W. Van School 9 ~ Wednesday, May 27, 1987 - North Shore News oard Doug Collins jeaves board of health @ gel this straight @ WE HAVE heard about the boilers breaking down on Her Majesty’s Canadian ships, but I have even worse news. It is bad enough, indeed, to bring Admiral Horatio Nelson out of his tomb waving his blind We have no sailors. Or not enough in what passes for our navy to man a fast sailing vessul in the Royal Naval Sailing Associa- tion’s West Coast race, even though only four bodies are required. This sad intelligence was con- veyed to me by a spy in the old watering hole who was sober, although Lord knows he had reason not to be. ' The Royal Navy can supply a crew. So can the Royal Air Force. Both have crack sailors who are just bursting to take part in a 536 nautical-mile deep-sea jaunt around Vancouver Island. § Our civilians can do it, too. But we can’t muster the Canadian Jack. Tars to do it. We do have a training ship on which real sailing is taught. She’s the Oriole. (Possibly manned by girls.) But she has a schedule, and according to the admiral the schedule cannot be interrupted for exercises of this sort. Peter Kyall of North Vancouver is captain of the RNSA Squadron, and for a sea-dog he was very diplomatic when I asked him about all this. He was disap- pointed, he said, about the navy’s’ | not being able to provide bods to carry the flag for the navy. But schedules are schedules and he understood that. “‘But,’’ queried the querulous Collins, ‘‘a whole navy can surely provide a few top-notch sailors?”’ ““West Coast off-shore racing is a serious matter,” mused Capt. Kyall. “‘There are some who might be available but they don’t have the necessary experience. This stuff is not for amateurs.” My apologies, Horatio. But what else can you expect when we are so big on bilingualism? First ’ [things first. ‘| wk ok o* . i I see that women are to be tested for combat roles in the Canadian Disarmed Forces. “Potential female warriors,” stated the news report, ‘‘must eye. pass basic requirements for join- ing, including physical fitness tests.”” I am told, though, that it is not necessarily true that Dykes On Bikes have applied en masse to enlist. x k *& Over in Vancouver, the Society of Visible Minority Immigrant Women has been telling the sad story of immigrant females’ hard lives and times. A conference was held on Saturday at which Mary Collins, MP, was the keynotc speaker. Of course. Rosemary Brown spoke, too. According to the brochure, fun- ding was by the Muiticultural Directorate of the Government of Canada. More vote-buying, you | know. The society’s address is given as 2524 Cypress Street. And oddly | enough a bunch of other funny groups nest in the same place. They include the Coalition For Aid To Nicaragua, IDERA Resource Centre, Upper Third World Health, the Upper United Nations Association, etc. And they are probably all costing us. : « *k& & The other day I wrote that it wouldn’t be long before federal ministers and MPs were giving speeches to the likes of the Fourth Annual Gays and Lesbians Con- ference, held at UBC. ] didn’t know then that Svend Robinson, the gays’ MP, was on the list of speakers. But I should have guessed as much. xk k ok The item I got the biggest kick out of last week was that U.S. federal revenuers are looking into a $592,000 ocean-front con- dominium owned by Jim and Tammy Bakker of Praise The Lord television ministry fame. The condominium had been writ- ten off as a parsonage. Praise the Lord... NVD builds on Hansen jegacy ACTING MAYOR Ernie Crist was on hand Friday to pres- ent a number of cheques to Man in Motion Rick Hansen during his home-stretch stop-over in Port Coquitlam. Cheques ‘included a $1,000 donation from the district, $1,820 and a box of fortune cookies from Maplewood Community School, $4,149.50 from Boundary Com- munity Schooi and $100 from the children at Timberline Place. “1 presented Rick with the message that in the last few years, the district has made all new side- walks wheelchair accessible; the existing ones are being made ac- cessible upon request; recreation facilities are wheelchair accessible and have programs for the handi- capped; schools in the district in- tegrate handicapped children and special housing projects are geared for the handicapped,”’ Crist told council. . Crist said Hansen asked him to convey his sincere thanks to all of the people of North Vancouver District. In response to a call from Man in Motion World Tour president By MICHAEL BECKER News Reporter Marshal Smith for the formation of a new municipal advisory com- mittee on the local needs of disabl- ed people, council moved to ap- point people conversant with the needs of the disabled to relevant existing committees and commis- sions in the district. Council also approved a $3,850 expenditure for the construction of nine sidewalk wheelchair ramps along Lynn Valley Road from Mountain Highway to Peters Road and a single ramp at Burrill Avenue. The move came in response to a request from a disabled resident who, during his travels along Lynn Valley Road, has to travel a por- tion of the road in vehicle lanes rather than along the sidewalk. . - DESPITE WARNINGS of a potential lack of psychological care for West Vancouver students, the West Vancouver School Board voted Monday to leave the North Shore Union Board of Health. Founded in the 1930s, the North Shore Union Board of Health is a medical organization sponsored by the North Shore's three municipalities and two school boards to provide medical services such as vaccination and psychiatric services to North Shore residents. After months of discussion, the board voted unanimously to leave the board of health and contract the full-time equivalents of one psychologist and two health nurses from the board of health. The board of health provides the school district with the full-time equivalent of two health nurses and 1.5 psychologists. Board finance committee chair- man Michael Smith said the deci- sion to leave the board of health was fiscally responsible. He said the contract should reduce the board’s $300,000 per year expense as a board of health member to a $160,000 contract for specific ser- vices. But board of health psychologist Asad Qureshi told the board that leaving the board of health will reduce critical psychological counselling services in schools at a time when those services should be increasing. | Qureshi said psychological ser- vices had been slashed on the North Shore since 1982 under testraint, while cases of stndents being referred tor psychological counselling had increased. “J don’t believe any other ser- vice has been cut bay:k so much under restraint,’’ he suid. By ROBERT BEYNON Contributing Writer “There were no successful suicides in 1986,’’ Qureshi said.‘‘But of the 55 people under 19 who attempted suicide and end- ed up in Lions Gate Hospital, 14 were from West Vancouver.’’ The board of health needs more money to provide better services and the mental health clinic will not survive without school district support, he said. But school board chairman George Suart said the board’s duty is to decide how best to manage the school! district, not to support the board of health. Anne Williams, the board of health’s nursing director, said school vaccination work and other services will probably be cut back if the board withdraws from the board of health. The school district’s membership in the board of health will end June. ~ GUSTOM DRAPERIES AND BLINDS Ci up to ABBEY % OFF reg. price VERTICAL BLINDS MINIS - MICROS PLEATED SHADES THERE 1s A DIFFERENCE! Between our blinds and some competitors Take advantage of this factory authorised sale to buy the very best! % Off drapery and upholstery fabrics. ‘a Choose from 1000's ( WHEN ONLY THE BEST WILL DO... Beet Geraniu INTERIORS , of designs & patterns _ 926-8819 iN-HOME SERVICE SERVING THE NORTH SHORE 1821 Marine Dr., West Vancouver 922-4171 922-3968