THE FORGOTTEN partner.
in last week’s VE-Day cele-
‘brations has little to cele-.
‘brate.‘At 50, the United...
Nations faces its moment, of”

Ten years ago}. was one. sof a.
‘group of. Canadian editors on a-
two-week tour of the UN. heed,
office in New: York’and its branch

“plants i in Geneva’ as the world pouy. -

marked its 40th birthday, Even then -
there was ample- media criticism of

; shortcomings and failed efforts. '

Nonetheless, we found causes

r optimism. ‘Notably, the sheer’
size of the “peace industry” with its
many specialized | agencies like the
ILO, the. WHO, GATT, UNICEF,
UNESCO; the International Red
Cross and thé High Commissioner
for Refugees. ‘Even if progress was
often. slow. it. was comforting to

» many people working one
the peace: job..."

Paradoxically, ihe Cold War was:
still a stabilizing influence in 1985,
Under the’ UN umbrella the U.S..
and thé Soviet Union'at least‘con-
ducted their tough; crucial bargain-
ing ina civilized atmosphere.

“,. Moreover, the two Superpowers, -

quickly. imposed cease-fires in any
clashes among their satellites, after
which the blue-beret UN peace-

kéepers'— = always with implicit’. .
~ superpower backing — policed the
“trace. Aside from the Doomsday ©
-,'- scenario, which neither, superpower

“seemed eager to hasten, there was :

: stil Plenty to hore | fori in the UN. .

Poter Speck

: Publisher .
985-2191 ( 101)

, Compttoltar

‘ers, oddly enough, were the two |.

‘ Doug Foot

985-21 34 ( 133)

“hither
and yon

That hope reached a peak with
the remarkable Gulf War operation.

'.. Butin the wake of Somalia,

Rwanda and former Yugoslavia

". hope is now rapidly-sinking.

Bosnia ‘and Croatia ‘could be the

UN's graveyard,

The reason lies in the gap.
between peace-keeping and peace-.
MAKING — the latter involving :
force or the threat of it. So during
the Cold War the real peace-mak-

superpowers, which ensured that

_ conflicts between minor powers -

didn’t get out of hand, then handed

over to the UN watchdog.

Meanwhile, the end of the Cold

“¢ War and the break-up of the Soviet

Union has brought a big increase in

bitter “tribal” conflicts, often in _

. form of civil war within the fron-..,

“tiers of a single nation.

_ Beyond endeavoring to help the
» civilian populations survive, the

Chris Johnson
Operations Manager

985-2131 (166}

aj °'sionh 'Shdeb, News! fables 2 fal da € Knuth’ ‘

SR POSDATLET MM CaN

EJOICE.. READERS: there is food

news on the free speech front.. Some

courts in Canada are on the side of
open justice. The most recent example was
played out in Edmonton, where lawyers in a
‘bizarre ‘case involving a woman accused of
injecting her lover with HIV-tainted blood
had sought a: publication ban to cover the
name of a high-profile businessman.

The man, lawyers argued, would suffer
much embarrassment and financial damage
were his ties with the accused revealed during
his testimony in the case.

But the judge ruled against the publication
ban, saying ‘that he could not see why “the

_ ordinary citizen who visits a massage parlor
on one occasion is forced to testify, but not the
businessman.” Good stuff.

PERS Aa A Tk 9th LUBE WATE OP BME EA NRO GALE MISO

'

injunction prohibiting CBC from airing the
Boys of St. Vincent television mini-series. Its
decision recognized freedom of speech. as
paramount. It also laid out some strict guide-
lines for applying court publication bans. ~
According to Supreme Court of Canada
Mr. Justice Antonio Lamer, as reported in the
March 1995 Ladner Downs Free Speech Law
Bulletin, open court reporting: prevents per-
jury by placing witnesses under public scruti-
ny; prevents state and/or court wrongdoing
by placing the crimina! justice system under

’ public scrutiny; reduces crime through the

public expression cf disapproval for crime;
promotes the public discussion of important |
issues.

It also keeps our justice system. honest.
Justice must be seen to be done. Publication

‘Timothy Renshaw:

The Supreme Court of Canada would.
apree. Late last year it overturned an Ontario

te

UN has no mandate to bash the
warring factions over the head until
they see sense. Hence. the ever-
deepening tragedy of the westem
Balkans, where UN units are now -
hostages as often as peace-keepers.
Only a Gulf War type of peace-
MAKING operation, armed with
adequate force, can finally stop the
slaughter there and restore the
UN's authority.

