Ce i oe rc to 6. - Friday, J June 10, 1994 : North Store News des 2 GaMeS. ee ~ | PRWecls Resse FiNdl CHES... ; TAN ANG eS SWRY \ \\ NEWS VIEWPOINT OF track HE NORTH Shore is a long way.trom the finish line when it comes to ‘quali- - ty track and field facilities. “A: good ‘illustration of that poor showing is. the: past week’s North Vancouver District 44. elementary interschool track and field meet. ‘ ing of the athletes or the organizers of the “ annual event, All performed impressively in events’ ranging from the triple jump to the . 100-metre dash in a meet that was crisply organized... || Tn all, 600 young athletes from 34 District 44 elementary schools took part in an event that inspired passionate sperting spirits in ‘all who competed and watched. ‘ Unfortunately, all that effort and passion’ had to leave the North Shore to find expres- sion. _ . There was: nothing poor ‘about the show- © The track meet was held in Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium because the North Shore currently has no facility capable of hosting such an event. The area and its developing athletes deserve better. The North Shore has a great poo! of athletic talent, but its development requires proper facilities for training and competing, without which that pool will stagnate and dry up. -A track and field meet is much more than a display of athletic abilities. It is a major community event that show- cases the spirit of its residents. It is about sons and daughters, fathers and mothers; it is about striving for goals, learning to win : and learning to lose. __ It bears the heart and soul of a communi- ty. Right now the North Shore must bear that heart and soul on the road, - LETTER OF THE DAY ‘Abandon local watershed logging now Dear Editor? ; ay ’_. Vancouver's water has not been meeting ‘standards: for quality. A Department ‘of .Fisheries and 5 Oceans report (1994) states that - undisturbed watersheds provide perfect filtration systems. Why is logging still happening . in the watersheds? It is apparent to me that the short-term economic approach so prevalent in. govern- ment does not work. A long-term vision must be held, especially regarding water. As a taxpayer I fully:support stopping al! logging in the watershed, and although initial- Publisher . Managing Associate Editor Soles & Marketing Comptrotler. “Linda Stewart ....Doug Foot ly more expensive, the implementa- tion of ozone plus biological filtra- tion to treat our water. Many communities, including Montreai and Los Angeles, use this ‘system to meet water safety regula- tions. The Greater Vancouver Regional District can provide safe water by using ozone combined with biological filtration. The choices given to the public for treatment are chlorine or chlo- ramine. Both have proved damag- ing to humans and fish. Water sus- tains all life and I-am opposed to making it “safe” with poisonous , Display Advertising 980-0511 986-6222 Fax 985-2131 Classitied Advertising Newsroom Distribution Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions Administration chemicals. My wish for Vancouver is that the health of its citizens is a prima- ry consideration recognizing that the health of its people is of utmost importance for quality of life and further economic sustainability. The medica! system is already bowing with the pressure to meet the health concerns of cur growing population, Our water quality or. lack of it need not add to that pres- sure. My preference is for safe drinking water. Tara Noelle Gill Vancouver 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified - under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 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. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Profquct Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rates _avaitable on request. Submissions are welcome but “ae cannot accept responsibilily for unsolicited *-‘material Including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied ty a stamped, addressed envelope. — V7M 2H4 1439 Lonsdale A North Vancouver 3.C. North Shore Managed . -MEMBER CNA Sh ae ee tae SDA aasoe 61,582 (uverage circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contenis © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. SURELY it couldn’t be. Tell me it could never be. But it’s possible it could be. What, what, what? That the much-studied, much- discussed, more-heat-than- light issue of a new/renewed crossing between the North Shore and Vancouver — choices ranging from (i) to (ix), if you prefer Roman numerals, and not counting the late- Vbloomi quamish Indian band’s blooming Squ h Indian band’ SNC Lavalin proposal —- will end in a decision in favor of... NOTA, None Of The Above. Yes, Paralysis. Incapacitation. Stalemate. And frustration. To be sure, NOTA is itself one of the choices — right up there at the top, No. (i): “The ‘Do-Nothing’ Option. Retain Existing Bridge.” That's Lions Gate Bridge, three lanes that drive you to frustration at “the worst of times, but bearable if sonietimes annoying the rest of the time, and half as old as God. After following this issue ina diminishingly interested way for months, and especially after last week's public meeting at West Vancouver secondary school, I'd say that the do-nothing approach looks both more attractive and ‘nothing ... would be short-term cheaper for a government that’s still spending more than it’s taking in... 99 i somewhat more likely than it did at the onset of the debate. - It is not the D-Day but the Eastern Front of local issues — long. slogging, exhausting, grind- ing down, a war of attrition with words from frozen positions. The provincial government, which has the fun of making the final decision, plans to short-list the possibilities in the fall. Doing nothing — more accu- ratcly, doing as little as possible, which would still require big expenditures on a roadway that the traffic pounds like chopped liver — would be short-term cheaper for a government that’s still spending more than it’s taking in (don’t let the New Democrat weasel-words fool you). Also it would arguably have the least political cost. It would make a lot of people a litte annoyed, rather than making some people vocally, visibly, muti- nously annoyed. It's happened before. This would be déjé vu all over again. In the 1960s-70s a new crossing was studied to death and nobody dared make a decision for fear of offend- ing some group or interest. The other day | dined — on an excellent Chilean bass at my favorite restaurant, Chesa, by the way — with a genteman close to __that public process. Lautens GARDEN OF BIASES Two noteworthy points. One, I was assured that Victoria isn’t just © going through the public motions and has already made up its mind.’ Two, a “do-nothing” outcome — because of inability to reach a ha broad consensus is indeed possible. . The main esthetic and environ- mental and even spiritual obstacle oe to a new or expanded inlet'crossing is, of course, Stanley Park. Know what? There is a devil in me that sometimes makes me so damned hostile to precious, irre- placeable, dear old Stanley Park that I'd like to personally tear every tree out by its roots and send each and all to a poor leafless Third World country. o And Lamia fanatical lover of |... trees. (All praise, by the way, to the judge who levied fat damages ; "against.a contemptible West Vancouver resident who cut down _ his neighbor’s trees to improve his view. I’ve mislaid the clipping or I'd name names.) ‘ The sense of impasse was plain 7 at the West Van secondary school '* meeting. | - A person from over the waters, Carole Walker, who leads the West End Traffic Committee, and who . - brought along a few trained seals *. who loudly applauded her every . obstructive word, made it clear that she didn’t give a parochial damn =~ ‘about people using Lions Gate Bridge. All she cared about — other than mouthing teftist-like platitudes - about social, cultural, environmen- tal concerns, evading any attempt to pin her down about which option she did favor — was her precious West End of Vancouver. - As someone has pertinently said: If you choose to live near an airport, you can’t expect to stop the airplanes. Or, as I'd say: if you move in next to the skunkworks, you can’t expect sympathy when you complain about the smell. West Enders have an under- standable yearning for peace and quiet. But if they really feel ail that keen about such benefits, they shouid move to somewhere north of - Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Former West Van mayor: Derrick Humphreys made the best suggestion at the meeting, since it’s long been my first though not only choice. Fix up Lions Gate Bridge. Tunnel under the inlet. And pay for it through real estate sales of an integral artificial island, as pro-...~ posed by experienced tunnel- builder Hans Bentzen,~ °