Sal higher than just about any other munic- Funding drive launched buse centre Hor drug a itreats N. Shore women By Layne Christensen s News Reporter men layne@rnsnews.com mm WEST Vancouver’s liquor sales are @ ipality in B.C. That’s a lot of “social drinking,” said Cheryl im Dougias, citing a provincial study. “Ten per cent of society has a problem with 7 : alcohol. That's just a fact.” Douglas is a director of Avalon Women's Centre, a drop-in substance abuse centre in West me Vancouver near the banks of Capilano River, cast of Taylor. Way. From page 1 alt have to be changed. “Also, people know us. We've been in the community a year and a half and we're quite well known. So it’s expensive on that level,” he said Thursday. Not surprisingly, Thomson’s not happy with the court’s ruling. It’s based on a section of the Pharmacists, Pharmacy Operations and Drag Scheduling Act. No person may assume or usc in any torm, combination or man- ner words such as pharmacy, apathecary, medicines, and drugs that imply licensing under the act, states the act. Thomson said that the legisla- tion effectively Ged the judge's Sunday, October 12, 1997 — North Shore News - 3 Name game will cosi store owner Thomson added the college did not have to prove that the public was confised by the use of the word farmacy. ° Thomson argued that by using the word natural and spelling, far- macy with an f, Quantum Life dif- ferentiated its business from a medical pharmacy. But the pharmacists’ college obviously didn’t buy that: it con- tends a farmacy’s a pharmacy, even if there’s a little letter alrer- ation. College registrar Linda Lytle said Wednesday's court decision clarifies that. “Our concern was that verbal- ly it certainly sounds the same and there’s the potential for the public to be misled into thinking they . Since Avalon opened last March, the centre has mm rcceived more than 400 visits a month. It can accommodate up to 2,000 visits a month. Douglas said the demand is there. . Douglas, 31, grew up in West Vancouver, where m closing our doors and not talking is quite com- ‘mon.” Douglas’ own problems with alcohol began When she was a tcen. By 25, her life revolved und her drinkin, i» “I didn’t want to drink but by 3 p.m. I was hav- eam ing a cocktail.” Once she started, she couldn’t stop. “Once I had one drink ... I had to have eight. Then vas ,blacking out and saying things J would People noticed. Friends made comments. She ot angry. She was consumed with shame and guilt. :.“I would do and say things that I would not do en I was sober,” said Douglas. “And I couldn’r op drinking by myself.” =, Six years ago she joined a 12-step program. sThat’s where she met the founders of Avalon, Helen i and Virginia Giles, who had opened a women’s covery centre in Kerrisdale in ’89. :* Last falf they began the search for a location in West ™ Vancouver for a second centre. Douglas, who is five years sober, wishes the centre were ere. when she first needed help. “It’s a safe place to come, and it’s private,” she said. Some wonien are not comfortable in the mixed setting fan Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. In the presence of , some “women cai’t take their veil off,” said Douglas. According to an Avalon study conducted last year, 75% ari of the visitors to the Kerrisdale centre were dealing with iM .issues of abuse —- physical, mental or sexual. ‘Alcohol becomes a problem on top of another prob- ” Douglas said. ; : That’s why the centre has opened its doors to women who are not just battlirig alcoholism. There is group sup- port for women fighting dual addictions — alcohol with hand. would find a pharmacist on the NEWS photo Mike Wakefield CHERYL Douglas wants to raise awareness for Avalon, a West Van drop-in centre for women battling addiction. marijuana, cocaine or prescription drugs, for instance — women in unhealthy relationships and survivors of incest. Trere are workshops on self-esteem and assertiveness, a lending library and a clothing exchange for women re- entering the work force. Visitors to the centre are not just from West Vancouver. They come from North Vancouver, Burnaby and Vancouver. The centre is privately funded and employs one full-time staff member to keep the doors open to drop-ins from: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. Evening sup- port groups are led by volunteers. Friday night there’s a session for teen drinkers. Some meetings offer child-mind- ing services. Next month, Avalon kicks off a major fundraising cam- paign, called One Day at a Time. They'll be asking com- munity sponsors to donate $384, or $32 a month, the sin- gle-day cost of keeping both centres open. The centre Operates on a non-residential basis at 110 - 657 Marine Dr. For more information, call 913-0477. site,” she said. Lytle said the new version of the act was proclaimed in 1995, and because it’s an act, it’s a lot more permanent than bylaws or regulations. It’s written into the act, so people can’t use it, said Thomson. “It means people’s rights have been removed just because it’s a legislative act,” he said. “I didn’t have access to duc legal process.” Firefighters help corral man fleeing from WV police WEST Vancouver firefighters battled rain and wind to return a man fleeing from the police on Thursday night. West Vancouver assistant fire chief Gerry Harrington said firefighters from three halls were called to the Upper Levels Highway in the Eagle Ridge area at 11:30 p.m. He said a man had been pulled over by the police, got out of his vehicle, leaped a concrete barrier and tumbled down a steep embankment, which Harrington estimated to be 500 feet high. When the firefighters arrived, it was dark and windy, said Harrington. “It was just thundering