1139 Lonsdale Avenue
North Vancouver, B.C.

PETER SPECK
~ +2 Publisher . :
985-2131 (101).

“Doug Foot.
~ Comptralier."”

Managing Editor.” Sales & Matting Gi
885-2181 (ti) 88611 (319)

ue * ramatns cite

~ pisniaaion Manager"
986-1337 (124) 985-2131 tien

“ forth ‘snore ‘News, founded in 1969 is an
independent suburban newspaper and qualified
under. Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 off the

} Excise Fas Act, is published cach Wedneway,
Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Dress

Ltd, and distributed to every door on the North
*/ Shore, Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail

. Sales* Product ' Agreement “No. 0087238. -?

ms Mailing rates available on request,

. Free Press Lid. :
‘All tights reserved.

Gis aa dohnaon an
| 985-21 31 88) ea if =

a Sept 15 News story.)

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FRENCH
COUNTRIES

aH F100 (#100

@IRICE |

| “quotes of the week

‘North Vancouver RCMP Const.
«Tan Daniels, describing his discov-
_ ery. of three gun-toting youths in

the backyard of a Lynn Valley ~
home. ( From_a Sept. 8 News story.)

4 “Lee McArthur can’t be here .
"tonight because he died while
{waiting for an ambulance on...
Norwood. Perhaps you'd like to
; tall: to his wife about response
; times”. i }

Jim Benistey, during’ debate over
“the proposed Montroyal Connector |
in North Vancouver District. (Fi rom

“This is a dark day for the
North Shore in my opinion.”
>: West Vancouver-Garibaldi MLA
. David Mitchell, on the NDP’s deci-
sion against building a new bridge
we EM bo to replace the First Narrows
‘“He hes'a pair of eyeballs. Crossing. (From a Sept. 8 News
“He’s an amateur, but that doesn’t story.)
* shake me at all. Einstein was a Cte Ee eee
’ guy.that flunked out of math.” 7 :
- North Vancouver video producer
Start Spani, on Dennis Swift, who
has been investigating the possibili-
“ty'that dinosaurs and other prehis-,
toric creatures may have been alive
during Biblical times. (Froma °:
“Sept f 13. News story. ) ’

“From the college of physi-
cians upward ito the pharma-
ceutical industry, you're dealing
: with the biggest crime syndicate
in the world. They make the
Mafia look like a hunch of choir
“ boys.” . :

Therapist Frank Ludde, who

claims to be able to cure ALS, on
the mainstream medical communi-
ty. (From a Sept. 10 News story.)

ee : :
chase was on.” Ae ae

.
zi ‘ . :
i vs ‘

“mailbox: aiens ncaa

‘Standoff at ‘Gestapo Lake’

Dear Editor: ©.
_ Gustafsen Lake has been transformed into Gestapo Lake complete with
army hardware.”

The centuries-old: forever-stalling- never-resolving formula has brought

“the mighty white man ‘to where he yearns to be: his predatory ways on dis-
(play i in front of the modern international community.»

" Barry Wray
Sparwood, B B.C.

news viewpoint

AMONG. TODAY’S worst
headaches are the masses of
people always telling others

how NOT to solve problems,

but never HOW to solve
them. :

T he loudest include opponents
ofjany form of privatized medi-
cine, who doggedly parade the.;.
bogeyman of families bankrupted.

and ruined for life by an uninsured”

week in a U.S. hospital.
Just as doggedly they decline to

_ offer ideas on how to overcome

the unsustainable cost overruns

“and ever-lengthening treatment _
: delays now afflicting medicare.

Nor — despite European experi-
ence,--- will they ever concede |
‘that there might be‘hetpful forms:
‘of privatization completely differ-

‘ent from the heartless, rapacious

American sysiem.
«Bear in mind the objective! to

telieve some of the’curreiit, burden ee

on faedicare by diverting part of
its load to those prepared to pay *
extra for certain types of elective
ureatment — thereby reducing
lineups.’ Private-paying patients
would still pay medicare premi-
ums, just as parents of private
-school students still pay public
school taxes, ©
» Meanwhile, medicare as we |
know it would continue to look

‘after all cases with any. life-threat- -

- ening potential — imminent or
remote.

