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Caneds Post (Canadian Publications Mail Seles Product Agroernent No, rye. sy J . i] 4 “61.882 Gnverape circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday} Entire contents - © 1996 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All tights reserved. Justice in je EWCOMERS to this land learn fast how timid and ineffective is our justice system. Compared with the sometimes bar- barous frontier forms of justice meted out in the lands from which they hail, Canada’s kid-gloved approach to.crimi- nals would’ be almost comic were it not so frustrating for the law-abiding majority. And that’s the majority of newcomers and long-time residents alike, / No need to look too far for examples of our soft-hearted and soft-headed approach to punishing scofflaws. Take a recent day in North el : Bick IN VICTORIA.-® EVERYBODY HINKI!-we (rat el\ol eiole(jeite- P threatens freedom o BE sure of this, North Shore (and other suburban) motorists: Big . Brother Governnient is moving on dainty little cat feet to limit your God- given right to drive down- town and to restrict such “privileges” to: an elite. Like, itself. And the rich, And the corporate class. ; ‘And designated “essential” vehicles driven by “essential” people, possibly even really impor- tant people like telejournalists and their crews and such. Anyone familiar with the government mind could see this coming years ago. But government denied it. When I put exactly that prediction to the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s transportation bureaucrats and politicians in recent years, they waftled. ° _ ‘When, last year,2 put it to then-Highways Minister Jackie Pement, a nice, rather:timid lady, she reacted as if 1 had pitched a coarse car- nal proposition at her. No, no, said she, in so many words, deeply shocked, never thar. But that’s precisely the game plan of Vancouver city hall bureaucrats — doubtless shared by their like all over the province, and beyond. wo It’s all in Vancouver's draft transportation plan. Baldly, the plan would “solve” Vancouver's traffic snarls at the expense of the suburban commuter.’ . ! shaereanenseresesbesoonensszcacassennnesaseeee Vancouver provincial court: Newcomer No. 1: facing a charge of impaired driving; she has two previous impaired driving charges and a criminal record; it’s the second time she has refused to provide a breathalyser sam- ple; her driver’s licence and insurance had expired; she kicked and punched the attending police officer; she received an $800 fine and 12 months probation. Newcomer No. 2: facing a charge of theft under $1,000; in Canada on refugee status; came to Canada with husband and 10-year-old daughter; now separated and on social assistance; om 0 aisle. LULA te As reported in the Sun last week: “The plan's solution is to make single-occupancy trips slower and more expensive. It wants to encour: age more people to ride as passengers in cars, - use transit, walk, in-line skate (whaaaat?) or ride a bike.” a _ “Ride as passengers in cars” = arrange a citi- zen-subsidized taxi service in which you collect neighbors who are leaving for work at essential- ly the same time as you, and for essentially the same general destination, then reverse the rocess after work, You have lots of neighbors like that, do you? What planet are these experts living on? have enough trouble meshing commuting schedules with one person — my wife. Of which more later. “Use transit” = don’t use the (slow, crowd- ed, sullen) transit of today; use the (fast, clean, efficient, no-standing, comfortable) non-exis- - tent transit of tomorrow. You can even drop the phantom fare in the phantom box. “Walk.” Great idea, Have you walked from Kerrisdale, tet alone Norgate, to the downtown eninsula? Start carly. Dress appropriately. And ¢ sure to be, and stay, young and fit forever. “In-line skate” = now the experts are really off their rockers. Can you picture hordes of rush-hour commuters merrily pumping down the streets (sidewalks?) to the downtown core? “A bike” » the same narrow prospects (on narrow tires) as the last couple of pipe-dream notions. The old, the lame, the sight-impaired, the fat, the unfit, and anyone who doesn’t want to arrive at work wet with rain, sweat, of both, can forges it. I know this territory. In a 34-year period, pedalling to school, pedalling around 30 miles each summer day and some winter ones as a telegram boy, I cycled 17,000 miles — and that f movem pardy stole $800 worth of merchandise from Scars; received a conditional discharge” and 50 hours community work service.. Newcomer No. 3: facing impaired: driving charge; two prior charges: of: impaired; he receives an $800 fine.) All three are doubtless now chaste’ & and repentant after having tasted. the: righteous wrath of the local justice'sys~, tem, which included a severe: tongue: | lashing from the presiding judge. The rest of the community. will be’ left to contemplate the purpose ‘of this: whole charade. ae Justice Canadian style. The envy of the world. re 7 suailbox Help stop B.C Transit bus. cuts Dear Editor: 203) 3*) ‘The proposed reduced bus service from the North Shore to. UBC is tar .. geting an already limited bus service The existing buses operate mostly at full. capacity and many. times’ passen: gets have to stand all the’ way-to, the university... aaa We should encourage public tran- sit service for many: reasons, mainly -for environmental and economic;rea- sons. Above all, I:'see, this:s¢t essential during the, winter, months, - Out of the three ‘muri 28 » the Nerth’ Shore only,,the: district’ bus service to UBC is p to be cut back. Our..mayor ‘and need to protect our. interests .as, well Make the reduced bu: ve al issue _ in the upcoming: municipal’ ¢ and vote for a council that,'sup improved public, transportation. and from the North Sho: Dalia Gottlieb-Tanaka “North Vancouver. was as a teenager, 45 years agoeThe bicycle.is all but a total phoney in the serious trans tion context, puffed up by'a small Jobby your-face ideologues with'an atritad Another squeeze: Make “free” parking a able benefit, Guess Ottawa woilld gladly sgt to that. Big mucky-mucks in all governments: would still ‘drive around. — and probably: faste on emptier strects. Big businesses; their. top execs and high rollers would pay, whatever, tar ifls were imposed ‘and simply pass the costs or to the customers: the poor slobs watching them zoom by, noses pressed against bus wind Most Orwellian of all is‘a proposal tou electronic monitoring — isn’t that what the fasten onto some convicted criminals? — to” collect tolls on cars travelling downtown. ": It adds up to: Screw you, little guys and | ue girls. “We” must wean you from your auto- motive habits. oy wee i My conviction is that the frowned-on car is a‘ vehicle of freedom, privacy, reverie and day dreams for millions stuffed into small house: and small lives, Vs oe I promised a personal note. Very candid. And it is: Ever since my wife and I began com- muting together this month, we've got along‘. better, We have time to talk beyond brief shouts: and screams in rh trey minutes that many working couple wee +! lren) have together, The other dv my ic said facetiously: “Thi car has saved ows mas: iage.” At least T think she: ~ was being facetious. a : The North Shore News believes strougly in freedom of speech and the right of all sides in a debate to be heard. The columnists published in the News present differing points of view, but: ” those views are not necessarily those of the news: ' paper itself. ;