6 - Friday, July 26, 1991 - North Shore News

INSIGHTS

=
i

Tree huggers’
myths imperil
$2B in exports

A et (07 \ | THE TROUBLE with tree-huggers is their habit of attack-
. ing the forest industry in the same way as the man who
asks you out loud: ‘‘When are you going to stop beating

“oe uf) ay

<A

x"

MM

LLL

Se

Ws

Y LMU lle

NEWS VIEWPOINT

Socred slide

REMIER Rita Johnston and the

Socred party face more than a battle

over party unity; they face a full-
blown battle for survival.

The July 20 Socred convention, preceded
by a marked apathy at delegate gatherings,
elected Johnston by the slimmest of
margins: 941 to 881 in a second ballot.

Some say it was a victory for the party
old guard; but really it was no clear vic-
tory for anyone.

It showed the uncertainty Socreds have
over their future, their party's philosophies
aad thzir choice of leader.

There was no clear runaway victor for
the party leadership in 1991 as there was in
1986 when Bill Vander Zalm dominated

the convention, eventually coming away
with a 801 to 454-vote win over Brian
Smith in a fourth ballot.

The dearth of pre-convention interest ia
the leadership race indicated that the elec-
torate was more decided than not
decided that the Socreds were fallen from
grace.

Politicians from both Socred and NDP
camps are now calling for an early elec-
tion.

But the real question that has yet to be
answered for all parties in B.C. is whether
the damage inflicted on the Social Credit
party during the Vander Zalm era can be
erased in the public mind over the next few
months,

LETTER OF THE DAY

Dear Editor:
A blow has been struck against
freedom in Canada.

On June 27, the Supreme Court
of Canada ruled that unions can
use forced union dues to finance
politicking which most workers
oppose.

This appalling decision means
that the big union elite will con-
tinue to force dues-paying workers
to associate with the NDP and po-
litical causes which most workers
want nothing to do with.

The facts speak for themselves
— only a small minority of union-
ized workers vote for the NDP at
elections but the NDP is the only

Party supported by the big union
elite.

The case was fought for six
Jong years by a courageous Cana-
dian, Merv Lavigne.

Opposing him were: the Cana-
dian Labour Congress; the Na-
tional Union of Provincial Gov-
ernment Employees; the Ontario
Federation of Labour; the Ontario
Public Service Employees’ Union;
the Confederation of National
Trade Unions and the Attorneys
General of Canada, Ontario and
Quebec.

Unfortunately, the Supreme
Court of Canada sided with big
unions and big government,

against freedom.

Big unions work against freedom

Despite this setback, Merv
Lavigne and The National Citi-
zens’ Coalition, which paid his
legal fees, aren’t giving up the
fight. They have established the
“NCC Merv Lavigne Fund’’ to
provide assistance to other victims
of forced unionism across
Canada.

There is no shame in suffering a
setback while fighting for the
cause of freedom. There is only
shame in shirking the fight.

We shall not give up the fight
for freedom.

David Somerville,
President
National Citizens’ Coalition

independent suburban newspaper and qualitied
under Schedule 111, Paragraph Ill of the Excise
Tax Act, is publshed each Wednesday, Friday and
Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd and
distributed to every doar on the North Shore
Second Class Mail Registration Number 3895.
Subscrptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per
year. Mailing rates avaitable on tequest
Submissions are welcome but we Cannot accept
fesponsibility for unccictted matenal encludmg
manuscripts and piclures which should be
accompanied by a stamped. addressed envelope

Publisher __. Peter Speck Display Advertising 980-0511 = Distribution 986-1337 North Shore
Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscripticns 986-1337 managed
Associate Editor Noel Wright — Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 985-3227

Advertising Directo Linda Stewart — Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2131

Comptrolier. Doug Foot

North Shore News, founced in 1969 as an frm worce ov wows ano west ewcouver MEMBER  —-——-_———————

1139 Lonsdale Avenue,
North Vancouver, B.C.
V7M 2H4

Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved.

SN: [GW

SDA OIVISION

61,582 (average circulation. Wednesday, Friday & Sunday)

your wife?"’

Your reply is that you do NOT
beat your wife somehow never
seems to get through to listeners
as clearly as the original question.
That’s now happening in the case
of the high-cctane propaganda
campaign aimed at the forest in-
dustry’s European customers by
Greenpeace and the Sierra Club.

The environmental groups are
urging those customers to boycott
Canada’s forest product exports
to Europe — worth $3.5 billion
($2.1 billion of it from B.C.) —
unul we clean up our forest prac-
tices. Meanwhile, some reasonable
and plausible responses by the in-
dustry are going largely unnoticed.

Especially as regards clear-cut-
ting, which for a period is never a
pretty sight. Neither is a freshly
harvested wheatficld. But does
that automatically mean perma-
nent injury to the environment?
Mother Nature herself doesn’t
think so. For centuries Canada’s
forests have been destroyed by
millions of fires and have duly

regenerated with no help from ei-
ther hothouse seedlings or en-
vironmentalists.

This fact of nature alone lends
credibility to the industry's claim
that a combination of natural and
artificial regeneration quickly
Starts to replace over 80% of
clear-cut trees. But the same is not
true of the alternative preached by
the tree-huggers.

“*Selective’’® cutting is, of
course, much more costly. It's
also considerably more dangerois
for loggers. And environmentai:
it is largely pointless. In the
towering ‘“‘closed canopy’’ forests

RITA JOHNSTON...Socred
Premier crops by for breakfast.

MARILYN BAKER...Socred
hopeful with plenty of helpers.

HITHER AND YON

of B.C. new trees simply won't
grow in the shade of trees left
standing. So all ‘‘selective’’ cut-
ting does is gradually degrade the
forest -- the equivalent of clear-
cutting spread over a longer
period.

The Swedes, often lauded as
mode! foresters, discovered this
years ago. They now insist on all
mature stands being clear cut.

True, there have been clear cut-
ting abuses in the past. To avoid
them in future an independent
monitoring body is highly
desirable.

But that doesn’t entitle tree-
huggers to imperil $2.1 billion in
B.C. exports and aver 70,000 B.C.
forest industry jobs by driving
away European customers with
false myths about environmental
damage.

WRAP-UP: On hand Tuesday to
bless his half-successor was cetir-
ing North Van Capilano MLA
Angus Ree, now a Sunshine Coast
dweller, who helped Socred can-
didate Marilyn Baker cut the rib-
bon at the festive opening of her
campaign office (986-0043) just
across from Jack Lonsdale’s pub
in the 1433 Lonsdale mini-mall.
The former District mayor is run-
ning in the new Lonsdale Riding
which embraces half of Ree’s old
riding, and to judge by the tur-
nout for the event on a sweltering
29-degree evening Marilyn is going
to have plenty of helpers when her
boss blows the whistle ... Mean-
while, said boss herself comes to
town next Tuesday, July 30, when
North Van Chamber of Com-
merce and the North Shore Eco-
nomic Development Commission
sponsor a 7:30 a.m. breakfast for
Premier Rita Johnston and cabi-
net colleagues at Cheers Restau-
rant, 125 East 2nd. Seating is
limited, so call 987-4488 right now
if you'd like to add YOUR prob-
lems to her list.

WRIGHT OR WRONG: How
come smiling humans are the only
creatures that greet each other

’ baring their teeth?