6 — Wednesday. November 4. 1998 - North Shore News HE three-ring socialist circus continues unabated in Victoria. Just when weary taxpayers thought that no new acts — highwire, death defying, or other — were in the NDP’s repertoire, along comes some- thing from left field. Were they not so indicative of a party low on morals, the acts would be highly entertaining. But, alas, good readers, they are not kidding over there. The NDP really did approve, with- out input from you and me, a new policy to allow MLAs ¢o take their spouses and children on business trips. Rationale: “We want to support families,” said one NDP’er. Well, the rest of us want to support families too. The trouble is that the resources for that support are consis- tently being siphoned off by fiscally north shore news VIEWPOIN All in the family [707225 irresponsible governments with the kind of social consciousness illustrat- ed by such hare-brained policies. As the ever-astute leader of the Progressive Democratic Alliance Gordon Wilson was quoted as saying: “A business trip is just that: a busi- ness trip, not a family outing.” Obviously, the current provincial government does not see it that way. Once the MLA business trip was uncovered and presented to the pub- lic, it was quickly rescinded. But that did not stop a trio of MLAs — two of them NDP — and their wives from subsequently flying to New Zealand on the public purse. The NDP obviously thinks the people of this province are collective- ly a bunch of nincompoops. Either that or the party itself is loaded with same. The circus is in tewn. HELP! I've FALLEN AND ( CAN'T GET UP JOHN GLENN IN SPACE - Touring like the rich and famous Care missing in our reptile trade Dear Editor: Reptiles, turtles, tortoises and trogs are wild creatures — and collecting wild eggs is still poaching wild creatures. Many of these reptiles and amphibians are now endangered species. Captive care information that is available through pet stores and pet trade books only serves to retard their growth and development through poor dict, inadequate temperatures and lack of space to exercise. Pet store employees do not tell a perspective new owner that an iguana can live for 20 years or more, reach a length of seven feet and weigh 18 tbs. When was the last time a pet store emplovee did a check-up call and visit to see how the new little gecko was surviving in its new owner's home? I know personally of one sad case that *?:< new owner had not even been told to give his new gecko water to drink. This in time makes the poor little creature sever. ty ill. The pet trade sells commercial tood that causes merabol- ic bone disease. A new buyer must demand to see the special permit displayed on each tank or caye from immigration with the date of entry into Canada. North Vancouver City council was told at its Oct. 26 meeting that when a sick lizard was taken back to a pet store, the store took it back and gave the owners another, No one asked what happened to the returned one. This teaches the child in this family that life is cheap and without value. How much better it would be to take this same child to a zoo to watch and touch and to learn some of the right ways to care for these creatures. Doris Orr North Vancouver Mailbox policy LETTERS to the editor must be legible (preterably type- written) and include your name, full address and telephone number. Submissions can be faxed to 985-2104 but stili must be signed and fully addressed. Rorth Shore News. fouried ut 1969 as at independent suburban nesepapet ana quactes under Schaduia 111, Paragraph 143 on she Excise Tax Act, 6 pubkshed each Weanesday. Friday and Sunday by Ituth Shore Free Press, Utd. ara distssbuted to every door on the North Shore. Canada Post Canadian Pubbcabons Mad Sales Product Agreement No. 008/238 Jonathan Bell Creative Services Managet 985-2131 (127) 61.582 (average circulation, Wednescay Friday & Sunday) Distribution Manage: 986-1337 (124) WANNA be millionaires for a couple of weeks? Just stuff five hundred bucks per person in your wallets and head for one of South America’s smallest, most fasci- nating countries. Our bill last month for 10 davs accommada- tion, almost all meals for two people, room service and phone calls at an ele- gant smaller hotel in the heart of downtown Quita, Ecuador, came to $/3,525,464 — “S$/" being the symbol tor the Ecuadorean