Late for schoa

orth Vancouver District 44
should get a late slip.

The much anticipated renovations
to select dilapidated schools in North
Vancouver District 44 were not com-
pleted by the start of school. A couple
of deadlines are way off the mark, but
what’s the worry? It’s only the unac-
countable public school system. No
one seems to be ultimately responsi-
ble for how swell it runs.

In 1998, when the renovation

_money was first approved by the
provincial government, completion
dates were set for late 1999, spring
2000 and September 2000. Four days
ago, the so-called first day of school,
(really an hour or so} took place for
many confused school children and
their disappointed parents. Students

——VIEW

tion material and find their way down
poorly lit halls. Students and their
parents expected spacious, refur-
bished buildings without portables.
Was anyone really surprised?

One school trustee promised last
week thar the work sites of learning
are safe and the inconvenience will be
well worth it in the end. The end is
projected “soon” for Capilano,
Lonsdale, Sherwood Park, Argyle
and Handsworth schools. Others
such as Braemar and Upper Lynn are
now supposed to be ready in the
spring.

We can only hope that the $17 mil-
lion worth of renovations to the
buildings will improve the quality of
lite in the crowded schools. Right
now unfertunately, far too many stu-

_ dents are fearning why it is important

to be on time.

POINT——

15 ‘ NO, !
WaT? an? Feu. THINK (T'S
ip THAT | AG,
AN “S“?

THIS THE
LATEST LST OF -
DEMANDS FROM fF?

Ne DOCTORS? AEG

NO. :
LOOKS MORE
LUKE AN “R®

To ME...

THe Bieeesr STUMBLING” BLOCK IN NEGOTIA ATIONS

had to manoscuvre around construc-

maithex

- Residents should
bear-proof trash

: Dear Editor:
.. Re: “Scare-bear kits unused,” North Shore News, Aug.

‘25:- .

: etty ‘Carrington and the Black Bear Task Force deserve
a great deal of credit for their efforts in helping North Shore
residents: achieve a peaceful coexistence with their wild
neighbors. It’s unfortunate however that more residents

i "t deing thcir part to help keep garbage out of the reach

When my family and I moved to Deep Cove in June, we
“were told by our neighbors shat’ biack bears were common
in our Myrde Park neighborhoed. So we were surprised to
‘see the large number of residents here in the Cove who con-

te place their garbage at the curb the night before their
livery. We're: also surprised at the number of people who
ist cn storing their garbage in-a backyard or side yard,
roviding an easy meal for bears and a reason for them to
eturn and become a threat to > people.

‘When we ‘spotted our first bear in Myrtle Park this sum-
mer, we began storing our own bins in our garage where
they will remain until winter. We also keep our bins inside

¢ morning of our delivery. We've had a few near
hisses with the garbage truck, but we feel this is a small price

y for the safety of ourselves and the bears who struggle -

p
gainst continued human encroachment on their habitat.
A black’ bear on the North Shore is not dangerous until
‘it comes to view humans as a potential source for food. For
this r “Feason, the District of North Vancouver should set an

founded in 1969asan dependent

newspaper and qualified under Schedule
Paragraph 111 at the Excise Tax Act, is published
\ snes), ‘ray and Sunday 4 HEN

. Publications Halt Sales “Product hy: eement No.
2 0087238. : wae sed ovata. on tequest. Entice

Newsroom Editor
985-2131 (116)

IT’S an outrage. A double out-
rage.

When are the ministry of the environ-
ment and the RCMP going to get serious
about bear protection?

North Vancouver
RCMP have scare-bear
kits right at hand.

They've had them at
least since February —

10 of them.

But, as Katharine °
Hamer of the North
Shore News reports, as
of Aug. 25 the wo offi-
cers slated for training in
their use hadn't been so ‘
trained. No time for it.

Result: Two young bears in Deep Cove
added to the kill fist. More horrified wit-.
nesses to the slaughter, which especially
upsets young children.

How likely is a bear attack? Last time I

looked at StstsCanada figures, they showed

that you're more fikely to be killed by
lightning than by a bear.

The odds are right down there with
death from bee or wasp stings.

