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NEWS photo Teny Feters

SUTHERLAND STUDENTS walk out in protest over the teachers’ instruction only decision Thursday. The
students gathered outside North Vancouver School Board No. 44 offices to voice their concerns. Allison
Bennett, right, and Tiffany Gillis hold up signs in front of the group of approximately 100 students.

Local

ACCORDING TO LGH FORUM
funds needed

for schizophrenics

MANY FAMILIES of schizophrenic patients have reached
the point of desperation because of the lack of facilities in
North and West Vancouver to help them cope with the

mental illness.

That was the feeling of partici-
pants in a forum on schizophrenia
held ‘at Lions. Gate Hospital last
week.

Chairperson Bill Alderton said,

“T find it frustrating when AIDS
comes along and gobbles up all the
money. Money is thrown at it
(AIDS) and schizophrenia has been
there a lot longer.”

Alderton noted that the amount
of money spent on a schizophrenia
patients in a year is only $3.95 —
this compares to $100 spent on a
cancer patient, and $3,000 spent
onan AIDS patient in a-year.

Panelist Joan Deering — whose
daughter is schizophrenic — noted
that there are only 36 beds on the
North Shore suitable for
schizophrenic patients — this to
serve a population of 140,000.

BEDS NEEDED

Both Deering and Alderton felt
that there should be 50 to 100 beds
on the North Shore, including 10
beds at the intermediate care 3
level — which provides the most
intensive care.

As well, there is a need for more
group and independent living
homes and respite care facilities to
serve the North Shore. The facili-
ties at Lions Gate Hospital for
dealing with schizophrenics also
need to be improved.

Forum participant Julie Skippon
described the frustration she expe-
rienced in dealing with her
schizophrenic younger brother.
“There aren’t enough hospital
beds, and the best they can do is to
rotate the patients through them.
There is nowhere to turn for help
and all we can do is tell others
about what we have been
through.’’

About 135 people turned out for
the meeting — which was spon-
sored by the North Shore Branch
of the B.C. Friends of
Schizophrenics. There are current-
ly 83 families in the North Shore

’ Branch,

| By PAUL HOULE
Contributing Writer,

700 families province-

wide.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness
that affects one in 100 people and
is characterized by -hallucinations,
delusions and scattered thinking.

Alderton noted that it is difficult
to attract funding for
schizophrenia because, ‘‘Mental il-
Iness is not acceptable in society. It
is taboo. You can be a paraplegic,
you can have cancer, you can have
almost any illness, but you must
not ever have mental illness.’’

FUNDING DIFFICULT

Deering said it would be difficult
to have a Terry Fox or Rick
Hansen to draw funding for
schizophrenia because,
“‘Schizophrenics by and large are
not attractive people, and so the
only people they have to speak for
them are their families.’’

Among the politicians present at
last Wednesday night’s meeting
were West Vancouver Mayor Don
Lanskail and West Van Ald.
Patricia Boname.

Boname pledged to take the
concerns of Friends of
Schizophrenics to council, but
suggested the .group concentrates
on specific problem areas.

“We're better at dealing with
specifics,’’ said Boname. ‘‘The
problem of not having enough
space in hospital — so talk to the
hospital board. There was some
sort of tax exemption that wasn’t
allowed in West Van. They should
write immediately to find out why
and we can deal with it.’’

MacKenzie MLA Harold Long
represented North Vancouver-
Seymour MLA Jack Davis at the
meeting, who has been long pledg-
ed to take the concerns of the
Friends of Schizophrenics to
caucus in Victoria.

Forum participant Cathy Moir

described the frustrations of deal-
ing with her son — who became
schizophrenic when he was 14.
Moir said that during psychotic
episodes her son would break into
her house and smash household
belongings. As a result of one
assault case, Moir said her son
ended up in Oakalla prison for 21
days.

Pat Henman said
must be done to ease the burden of
aging parents in caring for
schizophrenic children. ‘‘We worry
about the care they will receive
when we are gone. Other family
and friends often give up under the
strain.”’

Alderton emphasized that it is
costing society a lot of money not
to deal with schizophrenia. One
billion dollars a year is spent in
direct costs relating to the mental
illness: $400 million a year in
Canada for hospital treatment;
$150 million a year on welfare
payments to schizophrenics; and
$450 million a year for boarding
home accommodation for patienis.

