4 - Wednesday, January 4, 1989 - North Shore News the main events of 1988 that affected the North Shore and its residents, the News has produced summarized versions of the major stories that occurred from October to December. Part one, which covered January to September, appeared in the Jan. 1 issue of the News. OCTOBER: *Collins’s Reform Party can- didacy crashed: Despite overwhelming support shown for North Shore News col- umnist Doug Collins from an estimated 1,000 Reform Party members at an Oct. 18 Capilano- Howe Sound nomination meeting, party leader Preston Manning ref- used to sign Collins’s nomination papers for the federal riding because of what Manning said was the party’s wish to distance itself from any appearance of racism. Collins, who had announced his intention to seek the Reform Party candidacy in the riding earlier in October, declined to run as an in- dependent, though supporters urg- ed him to do so. Mainland. The study was undertaken to gauge the threat to local creeks, ground water and soil posed by the fuel leeching into the environment from the estimated 50,000 RUSTs thut are buried around the Lower Mainland area and especially on the North Shore. Because of the large amount of fuel found in the tanks tested, the present and future threat to the eavironment is considered by En- vironment Canada to be substan- lial © Local survives wilderness ordeal: A_ retired North Vancouver District Fire Department firefighter narrowly survived a desperate 60-mile, five-day-and- night hike through freezing nor- thern B.C. wilderness after a IN NOVEMBER, Eartano-Howe Sound MP Mary Collins retained her seat in the federal election Neil Thompson was nominated at the last moment to run for the Reform Party in Capilano-Howe Sound in Collins's place. He finished fourth overall in the riding in the Nov. 21 federal election. ® Coart Strikes Down Wesi Van Expenstion Bylaw: Collingwood private school's expansion plans were momentarily dashed when the B.C. Supreme Court struck down West Van- couver District Council’s zoning bylaw permitting the school to ex- pand on the former Glenmore elementary site. Despite heated protests from many local residents over traffic and parking problems created by the expanding school, council ap- proved the zoning in June after be- ing convinced by schocl supporters and Collingwood's promises to solve the difficulties with extra busing and parking provisions. Mayor Don Lanskail said coun- cil would appeal the court deci- sion, which was based on a legal technicality in the wording of notices explaining when the expar- sion bylaw could be viewed. eSoil comtamination threat substantia}: An Environment Canada study of Residential Undergrcund Sterage Fanks (RUSTs) on the North Shore estimated that ap- proximately 15.2 million litres of fuel oi] might be contained in abandoned and deteriorating RUSTs buried around the Lower canoeing trip with a friend went wrong when their canoes tipped. The ordeal left Ralph Davis with frostbitten hands and feet and a 25-pound weight loss. His compa- nion, Bud Price, broke his shoulder. © Lifeboat retarned to North Shore group: An ongoing battle between the B.C. Lifeboat Society and the North Shore Lifeboat Society over the disputed ownership of a 20- foot Boston Whaler lifeboat was finally settled out of court. The dispute had earlier resulted in a $70,000 investigation by the pro- vincial Financial Institutions Department of Investigation. NOVEMBER: © Incumbents returned in North Shore municipal elections: Incumbent West Vancouver Mayor Don Lanskail and incum- bent North Vancouver District Mayor Marilyn Baker had little trouble in winning re-election for their second and fourth terms, respectively, in the Nov. 19 municipal! elections. All aldermanic incumbents run- ning in both municipalities were also returned Andy Danyliu and Carol Ann Reynolds were both elected for the first time to West Vancouver council. The two won the seats left open following the retirement of former aldermen Gordon Rowntree and David Finlay. Reynolds was officially named the winner of the sixth and final aldermanic seat after edging out broadcaster Barrie Clark in a vote recount. In North Vancouver District, newcomer Rich Buchols was elected to council to the seat vacated by retiring-alderman Mary Segal. Incumbent Ald. Ernie Crist was re-elected after an official recount put him five votes in front of challenger Patrick Bruskiewich, who had initially been declared the unofficial winner of the sixth and final aldermanic seat after leading Crist by five votes. © Residents Say No to Highrises: The West Vancouver municipal election coincided with a referen- dum on the highly contentious Twin Towers proposal jor 320 Taylor Way. About 71 per cent of those who voted were in favor of using the 3.5 acre municipal parcel to generate revenue. But just over half were against a_ highrise development. The referendum followed a task force study initiated by council in July in response to the overwhelm- ing public reaction to the Newcorp Properties Ltd. proposal for the southeast corner of the district's busiest intersection. Some wanied to save the land for park, while others were more concerned about the poteniial for greater traffic problems. Council negotiated the 99-year lease agreement on the basis of 1981 guidelines for the site, and Mayor Don Lanskail admitted that council had erred in not realizing that the public would want to debate the issue again. In December, West Vancouver council voted to take the contract with