Ja hockey eke Jand naw 3 S THEY say on the street, you are either on the bus or off the bus. And . unfortunately for a lot of people on the North Shore they are off the bus. Literally. At North Vancouver City Council’s Nov. 7 meeting, the city’s Development Services department presented a report to council urging action on alternative transit options for the city and the rest of the North Shore. The report outlined the need for more and better localized transit options for the city’s residents, specifically its senior and disabled populations. More and better translates in this case to a community bus service in the form of smaller transit mini-buses to augment the existing bus system. Unlike their full-sized counterparts, mini- buses could provide more frequent neighbor- hood service along narrower, less accessible Doug Foot Comptroller Peter Speck Publisher Chris Johnsen Operations Manager ' Pacific Pre roads in the city core’s commerciai-residen- tial area. «vhich is home to a high proportion of seniors. The report to council also underlined the need for better cross-North Shore transit ser- vice. The North Shore’s current east-west ser- vice, or lack thereof, can require passengers to make up to three bus transfers simply to get from West Vancouver to Lions Gate Hospital. That’s not transit, that’s a major interna- tional travel undertaking. A third SeaBus will also be needed soon to help off-set the commuter congestion that will result from the Lions Gate Bridge upgrade project. it’s high time then for all three North Shore municipalities to get off the curb and get on the bus. Figuratively and literally. Timothy Renshaw Managing Editor Linda Stewart Sales & Marketing Director BETWEEN NOW and next summer an awful lot of B.C. free enterprisers are going to have to make one mighty tough choice or etse face a second serving of socialism far more unappetizing than . the first. Suddenly, it's no longer possible -— as it was only three short months ago — to reject as unthinkable a renewed NDP election victory in the fall of 1995, now touted as the likeliest election dite. Much credit for this change in NDP fortunes goes to Mike Harcourt himself. This year he's successfully shed his earlier. wimp- ish image and emerged as the undisputed boss man who calls all the shots — his shots being increas- ingly aimed at appealing to the moderate centre instead of the radi- cal tet. The Premier knows where the votes are. Despite his controversial forest policy, Indian tand claims and the Commonwealth Holding Co..scan- dal, the fact that B.C. continues to boom economically compared to the rest of Canada is still the bot- tom line for most British Columbians. With hundreds of mii- lions being spent on new infrastruc- ture and a balanced budget promised by 1996, widespread dis- content is not an immediately pressing factor. Statistically, the NDP still trails in the polls at 31% compared to the Liberals’ 43% —- with Reform at 18%, But our system of majority vote by ridings makes such percent- ages largcly meaningless, as the Sept. 12 Quebec election demon- strated, Though the Parti Quebecois and the Liberals finished neck-and- neck in the popular vote with 44.7% and 44.3% respectively, the PQ wound up with 77 of the 125 seats. B.C. Reform's current 18% hardly six months after its debut in the Legislature is a considerable achievement. In the months ahead everything points to growing sup- port for the party—especially among disenfranchised former Socreds. Meanwhile, the federal Liberals, their honeymoon long over, could well be up to their ears by next summer in acute monetary and unity crises. The B.C. Liberals Peter Kvarnstrom Display Manager Valerie Stephenson Classified Manager SMOG HD choice free HITHER AND YON, would almost certainly suffer from the backlash of public disenchant- ment with the Chretien govern- ment. it's in no way unrealistic, there- fore, to envisage the polls nine months down the road reducing the B.C. Liberals to the 30-35% range and B.C, Reform tying or nudging | them. With the opposition evenly |’ split in riding after riding, the NDP* would have a very healthy chance of sneaking to a win with one- third of the popular vote. There seems little hope now of any merger between B.C. Liberals _ and Reformers. If the stand-off... |: between the two persists, the final" ° solution will be squarely in the °. hands of individual free enterprise ;: voters themselves—-who form more. than 60% of the B.C. electorate. -: They'll have to forget old loyal- ties and simply vote in landslide : numbers for whichever of the two anti-socialist parties rides higher in .” the ‘opinion polls the day. the elec. : tion is called. Any other vote could bring five” more years of NDP dictatorship:"- SIGN-OFF: Recently retired City administrator Gerry Brewer will tell the North Van Chamber of © Commerce lunch meeting Thursday, Nov.!7, in the North Shore Winter Club ali about the - 1996 Winter Games which the City - is to host — call 987-4488 before: Tuesday noon to reserve. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Honesty is like an icicle. Once it melts, that’s the end of it. Trixi Agrios Promotions Manager 935-2431 (101) 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver B.C. 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