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VIA Intamat trenshaw @ direct.ca COMPUTER BBS - 880-8027 User tD:maltbox * Password:letters Noth Shore News, funded in 147 2s an intkpar.jent sbuban newspaper and quilified under Schedule IL, Paragraph LLY of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wodresday, Friday and Sundtry by North Share Free Press Lid. and distributed to every dha on the North Shore, Canada fist Ceruian Publicatium Matt Sales Product Agreement No. Entire contents © 1996 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All righls reserved. bo Not ATTEMPT To ADSUST THE PICTURE. WE ARE CONTROUING TRANSMISSION... WE Wilt CONTROL Aut THAT You SEE AND THEROUITER Om a? ...WE REPEAT: THERE 15 NOTHING y WRONG WITH YOUR TELEVISION SET. You ARE ABOUT To EXPERIENCE THe AWE AND MYSTERY OF: l OF GREDIBILMY HERE’S something malodorous ema- nating from local provincial court- rooms. Parents living in other coun- tries are voluntarily giving up responsibility of their children to pave the way for their off- spring to obtain a free public education in North Shore schools. The applications are basically being rub- ber-stamped. The process is fraught with opportunity for abuse. ; Foreign kids are being dumped in Canada while their parents continue to live and work in their countries of origin. They are exploiting the Family Relations Act to do it. The act dictates that the best interests of the child should be held para- mount. But in the scenario now being played out in local courtrooms this is not the case. There are a couple of players here and none is taking responsibility to ensure that the best interests of the child are indeed para- mount. The parents are motivated to secure a solid education for their children in an English-speaking environment. Additionally, a toe-hold in Canada is a familial insurance policy of sorts. ; ' In many cases the children are set up with. a bank account and an apartment and are left to fend for themselves. They provide easy targets for youth gang exploitation. Inamigration authorities are not part of. | the equation. What status do these children have in Canada? ’ The North Shore schools accepting these children claim they don’t know what’s going on. If they do, they’re not talking about it. Who takes responsibility here? Councillor explains Cates stand Dear Editor: ; Tam writing in response to your Oct. 18 “Cates Deal Dead” story to clarify my concerns and explain why I voted for a lower number of units and low-rise rather than high-rise construction. My position was not “sud- den opposition” as reported, but rather the result of care- « ful consideration of the. changes this application pre- sented over the former defeated one. ; The previous proposal provided 179 units of three- and four-storey quality town- house and self-owned apart- -- ment units which I felt would, help meer the needs of resi- dents who want to downsize .. their home but still remain in and enjoy the . Seymour/North Shore area. This latest proposal =~ attempted to respond to con- cerns that still more open space and public waterfront access was needed. I came to the conclusion, however, that maintaining the total of 179 units by shifting them on to a smaller portion of the site. - increased the density on that portion by 32%. This, plus virtually dou- bling from low-rise to six- and seven-storey high-rise, changed the nature of the project to. the extent I could . not support it. Unfortunately, my motion to refer the appli- cation back to the developer for possible revision was defeated by council’. I continue to support pro- vision of lower density, low- =f rise housing with maximum public amenities and water- front access for the Cates site. . Pat Munroe Councilior District of North Vancouver lore power to the peop JOURNALISTS complain that in wartime truth is the first casualty. The killer is government, which censors media “in the national interest.” ! By Filip Palda Contributing Writer In the First World War this sort of benevo- lent blackout allowed generals to keep their jobs, get knighted and be given large pensions, while building tall heaps with the corpses of young men. It seems that Canada is stil! at war. Politicians manipulate the truth to win power and ail its perks, In return, citizens get an unresponsive government, where lies are brushed off as “fast- lipped comments” and prime ministers break promises “because we need to be flexible”. What makes politicians so careless about the truth? Politicians lie because voters do not have the information it takes to sift the facts from the fibs. Facts are predators. The best natural cam- ouflage is the large size of government. The citi- zen has only one choice of health care system, educational system, roads and justice. There is no way of sizing up whether he or she is getting value for money. Without a standard of compari- son you are pretty much obliged to take what your politician says at face valuc. Freedom from comparisons allows our lead- ers to claim they are doing a wonderful joo, while siphoning tax dollars to spe: 1 interest groups and running governme.. a leaky ship heading for a rendezvous wi, a -ceberg. Giving municipalities more power 1 tux and spend would bring government cown to cye level for ordinary Canadians, It would give them a standard of comparison to see if politicians are giving them value. if little Johnny is not getting a good education but little Suzy in the next municipality is doing fine, little Johnny’s parents will ask their council members some hard questions. This is the benefit that comes from small, decentralized government. Sometimes the camouflage of large govern- ment is not enough to protect politicians. When citizens have had enough and are ready for some serious revolting, politicians put up blockades. In 1991 aver 80% of B.C.’s citizens said they wanted the ability to propose laws themselves. The thought of direct democracy scared B.C. leaders. Direct democracy means citizens can vote on laws one at a time. They do not need Red Books or “fast-lipped” comments to sce their will done. No promises trom politicians are needed. When the people say “Jump!” politi- cians don’t promise to get back later. They ask “How high?” There are honest politicians around but they are not working in an atmosphere that lets them shine. If citizens had better information, they would chase fibbers from power. Voters can change the political climate by recognizing the benefits of less central govern- ment and more direct democracy — two ingre--” dients like acid rain falling on a weedbed of). > political lies. Making room for the truth to grow - will give citizens better value for their tax dollar” ° than they now get. — Dr. Palda is Senior Economist of the Fraser Institute, a Vancouver-based right-wing economic think tank, ‘ 000 HAPPY BIRTHDAY Friday, Nov. 1, to North” Van Seymour MLA Dan Jarvis ... And many happy returns of Saturday, Nov, 2, to the News’ : ae “Vintage Lady” Eleanor * Godiey. QO WORTH A THOUGHT: | Pride is what we have. Vanity is what others have. oo — The North Shore News: believes strongly in freedom uf os speech and the right of all sides ©: ina debate to be beard. The columuists published in the News.) present differing points of view, but those views are not necessarily those of the newspaper itself. NOEL WRIGHT ON VACATION DAN JARVIS