dollar, commonly known as the “sucre.” In Canadian dollars the three-and-a-half milion tab worked out to exactly $795, And so it goes on, In Canadian money 3 20-minute taxi ride sets you back less than $9. A three-course meal for two with wine at the upscale Quito Hilton, about $23. A good theatre seat for the capital's famous folklorico baller, less than S7. Gracious living in Ecuador costs a Canadian at most half’ as much as back home, often less, {t's a mystery, therefore, why more North Americans have not yer discovered this richly diversified country astride the equator (whence its name) on South America’s west coast between Colombia and Peru. Just over ],000 kim across at its widest point, with a population of some 12 mil- lion. Americans and Canadians are presently - va PETER SPECK Publisher 885-2131 (101) S523 17 Terry Paters Photography Manager 989-2131 (150) © Classified Manager 986-8222 (202) ‘Dany Fost 985-2131 (133) Entire contents © 1997 Nosth Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. asmall minority among its annual 300,000 or so tourists. The majority, sur- prisingly, hail from Europe. In our own hotel Spanisii, German, French and ocea- sional Limey voices predominated, OF well-heeled elderly cou- ples from Los Angeles, Missouri or New York > the liteblood of the North American tourist industry — we saw never a one. The country is divided into three distinet areas. The hot, humid coastal region with its port city of Guayaquil (Ecuador's largest) and the sun-drenched beaches of Esmeraldas Province, where gringos fry in minutes. The Andes high- lands that cradle the capital, Quito. The steamy jungle rain f vest to the south around the headwaters of the mighty Amazon. And some 1,000 kin offshore to the west, Ecuador's 2 Ist province — the famed wildlife sanctuary of the Galapagos Islands that delighted Charles Darwin a century and a half ago. Quito — our base for this tirst family visit (Dorothy's importing-exporting son lives there for half the year) —- was origi- nally the capital of an Inca empire con- quered by the Spaniards early in the 16th century, Home to 1.5 million people squeezed into a narrow valley more than 9,000 feet above sea level, and with an average width of under 10 km, the city stretches for 50 km north to south, Te the south lies the oldl colonial city of narrow bustling streets, markets, tradi- hither and yon LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, full address & iephone nuniver, VIA e-mail: trenshaw @ direct.ca Comptroiter Managing Euitar 985-2131 (116) Agrics Promotions Manager $85-2431 (218) Acting Display Manager 960-0511 (307) Gall Snelgrove General Ottice Manager 985-2131 (105) internet- http://wwnw.nsnews.com tional Spanish architecture, government buildings, endless churches and the mighty cathedral. North of it, the modern metropolis with malls, smart boutiques, the inescapable Me Donald's, Burger King and Pizza Hur. Hilton dominates a key shopping district, A big new Marriott Hotel nears completion. The banners of “Coca Cola colonization” wave tri- umphantdy, ever: in Quito’s rundown outer slums, But there’s much more to Ecuador, of course, than the fun of spending “mil- lions” on $36 a day: its many natural wonders — and hazards; its government and cconomy; above all, its triendiy, hos- pitable people, more than half of them of mixed Spanish-Indian Mood and another 25% pure Indian descendants of the lncas, On Sunday, mose about these and other things that make Ecuador tick. 223 RECENTLY resettled in West Van, where she grew up and spent her earlier adult lite, acclaimed Cariboo artist Sue Wells opens a first showing here of her vibrant watercolours today, Nov-4, atthe Dundarave Cate, 2427 Marine Dr. Well worth a visit, ic continues there until Nov. 30. ... Also today, many happy returns to North Van birthday girl Perie Corbett . And still with the birthday list, an 85- candle salute Friday, Nov. 6, to retired four-term West Van mayor Derrick Humphreys. n30 WRIGHT OR WRONG: Ideas are like children. Your own are always wonderful. ‘HOW TO REACHUS: Administration 985-2131 Display Advertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-0982 Ciassified Advertising 986-6222 Kewsroom 885-2131 296-1337 885-1435 985-2104 985-3227 Michael Secker - News Editor 985-2131 (114) . Andrew McCredie - Sports/Community Editer 985-2131 (147)