This is only one of many such
challenges looming in the post-

“Cold War world. If after 50 years
“We the peoples of the United
Nations” lack the guts to meet it,
should we simply leave the UN to
die? ©.

Should we surrender the noble

- UN ideal of half a century ago to
the guns, bombs and tanks of pack-
aged anarchy —- local at first but
always capable of sparking a wider
conflagration?

- Oris an end to all war important
enough to FIGHT for if need be?

- TAKE A POLICEMAN to lunch
Thursday, May 18, at North Van
Chamber of Commerce’s annual |

. salute to the RCMP with Jim
Kearney, 11:30 a.m. in Cheers
Restaurant, 125 East 2nd —. book

_.(987-4488) by Tuesday noon ...
-And happy birthday tomorrow,
May 15, to Mt. Seymour Lion

; Jamie Innes.

Fi
eee

f
WRIGHT OR: WRONG: Pad
Beautiful young folks are accidents ™

Of nature. Beautiful old folks are
works of art.

Managing Editor
985-2131 (116)

f " ")
n 2 "ags'oqat

Linda Stewart
Sales & Marketing Director. -
980-0511 (319): we

truth.
i

edt Sie

GUuoSlkes
““They don’t learn how to:
drive, they learn how to pass the

test.”

North Varicouver City resident
Marlies Stotts, on the proliferation
of driving schools using North
‘Shore streets and what driving
school students are learning. (From
a May 10 News story. )

“What goes up must come
down.”

“West Keith Road resident Alois
Aichmain, opposing the use of his
road as a proposed truck route and -
questioning city staff findings that
‘1,000 fewer trucks per day used the
route westbound than eastbound.
(From a | May 10 News story.)

“sa firetrap.”

‘West Vancouver District 45
; School Board chairman Ken
“ Haycock. on the old Inglewood
school building. (From a May | 10
News Story. )

inailbox

‘Dear Editor:
_Re: straps in school.

~ Right: on!. I. seem to remember-”

_ from my school days that a whack
across the palm of the hand with the’
edge of a ruler — and six of the best: .

— certainly made a more lasting
impression on me than any verbal
admonition. And it certainly | never
did me any harm.

We wore school uniforms’ in

Poter Kvarnstrom
Display Manager ©.

Valerio Stephenson
. ’ Classified Manager: °°."
980-0514 (403) bs 886-6222 (202}:

bans run counter. to that basic democratic -

ot the week

' “This kid was driving alate 2
model Acura. And then there was .-
a Nissan Pathfinder theres’ cars I
can’t afford.” -

BCTV cameraman Kiffa os
Roberts, after being punched in the .
face by a teen in North Vancouver
during the production of a feature
on local teens, on the apparent ,
affluence of local teens. _(from a.
May 10 News story.) * :

“It’s the backroom manipula.
tors we want to keep outside of
our party. Fortunately the vast :

‘majority of them have already ©”

found a home and it’s with the. :
Liberal party,”
Reform Party of B. Cc: leader

‘Jack Weisgerber, a former Social: *

Credit party member, ata public +
meeting held recently, on the: North
Shore, inviting former Social ».
Credit members to join him in the
Reform party. (From a ‘May 12. os

-News story. ye

7 ~ those days! too: which. still seems to
be the norm in Europe and the U, K.

Rich or. poor:it imposes , a'com-.
mon denominator ‘and ‘instills. a
pride in one’s school. It is a pity that

-they do not do that here, if only blue Bet

jeans:and a “school color’, T-shirt. °:
‘They can look as scruffy, as they

Tike ‘at other times.
‘Ralph Carder: ©
West Vancouver

“Trixi Agrios'
Promotions Manager o

4 Senin a

Yih. bent by

independent suburban nawspaper and qualified ei, .
~ under Schedule 111,: Paragraph 111 of the
Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday,

~ Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press
- Lid. and distnbuted to evary doer on the North
Snore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail’

. Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing:
fates. available on request.'Submissions are

.” welcome bul we cannot accept responsibility for ©
unsolicited material including manuscripts and
“pictures, which should be accompanied by a
stamped, self-addressed envelope... + !

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