down buckets and buckets, so it made it more dangerous on the rocks — the slipperiness of them,” he said. Firefighters walked up to the man from below but couldn’t take him back down that way, said Harrington. So two other firefighters roped down to the man, who was 200 feet below the highway. The firefighters tied 2 harness on the runner and hoisted him up. Ar the top, he was put on a stretcher and secured, said Harrington. The West Vancouver police said the man was taken to hospital and released. . Police say charges are not pending, but the man was given a 24-hour dri- ving suspension. Police would not release the man’s name. layers push public ownership / i Hocke group wants Ewinuriage ite rin B Guilt with public funds ‘Mastin Millerchip Comerstnating Writer “BUILD it and they will come,” said ;one speaker at a recent public meet- g for. the new Windridge Ice Arena. Not necessarily, responds one hockey orga- nizer, who is warning North Vancouver District Council of the potential fallout should ‘the rink be built as a public/private partner- 4 Rink Costello, head organizer for the North # Shore Adult Hockey Association, fired offa strongly worded letter to council the same day approved the zoning for the new rink at the iheast corner of Mount Seymour Parkway id Berkley Road. Wrote Costello: “Given that we the ice ers will be asked to pay for it, I want to ask you in the strongest voice possible that this Sfacility be built in the name of the comunity, sthat is without the financial participation of a ite ‘developer so that we only have to pay “it once.” . ; Costello warns that his 20-team, mostly Nerth Shore league, which used to be based in the now-defunct Capilano West ice rink, could 6t4u in Rasenabes, feb. ME. gordo ste SAY A SUTaUy ae GE eW winiaruge nk 1s customer- rather than community-based. Previous public meetings on the ice rink proposal have been told that council and the recreation commission intend to lease the six- acre municipal site to a private developer who will build the rink and operate it until the lease expires, Comments Costello: “It should be recog- nized that a private developer brings very little to the table. The land is already ours, the tech- nology is accessible cither way and our rec commission has all the management ability necessary. “The only thing they (private developers) offer is a quick and easy means of dealing with the issue, most importantly the financing. But at what cost? “It will be a short-term solution with very serious long-term consequences, mainly that we the ice users will be condemned to paying unacceptably high prices.” Costello told the News he didn’t under- stand why the ice rink could not be funded out of the district’s Heritage Fund or through a referendum process that would authorize the municipality to borrow the necessary funds as happened at the last election for such facilities as the Parkgate Community Centre and a new Lynn Valley Library. Costello says the underlying issue is whether the ice-users are to be viewed as con- sumers or “more importantly” members of the community. He says inact, once paid for, ihe rink should “generate cash chat flows into the community rather than “someone else’s profit.” “Let’s have a pub and restaurant ... so that with every beer, snack or meal we pay for, we know we are adding funds that will go towards the further development of our community.” Costello is not the only ice-user representa- tive that would prefer municipal rather than private control of the rink. =~ Larry Brown of the rec commission’s Ice Users Committee has already warned council about the danger of losing community control of the rink, and Sandy Flemming, vice-chair- man of the Community Sport and Recreation Advisory Committee, supports municipal fund- ing like that used to pay for the Northlands Golf Course. Northlands was built with money borrowed from the district’s Heritage Fund (land sales money) and is to be paid back with interest from the profits of operating the course. But Mayor Don Bell says the Heritage Fund was never considered as a finding option by council. Noting that the ice arena will likely cost “beeween six and seven million dollars,” Bell told the News it was “council’s desire to sec the Heritage Fund grow to the point that capi- tal expenditures will be paid for our of the interest it generates. “If we continue to draw down the capital there won’t be any interest.” Director of recreation Gary Young points to a number of modcis across the covntry where the community participates in the oper- ation of public/private centres. He says that focally, Vancouver and Richmond have used variations of such a process successfully. i However, he acknowledges that community participation in the organization and control of ice time does not s to the questions of funding, ownership and profit. “In the end we will go to council with all the proposals and also tell them ‘Here is what the community is saying and it’s your deci- sion,’” said Young. Bell says a district-wide referendum is not an option if the rink is to open in time for next September, and in any event he does not think council would win such borrowing authoriza- tion from the voters. He would not comment on specific propos- als already received but acknowledged that lease options proposed so far by private devel- opers range from 25 to 50 years. “There’s a variety of proposals out there and contro! of user rates is included. We will choose the best package for the district.” While Bell did not commit to direct com- munity ownership of the rink he said council is looking for ways that local control of rates and quality can be maintained. “We are mindful of his (Costelio’s) con- cerns,” concluded Bell.