7 it only geing hey Ye ye to call © GM place... NEWS VIEWPOINT cicero ncommon Semse : The situation is inconvenient for West Vancouver residents. It also erodes the heaith of local democracy by splitting public atten- TOPE SPRINGS eternal in the hearts: ‘of ordinary: folk that common sense .will take the stage in the local politi- “cal th theatre. -Anid two recent examples i in thie West and © North Vancouver branches of that theatre Support that hone. “West ‘Vancouver. District. 45 School Bs “Board 's proposal to change the night it-holds its regular public meeting is long overdue. “" The proposal, to be considered at the board’s ‘next meeting, would movz the _ board’s weekly: ineeting from Monday: night “to Tuesday night, | >. ©, also held g on n Monday nights. I don’t givea damn whether these folk are black, brown, yel- low or pink. 1’m concerned with the quality of life on the North Shore.” . North Vancouver District Coun. Emie Crist, on the megahome issue. (From Doug Collins’ April 6 On the Other Hand column.) “Yes, I’m mest concerned. Publisher Managing Editor Associate Editor Sales & Marketing Director, Comptratier. y : terested in observing “debate over public. issues in West Vancouver -Imust: currently choose between attending '’ District 45’s meeting or the regular meeting of West Vancouver. District Council, which is dance. at both meetings, which is already minimal at best. And in North Vancouver City, the:munici- -pality’s council has endorsed a recommenda- -tion from the North Vancouver Family Court and Youth Justice Committee to ‘erack down on young car thieves, The committee recommended that the weak Young Offenders Act be amended to - mete out_stiffer penalties to young. crooks, to help the police do their jobs better and to— make young offenders accountable for their actions, Hear! Hear! Despite much evidence to the contrary, common sense does reside in West and North Vancouver municipal politics. Public support could encourage its srowth. \ “NEWS QUOTES OF THE WEEK Peter Speck Timothy Renshaw Noe! Wright They are just an abomination to” the ambience and our sense of neighborhood.” North Vancouver District resi- dent Christine Huntley, to the News Your Call question: “Are you con- cerned about the building of mon- ster houses in your neighborhood?” (From the April 8 News.) “Pve been rich and I’ve been Display Advertising 380-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution Subscriptions Fax . Administration poor. Rich is better.” Sophie Tucker, on being rich. As quoted in the April 10 Silver Speckulations column. “1 love the West Coast. I still find it hard to delieve I live here.” Synchronized swimmer Janice Bremner, on living on the North Shore. (From an April 6 News Sports story.) 986-1337 986-1337 © © 985-3227 985-2131 * North Shore Nows, founded in 1969 as an: indepandent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Parag: Tax Act, is published gach Wednesday, Friday and ” Sunday by Narth Shore Free Press Ltd. and “ gistributad 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 wa cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited material Including manuscripts and pictures which should be eccompanied by a Stamped addressed pavelopa.” a SREY aph 141 of the Excise -- 4139 Lonsdaie Avenue North Vancouver B.C. V7M 2H4 _ North Shore Managed SDA Sorts . 61,582 {average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) “Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All ‘Tights reserved, yecent’? Grits vital MAKE NO MISTAKE, Jean Chretien and his Grits —- with whom we're stuck for another four and a half years — threaten to finally ruin Canada, Not bueause they are bad or unpatriotic men and women, Not even because they are stupid, Solely because they lack one vital quality. We saw its absenceagain last week, when the markets and the dollar plunged, and interest rates shot up. Nesther Chretien, Paul Martin nor any of their gang raised the slightest murmur of concern. You might have thought they simply hadn't noticed what was going on — a sudden temporary attack of cold feet on the part of overseas lenders and investors about Canada as a safe haven for their money. |.’ Market woities surfaced about our ballooning half-trillion-dollar national debt and the failure of Martin’s wimpish budget to impose the kind of spending cuts essential to bring it under control. Stil! more market worries centred on this year’s Quebec election and the prospect of an independence refer- endum that could destroy the Canada with which the world has - /done business to date. Again, not a: squeak out of Ottawa about any ' plan to handle such a crisis. Only more and more bribes — the NAFTA environmental centre, 2 $23 million convention centre, an upcoming $140 million deal on manpower and labor training — all . heaped on Quebec in the hallowed Grit-Tory. tradition. Meanwhile, ' Lucien Bouchard, leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, prances around Washington, D.C., explaining to the bemused Yanks .. how he plans to split Canada asun-._ der. Attacks of cold feet about Canada in the international money and investment markets come and go, of course. But the silence of the lambs in Ottawa can only make them come with increasing fre- quency. The suspicion grows that the © Chretien government has given up _ on any serious attempt to control. . ' the debt, because of the political cost of the necessary spending cuts. That instead, it has secretly opted to wait until Canada hits the wall — », thus forcing the IMF to intervene and impose those cuts willy-nilly,’ ‘thereby taking the heat for the. : ensuing misery and letting the © :. Liberals off the hook. Similarly - with Quebec. Hanging on to the “Liberal vote there with the rest of , Canada’s money is the.name of the game £5; Chretien. Appeasement at all costs rather ‘ than demonstrating to the world that 75% of Canada has a firm plan . ' for staying in business no matter what the other 25% does. oe Continuing to pay the arch- black- |. mailers — Quebec’s separatist - minority — in the futile hope that. one day the blackmail may cease. - Dream on, Jean! Shaving thin $6 billion slices off a $46 billion deficit can no more save Canada from bankruptcy than . new green leaves can sprout in fall. ; Even if we drop to the targeted $25 billion deficit by 1997, we'll have - added another $100 billion to today’s half-trillion debt. The ery- _ing need is not deficit reduction but “if it comes to that. It’s *Seamarks at 1564 Argyle — * 926-2228 for reservations... And img im one uality — HITHER AND YON 1 deficit ELIMINATION. = What the worl: also wants to hear is that Canada can survive very comfortably. without Quebec,” the message we should be sending loud and clear to Quebec itself — along with: ; Canada’s own terms for separation — to silence the blackmailers: So what is that vital quality lacking in these otherwise decent Liberals, still enjoying a honey- moon with the voters for having thus far hurt nobody? Churchill called it the supreme virtue because, he pointed out, it is the: only virtue that guarantees all the” “ others. 4 vo a It's called courage. 9°." Canadians and their leaders are’ going to need an awful tot of it.” between now and 1998. - ‘ SCRATCHPAD: Thinking of try ing lawn bowling? Hie thee today, Sunday, at 1:30 p.m. to North Vani Lawn Bowling Ciub, 2160 Lonsdale, where they are register-' ing new, members and offering free.” coaching ... For less strenuous °°” Sabbath exercise there’s drop-in: ° bridge at Magnussen recCentre tonight at 7 p.m. — everyone wel- come and for further details call -: 985-PLAY .. - Starting Wednesday, - April 13, and continuing through ° Saturday, ‘April 16, at 8-p. m. night ly West Van Theatre presents phone... many happy returns of today, April ioe 10, to North Van ee boy Frank Decker. ; tg 5 Oe et WRIGHT OR WRONG: The only way to fail is to stop trying. JEAN CHRETIEN... given up on serious attempts to control the deficit.