|Doug Collins @ get this straight ® TO TORONTO to flog books and to speechify. And your agent discovers that the natives are restless. For in Ontario as in much of the country, the people are ruled by a govern- ment that takes little notice of popular spleen. The particular cause of discon- tent is the provincial govern- ment’s plan to thrust bilingualism down the Anglo-Ontarian throat. A cloud no bigger than the pro- verbial man’s hand when the Tories were in power, that discon- tent has now grown into a full- sized storm for the Liberals. The result is that the Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada (APEC) is booming. ! met some of its people and am pleased to report that the group now has 15 branches in Eastern Ontario. Only a week ago, impor- | tant Mississauga County demand- ed an end to the Liberals’ bil- ingualism program. ZTE WE PETAE EVEN EERE RT REESE “That there is anger in Ontario over bilingualism is understandable. Only five per cent of the | population claim French as their first language, ind you can bet that most of those speak English as well as you EES The silly left-liberal media don’t like APEC, naturally. The Globe & Mail and the Toronto Star go to the wailing wall at least once a week to deplore APEC’s “narrow-mindedness and mean- spiritedness.”” But APEC marches on regardless, That there is anger in Ontario over bilingualism is understan- dable. Only five. per cent of the population claim French as their first language, and you can bet that most of those speak English as well as you do. . (It is even worse in Manitoba, where no more than 2,000 people speak French only. Yet the Supreme Court of Canada has tuled that they wuz robbed, with -- the result that all provincial laws of the past 90 years may have to be re-written in Frog. Only in Canada, you say?) The five per cent of Ontarians on behalf of whom this fiasco is being perpetrated have 95 per cent of the government and most of the opposition running around kissing their backsides. So the French Languages Services’ Act has been passed. It delivers bil- ingualism to government ministries, plus French services to districts where 10 per cent of the population speaks French. APEC says that that will mean the same sort of discrimination against Anglos in the provincial civil service as now exists on the federal scene. Even the Liberals admit that 10 per cent of govern- ment jobs could be affected. It also means the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars in a bad cause. Unfortunately for the denizens of the Queen’s Park legislature, though, APEC has sounded the alarm. If all this were merely a boil on the body of politics at the provin- cial level, the weasels in legislature would not have much to worry about. But the bigger " battle is being fought in the coun- § ties and municipalities. Five counties have now backed APEC’s fight and want referen- dums on the issue. Even worse from the Queen’s Park point of view is that three townships have declared themselves to be unil- ingually English. One of the counties (Lanark) has asked the province for permis- sion to put bilingualism on municipal ballots next year, and over 130 municipalities say they support similar action. leaves a lot more who have not yet responded to Lanark’s initiative, but it’s still a black eye for the provincial polls. ~ An issue of similar intensity helped to bring down the Ontario 3 Tories a couple of years ago. That was government funding for Catholic schools. The Liberals went ahead with it anyway and got a big majority in the last elec- tion. But the lesson there is that built-up bitterness lashes out blindly and exacts revenge. Will Canadian politicians learn that lesson one day? . Did 1 say 1 was book-flogging? It went well. But nothing will beat {| the book-signing session. at this newspaper, where 340 books were sold in five hours and I wore my hand out. The other hand is still good, though! Thank you. Catheart Office Furniture & Stationery 1827 Capilano * 984-DESK °¢ (3375) dim Cathcart Chairman YORKTON SECURITIES INC. are very pleas: ed to announce that DEAN DUKE has joined the firm as an Account Executive. Dean brings with him his previous leader- ship experience with the North Vancouver Recreation Commission and management skills with DAQUATIN. Flamingo Renewals end Dean will be pleased to serve his customers’ investment needs on the North Shore and invites them to contact him at YORKTON SECURITIES INC. 221 W. Esplanade 984-9371 the | That | 9 - Wednesday, November 18, 1987 ~ North Shore News New W. Van principals named RECENT SHUFFLES in West Vancouver schools have resulted in new principals at two secondary schools and one elementary school. Former Westcot Elementary School principal Arnold Smith was recently appointed to take over as principal of West Vancouver Senior Secondary (WVSS). Smith has been a teacher and administrator in West Vancouver’s District 44 for the past 25 years and is in his second term as presi- dent of the West Vancouver Ad- ministrators’ Group. ARNOLD Smith...new principal of West Vancouver Senior Sec- ondary School. Westcot vice-principal Linda Russell has taken over as the school’s acting principal. Smith will replace former WVSS principal John Williams, who is now Hillside’s principal. Sentinel Secondary School got a new principal at the beginning of the school year when Rick Mark took over from Doug Player, who is now an assistant school superin- tendent with the West Vancouver Follow our Lead on Nov. 21 ’87 Charles Stein Don Davis Bruce Elliott Sadru Mitha Jack Coombs Bruce W. Brown Bill Crompton Graham Crockart Barbara Perrault Bruce Delaney Martha Fuchs Alfred Mertin Nick Vavaris gram Effectiveness branch for three years prior to taking the position at Sentinel. School Board. Mark worked for the Ministry of Education's Curriculum and Pro- CUSTOM DRAPERIES AND BLINDS li Off I~ i> Ye % Off ABBEY BLINDS DRAPERY AND VERTICAL BLINDS UPHOLSTERY MINIS — MICROS FABRICS — PLEATED SHADES WOVEN WOODS SANDERSON, AFTEX ROBERT ALLEN NOTE: All our fabrics are current designs — pro- fessionally made and in- stalled. NOT SECONDS OR DISCONTINUED LINES Blinds from Abbey with One Touch Control 926-8819 IN-HOME eraywire watt Bushs SERVING THE NORTH SHORE West Vancouver WHEN ONLY, THE BEST { WILL DO ... 5 DAY PASSES 00 — FULLY TRANSFERABLE — ON SALE UNTIL NOV. 30 E 4c, Pei ZR LIST 360.00 % PRICE 179° ZS LIST 340.00 ‘2 PRICE 169° SALE ENDS NOV, 20/87 16th & Lonsdale, N. Van., 985-9161 38th & Boulevard, Kerrisdale, 266-1081