$ — Friday, January 20, 1998 — North Shore News N our smali-l liberal corner of the world, a 48-year-old gentleman with 42 convictiuns is still steal- ing. The man’s ‘atest escapade involves the theft of a bottle of whisky from a North Vancouver liquor store. Unfortunately, his story is not unique. And it begs the question: where is the deterrence factor in our justice system? The decidedly liberal judicial sys- tem that has evolved in Canada gives criminals chance after chance after chance. Ahoy politicians and judges! -— the system you've devised and the slap-on-the-wrist sentences you hand out don’t work. _ And it has little support from the Police, the public or many of the peo- ple who work within the system itself. mailbox Keep film shoots out of W. Van park Dear Editor: The only reason movie companies want to film in ; Lighthouse Park is the existence of the Lighthouse itself. 4 ; They can find trees and sea vistas in many other places, : with easier access. Lighthouse Park is a federal property, for which we in West Vancouver are the caretakers. Despite the compa- ~ nies’ claim that they are eco-friendly, there is evidence to prove that they are not. Their money cannot repair dam- age done by ligt:ts, noise pollution and loss of vegetation. aa Anyone who has read the book Nature West Coast, as \ . seen in Lighthouse Park, published 25 years ago, about the — | flora: and fauna of the park, knows the extent of the changes and damage. Some of this is the result of ; increased use by: the public,.but should not be com- i .- -. pounded by convoys of trucks and armies of movie tech- : _ nicians, some of whom have scant regard for the sur- roundings. Money or revenue to the municipality should not be a matter for discussion. Preservation cf the park should be paramount. In my opinion all movie-making activities in the park should be banned. Elsie Foreman West Vancouver ioe —— ae : LETTERS to ihe editor must be legible (preferably type- written) and include your name, full address and tele- phone number. ETTERS to the editor must be legible (preferably tvcewritten) and include your name, full address ari telephone number. Published letters may be : edited for brevity, clarity, accuracy, legality and taste. : Submissions can be faxed to 985-2104 bur still must be signed and fully addressed. north shore Worth Shore News, founded in 1969 35 a0 mndependent suburban neerspaper and quakhed under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 af the Exc. € Tax Act 1s oubhshed each Wednestzy, tne and Sunday by North Shore free Hess, Lig, and distributed to every dour on the North ‘Shore Canara Post Canachan Puphcations fod Sales Product Agreement No 00872398 Mailing rates avaiable on request The new trend in sentencing that alluws criminals to serve their sen- tences at home, in the community, is yet another liberal concoction that won’t work. Without punishment that fits the crime, there is little reason to change ingrained criminal patterns. The well-worn excuse that condi- tional sentences save money is a sham. Tot up all the crime costs — insurance claims, medical bills, replacing lost items and other property destroyed — and keeping the reprobates behind bars while they earn their way back to the real world looks pretty cost-effec- tive. Although the cost to victims’ emotional well-being is difficult to apply a dollar figure to, it should be part of the equation. The system’s a failure. Change it. Jonathan Sell Distribution Manager Creative Services Manager Photography Manager Classified Manager 906-1337 (124) 985-2131 (127) 895-2131 (160) 9865-6222 (202) 61,582 (average carcutation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) aorth shore HOW wacky can we get? Ir's drawn little, if any, comment, but surely the investigation into the “miscon- duct” of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada takes the cake for prick- ly racial sensitivity that passeth all understanding. And the complainants still haven’s let up. They stil want to “get” the judge. Last March the rop court was considering the comments of a black judge in Nova Scotia who acquitted a black teenager of assaulting a white policeman. . Racial stereotyping was the issue. Chief Justice Antonio Lamer asked a lawyer how far the matter of such sterco- typing could go — pondering aloud if a judge should take into account that “Chinese people have the propensity for gambling.” And immediately fell into the very glue that the court was examining. Ir did no good that Chief Justice Lamer apologized later to ethnic Chinese. A group called the Chinese Canadian National Council complained about his “inappropriate and offensive” — oh, God, those words that are posted over the gibbet where the “politically correct” will hang all wanderers from their rigid and relentless line — to the Canadian Judicial Council. That's the organization of judges themselves. The council rejected the complaint. B.C. Chief Justice Allan MacEachern — an admirable judge and man, in my view stenseavesessseee: . ee PETER SPECK twa Publisher Human Resources Manager 985-2131 (101) 985-2131 (177) (hi " me ~ Peters VIEWPOINT Justice denied Comptroiler 985-2131 (133) Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights seserved. news ITS A NOTICE OFA RATE INCREASE —— wrote on its behalf: “Ic is in the inter- ests of the administration of justice that the ability of counsel to engage in such unrestricted advocacy, and the ability of judges to engage in frank and wide-rang- ing discussion with coun- . sel, continue.” Unsatisfied, the organi- zation is considering ask- ing Minister of Justice Anne McLellan for a for- mal inquiry. Folks, | wonder how many people in the “Chinese community” took offense at the judge’s remarks. 1 won- der whether the dynam- ics of all such racial organizations are such that their knees are perpetually ready to jerk at any mention of their race by anyone, anywhere, under suspicion of being less than 150% positive. And I wonder how many of those they claim to represent fear that the so-called “backlash” could be a lot more danger- ous to them than any “frontlash” of the original remark(s). Whar it turns on is not what's said, but who says it. The fact is that the racetracks of Hong Kong could well be the frenetically busiest of any on earth. Go to Hastings Park and you won’t just see a very high proportion of ethnic Chinese in attendance; you'll see big races from Hong Kong televised. Doubtless there are Chinese who gamble not at all. But I would say that describing ethnic Chinese as loving gambling is accurate as accurate as, say, any remark about the Renshaw Managing Editor 985-2731 (116) Trisl Agrios Gait Sneigrove Disptay Manager Promotions Manager Generat Office 985-2031 (114) 980-0511 (1660) 985-2131 (218) $85-2131 (105) Andraw McCrodic - Sports/Community Editor LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, full address & telephone number. VIA e-mail: trenshaw @ direct.ca Internet. htip://www.nsnews.com — @iRICE 76 ~ Racial sensitivity running amok French being big wine-drinkers, the English zealous for soccer and beer, the Iealiatis loving unstable governments, and the Canadians being the most tediously, anxiously desirous of pleasing everybody and offending nobody of any collection of people on earth, humbled by every approving ward of the United Nations. I find it esp