6 - Sunday, March 11, 1990 - North Shore News —— STEADY ON... CROSBY DOSNT TREAT YOU ANY DIFFERENTLY FROM) OTHER CANADIAND.. CHUSBY HAS NSUCTED CANADIAN WOMEN! J BURNING (hy PC. MEMBERSHIP CARD! NOEL WRIGHT Battered women decision to chop $1.6 million from the national women’s program is a blow to the collective solar plexus of wemen on the North Shore and right across the country. Women, it seems, are again the victims of a short-sigkted government action, which, in this case, could mean the closure of 25 women’s centres in B.C. alone. It also means the safety net will be snipped for thousands of women, many in desperate need of day-care services, counselling and shelter. The North Shore Women’s Centre is currently the area’s only general service facility for women, and now it is threat- ened with closure. T= FEDERAL government’s women, has offered little beyond sighs of condolence as an alternative for the women in her riding. And Prime Minister Brian Mutroney’s recent claim that the lot of women has improved dramatically since he took of- fice is nothing short of tudicrous. Under th: Tories, the wage gap between men and women has steadily widened; more women may be working, but they are working for less pay and with less sup- port for day care. The cuts to the women’s centres is just another example of the Conservatives’ lack of commitment to equality for women. It is impossible to put a price tag on the protection of one battered woman, but we can be sure the social costs of such violence -far exceed the small price Capilano-Howe Sound MP Mary Col- recently appointed minister responsible for the status of lins, “Obviously there is no reason to assume that a tree that has lasted 500 years will last for any signifi- cant additional time.”’ West Vancouver director of operations Barry Lambert, in a report to West Vancouver Council on the future of two 500-year-old Douglas fir trees in the way of a West Vancouver development. **We survived the sinking and no- body’s shot my dog yet."” Terry Difalco, looking at the bright side of the Feb. 15 sinking of his house boat. “started running around like Publisher Associate Editor North Shore News, tounded in 1969 as an inde: suburban newspaper and quatibed under Scte Paragraph ttl of the Excise Tay Act S i ac Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid and distributed to evety door on the North Shore Second Class Matl Reqstation Number 41485 jortn and West Vancouver $24 per year wailaDle on fequest Submussians ure cannat decept responsability. ter A ONCING MANUSCADtS a€fd DICIEEES a wich should be accompanied by a slapped, addressed Subsenptions Maring tates 3 welcome but unsolicited i. PrivetOnW. Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewart the federal causes. Ricky Ricardo from I Love Lucy.”’ West Vancouver resident Gor- don Froese, describing the events leading up to the surprise home birth of his daughter. “dt was within a whole string of remarks he made and he's always making all sorts of quips.”’ Capilano-Howe Sound MP and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Mary Collins, commen- ting on Trade Minister John Crosbie’s now-infamous ‘‘Pass me the Tequila Sheila’? remark about Liberal leadership candidate Sheila Copps. “Ie looked like a bloody bathtub THE VOICE OF NONTIO AND WEST VANCOUVER SUNDAY + FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver. BC V7M 2H4 59,170 (average. Wednesday Friday & Sunday) + WEDNESDAY SOA DIVISION Display Advertising Classified Advertsing Newsroom Distndution Subscriptions that would help prevent the suffering it with all the bubbles floating around out there. It's obviously going to hurt the marine life.’’ Environmental Watch founder Terry Jacks, commenting on a spill of caustic soda from the Wood- fibre pulp mill into Howe Sound. ‘*We are in the process of destroy- ing the last vestiges of our ancient rainforests throughout the pro- vince — for convenience and prof- it.”’ North Shore Citizens For Trees founder Lena Warrington, com- menting on the proposed removal of a 500-year-old Douglas fir tree to make way for a West Vancouver development access road. 980-0511 986 6222 985-2131 GB6-1337 986-1337 935-3227 MEMBER North Shore owned and managed Entire contents « 1990 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved Will axing Polar 8 pay off in Quebec? HIGH ON the list of the worst things about this Tory gov- ernment’s abuse of the nation’s purse are its mysterious fi- nancial and economic priorities. In what could prove to be the latest example there are grounds for suspecting that the nearly $700 million saved by cancelling the Polar 8 icebreaker may, in the devious ways of Ottawa, have a Quebec connection. Via Bangkok. According to the Financial Post, the big Montreal engineering firm of Lavalin Inc. is about to reopen talks with Thailand’s Expressways & Rapid Transit Authority ona juicy contract for the $2 billion Bangkok rapid transit system. The deal apparently hinges on an $800 million ‘‘soft’’ loan from the federa] Export Development Corp., $310 million of it interest- free, It’s also reported to be spread over a 56-year term, with a 10-year grace period. Negotiations broke off last year when the Thais wouldn’t guarantee the loan. So in February — as the feds swung the axe down on Ver- satile — they waived the Thai guarantee, subject to ‘‘alternative bank guarantees’’ being found. There’s no immediate news on how the search for “‘alternatives”’ is going. But the early resumption of talks suggests Lavalin is op- timistic. Remember, too, that it’s only guarantees we’re talking about, not private sector cash. If the contract is won, the money up front — $100 million MORE than the cost of the livesaving transfusion the Polar 8 would have given io the ailing B.C. shipbuilding indusiry --- will come from the government agency. Until repaid sometime in the 21st cen- tury. And jobs created by the contract will go to Quebec. Compared to $800 million sweetheart deals, a second current example of weird Tory priorities is mere petty cash. The capping of the Canada Assistance Plan for a budget sav- ing of $1.6 million (0.0056 per cent of the 1990-91 deficit) will likely mean the closing of women’s cen- tres across the land, including the North Shore Women’s Centre. Staffed largely by volunteers with often only a single underpaid employee, the centres save tax- payers many hundreds of thou- sands which might otherwise have to be spent on victims of violence, troubled kids and drug abuse cases. Meanwhile, approximately $1.6 million is being splurged on renovating the Senate’s committee rooms. Once government priorities lose all touch with real needs, it’s time for voters to concentrate on their own top priority at the next elec- tion. eee TAILPIECES: For the record, North Van war bride Winifred Rose (Sunday Brunch, Feb. 18) says she was the SOLE founder of the 1989 North Shore WBs’ Club and its 1990 offspring, the Greater Vancouver War Brides Assn. — which aamed 1989 NSWBC veteran Maureen Harvey as its president in January. But delete Maureen as ‘‘founder,’’ demands Winifred sternly. As you say, lady! ... Stop by Bill Oin in his wheelchair next week near Shop- pers Drugmart, Park Royal South, and peek at the attractive and orig- inal cards by handicapped artists that he’s selling there — all pro- ceeds to B.C.’s workshops for the handicapped ... From the Better Late Dept. congrats to Tiddlycove pioneers Bill and Gladys Thomp- son who celebrated their 68th an- niversary Friday, March 9. They’ve lived in West Van respec- tively since 1909 and 1918, and were the first-ever couple to be married in West Van United Church — by Rev. Leslie Best in 1922 ... And a happy birthday card Tuesday, March 13, to North Van’s Helen Preston. kee WRIGHT OR WRONG — from patriot Eric Nicol: Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them, and some remain in Canada. NEWS photo "Terry Peters 100 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD...B.C. Transit veepce Rick Krowchuk (right) presents badge to senior North Van bus driver Merv Taylor com- memorating the centennial of public transit in the province.