Dear Editor:

On behalf of approximately 7000 North
Shore tennis players who were given the
opportunity to play tennis in the Cap West
Tennis Bubble over the past vear, and again
this vear, we wish te thank Larco for teasing
these premises to us tree of charge,

Last year Larco offered) the North

Vancouver Reereation Commission the use of

the Cap West Reereation facilities which the
company was closing.

It was considered to be too casdy to
upgrade and maintain ail the facilities, but the
commission supported the North Shore
Indoor ‘Tennis Centre Association’s (NSITCA)
proposal to operate the tennis bubble at no
cost to the taxpayer.

The NSITCA signed a contract with the
commission and Larco to operate the facility
until May 1, 1998.

on the Menu

When a guest walks into
Death By Chocolate,
they are in for a dazzling
experience of the senses.
This upscale dessert
restaurant is unmatched
in it’s exemplary level of
service and decor, As
soon as a guest walks in
they are presenced with
an album containing 30
pictures of Death By
Chocolate’s fabulous

Wednesday. October 21. 1998 — North Shore News - 9

north shore news

_ ss MAIL Box

Larco thanked for use The pleasures of Village life
of NV tennis facilities

The need for a public faeility was demon-
strated when it proved to be a financial success
with nearly 700 people registered.

When the lease expired, Larca once more
dereed to a month-to-month extension of the
lease, again at no charge.

Fall operations started on Sept. 28, and by
the first week of October more than 200 have
aready registered.

We hope to operate the bubble until the
new permanent facility is built, which hopetul-
Iv will be operational by May 1999.

Thanks again to Larco and the recreation
commission, Who have made it possible for so
many people to play tennis indoors on the
North Shore, where it dees rain once in
awhile.

Elmer Helm, President
North Shore Indoor Tennis Centre
Association

October 23

"

ence,” says franchisee,
Satinder Parmar. In
addition to it’s famous
desserts, Death By
Chocolate also has a full
cappuccino bar featuring
Seattle's Best Coffee, as
well as a light lunch and
dinner menu. They open
carly in the morning
offering coffee and fresh
baked goods and remain
open until midnight,

specialty desserts. Once
a selection is made, the
guest is inviced to the
center of the restaurant
where they watch the
dessert being prepared

The
eltinate

for them. They use only
the highest quality ingre-
dients which includes
Belgian Callebaur choc-
olate. “It is a wonderful-
ly unique dining experi-

‘ehecolate

Sunday to Thursday, and
1AM, Friday — and
Saturday. So stop in and
experience the world of
decadence!

Dessert
Destination.

130S Marine Drive (AT BRiOGMAN)

re aed

NortTH VANCOUVER

ere

oy Aenea ote ron B* EF)

Dear Editor:

What a pleasure it is to shop and drive in

kdgemont Village

Courtesy abounds. pedestrians are sate and

ted white, m.p.

never is heard a screech of brakes. Vhank vou
all.

Maisie Pinkerton

North Vancouver

advertonal, October 21/1998

OF SENATES AND PARLIAMENTS

On October 19th Albertans went to
the polis to elect two "Senators in
Waiting", even though our Prime
Minister has said that he will not
appoint their selected representatives
to the Upper House. Meanwhile, the 38
Senators elected by Australians some
16 days earlier went directly to their
jobs without needing the approval of
the Australian Prime Minister. This is
but one of the major differences
between the Australian and Canadian
Parliamentary systems, both born of a
common mother, but subsequently
developing in remarkably different
ways. ;

SIMILARITIES AND
DIFFERENCES

Canada and Australia are similar in that
they are both large countries with
relatively small "multicultural" populations
concentrated in just a few major urban
centers. We have in common a history of
British colonialism, and both counties
initially adopted the Westminster
parliamentary model. The Australian
Parliament however, has evolved and
changed very quickly since its six original
states formed a federation in 1901.
Australians have already incorporated into
their system a Triple-E Senate (elected,
equal and effective), preferential balloting,
elements of proportional representation,
and compuisory voting. In addition,
although the colour schemes. of
Parliament and the Senate are the
traditional green and red respectively, the
term "House of Commons" has been
replaced by "House of Representatives",
and a horseshoe shaped seating plan has
replaced the traditional arrangement of
opposing government and opposition
benches.

The Australian House of
Representatives is elected based on
population, just as Members of Parliament
are elected based on population in
Canada. In Australia too, there are some
enormous ridings, with one in Western
Australia exceeding 2 million square
kilometers in size. The average number of
voters per riding, as for Canada, is about
80,000, but Australians must go to the
polls no later than three years after the
preceding election, compared to a
maximum of five years in Canada.
Senators in Australia are elected for six
year terms, with half of the 76 Senate
seats up for re-election every three years.
However, a complete re-election of both
the House of Representatives and the
Senate can be triggered if the Senate
twice rejects a Government Bill.

ELECTING THE HOUSE

Voting in federal elections is
compulsory in Australia, so voter turnout is
always much higher than the more or less
65% of eligible voters who take the time to
go to the polls in Canada. The voting
system is much more complex too,
because a preferential ballot is used to
elect the House of Representatives, while
a proportional voting system is used to
elect the Senate.

Preferential ballots require voters not
just to mark their candidate of choice, as
huppens in Canada, but also to rank the
remaining candidates in order of
preference. During the subsequent
counting of the ballots, if no candidate
receives more than 50% of the total vote,
the candidate receiving the least number
of votes is dropped from the list and the
second choices trom his or her ballots
are applied to the vote totals for the
temaining candidates. This process
continues, each time dropping the
candidate with the least number of votes,
and applying the next level of voter
preferences to the remaining candidates,
until one of the candidates receives more
than 50% of the vote. The winner may not
be a particular voter's FIRST choice, but
could easily be the SECOND choice.

If preferential balloting had been
used in Canada during the last
election, it is more than likely that
the outcome would have been quite
different. This is because our "First Past
The Post" system of electing MPs
commonly produces winners with as little
as 35% to 39% of the vote, and can also
produce an entire Government, ike the
present Liberal Government, with well
under 40% of the popular vote.
Preferential balloting, on the other hand, is
designed to ensure that the successful
candidates have received a soiid to
moderate endorsement by more than 50%
of the voters

ELECTING THE SENATE

A proportional voting system is used in
Australia to elect six senators for each of
ine six states, plus two for the territories.
The minimum number of votes required for
success is calculated using a complex
formula based on the number of voters in
each state and the number of candidates
running. For example, if there are 800,CCO
votes available in a state, and 12
candidates, the minimum vote required for
election witi be 800,000 votes divided by
(12+1)candidates +1 vote= 61,599 votes.

Proportional voting for senators tends
to favor greater representation in the
Senate by  smailer parties and
independents, so the Government is
usually forced to work for senatorial
support for its legislation through
negotiation and compromise. This
suggests a truly effective senate, the exact
opposite to our Prime Minister's "rubber
stamp" style of Senate.

Australia is clearly well ahead of us
in terms of parliamentary reform, but
Alberta has twice in recent times tried
to force changes in the makeup of the
Canadian Senate. That province's Stan
Waters became Canada's first and only
elected Senator when he was
eventually appointed to the Upper
House by former Prime Minister Brian
Mulroney. Now we are waiting to see if
Albevta can do it again, this time
against the will of a Prime Minister who
holds the recerd for patronage
appointments to an unequal, unelected,
and ineffective Senate.

Ted White, M.P. , #302-1200 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver, B.C. V7} 2A2
‘er ey eo Tel: 666.0585 Fax:-666-0509, Intesner: hitp://www.ceformca/white-t/ -)25 79 74