bors,. ; Lust weckend, hot on Lucien’s heels, came one of his BQ acolytes, MP Michel Guimond, invited here by North Van Reform MP Ted White to tell us the sepa- — ratist score once again — at a spe- cia) North Van Chamber of Commerce meeting among other gatherings. For all that his comments on the looming Quebec crisis added to the debate he might just as well have “stayed home. As with Bouchard, one waited in vain for firm answers to tough practical questions.’ One being how Ottawa's half- trillion dollar debt would be divid- ed between Quebec and TROC ‘(The Rest Of Canada). No problem, is the soothing BQ answer. Quebec will consider ° assuming a “reasonable” share of it, but we'll worry about the exact percentages later, Excuse me, messieurs, but for- eign lenders who hold around 40% | of the debt are already worrying. Where do WE stand, they ask, if TROC tells us, for example, that they now owe us only three-quar-" ters of what we originally loaned to Canada? That if.we want the other quarter, we'll have to go after this new, untried country of Quebec, LUCIEN BOUCHARD... don’t worry about details. which — as a nation — has so far no credit rating at all? And what would those dire con- cerns in international rsoney mar- kets do to the Canadian dollar that Bouchard and Parti Quebecois leader Jacques Parizeau are so keen lo continue using? Would they be happy with it at 40-30 cents U.S. — forcing both Quebee and TROC to hike interest rates to 15% to stop a complete meltdown of our buck? To these questions M. Guimond merely waffles, vaguely promising, like his master, that all would loc HITHER AND YON somehow work out right in the end. Neither seems troubled about an independent Quebec having no voice in Bank of Canada decisions. Neither seems to grasp that‘no nation can shape its economy with _ out controlling its own monetary policy. On a third vital question : Guimond didn’t even try to waffle. With much shrugging and arm- waving he admitted the BQ had no ready answer to Canada’s obvious need for a land link from Ontario to New Brunswick — cutting through Quebec and under Canadian jurisdiction. Other unanswered questions abound. The fate of Quebecers who wish to remain Canadian? A sovereign Quebec's treatment of aboriginals? The return to. Canada. - of the northern Ungava territory — a gift from Canada to Quebec AFTER Confederation? The truth, of course, is that the. Bouchards and Guimonds don’t NEED to answer Canada’s ques- < tions. All that matters right now is” to make it all sound painless and easy to the voters back home. Until the crunch comes, that is. WRAP-UP: If the granddaughter of legendary newspaper publisher ‘Mia’ Murray and daughter of the _ late Dan Murray, believed to live. in West Van, reads this, will she please cal! North Van senior Les Payerle, 985-4474. He has a very nice slide which he took of her 30 years ago in the Peace River coun- try and would like to give her ... Canucks being back on the road this week, Steve Tambellini has been replaced by sports columnist - Jim Taylor as guest speaker at Thursday’s North Yan Chamber of Commerce “Take A Police - Officer To Lunch” meeting ... North Shore artists and musicians wishing to participate in the West Van Harmony Arts Festival should contact Colleen, 925-3605, and submit their work before May 27 ... Happy birthday today, May 18, to West Van Kiwanian Graham Senner ... Still in Tiddleycove, many happy returns of tomorrow, May 19, to artist Daniel fzZard and film producer Gary Payne. And Friday, May 20, salute North Van’s Ernie and frene Timbers on celebrating their 55th anniversary. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Never ‘confuse the courage of your con- ~ victions with the pigheadedness of your prejudices.