i LEE pt ins iy NICE LITILE PLACE, -ANTILTRE NEW TENANTS {MOVED IN SIK YEARS AGO... INSIGHTS Fantasy soap opera ceasing to be relevant gyn S Uf” THE LATEST “‘revelations’’ last week about the sale of Fantasy Gardens by Bil! and Lillian Vander Zalm clearly fascinate many c: the media and the NDP. oa SES many EST VANCOUVER District Council hes decided to pay some much-needed attention to the parking problems of the community’s dis- abled people. But the plight of people who have limited mobility results, in large part, from the inability of their fully-mobile counter- parts to empathize with the day-to-day ' chailenges faced by the disabied. . It can be seen on an individual level, , where able-bodied but lazy drivers use parking spots clearly marked for the use of disabled people only, and on the societal level, where restaurants, stores, and cther public buildings are routinely designed a with little thought to providing full access a for the disabled. NEWS VIEWPOINT | Enable the disabled Both situations are detrimental to everyone, not just the disabled. When gaining access to transpertation, parking and buildings becomes too dif- ficult, disabled people are discouraged from actively participating in public af- fairs. We thus lose their perspectives and skills in arenas where their voices would be a beneficial component in decision-making and their talents ar integral contribution to project planning and implementation. If each of us became aware of and responsive to the needs of all groups within our community, the result would be not only 2 more compassionate society, but a much stronger and more successful one. a LETTER OF THE DAY = —_ Lautens should rethink labels o. ‘ Dear Editor: The distortions and blatant un- truths in Trevor Lautens’ Feb. 1 column cannot go unanswered. The name ‘peace fascist’ must ; come as a great surprise to the oe caring, community-minded, pro- fessional men and women who make up a large segment of the anti-war groups, many of them veterans. Lautens implies that they : are naive dupes to a sinister fac- ‘ tion who are somewhere pulling : the strings behind the peace movement. It is, however, his total lack of compassion for the victims of war that is so disturbing. Added to this is Mr. Lautens’ disregard of the Gulf region’s politica! com- plexity and what will happen ia , Publisher.......... ....Peter Speck Display Advertising 980-0511 Disinbuticn 986-1337 : Managing Editor .. Timothy Renshaw Real Esiate Advertising; 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-1337 managed Associate Editor....... ,Noel Wright Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 985-3227 Faw Advertising Director _. Linda Stewart Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2131 Comptroller....... the aftermath of this war. The argument is not against a military presence, but against the United Nations deadline, or- chestrated by President Bush. Saddam Hussein clearly stated what he would do, so why is there so much surprise because he has acted on some of his threats? For how long should sanctions have been tried? According to the Washington based Institute for International Economics, no more than two to three years to be fully effective. Tight policing would have prevented Hussein from obtaining more weapons. Mr. Lautens asks who would be hurt most by these sanctions. Obviously the people under Hussein’s rule — but given a choice they would surely have ...... Doug Foot preferred this to the death and destruction being inflicted on ci- vilians. Our leaders had a chance to prove how the ‘new order’ meant a rejection of war as a means to settle conflict. Instead they chose the old way, so we must begin again to rebuild ruined cities and care for the refugees. It is a pity that in his haste to condemn peace activists, Mr. Lautens has ignored all these fac- tors. Ray Eagle Pru Moore Steve Macdonald Patricia 'MicClung Mary McCrea Sean Gelwicks West Vancouver Whether the same can be said of the average British Columbian is doubtful in the extreme. Little, if anything, of substance has been added to what he/she already knew or sensed. Documents made public in a separate civi) case against realtor Faye Leung finally provided writ- ten, signed proof of the Premier's intimate involvement in the sale. Nothing new there, however. He’s already publicly admitted his in- volvement, pointing cut that’s how loving husbands and wives operate. The documents also reveal Lillian Vander Zalm's written suggestion that hubby, the Premier, would be glad to in- troduce the Taiwanese purchasers to influential B.C. business con- tacts. The public, which is far from dumb, figured that out for itself six months ago. What else was it to conclude from the red carpet treatment — receptions, press conferences, high-profile meetings and lunch with the Lieutenant-Governor — accorded to Asiaworld principal Emilia (Bien Bien) Roxas when she arrived to sign the sale papers last September? The single fresh item in the court papers is a hint of con- templated — but as yet unproven — real estate commission-split- ting. So now it has all been dumped in the lap of conflict-of-interest commissioner Ted Hughes, who has to decide whether the Premier’s private business tangled with his public duty. But whatever the verdict, the Socreds have less to lose politically than the New Democrats. if Vander Zalm is exonerated, Mike Harcourt — having flogged the Fantasy Gardens ‘‘scandal’’ so hard for so long — will be forced to rewrite a large part of the NDP election campaign. If, on the other hand, the Premier is found to have been in conflict, the likeliest public reac- tion is a yawn. The fact that he himself has ini- tiated the inquiry protects him, it seems, from any penalty — which can be recommended by the commissioners only if the com- plaint comes from another MLA. Nor — after the fizzling of January’s abortive ‘‘revolt”’ — is there any doubt about Vander Zalm’s solid core of Socred grassroots supporters. By the time Hughes reports in mid to late March, the election .HITHER AND YON Noel Wright will be much too imminent to jet- tison that party unity. It will be a matter of damn the torpedoes — all hands to the pumps. - Meanwhile, B.C.’s average Joe and Joan, fully aware of all the above, now have far weightier things on their mind. They’re looking for a government that can curb soaring unemployment, keep down taxes, deal fairly but firmly with native land claims and speak for them effectively in the na- tional free-for-all to save Canada itself from collapsing. Those are the gut election issues — not Vander Zalm signatures on bits of paper in the increasingly irrelevant and boring Fantasy Gardens soap opera. eee DATELINES: Heritage Month once more and only two days left to grab any places remaining at the Heritage Celebration Tea, 2° p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, aboard the Seven Seas Restaurant — spon- sored by North Van City. Call 983-7351 for $8 tickets and pick them up by Friday ... Latest fun event by the folk who put the fun back into politics happens Friday, Feb. 22, at West Van’s Dundarave Cafe — the Capilano-Howe Sound Reform Party’s $20 Pub Night and Dinner with sing-along, darts and live entertainment. Call Miriam MacDougall, 922-5341, for tickets ... And red-circle Saturday, Match 2, for the ‘Duck Ball’’ at West Van ‘Y’ — a dinner-dance counidown to Rotary’s March 10 Great Capilano River Duck Race. Call 926-5541 or 986-0388 for in- fo, tickets. eee WRIGHT OR WRONG: Hugging illusions is definitely not the best way to embrace opportunity. North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban nevsspaper and qualified under Schedule 111. Paragraph fil of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Maiting rates available on request. Submissions are wetcome but we cannot sccept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a Stamped, addressed envelope. MEMBER aN a SY <=> SUNDAT s WROWELUAT | TRERY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 SDA DIVISION HARCOURT... will NDP election campaign have to be rewritten. damn the hands to the VANDER ZALM... torpedoes, all pumps. 61,582 (average cuculation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved.