6 - North Shore News - Sunday, July 16, 2000 ST Vancouver District council must find the intesti- nal fortitude to stand up to the more vociferous of its NIMBY- minded residents. Attend a public meeting into a pro- posal that might benefit a segment of the municipality’s population and expect to hear a litany of complaints that is almost formulaic: more traffic; more litter; more noise; less parking; less view; declining property values; too many visitors from North “Vancouver and elsewhere. - The residents of Horseshoe Bay could legitimately use this list as they onpose the continued desecration of their community by a Crown. corpora- tion incapable of looking more than three years into the future. But to allow this knee-jerk local resident reac- VIEW POINT: ot in West Van be made for the greatest good of the greatest number is political cowardice. Local residents scotched plans for a neighbourhood pub that would have been a pleasant addition to the Dundarave stroll for the exaggerated fear of drunks in the streets. Local res- idents are already mobilized in opposi- tion to a recreation centre that would serve a larger segment of the popula- tion than just golfers. Allowing kids to practise soccer on school playing ‘ields until 8 p.m. is opposed; even fishing off Dundarave pier is opposed by some who would prefer the seawalk to remain the purview of a cloistered, aging society. We hope council will have the guts to support an arts centre for the future life of West Vancouverites, despite the noise, pollution and undesirable visi- tion to influence decisions that should you said Ht “T think there's going to be a lot of negotiation, but they’te going to have to take into account the fact that West Van citizens don’t really like big projects in their neighbourhoods. You can’t blame them. They have a certain way of life that they don’t want to sec disrupted > a it’s always the same, it never fails.” Former West Vancouver municipal councillor Rod Day 2 onthe “opposition that the proposed West Vancouver arts: centre is going to face on any site. (From a July 14 News - 079. ye ; Qa cous “The North Shore was overwhelming. Without a - doubt the greatest community support came from here.” “Heather MacKenzie, former Sentinel grad and organizer of the Cinderella Project, on the willingness of this commu- “nity to help underprivileged girls yo to their grad in style. ‘(From a day 16 News story.) . O00- “A lot of these places where they jump they j just gam- “ble: — they go head first and never come up.” “Norch Vancouver resident Glen Martin says he toe dove “inte the pools of Lynn Crezk as a kid —~ but knew where and when it was safe to: do. so. (From a July M4 Inquiring . Reporter feature, ) ‘WThis is just more lanes. It docsn’t address sailin “waits, it only moves traffic closer to the bay which will - lead to more pollution for the residents.” =< -John_ Roberts, a member’ of Citizens* Against Ferry ‘Terminal Expansion and ‘a Horseshoe Bay. resident, on BC Ferries revised plans for expanding and upgrading the hold- ng gompound | for cars waiting for ferries.” (From a july 2 2 News story.) . DO YOU HAVE A NEWS TIP? . », Business Hours: Michaal Becker |’ ers © Mews Editor. 985-2131, local 114 - 9B5-2104" - Sendatax: vt -mbecker@nsnaws.com : E-mail:.”° Paragraph 217 of the Excise Tax Act, is published : each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by. tN” : Publications Campany and distrituted to every door. on: the: North Shore. : Ganade : Post: Canadian f ”” Puplcatiens Mait Saics - Product Agreement No. 0087236. Mailing fates available on sequest. Entire 7 contents © 2000 HCN Publications Company. Ait “sights ‘reserved. - Average circulation for ‘Wednesday, Friday ‘and Sunday is 61,582. Bn Newsroom Editor. ~~ f 905-2131 (116) tors the arts will surely attract. Immigration myth exp! A must-read (and then some) for all who cherish Canada and her future is Betrayal & Deceit: The Politics of Canadian Immigration by West Van’s Charles Campbell. Published in February and reviewed in depth a month or so ago in these pages by colleague ‘Timothy Renshaw, it is a devas- tating attack on Canada’s immigration policy during the past two decades by an author who knows at first hand, to coin a phrase, where a! Charles Campbell served for 10 years on the former Immigration Appeal. Board, cight as vice-chairman, gaining an intiraate knowledge of the damage the present immigration and refugee sys- tem is inflicting on our country today" and — unless speedily reformed — for - years to come. One of the many myths he explodes is that large-scale immigration is neces- sary to keep the economy healthy. Shortly after his book appeared, that myth was the target ofa further con- vincing attack in a new study by Jeffrey - . Reitz, a sociology rofessor with ’ Toronto’s Centre for Industrial Relations, who analyzed the decline in immigrant income levels versus those of - native-born Canadians. . He notes that-1970s immigrants . (many still from traditional sources). “were often better educated than native- eee born Canadians and thus had few prob- Terry Peters {] the bodies are buried. lems establishing themselves successfully in Canada with equal or better incomes. But by 1981 that situation had already changed quite marked- ly. In that year the average male immigrant already earned only 80% of the average male Canadian’s income. Fifteen years later the: difference had dropped to 60% — with the average Canadian earn- ing an annual $33,887 compared with the average immigrant’s mere $20, 603 over his first five years here. One reason, Prof. Reitz suggests, is an increasingly “heavy emphasis on Canadian university degrees over foreign degrees, which means immigrants are often ill-equipped to succzed in today’s high-tech, knowledge-based economy. During the same period the educa- tional levels of Canadians also rose at a greater pace than those of new immi- grants. From 1981 to 1996 the proportion of Canadians with university degrees grew. by 4. 7% for men and 8.2% for women, All in all, therefore, the scholarly Reicz study ‘shows that i immigration on the ridiculous scale of up to 300,000 a year, récently called for by Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan, is a non-starter in terms of boosting the economy. . Add on the other side of the ledger the enormous social costs of Family ° *. Class immigration which allows in not ...- only spouses and younger children (fair : enough) ) bur children up to age 21, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include your name, full address and telephone number. - Submit via. e-mail to: mbecker@nsnews.com (Aftee Movrs Wows Tips: 986-2131 (jtees 3)? | Editorial Manager n 905-2131 (160) tpeters@ensnews.com W FREE DELIVERY INA TWo MILE RADIUS ONLY... oded grandparents and cven “out-of- ‘marriage relationships.” A leaked 1994 ministry report put the annual cost of welfare alone for such oy familics at $700 million. Add the cost of medicare which; in that same leaked report, led immigration officials to recommend to then-minister > Marchi that such immigrants be required : to take out their own health insurance," - Then imagine the cost today, six years“ and a million more immigrants later... As Campbell notes, many interna- - tional studies over the past 30 years have concluded there is no relationship what: soever between population size and a: country’s economic well-being — ‘othe wise, of course, China‘and India would be the world’s most prosperous nations: Which teads your scribe to only one conclusion about our insane immigra- tion policy since 1978. ‘Immigrants naturally being: grateful : to the government that lets then i in, every immigrant helps build a solid an \* faithful voter pool ool for whichever ruling . party admits t ~ $0 no major party _ whether tem porarily governing of in opposition —. can now afford to close the floodgates Trudeau opened, ; 92 Q.. A BUMPER bouquet of Dutch tulips today, July 12, ro West Van birthday girl Jacqueline (“Jackie”) Bernard 2): An on Friday, July 14, a 90-candle salute t retired Province editor, West Van’s Alan Jessup. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Many peop get all their exercise simply by pushing their tuck, Le ey porighewuniibecee www. nsnews com 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouve Barhara Emo AY Distribution Manager.