NEWS photo Mike Wakefield MEN’S PANTS will finally be replacing some evening gowns on the North Shore. After 41 years of organizing strictly female pageant competitions, Miss North Shore’s Gertle Todd says she is ready for young men (and women) to take part in a Youth Ambassador contest to take place in July. The Miss North Shore pageant will be held at the same time, but the Youth Ambassador winner will go on to compete in a new PHE contest later in the summer. The 45-year-old Miss PNE contest has been cancelled. Gertie going for broke Miss North Shore organizer to let males in on the action AFTER 41 years of holding all-female pageants, Miss North Shore organizer Gertie Todd says she is ready to let the women move over and allow male competitors into the pageant spotlight. “It’s the 90s. What are you go- ing to do? !’m going for broke,’’ said Todd. In the wake of the PNE’s recent decision to nix the Miss PNE pag- eant and replace it with a Youth Ambassador contest open to males and females, Todd is planning to hold a simultaneous Miss North Shore pageant and a Youth Am- bassador competition in July. “We are not going to drop Miss North Shore, because I think we can't afford not to have a Miss North Shore,”’ said Todd. In previous years, Miss North Shore would go on to enter the Miss PINE pageant, but Todd said ® this year the local pageant winner i will receive a 3750 scholarship towards university, and would not go on to compete in any subse- quent pageants. By Anna Marie D’Angelo News Reporter The winner of the North Shore Youth Ambassador competition, however, will enter the PNE con- test. The male or female winner of the PNE contest receives a $3,000 education scholarship. Youth ambassador competitors will range in age from 16 1/2 to 21 years old. Todd said she didn’t know who, if anyone, would be riding on the cars in the PNE parade this year. “‘The guys on the cars are com- ing from where? My feeling for us here is the drawback will be that the fellows will be afraid to come forward,”’ said Todd. The bridal store owner did not outrightly disagree with pageants opponents, but she said, ‘‘Noel Wright is right,’’ in reference to the News columnist’s pro-pageant stance. **We haven’t had a beauty pag- eant in 15 years. No bathing suit competition in years. Miss North Shore is talent,’’ said Todd, sup- porting her claim that the pageant has changed with the times. She said this year’s Miss North Shore will be chosen for her per- sonality. Talent and such abilities as speaking in public will all be taken into account in the competi- tion. But said Todd, ‘‘The beauty, face and figure, do play into it a bit.”” The North Shore’s youth am- bassador will be judged mainly on public speaking ability, but the competitor will be expected to take part in a dance routine and have talent in some activity such as sports, said Todd. The 45-year-old Miss PNE is a recent casualty of cancelled pag- eants that include Miss Canada and Miss Victoria. For more information about the North Shore’s Youth Ambassador or Miss North Shore competitions call 985-0555. Friday, February 21, 1992 - North Shore News - 3 Supreme Court declines to hear appeal in CO-Op case Defendants to pay damages in Cedarbrooke purchase A SUPREME Court of Canada decision against hearing an appeal by a group of defendants involved in a $3- million package of lawsuits stemming from a series of soured North Vancouver real estate transactions has cleared the way for a determination of liability in the case. Last year the B.C. Court of Appeal increased damages award- ed to three residents of Cedar- brooke Apartments. The three are among a group of 48 townhouse residents attempting to recover some of the £7.9 million they spent to purchase their homes to avoid co-op rent increases of more than 3,000% in 1990. The 48 suits claim approximate- ly $3 million from a group of lawyers, real estate agents, devel- opers and insurance companies. According to Mission lawyer Reid Dobell, the defendants at- tempted to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada the method used to calculate damages in the case. “We're still awaiting a finding as to which defendants are at fault for how much from B.C. Supreme Court. That was argued in September," Dobell said. A decision is pending. Cedarbrooke, located at the corner of Westview Drive and 28th Street, was originally con- structed and operated as rental By Michael Becker News Reporter property. In 1974 it was converted to a co-op. The original 66-year lease for the property, which began in 1968, provided for an annual property rent of $21,225 for the first 22 years. But an unusual rent escalation clause had two subse- quent rent revisions based on assessed property value. The plaintiffs in the case main- tain that they were not made aware of the rent.escalation clause by any of the defendants prior to buying into the co-op. In 1990, appraisais pegged the value of the 7.3-acre Cedarbrooke property at between $6 million and $9 million. The values would have increased the property’s rent from $21,225 per year 10 between $450,000 and $675,000 in 1990. The annual rent per co-op share would have jumped from $6.65 to $211.59. District to double . Council moves to annex area NORTH VANCOUVER District could double in size as a result of coun- cil’s decision Monday night to annex the por- tion of Electoral Area B lying directly north of the municipality. NORTH VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL The area under consideration is approximately 96.4 sq. miles, most of which lies in the Greater Vancouver Water Sup- ply Area (62.5 sq. miles). The remaining areas lie in: @ Lynn Headwaters Regional Park (8.5 sq. miles); @ the Seymour Demonstration Forest (5.5 sq. miles); @ Crown provincial land (12.2 sq. miles); @ Mount Seymour Provincial Park (4.2 sq. miles); @ private land adjacent to the northern end of Indian Arm (3.5 sq. miles). A staff cost/benefit analysis projects a revenue surplus of over $260,000 for the annexa- tion. But the analysis also warns of two remote major expen- diture possibilities that could arise: the responsibility for fighting forest fires and con- ducting search and rescue Operations in the area. Ald. Janice Harris said she would support the annexation Electorial Area 8 Components: 1. Greater Vancouver Water Supply Area (62.5 sq. miies) 2. Lynn Headwaters Regional Park (8.5 sq.miles) 3. Seymour Demonstration Forest (5.5 sq. miles) 4, Crown Provincial Land (12.2 sq. mites) 5. Mount Seymour Provincial Park (4.2 sq. miias) 6. Private fand (3,5 sq. miles) Total aren: 96.4 sq. miles. if there was a commitment to ‘identify and protect critical fish and wildlife habitats.” Detlef Schmidt, president of the Indian Arm Ratepayers Association, asked council for an opportunity to discuss the implications of the annexation and said, ‘‘How can you annex something else when you have no control over what you’ve already got up there?”’