INDIRECT COST

Alderton noted that there is an

indirect cost of over one billion
dollars with schizophrenia. That
figure represents the amount of
money that would be contributed
to the economy if those
schizophrenics who can work were
able to find jobs and did not face
discrimination in the job market.

A third of schizophrenics recov-
er from the disease; another third
can get by with medication; the
remaining third are severely af-
fected by the illness.

There have beeri some hopeful
advances in schizophrenia research
at the UBC hospital: A
breakthrough might come soon —
with scientists being able to pin-
point the cause of the disease.

Deering made a plea at the
meeting for a ‘‘decent and humane
society.’’

“We must provide the kinds of
care and services which will enable
schizophrenic patients to find a
reasonable degree of comfort, se-
curity and acceptance in our com-
munity,”’ she said.

something

3 - Friday, May 1, 1987 - North Shore News

13.8% INCREASE
W. Vancouver

School

joard

taxes jump $75

WEST VANCOUVER residents will have to dig a little
deeper into their pockets this year to pay for their

schools.

In Tuesday’s meeting of the
West Vancouver School Board,
trustees voted to endorse a $21.8
million operating budget and tax
rate bylaw that will see school
taxes raised by $75.

Notice of the increase will be
sent out to district residents with
municipal tax notices May 2] and
22, according to George Hor-
wood, director of finance for the
District of West Vancouver.

Contacted Wednesday at West
Vancouver Municipal Hall,
Horwood said while the 13.8 per
cent increase was ‘‘a substantial
jump,"’ school budgets have been
tightly controlled over the last
few years.

In presenting the budget and
tax rate bylaw to the board,
trustee and financial planning
committee chairinan Michael
Smith said there was no other
way for the committee to go.

“It was the common view of
the financial planning committee
that no area of the budget could
be cut,”’ he said.

Urging the board to endorse
the 1987/88 budget, Smith called
it ‘reasonable and fair’? and said
he felt the residents would sup-
port it.

Trustee Margot Furk agreed
and told the board while West
Vancouver already had the best

By ALISTAIR WATERS
Contributing Writer

schools in the province, it could
do better. But doing better, she
said, had a price.

“Nothing comes for free. If we
don’t pay for it from one pocket,
we pay for it from another
pocket,’ she told her fellow
board members and the other
dozen people in the board room.

She also agreed with Smith,’
who earlier said local residents
who pay more than 50 per cent of
total school costs through taxes,
as West Vancouver residents do,
should press for more local con-
trol of their schools.

{n a public question period f.
that followed the school board
meeting, two members of the au-
dience stood up and voiced sup-
port for the budget. . :

One of them, Kit Krieger, co-
president of the West Vancouver
Teachers Association, equated
the present educational economic
situation with automotive terms.

“Provincially, we ate driving a
Chevy right now and,1 am pleas-
ed to see we.’(West: Van School
District) are moving up to a
Buick, It’s a good car, but I
would like to see us iin a
Cadillac,’"’ he said to much
laughter.

$82 HIKE FOR SCHOCLS

NW. Van

passes

board

budget

NORTH Vancouver School Board passed its 1987-88
budget Tuesday and raised 1987:taxes by $82 for the

average district homeowner.

District secretary-treasurer Len
Berg said the rate increase is
average and that Lower
Mainland school district tax in-
creases range from $26 to $135.

Except for a few minor ad-
justments, Berg said the provin-
cial Education Ministry — which
approves all school district
budgets -—- gave the board the
funding it wanted.

“This is the first year in three
or four years that there hasn’t
been some significant change in
the funding (from the provincial
government),’’ Berg said.

Weather:

Mainly cloudy Friday.

Saturday, cloudy with
rain. Highs near 14°C.

By ROBERT BEYNON
‘ Contributing Writer

The new tax rate is 6.66540, up
from 6.49907 in 1986. This
means the average taxpayer pays
$6.67 per $1,000 of assessed

value on property.

The district will spend almost
$60 million in 1987-88, up $3.5
million. from the previous year.
The finalized budget, which the
board previously debated in
depth a month ago, was passed
unanimously after little discus-
sion.

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