6 - Friday. Maret 6, 1987 - North Share News VODICE OF MOTH AND WEST VANCOUVER oe Pubhsher: Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Advertising Director GA0-D511 sor Bev? OHS 241 WN 1557 986 1397 Display Advertising Classified Advectiang Newsroom Distribution Subscriplions Noth Shain News News Viewpoint | Hollow cheers @ ONDAY'S Polar 8 icebreaker announcement warrants a celebration of flat champagne and hollow cheers. Versatile Pacific workers assembled to hurrah what they had hoped would be official federal government word that their company had finally been awarded the contract it had rightfully won in 1985 when Versatile made the original $417 million low bid an what was 2 $450 million icebreaker, They had hoped that fives, for so long oa hold awaiting the decision, could be set once again on course. Instead, like a color photograph of a) full-course meal waved in the face of starving men, they got a proposed Ictter of intent. And Versatile, a company battered by financial heavy seas, got $13 million to keep it afloat for the immediate future by a Tory government that, battered by reaction to contracts awarded to Eastern Canada, was almost required to give the contract to the long- SUNDAY «WEDNESDAY + 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 EA Naty shay Pilates cesiteetts, Tah Pyearges Poe Peng Lid Hh, fe etveny Sabie itee reff tfty “urbe 58,287 wieessae | Peahay Se vay suffering West by default. if the company founders, if it Fails to meet the fi- nancial and technical requirements laid ouCin the Tory letter of intent, the contract will be adrift once again. The promise of 1,000 man-years of employment over four years dramatically brightens the West Coast shipbuilding horizon, but that employment is still 18 months away. Versatile and its workforce must survive in the in- terim. A proposed letter of intent is an extremely precarious lifeline upon which to cling. Noel Wright ®@® friday folktales @ I MET STUART KEATE, former publisher of The Sun whom they buried yesterday, only on two or three social occasions but I'd long admired him from afar. He was our kind of newspaperman and, much more impertantly, everyone’s kind of human being. Doug Collins—who knew ‘Stu’ both as a boss and a friend, a combined experience shared by numerous others in our trade — paid his own tribute in his Wed- nesday column. Though | can add little to it personally, [ know we're the poorer for losing this warm, talented, courageous gentleman who made his distinctive mark in many ways on the life of his pro- vince and his country. + © “CARNATION CHARLIE’S” retirement after 34 years with his company was quite a month. Jan. 31 saw effervescent Charles Abraham of North Van, senior territory manager of Carnation Focd Service, being driven in a white limo to a surprise stag at the Stanley Park Pavilion, to be roasted and toasted by friends and presented with a crisp $1,000 bill by regional manager Ross Sharp. Then, Feb. 19, came the official LETTER OF THE DAY Excellence funds cut tax levy company dinner with ojfice staff, where Charlie coilected a diamond-studded gold waich — followed, the next night, by an ex- ecs.’ dinner and roast with food industry leaders among the 100 guests. Why can’t business life ALWAYS be like this? BETTER BAY BIFFY (l-r) Lion Terry Sharp, Frank Kurucz, Ben Hemet in chair. Dear Editor: Re your editorial of February 15 on the Funds for Excellence pro- gram administered by the Ministry of Education. Unfortunately, due to a lack of understanding and_ investigation the article was seriously inac- curate! The letter sent by the board to the Deputy Minister of Education requested that “all monies available to a school district be in- CONNOISSEURS of the !berian grape at last week’s wine-judging session of Vancouver’s recently formed Spanish Wine Society in- cluded, very appropriately, honor- ary Spanish Consul Frank Bernard of West Van. Launched last November, the Society to date has 95 members, already more than its Montreal counterpart and rapidly overtaking Ottawa and Toronto. Other North Shore types seen among the 60 or so attending the monthly meet in the Hotel Van- couver were Grant and Joan Hammond, Leo and Maureen Sauve, Donna Kerr and Ambleside Inn’s Willi and Martha Brueckel. Call president Michael Foss (421- 3293) to learn more. WRAP-UP: Welcome gift to the handicapped from the Howe Sound Lions, as well as a con- tribution to the Horseshoe Bay revitalization program, is the new biffy in the Bay park — built with Lions funds to accommodate wheelchairs and ceremonially opened last month with H.S. Lions president Terry Sharp, West Van parks director Frank Kuruez and wheelchairman Ben Hemet doing the honors ... Meanwhile, North Van’s Maria George of the Multi- ple Sclerosis Support Group sends us an Oregon newspaper’s lengthy listings of community support groups for victims of everything from alcoholism and Alzheimer’s to eating disorders and _ stress management. If similar North Shore groups will tell us about their work, we'll be delighted to copy. cluded in its allowable fiscal framework.”’ It was at my request that the letter was expanded to in- clude the wording ‘‘that at the very least, information regarding the Funds for Excellence be made available prior to the board having to make its budget decision.”’ The letter the board approved requested that the funds for ex- cellence be transferred to the fiscal framework. We received $400,000 from the fund last year , with no cost to the local taxpayer. If the NEWS photo submitted STAG-BOUND in a white limo ... ‘‘Carnation Charlie’ heads” for retirement bash Number One. re < NEWS photo Noe! Wright SERIOUS WORK.at the Spanish Wine Society’s wine-judging. In lower picture West Van aficionados Donna Kerr (left), Grant Hammond and Maureen Sauve test bouquet and flavor. same amount was included in the fiscal framework it would cost the local taxpayers $200,000 because they pay 50 per cent of the provin- cially approved portion of the budget (the highest rate in the pro- vince). Transferring the funds to the fiscal framework could poten- tially reduce the total amount of money available to the district and/or increase the cost to the local taxpayer. Naturally, ] cannot support this position. I believe that every effort to promote excellence should be ap- plauded. Equity is important, but not when it becomes an excuse for equality of mediocrity! The genuine pursuit of ex- cellence fosters innovation and creativity. Our own district should enthusiastically accept the challenge of competing for funds based on the quality of our pro- grams, staff, and administration. Margot Furk West Van Trustee