MAIL Box: Community is part of child-rearing process Dear Editor: Re: Rough water in pool (June 4 North Shore News). It takes a community to raise a child. The Lonsdale ReeCentre staff believe in building healthy relationships with not only eur youth but with our community. We have a history of working with agencies and individuals to pro- vide opportunities for youth. We are committed to providing a nurturing environment where youth learn ro interact with _ others and to provide them with guidance. Our. approach has always been to teach youth not only recreational skills but to provid- ‘ed them with leadership, self-esteem building nd positive role modeling opportunities. One of our desired outcomes of our recre- ‘ation, sport and arts/cultural activities is to -build understanding between diverse cultures. ‘As we sec it, youth are our priority, we will con- ‘cinuic to work to provide and improve the qual- ity of the Lonsdale tecn programs. Tt seems the wordin: oft he June 4 article has led some readers to believe that the staff of the Lonsdale RecCentre condone racial slurs and other inappropriate behaviours. This is not the case at any of the North Vancouver Recreation facilities. During Teen Swims, staff endeavour to cre- ate a positive, inviting environment where teenagers feel comfortable, safe and want to be there. If, however, youth are involved in negative behaviours, staff will intervene by way of 4 slid- ing scale of narural consequences. This way of managing the issue allows the opportunity fer the youth to learn and, in duc course, make behaviour choices that are more positive. If participants or participant’s parents observe ncgative behaviour, staff very much want this brought to their attention, We need your help in creating a positive, safe cnviron- ment for all our young pec ple! We need your community support and involvement to raise a child. Nancy McMillan... Recreation Coordinator Lensdale . : icy riorities queen (June 18 North hore News letter to the edi- » ’t. know. (North Van “City, mayor) Barb more to do with the , dozens of meetings she attends across the Lower Mainland, which involve gas and parking fees. And the reference to the $4,500 washroom, is totally op incorrect, Sharp ‘has. stated at the counll mectings,.on more: than one occasion, that it is not her washroom. She has never used that particular washroom, and it is Ere gencral use. And the $40,000 for her personal office i is 5 atisoluie nonsense. I'm sure it’s a general expense to upgrade the sur- rounding office space. And as far as paying her legal fees for the court case involving the fire department, why or carth should she have to pay the costs, when she won the case? Mr, John Edwards needs to be more on the ball Lorne Dennis lorne_dennis@telus.net ; yor “eid ‘have. voted 2 against the: proposed levy, knowing full well that the rev- Shore car owners will never be :: spent for improving the traffic Problems on the North Shore. -reason for the ‘The. onl ‘u “Sst hn Jala highws ple, the uihalla: wa toll was supposed to be abo! : “ished, bur; it’s ‘still there; the airport improvement ‘tax: was . there. oppose the proposed'levy with every means possible, urttil the transit guthority is prepared to reconsider: N the’ coffers of nthe North sh plus He ciber ‘kits from BCS O § Okanagan. Visit us & discover ‘what we offer. . supposed’ to end but it’s still _ All the car owners should advertunial, June 21, 2000 THE REST OF THE STORY { really did expect last week's report to be my fast one untii Parliament reconvenes In the Fail, but a part of the proceedings at the North Vancouver City Council Meeting on June 12th prompted me to write an open letter to the Council. The text appears below, and is self-explanatory. AN OPEN LETTER Dear Members of Council North Vancouver City, It has come to my attention that a dis- cussion tuok place at your meeting of June 12, 2000 with respect to a project being promoted by a non-profit society, the DEEP Foundation, in partnership with the North Vancouver Museum and “Archives Commission. During the discus- sion it wos pointed out that an applica- tion for a Federal Government Millennium Grant had been unsuccessful, and | was singled out for criticism, with Councillor Bell even stating that my "lack of support" is “political suicide”. ‘Council to explain myself. : .. ‘Before’ commenting on the merits. of the: project, Itself, I feel obliged to first. : ; int out -that,“as a Federal Member of ~ 4Parllament, Jam accoiintable to the vot- . . ers of the Federal. Riding of North Vancouver, and not to North Vancouver City Councillors. [ am, however, more than happy to repeat some previously well publicized information regarding the. federal grants process which could have already been read by Council members ar, in'cmy™. least half a. dozen times . Wednesday Reports in the North Shore News. Were 1 a resident. of North Vancouver City though, instead of the District, | would most certainly have attended the next Council meeting to demand an explanation fer Council's “apparent disregard for the taxpayers of the City.. It surely must be obvious to the. résidents. of North Vancouver City: that ncll has agreed to indirectly support special ‘Interest group, the Artificial Reef Society of. B.C., by paying :for the ‘removal. of: ‘the: engine .of: the Cape ; Breton, so that the Reef Society will have @ nice clean hull to dump thte the ocean. All. of. the blustering and posturing by . Council members on June 12th does not alter the fact that the "part of our histo- ry" they | are so. worked up about will actu- Gabjiola Island, ; taxpayers of North Vancouver City mean- awhile, at.a cost of. ‘several. hundred thou- sands. of doilars, will become the proud © owners of the engine and rear end of the ship, as part of a display which will prob- ably also cost a fortune in annual taxpay- 2 er subsidies to maintain. ‘In terms of the Federal Government Millennium Grants Program,.. aécording to. my. records there were 16 applicants 1g for money for Phase IV of the pro- min North Vancouver. The’ total ‘money available though amounted to “only? $68,425; “totalled more’th ment. giveaways of . taxpayers’ money, | _More applicants were disappointed: than were satisfied, and because. the Victory | Ship Project request for $275,000 was ° “more than 4 times the available total, it is. hardly surprising that the application was, “ not approved. * ; 7" With respect to my own influence on In addi- . tion, a Notice of Motion was put forward “suggesting that [ should appear before . the process, as | have detailed in this space more times than I care to mention, my input into the grants awarding process on behalf of my constituents is virtually meaningless and is for all intents and purposes irrelevant. We always "get our share" of the funds, but it | is the bureaucrats and the Minister responsibie, in this case the Hon. Herb Gray, who make the decisions as to who gets lucky. Notwithstanding the fact that the input from my office is of little conse-' quence, I do conscientiously analyze every proposal which comes across: my desk, and I do provide my com-. ments, based on the broad based input I have received from my con-: stituents over the past 6-1/2 years. | In fact, three years in a row | set up con-., stituent committees, randomiy selected ; from the Voters List, to look over grants applications and to give me their guid-: ance as to what>type* of funding was © ‘acceptable. 1. found’ that” there “was a: remarkable consistency-in the results of, ‘all of that input. People:haté their-money ; being frittered away on the ctivities of ; j other levels of government; not mind approving™ ‘money to help the ® less fortunate, disadvantaged, the elderly 24: and the sick. Bottom line? Despite th outrage expressed. by Councillor. Bell, would be extremely surprised if one pe: ‘ son in a thousand felt the way he does’. about the erane, and stern of the C Artificial Reef Society of B.C. picked. it up frem the Federal Government for, if; memory serves me correctly, something: in the range of twenty to thirty thousand. . dollars. In closing, may I suggest. ‘that Jeast one or two cou! the time,to pick up th give mea call,” accurate: infor Yours truly, . Ted a White, MP. *The one was designed by. the Nort Eastern Marine: Engine Co. ‘of. Britah *The * steering ; lifeboats, furnit