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Distribution Manager:

° eine (124) $05-2131 cay

ell

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North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an
independent suburban newspaper and qualified

‘under Schedule 111, Paragraph 11 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, Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail
Sales Product, Agreement No, 0087238.
Mailing rates available on request,

995-3227

» Enlire contents. :
© 1995 North Shore
‘Free Press Lid.

(203) 986-6222 (22).

“Terry Peters || -
’ Photography Manager
Seat (218) 985-2131 (165)

a

PRL RS eis

You CAN'T WAIT, For A Fvo-TeReD
‘System, NO, You've oT To
TRY AND Sume “Wie Queue NOW

HE GUSTAFSEN Lake » standoff
between armed. militants and RCMP
: offi icers has, once again,’ polarized
_ national opinion on native land claims.

* But. unlike the Oka incident — in which an |

“RCMP officer was shot and killed during the
Kanasatake Mohawks’ occupation. of a. pine”
‘forest slated-for a golf course development —
the Gustafsen Lake occupiers have'no histor-
ical claim to’the land. Unless, of course, you
"believe, that all of the land in Canada belongs:
_to the original inhabitants.

-And because the occupants have no claim
* to. the land — and no support from the local
‘native band, the Cariboo Tribal Council.—
- public opinion has sided with the RCMP.

! And for good reason. | ; ;

| When two. RCMP officers — escorting

svorlers clearing trees felled by the occupiers &
—_ were shot in ne, back by natives using wa

pe : }!

gal automatic weapons, ‘all bets were off.
Native ‘claims to live under no law but their

own ring ‘hollow: when, they attempt fo kill

members of our national police force (or, for
that matter, any Canadian citizen). Such was
the case in Oka and such is the case here.’

-. The actions of the renegade. natives holed .
. up in Gustafsen Lake serve no cause but their

own misguided view on how to shape their
external reality.

Further, they do their own cause — pre-
.. sumably: -to settle land disputes —_ - great dam-
age by such actions.

The rest of Canada has to be asking itself:

Is this how natives: will settie disputes within .
their own communities? With the law. of the’
"grin? By taking what is not theirs by: force and

intimidation?

this 1 mess to begin with.

Enforce the |

WHATEVER THE immedi-
ate Jessons of Gustafsen

ie Lake, the debate on how to

. example, police action may now

handle such explosive law-’
_ breaking situations is far |

from over.

Simple citizens may hitherto
have assumed that anyone engag-
ing in criminal activity would —
once identified — be swiftly
deterred and brought before a
court. That such action would be

"taken regardless of the accused's ©

identity. And that spr ed would be
of the essence. ff

Law enforcement today has lost’
some of that basic simplicity. For’

“depend on how many oxen are much.

hardly anyone is being bothered

us nobody gets hunt. The last thing -
we want is another Oka, right?

With law enforcement. however, '
~~ armed criminals is NOT an ‘option

Uiming is as important as action.
The fonger offenders —. once
clearly identified and available for
arrest — can thumb their noses at
police on the other side of the bar-
ricade, the likelier the law is to be
flouted again and again.

Which i is now happening with
our “two-tier” enforcement system
— swilt for whites, hesitant and
restrained for native lawbreakers,

True, being machine-gunned by: / -

ambushing fanatics is no laughing;
matter, But even less so is the sur- ;
render of society to anarchy, And
since anarchiy is the bottom-line /
threatened by such situations as;

n

That’s the kind of thinking that t got us s into

gored.

“Throw up'a roadblock on a
remote Cariboo ranch and a dozen ,
voters are inconvenienced. Do the
same on the Lions Gate Bridge and

90,000 voters will be screaming
for‘action. So the latter must be *
torn down — with whatever force

needed — as quickly as the police .

can reach it. But with that litte
annoyance upcountry the cops can
relax and lake their time, After all,

renee

rlereee

Then again, it now all depends
on WHO's being naughty. If he’s
white, grab him,*cuff him and
load him into the paddy wagon as
fast as you can, He can do his talk-
ing later to the judge.

But if he’s Indian — ‘especially
one with a gun — you'd better talk
to him nicely while you decide
‘whether you're going to do any-

should beyond that. Oh sure, the Taw

‘Gustafsen Lake, law enforcement

has no option but to revert to basic

principles—deterrence and arrest of

offenders AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Starting, of course, with ‘any

‘non-lethal action practical (cut off

supply lines, tear gas, stun
grenades, rubber bullets, etc.), But
in the end the job must be com-

: pleted at whatever cost — right

up to assault, if unavoidable, by

the armed forces, ma

: and 80, but enemi

LENE ATA LIRA ate at EA EHS AAA LOMO RIES DIDS

No thanks
tonew —
call return.

Dear Editor:
1 am_sure that many readers .
like me, the parent of '90s tele-
phonic teenagers, check the |
long distance charges’ immedi-
ately after, the ‘phone’ bill”
arrives. | wonder how many of
» these peopie are just as scrupu-*
lous about checking their addi-
tional charges. :
Enclosed with my May B.C.
Tel bill was a notice about-a
new service called “call return.” ..
Just hit #69 and. voila, the last
caller's number. will be dialed
automatically. In the age - of-
answering machines and, voice.
mail, this sounded like overkill -
and I thought no more about it:.
But guess what folks, unlike’
“call alert” etc., you don’t have |
to order this feature to be able™
to use it, ‘although you™ can:
request . the service ‘to ‘be -
blocked — a small: detail ‘not’
included in the _ notice “I;
_received. a ae

’ Cable beli?

Unfortunately for: “me; ‘this :
teenager's dream come true had.
already. been discovered by my:

. daughters i in March. Since ‘the
they had used “call return” with
joy and total ‘abandon — bliss

_ fully ignorant that there. was:
charge for the service...

In my book B.C. Te! appears
to be counting on the’ fact tha

. people don’t check their bill
closely.:

' . B.C. Tel refused’ id! ‘reverse :
the charges on: my March’ ‘and
April bills, : because “I! shoul
have ‘complained: sooner.
Strange logic considering their

~ notice about the : service did no

» arrive until May...

Perhaps . B.C. ; Tel: “shoule
spend a little less on their cost-":

~ ly advertising and a little more o
on enlightening their’ “unsus-’
pecting customers, 2).
Valerie Robinson |!" :
West Vancouver. .

Moreover, the. longer the delay,
‘the tougher the job.’And except. in:
hostage cases, negotiation with «:

Major beneficiaries of firm...
swift enforcement-would be the
vast majority of law-abiding ©) -*: °
Indians, whose legitimate causes ©.
are being so badly damaged by”,

_ ny criminal groups.

-Plus, Sgt. Preston himself, who
is wondering what he's supposed °
“to do next about the latest handful
“of thugs defying him across § the

roadblock! i
: ee e

A FAMED Austrian choir,
Singgemeinschaft Oisternig,
sings with our North Shore ©
' Chorus Sunday, Sept.'3, at 7:30 =
p-m.'in Centennial Theatre (084-.- .
4484). Tickets also at Family
Gourmet, 1199 Lynn Valley Rds”.
And many happy returns of Friday,
Sept. 1, to West Van’ s Wendy ms
~ Hanna. wee

"WRIGHT OR WRONG =" =
Murphy's:3ist Law: Friends come.
ccumulate,