DARN... FORGOT THE SPIKING HAMMER. Do WE HAVE ANYTHING DENSE AND HARD WE COULD WE INSTEAD?.... Air care ORTH Shore residents should be abie to breathe a little easier follow- ing the latest decision reversal by North Vancouver District Council. On Monday night, council members reversed an earlier decision that could have forced North Shore drivers to travel to Burnaby or Vancouver to have their vehi- cles’ emissions tested. Ceuncil initially decided in carly March thatthe site chosen for the North Shore’s AirCare vehicle testing station would have created srea traffic congestions and was therefore inad- equate. With the proposed site iocated south of the BC Raii tracks between Philip and Pemberton avenues, a report to council stated that rail traffic would interfere with testing station traffic. Current delays at the railway crossing, accerding to a_ traffic report, average between 3.3 and 5.3 minutes. And while there wiil undoubtedly be delays for vehicle owners caused by the train traffic, those delays will likely only affect 15% of the estimated 120 cars per hour that can be handled by the AirCare station. The AirCare program is part of the Greater Vancouver Regional Districi’s commitment to cutting auto emissions 50% by the year 2000. Those emissions current- ly account for 75% of all Lower Mainland air pollution. ; Forcing North Shore residents to travel off the North Shore to have their vehicle: tested would have added approximatcly 250,000 auto trips per year to local coni- muter routes. in approving the North Shore site for the AirCare station, district council sen- sibly chose the lesser of two evils. Who will pay the price of cutbacks? Dear Editor: As a parent in the North Van- couver School District, I am deep- fy concerned by the price ail of the children of this district are go- ing to pay, due to the conse- quences of the current education underfunding situation. While most of the other districts have the same or higher budgets, we (who willingly pay higher taxes for better education) will not receive adequate funding to con- tinue the valuable programs a!- ready in place, that other districts Publisher Peter Speck are presently initiating. Even with these proposed cut- backs, we will not meet the deficit and it will be difficult, if not im- possible, to regain these programs once the damage is done. Together we can communicate how unacceptable this situation really is. Education is supposed to equip our children to meet the chalienges of their constantly pro- gressing future. We need complete information and there is an urgent need to Display Advertising 980-0511 Distribution communicate with the ministers of education (Anita Hagen) and fi- mance (Glen Clark) and our MLAs, and get our message heard as soon as possible, as the educa- tion budget goes before the legislature in the next few days, and our district budget deadline is April 20. So who is really going to pay the price of these cutbacks and can we afford to let this happen? Our children are our future! Kathy Rawle North Vancouver 986-1337 Ga Tell us again, Brian, how free trade helps us! IN RONNIE REAGAN?’S good old days his Irish singing buddy Brian Mulroney assured us that Americans loved Canada and wanted to help us prosper. That’s why we had to have the Free Trade Agreement. He was partialiy right, of course. Americans do love quite a few things about Canada. Among them, our fish stocks, both com- mercial and sport; our bonus au- diences for their TV, films, maga- zines and books; above all, our forest and mineral resources — as raw materials to provide jobs in U.S. manufacturing industries. But no Canadian finished goods, thank you — except, maybe, a few statuettes of Moun- - ties and soapstone seals from In- uvik for border souvenir stalls. With a home market ten times bigger than Canada’s, only a third of our percentage of unionized private sector workers and no medicare, they can make anything cheaper than we can. Even in good times, with lots of jobs and money around, that was about the sum total of American love for Canada. And now, with 24 bad months of making the Yanks inctvasingly protectionist in the edgy election year, the truth about free trade is hitting home hard. Canada is the loser. In re- cent weeks U.S industry lobbies have succeeded in having counter- vail duties slapped on Canadian softwood lumber products, Cana- dian-assembled Honda cars and Canadian-made computers. Even Canada’s top FTA negotiators are shocked. Dozens of Canadian plants are closing down and relocating south of the border. A fishery war looms over B.C salmon. Cana- dians in their millions cross the line each month to shop in U.S. malls. Meanwhile, negotiations for a U.S.-Canada-Mexico free trade agreement are moving ahead under tight secrecy. But a recently leaked draft indicates chief U.S. trade representative Carla Hills is also using the process to revise the 1989 U.S.-Canada treaty in Washington’s favor. The draft shows that the Auto pact, plus Canadian telecommunications, truckers, textiles and farm mar- keting boards, are all at risk in the proposed three-country deal. You don’t need an economics degree to figure what growing Mexican work skills combined with low Mexican wages can do to Canadian jobs. The U.S. may suffer too, but at least with a hoped-for trade-off in access to Mexico’s huge oil reserves — £ eae HITHER AND YON which Canada doesn’t require. No question, Canadian business and industry must smarten up to compete globally, not just with the U.S. But while that’s happen- ing a reasonable degree of protec- tionism is our safest bet — as Japan found along the road to becoming the world’s economic giant. : Tell us again, Brian, how fi trade is nelping Canada! ’ TAILPIECES: Last of the four island tribes (after Robbie Burns’; St. David’s and St. Pat’s) to party this year, England’s turn comes Thursday, April 23, when the Society of St. George celebrates its patron saint with a traditional roast beef feast and other English merriment at the Canyon House. ”- Growing steadily, the society mins fun social events every month. It also welcomes as members native Canadians and anyone else sincerely interested in Canada’s English heritage — to learn more, call Terry Watkins, 929-7639 ... Meanwhile, if you just happen to be a 68-year-old (or thereabouts) Lord Byng High grad, contact Ernie, 922-8642 about the Class of ’42 reunion planned for June 5-6 at the Richmond Inn. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Sign seen on a middle manager’s desk: The buck pauses here and, having paused, moves on. - Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 985. Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2131 MEMBER con, SR nn : 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, ~ SDA DIVISION North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. Ail rights reserved. Managing Editor... Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor ...... .Noel Wright Advertising Director .. Linde Stewart Comptroiler............. Doug Foot North Shore Nows, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph I!l of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lic. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rales available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept tesponsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. FINE VONCE OF NORTH AND WEST WANCOUVER ‘north shore. 81,562 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) BRIAN MULRONEY... love song CARLA HILLS ; opening up ended with Ronnie. Canada for the Yanks.