6 - Wednesday, October 12, 1988 - North Shore News INSIGHTS Sanity slow to prevail ever mobile time bombs THE CLUNKERS WILL CLUNK ON. Compulsory privatized car testing — planned for next April — is now on indefinite hold. And sanity is still slow to prevail. The news comes from Solicitor General Angus Ree, car testing be- ing one of the innumerable hats he wears. More time is needed, he ex- plains, to organize and train the scores of private service depart- ments and repair shops which would profit at the expense of the motorist. ‘‘Also,’’ he says, ‘‘we want to look at the TOTAL ques- tion of road safety, in which mechanical defects play only a three to four per cent role.’? He omits to add ‘‘so far’’. If that means Victoria is now backing off from car tests, it’s time for them to take a crash course in simple logic. With some 2.8 million vehictes in B.C., even four per cent means over 110,000 accidents from mechanical failure Jooking for a place to happen. Moreover, the number of these mobile time bombs is constantly growing — as aging jalopies are neglected longer and longer by owners with thin wallets. Maximum road safety is im- possible without regular testing of all vehicles — but NOT by fast- buck private operators who are also in the repair business. Ontario experience, documented in this, column a couple of months ago, shows that system to be wide open to abuse by repair shops and motorists alike. Incorruptible gov- ernment testing is the only safe, satisfactory answer. The old five buck testing fee, of course, is totally unrealistic today. But common sense suggests a cur- rently reasonable $35 fee ($100 million annual revenue) could quite soon amortize the start-up costs of government stations in, say, [0 major B.C. centres (with Fumbied SOLICITOR GENERAL ---What price safety? REE mobile units for the boonies) and after that actually bring Victoria a profit. I hope you'll explore the idea, Angus. If you think our figures too low, how did you ever expect private shops to do the job fairly for only $25 ? wat WANT TO MAKE MONEY from the election? If you call Al Dahlo or Betty Smith right away, they may be glad to oblige you. Al (983-3302) and Betty (922- 6503) are the Returning Officers respectively for North Van and Capilano-Howe Sound ridings. Be- tween them, last week, they were still secking several hundred more helpers. First, door-to-door enumerators for the voter enumeration beginning Friday, delivery FEST VANCOUVER’S recent case of The Bridge Over Troubled Rubble has shown Canada Post for what many of us have feared it really is — a myopic behemoth still struggling to set its priorities straight. The corporation halted mail delivery service to a Oct. 14. Dependent on the size of the route, says Al, they can earn an average of around $250 for the job. Then, on polling day itself — Monday, Nov. 21 — they need deputy returning officers and poll clerks. The day’s work brings DROs, one in charge of each poll- ing station, $125 and the clerks $91. For cash-strapped Christmas shoppers the timing couldn’t be better! eee WRAP-UP: Sweet retribution for North Van Liberal candidate James Hatton last week while placard-waving with his sidewalk crew on East Keith at Mountain Highway. A small green car with two young guys in it came barrell- ing round the intersection. The driver stuck his head out to yell at James ‘‘(blip) off’? — and prompt- ly rear-ended the car ahead ... Working the old soldiers Friday at West Van Legion's monthly steak dinner was Capilano-Howe Sound’s MP-candidate Mary Col- lins. The bright Tory-blue table- cloths were doubtless just a coin- cidence ... And if you've a pro- duct, service or personal time to donate to North Vancouver Com- munity Arts Council’s big Celeb- rity Auction — 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, in the Winter Club — Ella Parkinson (988-6844) would love to hear from you. Already on the block are such temptations as a Whistler weekend for two, a din- ner cruise, interior design con- sultation and ‘‘bit”’ parts on T.V. nah WRIGHT OR WRONG: Money is a wonderful thing to have, the only problem being its price. @ Pg] ‘ON SeVeAls... NOoEL WRIGHT NEWS photo Nail tucente UNIQUE SPAN PICTURED...(-r) Nancy Stibbard, owner of Capilano Suspeusiow Bridge, presents prizes to Mary Cheung, Andrew Sluyter and Tony Campbello — third, second and top winners in her recent Ceuten- rial Photo Contest. Their pictures wil! be used in the bridge’s 100th bir- thday celebrations next year. veal °° - West Vancouver senior citizens condominium recentiy after postal officials deemed a temporary ramp built over unfinished landscaping and sidewalk construction inadequate for letter carriers. The bridge was sufficient for the biind, the lame and the frail to traverse daily. But the letter carrier stopped a bit short of the eternal standard set by Herodotus: “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their ap- pointed rounds.”’ The specific incident reeks of outrageous by-the- book inflexibility. The immediate impuise is to laugh off the matter as an isolated bit of bureaucratic folly. But the seniors who faced an ecight-block hike to pick up their mail weren’t laughing much. And there is really no humor to be found in the conflict at all when one soberly considers the corpora- tion’s exhibited lack of common sense in the context of the larger postal issues such as the implementation of super mailboxes and the evaluation of rate increases. Publisher Peter Speck Managing Editor... . Barrett Fisher Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director . Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 114, Paragraph II of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3865. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 pet year. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome bul we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. pee a Ne st ot ig SUNDAY + WEONESDAY « FRIGAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 59,170 (average, Wednasday Friday & Sunday) J SDA DIVISION Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions Fax 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 MEMBER Avie North Shore owned and managed Entire contents © 1988 North Shore Free Press Ltd. 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