Yet the'slayings of hungry bears in
Lower Mainland gardens and back-alleys
continues. Last year’ s toll was more than

The goals of B.C.*s Bear Watch and
local activists like Betty Carrington, Larry
Rieke and Evelyn Kirkaldy are admirable.

Bear attacks are always hugely pubti-

cized. They appeal to the primal fear in

everyone. Almost all are followed by a
vengeance grimly tracking down the
suspect and killing it. Then they ride back

‘to town with self-satisfaction, frontier “jus-

tice” for an animal that is incapable of

forming ethical notions smugly fuliilled.

eecn ae

courititoy "cepa
Terry Peters
Editoria! Manager
985-2131 (160)
Spetersensnews.com

General Manager
985-2131 (133)
dlootgnsners.com

‘Valerie

Meee e eco ccanseveneneosecenscccsneosoesessoess

Pautans

BETWEEN THE PROVINCE AND B.C Doctors

Bear killings sicken, outrage

T honour one victim of a grizzly's attack
a couple of years ago whe argued against
any such retribution: The attack was his
own fault, he said, the bear just did what
comes naturally.

And the public should
strongly support New
Democratic Party
Tourism Minister lan
Waddell’s personal pref-
erence to end legal griz-
aly hunting, except for
food by locals. The idea
of big-game trophy
hunting is sickening, an
unmanly act by anyone
with a claim to being
emotionally an adult.
Too disgusting for words
is the insanely profitable international ille-
gal trade in bear parts, especially for gall
bladders, which some Asian males fudi-
crously seck to improve their sexual perfor-
mance.

Under public pressure, investigation
and punishment of those raking 7 in this
scoundrel trade has been step;

‘The most stomach-turning, =phic, 7
and well-documented expose of this comi-
merce that I've encountered is “From
Forest to Pharmacy,” published in 1996 by
The Investigative Network, the Humane
Society of ‘the United States, and Humane
Society International, all based in
Washington, D.C.

Ic found that South Korea was probably
the biggest consumer of bear gall, and that
Korean nationals are involved in “the vast
Majority” of iilegal bear gall cases in North
America. The bladder for which the
huntes/poacher is paid $50 is sold to the
Asian consumer for thousands.

And, says the report, “the bear parts
wade is of no concern whatsoever

Wor

garien
of biases

> LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include your *

name, full address. and telephone number. :
bmi Wa e-tall T@nsnews.com

Timothy Renshaw * -
Executive Editor

Classified Manager
938-6222 (202)

rmost ~*

a and customs agencies in Asia.”

(Interpol said ‘flobal illegal traffic in wildlife | 7 i a

is worth $6 billion — second in yalue only
to the illegal drug trade.) ’
Yes, reader — my suspicious ficde mind |
often working overtime — I wonder ..
whether any miscreant has ever surrepti- .

‘tiously followed the dispc3al of our ay .

slain bear carcasses and removed the’ valued ©

parts. . an a

It does make you wonder. -

I admit to being marked forever by’. >:
reading, at a tender age, Ernest Thompson ‘
Seton's Monarch the Big Bear, the tale of a:
huge grizzly captured in the. Lake Tahoe
area of California and penned for human”:

" amusement. Nearly 60 years later those”:

early i imp: ressions still an, pos to i sol
t for animals (and. my less-
than-soft- -spot for matin

The very words ve Raiwind Power.
Project” doubtless are still odious in sonie

warters, evoking tuo-fresh memezies of

¢ joint venture by a B.C. Hydro sub-
sidiary to build a power plant in Pakistan
— touching off the far-reaching turmoil
called the Hydrogate affair... .

As I've told readers, I myself was an
outsider offered an insider's purchase of a.
share ($25,060 US) in the venture. I even
tually backed off and kept my money: in my
pocket, musing that Pakistan was
— or reliable — place for investment. *:

Which was underlined by a ieminder in
The Wall Street Journal for Aug. Last;
year 49 members of the Pakistani
Parliament, including the deputy speaker :
and a cabinet minister, were
stealing, power from tite state-run power
company. ;

British Columbians w were hacky to get

dinisctin :

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