MAILBOX Decentralization of emergency system would be too Dear Editor: {am shocked and saddened by the ignorance shown in the article about the ambulance dispatcher in your Aug. I4 issue. Firstly, the article states that this incident ‘thighlights the need for a decentralized ambulance dispatch system."’ Well, just ex- actly how decentralized are we talking here? One dispatch centre for each litle town and village? That would of course be fuc too expensive and inefficient. Not on- ly would the province then have te staff these centres, but they would also have to purchase tne equip- ment and buy or lease the premises for each one of these centres, Secondly, if the author of the article had bothered to read the transcript of the call, which was featured in The Vancouver Pro- vince of Sunday, Aug. If, he would have noted that the loca- tion of the incident given to, first the B.C.Tel operator and then the ambulance dispatcher, was garbled and neither person could make out what was being said. In addition to garbling the site of the incident, the caller then simply hung up! Consequently, the police and ambulance were sen! to the phone booth from which the call oripi- nated. The caller had left the scene, Thirdly, ihe article then states that “The costly mistake shows the superiority of the enhanced 9-1-1 system in the GVRD. Well, if that same cail had orig- inated, say, in North Vancouver, and the caller was not under- standable and then hung up, ail that would have happened would be that the police and ambulance would have been sent to the loca- tion from which the call was made. The author should realize that all 9-1-1 does for the dispatcher is expensive display the location from) which the call is being made. In this case the location was a phone booth, and that is exactly where the police and ambulance responded to. Finally, the article states that **nolice and fire stations are grad- ually developing computer systems which will receive calls from the 9-1-1 centre."” Indeed! The ambulance service already has such a system, and it is in place and on line in the GVRD as are the police and fire department systems. We should all be aware that the 9-f-1 system is not perfect even though it is a great improvement, and we would all do well to remember that although the B.C. Ambulance Service dispatchers are the highest trained of all emergen- cy dispatchers, they, like all of us, are unfortunately not perfect. R. Whiting North Vancouver Reasons given for Meech failure absurd Dear Editor: One hopes that Noel Wright's acute loss of acumen is temporary and that he will soon recover from his bout with the ‘‘reductio ad ab- surdum”’ proposed by Financial Post editor Diane Francis. The notion that Meech failed because the single word ‘‘distinct’’ could not be tolerated by ‘‘red- necked Albertans’’ and other assorted idiots is an absurd ob- fuscation, designed by the politi- cians in a vain attempt to obscure their own miscalculations. The truth is that a host of perfectly reasonable Canadians, who were otherwise quite willing to acknowledge Quebec as a distinct society, were not willing to allow themselves to become shilts in Brian Mulroney's con- Sstitutiona! con game. Briefly, the distinct society clause in the Constitution would have recognized that “Quebec constitutes within Canada a distinct society."’ it further stipu- lated that ‘The role of the Isgislature and Government of Quebec is to preserve and promote Cuebec’s distinct identity.”' All the arguments over whether tiis clause would provide Quebec with additional legislative power became, in reality, a tempest in a legal teapot. Quebec already had all the power it needed, in the Charter’s notwithstanding clause, to :et aside whichever minority rights it deemed necessary in order to “preserve and promote’ its distinct society. What Quebce really wanted was constitutional sanction from = the rest of Canada to continue its heavy-handed use of the not- withstanding clause in the manner demonstrated by Bill 