Newcorp to court for clarification. North Shore ridings stay Tory bive: Incumbent Progressive Conser- vative candidates in the North Shore’s Capilano-Howe Sound and North Vancouver ridings in the Nov, 2! federal elections won re- election with comfortable vote margins. Capilano-Howe Sound MP Mary Collins was elected to her se- cond term with 47 per cent of the votes cast. Liberal candidate Jobn Pozer finished second overall with 29 per cent of the vote. In North Vancouver, Conser- vative MP Chuck Cook was returned for his fourth term with 37.8 per cent of the vote. Liberal challenger James Hatton finished second with 27 per cent of the votes cast. Across Canada, the Tories won a second consecutive majority government with '69 of the 265 House of Commons seats. © Former teacher's jail term ex- tended: Former West Vancouver teacher Alan Tsutomu Homma was sentenced to an additional two years in jail after being found guil- ty of sexually assaulting two former male students. In April, Homma pleaded guilty to three sexual assault-related charges in connection with inci- dents involving another former male student and was sentenced to three years in jail. Another former West Vancouver teacher, Daniel Leroy Bristow, was found guilty on nine sexual assault related charges involving seven adolescent males following a five- day trial in Vancouver county court. He was scheduled to appear for sentencing Jan. 10. In May, a B.C. Supreme Court judge awarded $5,000 to a former North Shore resident for psychological and emotional dam- ages suffered as a result of his be- Highlights of the top North Shore news stories of 1988 IN THIS second installment of a two-part series chronicling ing sexually assaulted by Campbell Colin Dagg, a former North Van- couver teacher. © Indian River school on fast track after all: Lobbying by North Vancouver residents for a new elementary school in a rapidly growing area of the community resulted in a January announcement by MLA Jack Davis that 1988 capital ex- Shipyard owner B.C. Pacific Capital Corp. announced an agreement to sell Versatile’s North Vancouver and Victoria yards to Shieldings Inc. of Toronto. Shieldings officials pledged to diversify Versatile’s operation to include more industrial manufac- turing and to rely less on ship- building contracts. The work share of the two yards NEWS photo Tom Burtey IN OCTOBER, News columnist Doug Collins's Reform Party candidacy was crushed. penditure funds would be available for the land purchase and planning sosts for a school. In May the provincial government announced approval of approx- imately $1.7 million for site ac- quisition and planning costs for schools in the Indian River and Cove Cliff areas. In November, the provincial government an- rounced the 1988 release of an ad- ditional $30 million to cover new school construction. DECEMBER: ° Hes Sound fishery forced to close: Areas in the immediate vicinity of Howe Sound’s Woodfibre and Port Mellon pulp and paper mills were closed to recreational and commercial crab, shrimp and prawn fishing following release of further results of government testing for cancer-caesing dioxins and furans in fish specimens taken from around the mills. The unprecedented closure followed release of results from preliminary studies released in May that showed levels in Howe Sound shellfish of the most dangerous dioxin were up to 33 times greater than accepted Canadian tolerance levels. EWS phi IN DECEMBER, North Vancouver City had its first functioning movie on the actual construction work on the $350 million Polar Class 8 icebreaker was still not decided. Though Versatile management has continued to maintain that work will be split equally between the company’s North Vancouver and Victoria yards, union repre- sentatives claim that virtually none of the construction work will be done in North Vancouver. A contract agreement between Versatile and its unions was stil! unsigned even though union membership had voted 60 per cent in October to accept a new con- tract. Negotiations continued over the invezpretation of the memo- randum of agreement. * North Vancouver landmark to face the wrecker’s ball: North Vancouver Council voted 42 to allow demolition of the 76- year-old St. Alice Hotel to make way for what could be a 28-storey commercial residential tower. Another proposal is also before council to construct a 22-storey luxury condominium and commer- cial development on the Olympic Hotel site. Both developments will await the findings of the city’s view im- pact study which is scheduled be to completed by March. Cindy Bellamy theatre in more than 10 years when the Cineplex Odeon Park and Tilford Cinemas opened. In November, a coalition of fishermen and environment groups had called for a ban on fishing in the Sound until the extent of fish coutamination had been determin- ed. A civil suit launched in April by West Vancouver resident Terry Jacks against the provincial gov- ernment over its decision to ap- prove a revised air pollution permit for the Port Mellon mill is sched- uled to be heard in January. © Versatile Pacific Shipyards sold: © Cinemas to open in NV: North Vancouver City had its first functioning movie theatre in more than 10 years when the six- screen, 1,700-seat Cineplex Odeon Park and Tilford Cinemas opened at the new Park and Tilford Cen- tre. Final approval of another six- screen theatre in the city at the corner of Esplanade arid Chestes- field Avenue was awaiting resolu- tion of parking problems for the development. ee Se a Beorsyyceest 4+ Le