WHISTLER Mountain Ski School instructors participated | in a flap-hearing ceremony for the Saturday opening of the Molson World Downhill before fog forced cancellation of the Whistler Mountain race. Racers did manage to get in two (training runs prior to the scheduled Saturday race. MAKE-UP RACE SLATED Cup do wrhill cancelled TOP CANADIAN skier Felix Belezyk (bottom left) was just one of the many disappointed skiers who had hoped to compete in the cancelled Molson World Downhill. Racers — including this Swiss skier (above) —— were able to get in one training run Thursday, and -one Friday. Anxious spectators (bottom right) waited for the race that never was. MID-STATION fog that enguifed one of the steepest pitches of the Molson World Downhill ski course at Whistler Mountain spelled the World Cup race’s final cancellation Sunday afternoon after numerous: postponements Saturday and Sunday morning. Racers are expected to start training runs today at Vail, Colo., for a make-up race Fri- day, and for the next scheduled downhill race Saturday. “We tried to have the race carried over to Monday, but with flight scheduling it just wasn't possible,’ said Roy Adams, spokesman for the race-sponsoring Molson Brewery. “The problem was not being able to transport the racers to Vail in time for training runs."’ But despite pouring $600,000 into the Whistler downhill and the cancelled Mar. | Molson Giant Slalom at Grouse Moun- tain, the company remains committed to skiing and will continue its involvement with World Cup events, said Adams. “A weather failure such as this is not going to sway our thinking.” A 550-strong army of volun- teers labored for a total of about 25,000 hours in preparing the 3%-kilometre course. But Whistler is interested in hosting another World Cup downhill for the 1988-89 ski season. NEWS photos Terry Peters 3 - Wednesdays, March %, 1988 - Narth Shore News HOSPITAL AWAITS DIRECTIVES LIONS GATE Hospital will continue charging for abortions not considered medically required, but will offer refunds pending Ministry of Health directives resulting from Mon- day’s B.C. Supreme Court decision that invalidated the provincial government’s policy of restricting public funding of abortions. “On the one hand,”* LGH ac- ling-president Eric O'Dell said Tuesday, ‘‘we have the attorney general saying there will be no charges and on the other we have the premier saying he will find a way to charge for abortions. So we are going to take the low-key stance that we have all along. It's a very chunging situation."' O'Dell said the hospital would continue asking for moncy up front for those abortions not covered by the Medical Services Plan, ‘‘as we would for any opera- tion that a patient is required to’ pay for himself. But we will cer- tainly be in a position to provide immediate refunds, and we cer-. tainJy wouldn’t refuse any opera- tion on the basis of someone not being alile to pay.” In his judgment Monday, Mr. Justice Allan McEachern accepted argumente from the B.C. Civil Liberties Association that the B.C. cabinet does not have the right to withold medical services from women. The ruling clears the way for women to receive Medicare fun- ding for abortions. a a NDP supporter David Schreck...premier fs ‘‘a tyrant.” On Feb. cabinet adopted its policy of limiting Medicare payments to those abortions performed on women whose lives were consid- ered to be threatened by continued pregnancy. The policy was for- mulated in the wake of the Jan. 28 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that the country’s abortion law is unconstitutional. North Vancouver-Capilano MLA Angus Ree said Tuesday he Business ... Classified Ads..... Comics...............48 Dr. Ruth.............44 Food...........5+...- 48 Lifestyles.............43 Sports ............... 93 veceeeeees 8 50 10, the Social Credit ¢ NORTH Vancouver-Capilano MLA Angus Ree...disappointed at court's decision. was disappointed by Monday's B.C. Supreme Court decision. “We can’t kill wolves, we can’t mine our provincial parks, but we can kill our greatest resource: the province's children,"” Ree said. “Now it is up to Parliament. to resolve this profound agony.” In a previous interview, Ree said he backed whole-heartedly Premier Bill Vander Zaim's stand against funding any abortion not consid- ered life threatening. But David Schreck, who says he will again seek the NDP nomina- tion in North Vancouver-Seymour to run in the next provincial elec- tion, said a decision as important as abortion funding must be debated in the legislature rather than dictated by orders in council. He said to exclude medical ser- vice on the basis of moral judg- ment seriously threatened the en- tire Medicare system because the same judgment could be extended to decisions on other health ser- vices such as lung operations for cigarette smokers. The actions of the provincial government in restricting abortion funding and ‘‘imposing a morality of intolerance,’’ he said, ‘‘showed what a tyrant the premier is.”” Though B.C. Attorney-General Brian. Smith has said he sees no grounds for appealing Monday's court decision, Premier Vander Zalm has vowed to continue his fight against public financing of abortion on demand. TV Listings...........49 What's Going On.......42 WEATHER Wednesday, cloudy with sunny periods. Highs near 8°C. Thursday, cloudy. Second Class Registration Number 3885