north shore ne Transit autonomy needed | MAILBOX POLICY: Leners to the editor must be legible (preferably typewritten) and include your name, full address and telephone number. Submissions can be faxed to 985-2104 but still must be signed and fully addressed. Dear Editor: This letter is in support of North Vancouver District Ernie Crist’s issue of the North Shore operating its own public transportation system without, in principle, assuming, any additional cost for North Vancouver residents. Coun. Crist made this motion to District council, seconded by Coun. Munroe, that they pursue ‘this matter and ask the City of North Vancouver to join in this endeavor. The motion was defeated, unfortunately, “with Mayor Don Bell and councillors Carolan, I Muri voting against.” As a 37 user, I can attest to the facr that under the con- trol of GVRD governance and funding it does not serve the needs of North Shore residents and, in ny opinion, public transit on, and to and from the North Shore has deteriorated in many aspects over the years. ted white, m.p. ft is important, therefore, that a local transit system, similar to the West Vancouver's blue bus service, be established tor the benetit of all North Shore residents who use public transit. Marjory E. Wilson North Vancouver No need to fuss, folks Dear Editor: T'm inclined to think that the furer about tolls is unwarranted. We all know that whatev- er is done to this venerable structure won't be completed until after the next election, and there won't be another NDP government tor quite a while after that. Simon Farrow North Vancouver advertorial, September 3/97 A NEW PARLIAMENT Soptember 22nd is opening day for Canada's 36th Parilament, a Parliament which, tike the last one, is likely to be one of the most Interesting in modern times. We have a significantly reduced Liberal majority aquaring off againat Feform as the Official - | Opposition, white the presence of three other ’ | opposition parties will aiso ensure intense 7. competition for beth media attention and speaking time in the House. The proceedings |. are certain to be complex in nature, and the ‘potential exists for displays of considerable aggression between the various parties and - thelr Ideologies. : The first task for MPs though will be the secret. ballot to select a Speaker, a process which took most of a day, and was a real cliff hanger, after the 1993 election. The Hon. Gilbert Parent is running for re-election, but John Nunziata, the ex-Liberal MP tossed out of Caucus by the Prime Minister for voting against the party line in the tast Parliament, will also be - vying for the job. As Direct Democracy Critic for ..Reform, | will be urging support for a Speaker who is open to changing some of ihe Standing Orders to make the House less a servant of the parties and more a servant of the voters. Which ‘brings me to: THE SHADOW CABINET ‘In its position as Official Opposition, Reform now has a "Shadow Cabinet" which will sit oppo- site the Ministers of the Liberal Government and ‘will be tasked with the job of holding them f. accountable for their actions and legislation. West Vancouver/Sunshine Coast MP, John Reynolds for example, is Reform's Immigration Critic, while | have been returned to the position | held during the last Parliament as Critic for Direct Democracy. It is important to note that my critic role does not indicate that ! was snubbed by the Leader as suggested in media reports after announce- ments of the Shadow Cabinet positions in late ‘June. In fact, | specifically asked to be | allowed to continue the work on Direct Democracy which I began during the last | Parliament, and I was one of just a few Reform MPs who managed to retain their pre-election critic positions. As far “ag {am concemed, changing the system to make it more democratic, to make it represent YOU, is the single most important aspect of Reform policy, but it is a job which has to be .done “betiind the scenes” because the Liberal Government does not recognize the need for change and has no corresponding Direct Democracy sninisteriat position. Even so, progress is being made, and | want to concen- trate on consolidating and advancing the achievements to date. PLANTING SEEDS Improving the system requires the planting of political seeds, seeds which can take a !ong “time to grow. Take for example the electronic ref- erendum on the Young Offenders Act which 1! held in this Riding in June of 1994, and which tested the new technology of voting by touch tone teiephone. it was a controversial, election § quality, experiment at the time, and one for -which ! received a lot of criticism from the media. ‘Ted White,’ MLP.’; '#302:1200 Lynn Valley Road, North 2 Tel 666-0585 . Fax: 666-0509, Internets h These days however, voting by touch tone telephone is no longer considered to be experi- mental, and was even praised by the media in March of this year when the City of North York in Ontario used the voting technology tested and proven here in North Vancouver to run a munic- ipal referendum on the Toronto Megacity project. More than 150,000 people voted, in five lan- guages, at a cost loss than one third of that of a traditional vote. In addition, at just over 40% of eligible voters, the North York “touch tone refer- endum" attracted the highest voter turnout ever experienced in that municipality. The North York electronic referendum hap- pensd both because the technology had been previously tested, and because the forward looking Harris Gavernment of Ontario had changed the provincial elections act to permit the use of touch tone telephone voting. The “seed” has already grown to sapling stage, and once Elections Canada has run a bi-election using the technology, hcpefully before the year 2000, the seed will have become a mighty oak, making it much more convenient to cast a vote, and saving taxpayers a great dea! of money. MORE SEEDS During the last Parliament | was invited to speak on the topic of Direct Democracy at a number of conferences and universities across Canada, especially with respect to the impact of public input on the legislative process. It became apparent over those three and a half years that there was a growing acceptance of the notion that governments should become more publicly accountable for their actions between elections, and that legislation introduced to Parliament should be subjected to genuine public scrutiny and amend- ment before being passed. It is gratifying to note that the Reform Party of Canada is always rec- egnized as a leader in the promotion of these new approaches and new technoiogies. | The first Direct Democracy “seed” which needs to be replanted after the opening of Parliament is my Private Member's Bill C343 which, if passed, would allow Canadians to initi- ate referenda on issues of national importance. The Bill was not selected for debate during the fast Parliament, and is untikely to be passed by the Liberals even if it is selected during this one, but its re-introduction will help build public awareness and encourage other governments to forge ahead with workable initiative legisla- tion. For example, in 1996 | was a witness at a Committee of the Harris Government in Ontario | and used my Bill to demonstrate that the tools of initiative and referendum can easily be built into cur parliamentary style of democracy. As of the the time of printing, the Harris Government has made the decision to intro- duce a citizens’ initiative and referendum bill | for Ontarians. Another Direct Democracy seed appears to have taken root, and once again the mainstream media have falled to either notice or apprectate the influence Reform is having on our system of Government. ncouver, B.C. V.7J 2. p://wisvw.reform.ca/white: t/ as To ec i ine ee ns ie ey it mee oe Skate with the best. Five-time Canadian Champion. World Champion and Olympic Medalist. Can Karen Magnussen teach your kids a thing or two about skating? You bet she can. But only if you join the North Shore Winter Club now and enroll them in one of our skating programs. Karen Is the special skating skills coach at our Hockey School and Hockey Camp and, of course, teaches figure skating and coaches ringette for giris. she’s just one of the world-class and professional athletes who teach and coach *«re, And she sets the North Shore Winter club apart. Join today. You and your kids deserve it. Fo: more information call 985-4135, ext. 124 North Shore Winter Club The ctub Is located at 1325 East Kelth Rd..North Vancouver A/C, 4 litre, automatic, lots more! *Net tof RDA. #4301 mo. >. ease, Subvented lease i in lieu of RDA, $3,500 dp. TP $12,440