Tas llorth Shore favs fs published by Necth Store Fres Press Ltd., Poblisher Peter Spcek, from 1139 Leantals krenue Worth ¥ancooves, B.C., ¥7M 214 PETER Publisher 985-2131 (101) Uneds Stewazt Sales & Marketing Director 980-0511 (319) Seem cee * 966-1337 (224) 985-2131 (127) Bocker-Hews 995-2191 (114) 985-2131 (147) ETERS 70 THe eorron Latters must inckide your name, tull address & telephone ni VIA intemet: trenshaw @ direct.ca BBS - 880-8027 * Password:eders ae AR SE te} somes a LD el ects Shore. tows, founded is, 1967 2s an i subatan oewspaper and qualified under Schedle III, Pargraph 113 of the Excise Tax Act, is published cach ‘Wodkendtay, Friday aod Sunday by North Shore Froe Preas Lat. Entire contents © 1996 North Shore Free Press Ld. All rights reserved ORTH Vancouver District Mayor Don Bell has been given the opportunity to make his mark on North Shore quality of life. Make that a watermark. The veteran municipal politician has been named the head of Greater Vancouver Regional District’s water committee. And water is a subject that is near and dear to the hearts of all North Shore residents. Water is a big part of what the North Shore is all about. The area is home to two of the Lower Mainland’s three main reservoirs, It also gets more rain than other How about the North Vancouver Indy? . WELL, here’s another scoop for you, a specialty of this column that has an accuracy rate of maybe 50% — far ahead on the Truth & Reliability Scale than anything your government tells you. Actually, don’t file this under Predictions. Put it “under Possibilities. Sub-file: Remote. But not totally remote. Are you ready? Try this: How would you like Vancouver’s 1998 Molson Indy yep, the auto race — on the North Shore? Cars Btasting around in the 150-mph range on our wonderfully twisty North Shore roads? Does that idea turn your crank? Rattle your teacups? Stir your martini? Now that we've heard your first reaction, sup- pose the trade-off was between three days of col- orful noise, methanol fumes, traffic disruption . and excitement --- and the benefits the city of Vancouver now receives: About $19 million worth of business, $552,000 in taxes, 1,300-odd jobs lasting up to 12 weeks, and world-wide hype that money can’t buy — exposure through the race to a global TV audience of 100 million. Negotiable, and almost sure to be obtained: Area residents would get first crack at those jobs and ticket discounts for the event. Also TV footage splashing local charms — a buge benefit in itself. That’s what will be offered to residents around the Pacific National Exhibition grounds Watermark Lower Mainland communities, and it is home to the continuing debate over logging watershed areas. Bell can help end that debate. The value of Nerth Shore water con- tinues to appreciate. Once considered some of the best in the world, it is now subject to turbidity and heavy chlorina- tion. Costs to bring its quality back to where it should be are just beginning to sink in. By the year 2004, residents will be paying a projected 350% more for water services than they were paying in 1994, Those charges are directly linked to an $813 million drinking water (the TV foorage in that case would highlight redevelopment of Hastings Park) when the Vancouver Molson Indy managers meet with them on Monday. Predictably, the largely self-chosen spokesmen for that highly politicized area instantly denounced the proposed move. The Vancouver Indy — one of 17 such races around the conti- nent — has been held in the old Expo 86-False Creek area since 1990. Now, if you think I'm just piping this, a bit jokingly I suggested to Vancouver Molson Indy manager Phil Heard that if the PNE residents turned down the race, the North Shore with its challenging mountain roads would be an excellent site. Heard replied — also lightly, but remember this is the sharp boss of the biggest one-shot sports draw in Vancouver, with more than 70,000 spectators on the final day of the Labor Day weekend race — that, yes, there was always exploring if ir could be held on North Shore Indian reserve land... | Not a prediction, remember. But think of the attractions of North Vancouver’s Capilano Indian reserve and the adjacent under-used industrial lands. Heard has emphasized — in turning down Surrey as an alternative — that he wants to keep a clear Molson Indy identification with Vancouver. The name “North Vancouver” and the superb potential of TV shots of the downtown Vancouver skyline and overheads of harbor and mountains from the North Shore would ringingly “Area residents would get first crack at (Indy) oo0g jobs and ticket discounts for the event. ” quality improvement program aimed at bringing local water up to national standards. Twenty years ago, such a quality shortfall was unthinkable. Bell, a long-time resident of the North Shore’s waterworld, is in a posi- tion to return water quality to the North Shore. He’s in a position to halt logging in North Shore watersheds and ensure roadbuilding in pristine water- shed areas stops. He's in a position to help ensure the debate over watershed management puts our water back on track. . It’s a political opportunity he can’t afford to miss. dPED CS : ng of myopic minds At his proposed union of the Bi Stupid White Guys (Jan. 15 News) Mr. Collins will undoubtedly find: - himself pleased to be in the company. - of his peers. May I suggest a meeting place?!” Try the Arrogant Myopics Room of. the Ethnocentric Hotel. The guests will find the proprietor, |. Mr. Overcompensation For My Own Humble Roots, like-minded. and welcoming. The venue is outdated, has aged ungracefully, and the fix- tures overstuffed, but nonetheless. ~°:: comfortable for those accustomed to” such environs. It is located in_ the. heart of the old establishment sown, Less Melanin Makes Me Better Than’ ' Thou. Mr. Collins et al may carry on! their meeting undisturbed.: The’. streets are empty as fewer and fewer people find pleasure in that domain. Dorothy Tan ; ‘ > West Vancouver fulfil that aim. a What's that? Would I want the race in My: Backyard — on peaceful Marine Drive in West Vancouver, say Upper Levels-Horseshoe Bay- °.'’ Westport Road? My answer: SIMBY. Sure, In My Backyard. It 8 oo would be three days of excitement. We can be bucolic the rest of the year. oao et, The big news —- but not likely to be the last: word — about a new First Narrows crossing is’. reportedly just days ahead. The issue goes ro the’ Transportation Financing Authority and then to cabinet. PR man Jim Peacock says Victoria will -, opt for a new four-lane brid costing $200 million. Sounds ° ©. Z accurate: The government had a dozen-odd choices. It will -’ choose the least and cheapest... =: Katharine Stcig and the Friends of Cypress Provincial Park Society, hostile to the pro- posed ski development there, drew almost 300 to their meet- ing last week. Former mayor Derrick Humphreys serenely dropped the bomb: “It would be both informative and disturbing to request copies of the paper trail concerning the original grants to Cypress Bowl Recreations.” West Van council has the power to deny the necessary sewer and water connections. In the past it’s ducked and evaded. The moment of truth approaches. — The North Shore News believes strongly in frecdam of speech and the right of all sides na debate to be heard. The columnists published in the News present differing points of view, but those viens are not necessarily those of the newspaper itself.