6 ~ Sunday, June 2, 1985 - North Shore News

Editorial Page

“ Life.

Courtesy counts

“NORTH VANCOUVER City and District

: good manners?

Pro compassion

Te annual Pro Life vs. Pro Choice bat-
Ue shaping up for next month's clec-
tions to the Lions Gate Hospital Board
is becoming a litte wearisome.

The battle originates each year with the well
funded, highly organized Pro Life (anti abor-
tion) faction. Medical science supports their
argument (that a fetus is alive irom the mo-
ment of conception, which makes abortion,
for Pro Life, equivalent to murder.

Pro Life is equally correct in asserting that
abortions today are all toe often a substitute
for inadequate or neglected birth contrel, and
that a living being in the mother’s wonsb
should not be killed to rectify the fault of its
parent.

fn our modern permissive. society the
ultimate answer, of course, is a combination
of ‘improved birth control techniques and,
above all, more effective sex education,

“especially for young people. But these things

take time and meanwhile individual human

‘problems refuse to be shelved.

Ignorance, poverty, youth and family
pressure all too often point the way to the
abortion solution. And if safe, legal hospital
abortions were not available, make no
mistake that the victims of their own folly or
miscalculation would seek the same solution
‘elsewhere — even at risk to their own lives. Or

otherwise quite possibly condemn their un-
.. wanted ‘child to a life of deprivation and even

abuse.

Such are the sad but: inescapable facts ‘of
abortion today. Until technology and educa-
tion change them, Pro’‘Choice can claim at
least as much compassion and morality.as Pro

are considering » introducing anti-smoking

: bylaws: in public. places, following West
: Vancouver’s' lead. It seems to be a worthy -

cause. We should eliminate the smelly, grey

-masses of smoke that accumulate around |
" restaurant tables, and the dirty ashes and
cigarette butts carelessly ground into . the

pavement, and the infringement: on nen-
smokers rights. to breath. fresh air. But is a
non-enforceable.. bylaw © ‘really the. answer?’
Whatever happened to ‘common courtesy and

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1139 Lonsdale ‘Ave., North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4
_. Publisher Peter Speck

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Bob Graham Dave Jenneson
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Bill McGown Mike Goodsell

Editor-in-Chief
Noei Wright

Classified Managsr

* Vai Stephenson

Production Director
Chris Johnsen

Photography Manager

Terry Peters

North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban
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Friday & Sunday)

THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE

VIEW FROM TRE MIDDLE

VER THE PAST FEW MONTHS, I have
talked with hundreds of British Colum-
bians, trying to get a sense of what people

want from government they can deal with — face

to face and close up.

By GRAHAM LEA
‘United Party M
Prince Rupert

That’s a fairly major
change from the way it used
to be in British Columbia. In
the old days — meaning
anytime before 1983 — most
people expected government
to get on with the job of
running the province, and
not to bother you and me
with the details.

* But not any more. Nowa-

days, people don't want a
remote government that
operates behind closed
doors, and won’t fell you
what they're going to do un-
ti! they’ve already donc it.

People want government
to give back some of the
power that has been central-
ized in the private cabinet
room. People want some
control over what’s happen-
ing in their own towns and
their own neighborhoods.

PARANOIA

What’s behind this fairly
sudden shift in the public’s
attitude towards the people
we elect to govern us? In
British Columbia, it’s partly
a result of the Socred’s
hideaway style of governm-
ent.

Last. year, the legislature
met for only 57 days. The
premier has had a special
spiral staircase built from his
office to the cabinet
chamber, so that he can
secretly come and go, away
from your prying eyes.

News cameras have track-
ed through empty offices in
search of absent cabinet

ministers, and editorial car-
toons have shown milk car-
tons bearing Bill Bernnett’s
likeness, with the caption:
‘shave you seen this man?”
The strong odor of para-
noia that surrounds the gov-
ernment can be scented in
the case of the aide to in-
tergovernmental affairs
minister Garde Gardom. The
63 year old loyalist was
forced to resign just for jok-
ing with a reporter about
how many ministers were
soaking up Hawaii’s
Christmas sunshine.

GLOBAL CHANGE

But British Columbia's
peculiar government is only
part of the reason people are
beginning to demand a
decentralization of power.
The other reason is the

changing nature of the

economic and _ social
blems we now face.

While our society’s leaders
are hunkering down and
hoping the future will go
away, more and more ordi-
nary folks have come to
understand that the world is
moving into a new era.

We recognize that the
scope of change is global.
Mills and mines are closing
here because of decisions
made in world financial cen-
tres.

Somehow, because Chile
needs more U.S. dollars to
meet its obligations, the

pro-

price of copper has dropped

NOEL WRIGHT on vacation

to record lows, and Cana-

dian mines are gcing under. .

Somehow, because of new
technology developed half a
world away, well established
Canadian industries will go
the way of the buggy whip
and the button hook. —

LOCAL POWER

The problems are tos big,
too complex, for us to solve.
It’s global change, but we
know there are no gicbai
solutions. All we want to do
is to try to solve the local
problems that hit us where
we live. And that’s what we
should be doing.

We can't adjust the entire
international
payments in favor
British Columbia forest in-
dustry, but maybe we can
find a way to keep our local
mill running, so that the
town won't die.

If the local mine or the
local fishery is too. far gone
to be salvaged, maybe we
can develop some new ven-
ture to revive our
hometown's economy.

But to solve those local
problems, we need local
power. Instead of - waiting
for a remote government to
impose some ‘‘one-size-fits-
all’? province-wide program,
we want the tools of gov-
emment in our own hands
— so that we can get some-
thing going right here, right
now.

In most of the worst- hit
areas of the province, I
believe tize local elected of-
ficials — aldermen = and
schoo! trustees —- could get

together with their chamber ,

of commerce and district
labor council, and come up

help.

balance of,
of the’

Think global, act local

with something. that ‘would

In any ‘given. town, a focal

solution to a-local-problem | °

would not by ‘itself. turn: the

province around. .Butif.;we

could find fifty: ‘local: solu-
tions to fifty local problems,

the cumulative’ result: would ”
take the whole’ province ‘a

long step forward, .

- PHONE CALL AWAY:

To get those local solu-

tions happening, we have to,

put real effective power back
‘into’ the hands‘ of local gov-,

ernment. Our mayors. and

aldermen arid School trustees :.
are the agents’ of governiiient |

closest to you,’ :
But they cannot act if tigi

are just puppets or. whipp-' :
ing-boys for. a’ "far-away, :

secretive government. aot

We w :d-‘a . decentraliza- .

tion of ‘political power’ in
British Columbia. We. need

to give. communities the,

tools they need to solve their
own problems in their’ own
ways.

The. solutions are out
there, waiting to. be put to
work. .

There are some two and 4
half million people in British
Columbia. If only,one in a
thousand has a solution for
a local problem, then that
means there are more than
two thousand good ideas
now going to waste. ;

Those two thousand good
ideas will never reach a
closed-door government that
won't consult until it has
already made up its mind.

But a mayor’s office is
just a phone call away. Let’s
give our local leaders the
opportunity to do some
good for our hometowns,
and we'll all be betcer off,

Let's think about those
global problems, but let's act
on the local solutions.

‘closest to the proplems, and, °

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