a me a
‘ A LESAN CRNRNURECAETD ICR HEROIN AERA mI

LET’S GIVE the North
Vancouver District Public
_ Library a medal. And while
». we are at it let’s give:
Councillor Ernie Crist a
_ medal, too. Here’s why.

‘Some weeks ago Crist got a res-

| olution through council deploring |
attacks on freedom of speech, And
there’s no need, I hope, to remind

you who is mounting those attacks.
Council agreed to ask the Union. °

of B.C. Municipalities convention
__ (which is next week) to endorse the
“United Nations’ principle of. :..
~ “upholding and defending freedom

"of expression, freedom of the press,

and intellectual freedom."
I wrote a column about Crist’s »:
* move, and (Bingo!) he began to get
“calls. There were references to the
villain of the piece (me) ‘and the
usual doubletalk: “I’m in favor of
» freedom of speech, but ....”.”

But nothing. We either have it or

Wwe don’t.And right now we have'i it
only at considerable risk: Jail and
_fines loom for those who “go: too
fan? VF
‘Some of the alters were miffed
that the North Van library has:
“copies of The Hoax Of The.
Twentieth Century and Confessions
- of a Holocaust Revisionisi, by .
Been: Smith. Both dispute the
six- million story. : ue

The first, especially, is a deeply’ a

- researched effort by Professor :.
Arthur Butz of the U.S. that took
him seveit years to write. And both.
have been reviewed in this Space. «
~Thanks to the usual anti-free
Speech artists, these books.and oth-.

ers like it are banned in Canada. So"

if the Customs people notice them |
at te border or wherever it is that :

It was with some interest Vread :
he Sept:;10 News story regarding ..

the: -hew,. Dorothy Lynas Schoo

. Ar interesting q uote here from.
Einar Carlson, North “Vancouver”.
District, manager: of: permits and.

licences.

“Mr: Carlson blames workload ae

for the delay. > i
There did not seem to be any

~ shortage of time’ when Mr. Carlson

‘e Personally ‘got involved with my
Sunroom permit. I received a four-
<page * letter. from” Mr.

“sunroom would be $4,000.
. Seems to me that‘_he must have
taken some time off to complete’ a
creative writing course also. ;

Carlson, along with his. senior «
plan checker, seemed to have had
alot‘ of. time:on their hands to:

crush - a , building: permit for: my.
_we would be favoring, cattle- ranch-

sunroom. wa

TP would like to apologize to ‘the.
arents of the. children’ ‘for the |

‘are but/it: would seem that the

district of North Vancouver has its

’ priorities. aan meas
‘Brock. Davidson |
North Vancouver.
ebre k-davidso @mindlin. be.ca

Carlson :
explaining: to mevin great. 1500
“why my: pérmit:fees for a $1, 500 ©

cd “Ube, 0

Collins

aber hand

won t be delivered. ‘But | possession
as such is not a crime. | have copies
ef both.

After receiving the complaints,
_ Crist asked the library whether it

y ;had a policy on such books. He

if ir “that might be illegal but made it |

"didn't want to support something «.

clear that if it was illegal he would
ask the library to take the books off
the shelf. And then start a campaign ;

° ‘to get the law changed.

- B.G. Thompson of. the library’ Ss
‘adult collections section was well -.
aware that some people would like .;

- "to see such books burned, but came

back with this answer:

“The library supports the view
that materials in our collection
should represent, as far as possible, *
a wide range of opinions and differ-
ent sides of controversial issues.

“For this reason, library collec-
‘tions will include items which some
‘individuals may consider to be
_ unconventional, unpopular, or unac-
‘ceptable,

““To the best of our knowledge,
the two titles in question are the
only volumes in the collection
"Which deny or question the  Signifi-

ao

bea

& = uN e a ay
& Sy i et 7 Ee
3 at yy pet

rescue

cance of the Holocaust.
“By contrast, the library carries
at least 145 titles (books and

videos) which aver the Holocaust as.. §

an unquestioned historical event.

“We do not endorse every idea
found in the collection, but we do
believe that the public should be
given the opportunity to make its
own assessment of controversial :
materials.

“For the foregoing i reason, and
despite the Canada Customs’ ruling
regarding importation, it is the
library's decision that the books at
issue should remain on the shelves.”

Couldn't have put it better’.
myself. | said almost exactly. the
same thing at the famous Press‘,
Council hearing at which Lionel

Kenner of North Van held me up as

“a sinner.
It remains, however, that some ~
people (“I like free speech, but... "):
cannot tolerate the slightest devia-

tion from what they consider to be 4

Holy Writ.

The Spanish Inquisition thought .
the same way.

Ivis pleasant to record that the :
Canadian Library Association also
has a policy on intellectual freedom.
[t reads in part as follows:

“All persons in Canada have the

; fundamental tights;as embodied in
the nation’s Bill of Rights and the =~

Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, to have access to all
expressions of knowledge, creativi-,

_ ty and intellectual activity, and to
. express their thoughts publicly. |

“This right to intellectual free-
dom, under the law, is essential to
‘the health and development of -
Canadian society.

Let's hope sonicone tells the

. NDP and the Canadian Jewish

Congress about that.

| imaitbox | |

-" FLOOBNER...
YOURE A GENIUS, .

-Gustafsen

Dear Editor: bas :
If Mother Earth's best’ interests
were . uppermost. during :. : this
Gustafsen Lake affair. it’s unlikely

ing over sun-dancing. ‘
Albert : Einstein, a’ Vegetarian,
said, “The best thing one can do’ for

: the planet is to become a vegetarian.”
“ He would be shocked to leam that «.,;

we permit a cattle-rancher to control

“miles of land —-in light of what we“:

now know about ; the: deleterious’

beef aired

effect of beef production on the envi-
.tonment and ‘the harmful ‘effect of?

‘high beef consumption on our bod-

‘jes. (It is a cause of the major dis-
eases.) :

«in the history of humian enterpris-

“es and wars, environmental impact:

has rarely been -a consideration.

’ However, .scientists warn that we're:

doomed if we continue disregarding
it’. core

‘June Black:

“Vancouver i 70°".
ean

43h

ewe

aa

WAR or
Sirians

ee

Wednesday, September 27,— North Shore News = 7

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