6 - Wednesday, March 25, 1987 - North Share News News Viewpoint Expo's working D economy. Last’) year’s six-month on’t knock Expo 86 (00 soon. ing signs that it was no mere flash in the pan in relation to the long term future of the B.C. world fair There are grow- itself brought visitors from ail over the world flocking to Vancouver, a majority for the first time. They included nearly 700,000 from Pacific Rim countries alone awn average increase of 48 per cent, As a result, the 1986 Vancouver hotel occupancy rate, 75 per cent over the year, topped that of every other major Canadian city, despite the fact that Van- couver’s average hotel room rate of almost $85 had in- flated 38 per cent over the previous yeer and was again the top in Canada. Rates are expected to drop back this year, but the 1986 peak doesn’t seem to have scared away business. Tourist industry information ‘to date points to another high volume of summer visitors, particularly from Asia and Europe. Meanwhile, Vancouver now seems virtually certain to snatch a major 1990 convention — the Pacific Asia Travei Association — from competing Hong Kong and India. Aside from bringing here some 2,000 delegates, the convention will also be a get-together of leading travel industry figures from around the world. They'll carry the message about B.C. back to their customers globewide. Maybe Expo didn’t solve economic problems over- night, but at least it appears to have done one job well — as the catalyst for setting tourism on the path to becoming our No.1 industry in the not too distant future. Noel Wright ® wednesday world @ TEACHING MANNERS doesn’t have to be a stuffy business. West Van’s Mai Mackenzie and her well-qualified staff know how to make it fun. She’s director of West Van Finishing Schoo! at 1069 24th St. Launched: last fall it provides courses in social graces for school students,’ business etiquette for business’ people and personal development for adults. All three aim to enhance.interpersonal skills that cin give you the edge in to- day’s competitive world. British- born Mai’s knowledge of her; subject comes from many cujtures, She spent 10 years as an international flight attendant and flight attendant training manager — and she lived for 12 years in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Her intimate understanding of Pacific Rim peo- ples and lifestyles is 7. specially valuable feature of her course for executives aiming at that market (learn to bow and remove your shoes in Japan!). Saturday morning we watched Mai inducting a junior school class into the mysteries of a formally laid dinner table, how gentlemen greet and seat ladies and the serv- ing order. Lots of happy laughter among the serious stuff. The kids were lapping it up. Public speaking, cuisine, diet, wine know-how, floral art, fashion coordination, skin care, make-up and financial management are -all included in the senior courses. A little polish on, your undoubted gold, Mai believes, can make all DAVID BAR-ILLAN * . keyboard maesiro. : [LETTER OF THE DAY \MP’s analysis of |capital punishment lissue ‘misleading’ SUNDAY » WED 1139 Lonsdale Avo. North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 §B8,287 Lavetage Wadnesiday . Paddy & Sutusapt Display Advertising 980-0511 Classitied Adverlising 986-6222 Nowsroom 985-2191 Distribution 986.1337 Subscriptions 986-1337 Marth Shore News, bee dee Are SDA DIVO AS500HENMO?. suis AODOLARS... CMONNOWTH SSAA, the a'fference to where you get in life. > ¢ & FOR NEXTDOOR NEIGHBORS of the North Shore News on Lonsdale it’s a big year. Capt. Tom Oldfield and his colleagues everywhere in the province are celebrating a century of service in B.C. by the Salvation Army — whose first four poke-bonneted “Hallelujah lJassies"’ arrived here with their flag, drum and tam- borine in 1887. Since those carliest meetings in a Carrail Street barn the Sally Ann’s activities have expanded hundred- fold. Just a few figures from last year: 40,670 people using its 24- hour Cordova Street drop-in; 122,817 free meals at its Harbour Light Centre; 54,630 resident-days accommodation for destitute seniors; food and clothing (in- cluding Christmas help) for nearly 10,000 families; 17,742 court and institution interviews; 3,272 prison visits; 3,730 days of care for abus- ed women and children; 7,961 babies born in Grace Hospital. These examples don't represent even half its services but they’re a good reason — when the Red Shield canvasser knocks on your door during this spring's centenni- al fund appeal — to remember the Sally Ann’s own pledge: ‘‘No one is ever turned away’’. *, * . “SECOND BESTS” don’t interest North Shore Community Concerts which is keeping up its reputation for bringing world-class talent to our own North Van Centennial Theatre by presenting, April 6 at 8:30 p.m., renowned Israeli pianist Dear Editor: A special edition of the Parliamentary Report entitled Capital Punishment, signed by Mary Collins, MP, came to my door recently. Presumably everybody in her Capilano riding got a copy. In it she purports to set forth the pros and cons of capital punish- ment objectively, with no bias either way. The statistics she at- taches are highly misleading, how- ever. She gives a list of homicides per year committed in Canada from 1962 to 1985, showing no great change in the rate since 1976, when the death penalty was abolished. What she doesn't tell us is that there have been no executions at David Bar-illan. He’s performed with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein and vir- tually every other major American and European orchestra — in- cluding the Amsterdam Concer- tgebouw, the Vienna Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Swiss Festival Orchestra of Lucerne — in addition to making many’ prize-winning recordings. Admission is to NSCC society members only (five-concert season subscription a modest $35). Call Ernie Timbers, 988-8696, Norma Porter, 988-4636 or Mary Pool, 987-1184 for info, * 4 POSTSCRIPTS: Fair play for “SEAT THE LADY FIRST” ... Publisher: Editor-in-Chiet Managing Editor Advartising Director Peter Spec Noel Viraght Barret! Fisher Linda Stewart Entre contents 198? North Shore Free Press Lid All nghts reserved British immigrants entitled to benefit from the U.K. pension scheme is the goal of the British Pensioners Association which estimates there may be up to 56,000 ex-Brits in Canada who aren’t even aware they have an en- titlement. For those who already receive British pensions, the BPA is also campaigning to have them indexed (presently they’re frozen at the date of emigrating). If all this is news to ex-Brits who've at one time paid into the U.K. scheme, they should call area rep Ron Davie at 929-3930 ... And please, says Isobel Colpitts, don’t forget West Van Legion’s special blood donor clinic Friday (March 27), 2 to 8 p.m. in Park Royal North. Mai Mackenzie introduces young deportment students to the formal dinner party ritual. all in Canada since 1962. In fact, there have been only four since 1956. She would have to include the years before 1956 for us to be able to draw any worthwhile con- clusions. : Likewise, her statistics on police officers murdered in Canada since 1962 mean nothing. She compares the homicide rates in Canada and the USA from 1980 to 1985, showing the rate in Canada to be only about a quarter of that in the USA despite the death penalty being legal in some States. 1, The USA has a much higher rate of violent crimes of all sorts. She would have to show that murder as a _per cent of violent 2. She ought to have given the rates of homicides ‘in the USA be- fore as well as after the death penalty was re-introduced, if possible limited to those states that have it. Mary Collins, whose personal bias is against capital punishment, announced that she would put her personal feelings aside and be guided by the wishes of her con- Stituents. It doesn’t become her, under the cover of this straightforward stance, to present for their guidance statistics’ that are, at best, carelessly selected, and, at worst, deliberately selected to mislead. Richard B. Hermon North Vancouver