That would leave private Clinics
to handle, for a fee, such jobs as:

. birth deliveries, abortions, cataract
and orthopedic. operations, cosmet-
vie surgery, high-tech diagnostic ‘

services and non life-threatening.

» emergencies (c.g., a weekend

. sprained ankle whose owner pre-. .
"ferred to spend a quick’$25 at.the

nearby mall clinic rather than wait.”

haifa day in'a crowded hospital
emergency ward)./

. , Current government policy _
backed by widespread fear. of

’ “American medicine — threatens’

to ban private clinics already in”
existence. One major concer is‘.
how far doctors may neglect © |
medicare work in order to concen-'
Arate on more lucrative Private :
patients.

In these days when industries
-must bow to every:kind of govern-
ment regulation, devising safe-

guards against the short-changing
of medicare by money-mad medics .

‘ help.

clinic doctors to quit medicare ©
altogether and take their chance
like any other entrepreneur. If thi
resultant costs pushed their: fees
too high, they'd risk being quickly:
driven out of business through ‘lack:
of an adequate market.

- Alternatively, doctors wishing
to keep private-patient fees to a:
reasonable level by also claiming

. standard medicare fees could § be

treated like “utilities.”

A government-appointed com:
mission would set profit margins.’
and (most importantly) the numbe:

“and types of clinics licensed for

business-at any given. time. — just
as. for example, the CRTC regu-
lates the telephone, broadcasting

and cable. industries; “!

Last year Canadians spent $1

billion for surgery in the.U.S.
: probably reducing medicare line

ups here by at least'14,000

_patients, but also robbing Revenue
¢ Canada of up to $400 million i in.

income tax:
Some Canadians can ‘well

“afford fast double: cataract surgery’;

for $2,500 — just as they can wel
afford BMWs and luxury yachts

“ Euch’of them moves a medicare

cataract patient one place up in th
queue, : :
Medicare today is ‘itself a sick

puppy. Nobody would argue that a

privatized element offers a com-
plete cure. But given PROPER
CONTROLS, there are many indi-
cations that it could definitely.

So go figure. Or else tell us
how YOU would heal the animai
“WRIGHT OR WRONG: .
Failure is Success when you learn;

from it.

©. HOV. or HOV not.

North’ Shore commuters .in- the

wake of announcements made last week

by NDP. premier Mike Harcourt.

‘The NDP’s. Going Places transporta- :

‘tion plan aims to pry cormuters out of
“their single-occupant _ vehicles ‘ (SOVs)

and, relocate them: in _high-occupancy »

_Wehicles (HOVs). =

Express lanes for buses’ and. vehicles
with | three’ or ‘more occupants. are a
major part of the Going Places mix.

‘But for the North Shore, Going | Places a

“doesn't go far enough.:

_ There. will, _for insisinee, ‘be, no new”

That
appears to be the choice. left to’

Burrard Inlet crossing to.augment the

First and Second Narrows bridges. And

no light rapid transit link.

Expect, instead, a. ‘patchwork
upgrade to: the’ woefully, inadequate ,
Lions Gate Bridge. .

_ Expect, also, tolls — on both bridges. :
-to -pay for. the First Narrows upgrade. ..
And expect the institution of HOV lanes

on those bridges.
‘But don’t: expect. much to ease the

North: Shore. rush, hour traffic bottle- ;

‘necks.

“HOV lanes have the ring of the Right“
.. Thing To Do—a soothing s sound to NDE"
government ears. we

‘But they: are only a minor part f the:
answer. |

People will only, get out: of their: car:
when it really pays to ‘do'so. And whei
there are some real alternatives.

-Qn_ the ‘North Shore. a rapid: transi
‘rail link using existing waterfront track
age, could’ be: instituted , ‘with: ‘minimal:
cost and maximum efficiency right now. |

"Coupled with tolls on the’ two inlet.

. bridges and dedicated facility, for bicy
cies and other: alternative forms of!

- transportation, - an ‘efficient light: rapid’
‘transit link to ‘the, North’ Shore ‘would:
draw ‘more: people. Ouitof their: SOVs

than any number of Hov: express lanes Ef