Tha North Shore News Is published by North Shore Fres Press Ltd., Publisher Pater Speck, from 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver, B.C,, V7M 2H4 PETER SPECK "Publisher 985-2131 (101) Dee Dhaliwal Human Resources Manaper 985-2131 (177) q Doug Foot Comptroller a5 2184 (133) “Managing Editor Sales & Marketing Director oo 2131 (11 : 980-0511 519) Valerie Stephenssa Classified Manager Promotions Manager 955-2131 (218) "Distribution Manager”, Cysts Series Manager 908-1337 (124) 985-2131 fiz SL Le eb BK U” gtd BE feach us CU DN Re RRS ee Ota Administration Display Advertising ” Real Estate Advertising Classified Advertising : SRewesnzom Display & Real Estate Fax - Rewsroom Fax Classified, Accounting & Main Gitice Fax Michal Beckor-Hews Editor 988-2431 (114) Andrew MeCredie-Sports/Community Editor 985-2131 (147) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Lettars must include your name, ful address & telephone number. VIA Intemet: trenshaw @ direct.ca COMPUTER BBS - 980-8027 User ID:mailbox « Password:tatters lntordet: nttpi//iniw.nstews, Com es formed int 1969 as an indepen suburban newspaper and: qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph Hof the Excise Tax Act, is published cach Wodnesdry, Fricky and Sunitay by North Shore Free Press Lu. and distributed to every dove on the Narth Shore, Canada Phst Canadian Pubbcsbors Mil Sales Product Agrocmiant No. ONK7238. Mailing res availabe on request Entire contents @ 1996 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. HINMh...DOESN'T LOK GOOD. HIS VISA IS NO GOOD. MASTERCARD NO GOOD. AMEX NO GOOD. .. T ital recall ISAFFECTED British Columbians are out to prove that politicians are not be- yond voter recall. They need your help. In Victoria we have a government elected by. minority. In the rest. of B.C. we have a population increasingly dismayed over revela- tions that it was collectively lied to by politi- ; cians intent on spinning any old budgetary . yarn just to grab what is becoming an; increasingly frayed thread of power. Yet we also have this concept, much debated in recent years, called referendum and recall. It is an attempt to make incumbent politicians answerable to the voting public at any time in the event of gross public disservice. Politicians in all camps have given lip-service support to referendum and recall in, principle. Realistically it’s a dead issue because the condi- tions set by the NDP government for a suc- have been stacked against us. And so we fume and fester. for a new proviricial election. ernment, let your voice be heard. ' i Risk your heal WITH health care costs soaring and tax-funded health budgets strained.to the limit, what price should you pay if you damage your own health? / That’s the unpleasant new debate now being introduced by a strange new breed of specialists called “medical ethi- cists”. Hitherto, western Christian civilization has - taken the view that the medical profession’s job is to heal the sick regardless of hew they came by their illness. Not so, says Eike Kluge, a University of Victoria medical ethicist whose views on med- ical “guilt” were recently reported by Douglas Todd in the Vancouver Sun Review, Kluge’s attitude to indulgers in reckless sex, intravenous drug users, smokers and heavy drinkers is: “Take the risk, pay the price.” He believes that since there are only so many medical resources available, moral judg- ments have.to be made about such risk-takers and warnings given that rhey may have to go to the bottom of health-care waiting lists. They should not, he argues, automatically have the same right of access as responsible citizens “ otherwise you make a mockery of the notion of responsibility.” In fairness, Kluge puts his money where his mouth is. His private passion is mountain- ’ climbing. When he travels on such expeditions, he always buys extra health insurance to cover his risky Sport. As health-care budgets tighten and demands on the system grow, we'll be hearing much more about morality-based medicare Canadian physicians and even some of Kluge’s fellow medical ethicists are widely split on the issue, despite the fact that the “take the risk, pay the price” theory makes sound common sense — at least to any accountant. Real life, however, does not follow General Accounting, Principles, To begin with, the idea that people can totally control what they do with their lives is obviously an illusios’. Far too many subtie personal factors enter into each equation for moral “guilt” in relation to illness to be measured with any accuracy in individual cases. ~ Then comes a long list of other questions for the ethical theorists. If 1 vacation in Florida and am shot by a bandit there, ought 1 to be put in a lower treatment category for taking that risk than a tourist in Kelowna with diar- thea? Should Search and Rescue Volunteers injured during their errands of mercy, go to the bottom of the emergency room waiting list because they knew of the hazards in advance? cessful attempt to ouster politicians in power The pepulist power of the Internet lives at http://www. hdmdigital.com/total-recall/ There you will find the Dissolve 96 home page, the handiwork of fed-up people like West Vancouver resident Liz James. The Dissolve 96 group is dedicated to ensuring that govern- ment is held accountable to the people. B.C.’s lieutenant-governor has the power to dissolve the current legislature and set a date The group’s. mission is to provide him with a clear indication of the will of the People. At the Web site you can download copies of z ter of petition to send to the lieutenant. gover. nor. If you arc unhappy with the current gov- Ee ‘ sak . ve “ cS Clans MAAS aM hte NDT IES MERA e bere Ne eHt oft Abb pote oe ce! decision delivered Dear Editor: Re: Health Hijinks (Sept. 13 News) The comment expressed in your editorial concerning our interest in maintaining conti-. nuitv for health directors on the North Shore Health Board was accurate but gives only a part of the rationale. . Currently our volunteer board consists of 23 positions: seven are elected local govern- ‘ment representatives; nine have. been appointed by the minister >, of health: and seven members: applied through an cpen:-com- munity process. The communi- ty posi- tions are. the ones that will be elected. The position of the board -was debat- ed this spring and made public‘during our open: board meeting. Without knowing ‘the out: come of the provincial elec tions and the status of the go ernment appointees: if there jhad been a change in govern “ment, the community faced the possibility of a 100% boar fumover, ; After due consideration; th “board determined that: in’ this ‘early phase of regionalization’. this possibility would not'serve the community well. ; In the end, of course, it was the minister of health’s deci- sion to postpone elections. Diana Hutchinson Chairman |.’ North Shore Health Board Rutchingon ..- lection postponed by minister, ° Will an addiction to steaks and Nanaimo. : bars mean I’m left to cope with my stroke on my own? Should I stop driving a car and flying, and go nowhere that can’t be reached safely by train? Should I forget about visiting friends in” germ-filled hospitals? Or even maybe cease to. - get out of bed at all each morning (could get. ; scalded in the kitchen)? Consider finally the bureaucracy needed to monitor every nuance of self-imposed risk in its - 1,000-page Treatment Morality Index. Happily ' the Canadian Medical Association so far rejects such policing — which could cost even more than than today’s “na-faule” health care system: But stay alert. The medical ethicists won't - give up that vasily! n0a4 MANY HAPPY RETURNS of Saturday, Oct: 12, to West Van birthday boy Charlie Disher, O00 WRIGHT OR WRONG: Many folks don’t have much to say. The trouble is you have to listen to find out. — The North Shore News believes strongly in” freedom of speech and the right of all sides in a debate to be heard. The columnists published in’ the News present differing points of view, but those views are not necessarily those of the news- paper itself.