6 - Friday, December 15, 1989 - North Shore News INSIGHTS Miaybe terminal loyalty now Socreds’ best bet! ANYONE SUGGESTING three months ago that the tweedy pipe-smokers and low-heeled matrons of Oak Bay-Gordon Head could ever embrace the socialist horde, would have been deemed certifiable. Now, by giving a slender major- ity to the NDP’s Elizabeth Cull, former Attorney General Brian Smith’s riding has shown that Socreds under Bill Vander Zaim no longer have any safe seat. This may not be entirely fair to the Premier in view of the positive economic and financial record of his government. But the aburtion issue, some faulty personal judg- ments and his politically naive habit of thinking aloud appear to have damaged him beyond hope of repair. Moreover — after six straight humiliations, three in former Socred bastions —~ the problem is no longer just Vander Zalm. For the loyalists, who at last recognize that he must quit or be dumped, the moment of truth has almost certainly come too late. In either case the party has forfeited its credibility by failing to face FAMILY DRESS-UP PARTY...Nortls Yan schoo} students at last year’s realities earlier. With a general election looming, the Socreds have too little time left to win back the trust of the voters whose warnings they’ve repeatedly ignored. If Vander Zalm doesn’t resign, it might therefore be a sounder long term strategy to stay with him and accept temporary defeat, regroup afterwards and wait for Mike Har- court’s government to hang itself like Dave Barrett's. Disloyalty clearly doesn’t guar- antee the respect of voters, even those who endorse the reasons for it. How can you trust a candidate who can’t be trusted by his or her own leader? One wonders how far this factor in Oak Bay helped to defeat Socred Susan Brice, who was panicked into premier-bashing late in her campaign. She might have done better sticking with local sewer problems. Nothing can now make any dif- cz Photo submitted Winter Family Ba‘l organized by North Shore Family Services. NE s Seas the environment. Ban burning ECOMMENDATIONS by a West Vancouver task force to allow outdoor burning in the municipality for the next three years before considering banning the practice and to increase the number of outdoor burning days during that time run counter to current public awareness and concern about They also suffer from the same hazy outlook created by the practice they seek to perpetuate. If adopted, the recommendations weuld set West Vancouver aside as a kind of residential air pollution preserve on the North Shore, and defeat in part the ef- forts of neighboring North Vancouver District, which has already had the backbone to ban outdoor residen- tial burning within its boundaries, to keep North Shore air clear of smoke from residential bonfires. While West Vancouver has displayed progressive at- titutes towards such matters as recycling, it obviously has a blind spot for backyard burning. While its residents are quick to condemn the air pollution produced by Howe Sound pulp mills, they seem to revel in what they appear to perceive as their God-given West Vancouver right to burn household waste and thereby pollute the municipality’s air. The pall that settles over West Vancouver on its des- ignated burning days should be enough to convince anyone who cares about the environment beyond his own backyard that the practice of burning backyard rubbish is an archaic holdover from days when pollu- tion of our air and water was considered the price of progress and the prerogative of modern man. ference to Wednesday’s blunt message. So terminal loyalty, if required, to their acclaimed leader could be the Socreds’ best ‘‘dam- age control” option for the 1990s. That would at least be credible! tne DATELINES: Still pondering over a Christmas treat for the whole family? Cali Ariene Gladstone at 988-5281 before 4 P.M. TODAY, FRIDAY, for any remaining tick- ets to the North Shore Family Ser- vices’ annual Winter Family Ball this Sunday, Dec. 17, at the Hyatt Regency. The dress-up fun affair (black tie optional) runs from 5 p.m. to 1 p.m., with dinner at 6:45 before the dancing, and the tab comes to only $27 a head — *cos $23 of the $50 charge is tax- deductible ... *‘First Night’? — Vancouver's big downtown New Year’s Eve party — still needs vol- unteer ushers, ticket clerks and se- curity folk at this family celebra- tion of the arts. Call Cathy Jackson, 681-8182, if you'd like to help host the fun ... Bundle up and bring a flashlight for the Carat Ships parade at 7 p.m. tonight, Dec. 15, past Waterfront Park and at 9 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, along the Cates Park-Deep Cove shoreline. Song sheets will be available and Food Bank dona- tions welcomed ... And Sunday, Dec. 17, from 7:30 p.m. it’s West Van's turn, when the colorful fleet sails past Ambleside and Dun- darave to Point Atkinson. knee WRIGHT OR WRONG: None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm. Publisher Press Ltd and distributed to eve envelooc. beeen eee Peter Speck Managing Editor... Barrett Fisher Classified Advertising one se Hi YY . Newsroom .' Associate Editor .... . Noel ‘Wright Distribution 986-1337 Advertising Director Linda Stewart Sbeetinn Porat Subscriptions 986-1337 SUNDAY + WEDNESDAY = @NIDAY Fax 985.3227 jorth Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent subutban newspaper and qualilied under Schedule 111, Parag’aph II! of the Excise Tax Act. is published each Wednesday. Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free ry door on tne North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885 Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome bul we cannot accept responsibilty for unsoleied matenal including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed Phote submitted BEAR-ING GREETINGS...B.C. Children’s Hospital mascot Sunny Bear checks the work of volunteers at the 35-tree Festival of Trees in aid of the hospital at the Four Seasons Hotel. With bim, Festival chairwoman Deanna Turton (seated) and committee member Daphne Cole. Display Advertising 980-0511 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 §9,170 (average, Wednesday Friday & Sunday) oie SDA DIVISION MEMBER —————————— sm G