178. The Meech Accord would have provided such approval and, had it’ passed, Noel's hopes for the early rescision of that infamous sign Jaw would have become forfeit in a plethora of similar leg- istation against Quebcc’s minorities. W.A. Burton West Vancouver Seniors want a column representing them Dear Editor: ! couldn't find Eleanor Godley’s regular column in the August 4 edition, and am wonder- ing if perhaps she is indisposed. If so, 1 certainly hope she recovers quickly. { certainly hope you haven’t decided to cancel that nice friend- ly column. There are perhaps more seniors around than you have noticed. In the various build- ings in my own neighborhood, for example, about half the residents seem to be in this category. And on a broader level, according to the latest June 1990 statistics, over 4,204,800 of us are aged 60 or more. That translates into a percent- age of the general population in the order of 15.817%, calculated total population of on a DR. DOUGLAS ALDERSON, Chiropractor wishes to an- nounce that DR. DIANE FORBES, Chiropractor will be joining him in practice as an associate in his office located at: 1372 Marine Drive North Vancouver, B.C. V7P 114 Phone 985-0461 The office hours are: | Dr. Alderson Monday 7:30am - 5:30pm Juesday-Friday 7:30am - 2:00pm Dr. Forbes Tuesday-Friday 2:30pm - 8:30pm Saturday 7:30am - 5:30pm New patients are welcome. Accepted by MSP ICBC, WCB claims accepted 26,584,000 as of June, 1990. In my opinion, if we can endure the repetitive chatter of ‘‘Trendy Pegzy’’ and her Ecoinfo, and en- dure the resident curmudgeon, Douz Collins, and his often in- flam matory rhetoric,then we ought also tu have our senicrs column kept intact. You probably won’t appreciate the pleasures and the benefits of a seniors’ column — until much older, but nany of us do. And we don’t ‘vant to see it you're ° disappear, or be quietly sandwich- ed in between the obits and the want-ads, Some of us have spent four or five decades paying our dues, to make jobs like yours a viable alternative to unemployment, and we want our own column, damn it! Ray Sutton West Vancouver Editor's note: Vintage Years did not appear Aug. 4 due to a flack of editorial space. _SUPER SUMMER SALE * TENNIS RACQUETS ¢ BASEBALL ¢ SHOES/SOCCER BOOTS e SPORTSWEAR ¢ SUNGLASSES ¢ MOUNTAIN BIKES SALE ENDS SEPT. 7 NORTH VANCOUVER 119 West 16th Street 985-9161 Z 30-50% off: 40% 20% 30-50% 26-30% up to 35% * OFF SUGGESTED RETAIL PSICYLINE SPORTSE KERRISDALE 5395 West. Boulevard 266-1061 ‘? Garibaidi |. URGENT IN WEST VANCOUVER | Sunday, August 25, 1991 - North Shore News - 7 HEARING PROBLEMS? WE CAN HELP Neil Walton, MSc, Aud-(C) Registered Audiologist “= Pacific 3011200 Lonsdale Ave Z : ri North Vancouver. BC. jee Hearing Clinic 985-2501 DRAPERIES BY S. LAURSEN CUSTOM DRAPERIES AND VALANCES Labour £7.50 per panel unlined, $8.50 lined CUSTOM BEDSPREADS AND COVERS Low, low prices on blinds and tracks For FREE Estimates Call 987-2966 Serving the North Shore for.19 years North Shore's New Democrats It's time for a change! 926-9055 Capilano 898-5240 Uren 988-9460 Lonsdale ye New 'Democrats= PUBLIC AUCTION RE: DEFAULTED UNPAID DOCUMENTS CANADA CUSTOMS CLEARED DUTIES & TAXES PAID AT PORT OF ENTRY VALUABLE PERSIAN CARPETS Fine imported rugs. The majority consist of hand-knotted oriental rugs. Contents: Persian Tabriz, Baluch, Indo Kirman, Deep Pile Mainland Chinese, Bokhara, Sunwashed Village Rugs, Kars, Silk Masterpiece Qum, etc. Sizes 1x1 to 10x14. Rugs unwrapped and Siquidated piece by piece in the quickest possible manner. SUNDAY, AUGUST 25th, 1991 AT EAGLE HARBOUR COMMUNITY CENTRE 5575 Marine Drive, West Vancouver Urner Leneie Hey. AT 2:00 PM SHARP "| Viewing from 1:00 pm Go down Westport Rd. te Marine Drive ° Advertising subject to terms and conditions of auction at auction site * Liquidation by Federal Collection Agency Inc. (a private B.C. company} * Terms: Cash, major credit cards; bank cards or bank cheques * 10% freight, brokerage and warchousing charges to be added.