6 -~ Friday, February 27, 1998 — North Shore News

OR awhile there, it seemed that

only the next Ice Age would

herald a new opportunity for
North Shore residents to strap on
their blades of steel.

Turns out it was only nine years.

Monday night’s anneuncement at
North Vancouver District hall that a
public-private parmership has been
formed with Canlan Investments
Corporation vo build a three rink
facility is indeed great news for
skaters of all ages. The rink develop-
ment at the southeast corner of
Mount Seymour Parkway and
Berkley Road could be open by
October.

Over the past decade, the number
of young hockey players on local
waiting lists has grown steadily, with
mary North Shore youngsters head-

north shore news

VIEWPOINT
ice deal

ipalities for their hockey education.

This will change as the district has
contracted 2,800 hours of ice time
annually at the new facility, <entative-
ly called “Ice Sports — North Shore.”

For too long North Shore councils
have balked at entering public-private
partnerships to build much-needed
recreation facilities, favoring the out-
dated taxpayer-funded route.

A good example is the financially-
troubled Norchlands Golf Course.
North Van District borrowed heavily
from its Heritage Fund to build the
lush course and tony clubhouse, and
now finds itself in a position of need-
ing to charge higher green fees than
any other municipal course in the
Lower Mainland just to meet its oper-
ating costs.

Let’s hope district council has

fi
RED

eT Tit ta inka or

ing.to other Lower Mainland munic-

mailbox

Course cuts reason
fer high green fees

Dear Editor:

To make North Van District’s Northlands Golf Course
viable it needed 165 acres and it needed to have a driving range
and a large clubhouse big enough to hold conventions. This is
what we were told by the experts. With this scenario not only
could we keep the fees low and pay back the Heritage Fund
including interest, but we would have money left over to pay
for other programs and facilities we were told.

Instead, more than 30 acres were cut off from the original
165 acres mostly to make room for housing around the golf
course. This was necessary to satisfy the district’s addiction to
sell land to cover operating expenses in the main.

_ Sacrificed was the driving range, estimated income loss
close to $500,000 per year. Also sacrificed was the space to
accommodate a large club house or convention centre, esti-
mated loss ‘another $500,000 yearly. These are the real reasons
the promise to make this an affordable golf course cannot be
kept. And if you think that by selling the land adjacent to the
golf course, the district got at least cash that it would not have
received otherwise, you are sadly mistaken. We did get some
money. Unfortunately it was mostly used up to cover operat-
ing expenses without reducing taxes. If anything it had the
opposite effect. It just made the district budget pencil that
much duller. The proceeds from the sale of land were simply
added to the already long lis: of other district business falling
under the heading “S” for squandered which can be found in
the district tile under mismanagement!

‘Ernie Crist, Councillor
District of North Vancouver

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learned a lesson.

‘WHOCDEE!
SURPLUS IE

some negative-option democrac

YOU'VE heard of negative-
option billing. But how about
negative-option democracy?

That's my term for the kind of choice
West Vancouver parents
will have if they want to
check out the McCleary
Centre’s questionnaire
that the school board has
voted to give to students
aged 12 (or younger) to
17.
Like its niuch-disputed
1992 predecessor, it asks
even pre-teen youngsters
about their drugs, drink,
sex, suicidal tendencies,
family matters and cating disorders (as in
Question No. 46: “How often do you
vomit (throw up) on purpose after eat-
ing?”)

As stated here last week. I consider it
objectionably state-intrusive and strongly
suggestive, planting the idea in students’
heads that these are the norms of the
teenage tribe and they're uncool if they
aren’t doing them.

But suppose you want to make up
your own mind. You have the right to ask
the West Vancouver school board to let
you see the questionnaire beforehand and
decide if you want your offspring te take
it. But how many parents will? How
many will — or can —~ take the trouble
to check it out?

That’s why I call it negative-option
democracy: Unless you actively reject it,
starting out froin not knowing what it is
you might ke rejecting, you'll auromati-
cally get it. (McCleary Centre doesn’t
publicly disclose the questions before-

; ren Bg
PETER SPECK Hee Drallwat
Publisher

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y Pators Valerie Stephenson
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Aan v ee cnaeeaasececnononcconmaseseveceesonseees

boi
Resoutoes Mariage! Comptroter
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Entire contents © 195? North Shore Free Press Lid All tights reserved

hand. In 1992 it was very annoyed by
prior revelations of them, such as in this
space last week.)

I want to be fair to McCleary Centre.
Here’s part of my interview with its
director, Dr. Roger
Tonkin, retired UBC
professor and a specialist
in adolescent medicine:
RT: “We believe ... that
a Jot of time in many tra-
ditional health e-lucation
programs (is spent) in
teaching kids to say ‘no’
to drugs and not having
sex carly, and the evi-
dence scems to suggest

~~ that those kinds of
approaches don'r work roo well — the
scare tactics and the negative messages,
the strong, hard messages that a lor of
health cducation programs in the last five
or six years have tended to have, that
come across from the United States, pri-
marily, but also from Alberta.

“Our belicfis ... that that problem-
focuwd approach is less effective than the
more developmentally-based and resilien-
cy or coping skills kind of approach.”

TL: “I’m sorry, what does ‘develop-
mentally-based’ mean?”

RT: “ft means that it’s normal for
adolescents to experinient with all kinds
of aspects of life, whether it’s sports, rela-
tionships with families, cigarctte smoking,
drugs, alcohol ... That's a normal kind of
thing. Not every adolescent who smokes
becomes a regular cigarette smoker (or
drinker) ...

“The developmentally-based approach
sort of says: la all communities of adoles-
cents, no matter where you are in the

world, certain kinds of behaviors are part.
of the rite of passage, if you like. What
has happened in many communities is,
that normal developmental partern has, -
been accelerated, so it’s appearing at ever-
younger ages ... .

“What we're erying to da is get people
back on track and say ‘Look, let's not.
fight against cigarette smoking or alcohol.
and drugs, Iet’s look ar how kids co
with the things that get them into doing
those things carly, and what makes the
difference between a kid who doesn’t do
those things and a kid who docs. ...

*... If there’s one thing that's constant
about adolescents, no matter where you
are, it’s that their behavior occurs in cpi-
demics sometimes. ... In the late ‘60s,
carly ‘70s, we had the kids droppin’ out,
smokin’ up.

“In the ‘80s we had kids engaged in
cating disorders and sort of body-image
kind of things ... and we’re not quite sure’
what’s going on in the ‘90s but we have a
sense that it’s probably going to have ©
something to do with the way kids mani-..
test their response to stress — whether’
that’s suicidality, or whether that’s somat-
ic complaints, or whether that’s feeling
just disassociated from'school and family.
We don’t know.” . se

I repeat: P'm convinced that this ques-
tionnaire is iatrogenic — psychological _ -
“medicine” that causes the disease it’s
intended to cure.

Pil ery to cun more of this interview
soon, Note: I've alyeady heard from some
militant parents. :

00

Fd say that, one way or another,
Patricia Boname is serving her first and
last tert as mayor of West Vancouver.

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