A7 - Sunday, October 23, 1983 - North Shore News PS rena ox Dear Editor: It is now close to six mon- ths ago when the District of North Vancouver’s bylaw on the control of manufacturing and storage of hazardous materials was defeated in court by Canadian Occiden- tal Petroleums (Hooker Chemicals). One is reminded that, at the time, Council voted to once again go back to their legal department with instructions to come up with a new bylaw, one which would be foolproof and with sufficient teeth that it could not be overturned in court by the very industries it was sup- posed to protect us from. 1 would like to ask District Council through the medium of your paper just how far they have progressed with this new bylaw? I would also like to take this opportunity to remind them that the peo- ple of Maplewood and Lynn- mour are still patiently awaiting the oft promised ‘‘Emergency Evacuation Procedures’’ which were to be printed and circulated. Council by its own action was committed to both of these urgent and vita! matters and should not be allowed to stall them as Councils are often wont to do with things which they find persistent and an- noying. This is the Council which, by majority vote, call- ed for both of these measures to be carried out and it should be this same Council that sees to it that they are Painiess restraint FROM PAGE A6 satisfactory for the new economy-minded northern pioneer politicians and civil servants. We might even see a return to the good old days of short legislative sittings, economical part-time politi- cians and a reasonably sized public sector. Think it over, Briush Col- umbia, then let’s demand a referendum to see if the pco- ple of this province support the idea Our slogan could be “Fifty-four for us or Fight’’ (John Galt is the pen-name of a West Vancouver freelance writer on provincial affairs.) OPEN SUNDAY 2-5 2400-74 WINDRIDGE DRIVE PRICE SLASHED! NOW $129,000 4 NEW HOMES TO CHOOSE FROM follow DELCO atgna off Mt boymour Prkwy 2 level Nome Aesigned with room for intaws On quiet cul de sac tacing green bet Only 1S mins to downtowns Featucng 3 bdrm oak kiichens fenced patos See them with ED RASMUSSEN 088-2666. DELCO AEALTY LTO 967-3311 L_ HAZARDOUS MATERIAL Solution stalled completed. What say you, Council? C.F. Vagg North Vancouver School cuts ‘alarm’ Dear Editor: District A letter from Mr. E. Sarsfield published in your paper on October 9, 1983 re- quires another point of view. In reference to the 15 per- cent reduction recently con- sidered by the School Board, he mentions declining enrole- ment. I would like to point out that the $8.3 million reduction ~ does not include declining™. enrolment. Fur- ther -budget feductions must be made by the Board when declining enrolment is ex- perienced beyond 1984. I would submit that the magnitude of the budget cuts over the previous two years, the cuts demanded by the provincial government in 1984-86, and the additional cuts to be made as_ enrol-_ ment declines are indeed a cause for alarm in our community. Chief P. Joe Chairman North Van School Board Legal aid not job of judges Dear Editor: In Sue Cook’s letter of Oc- tober 9th, 1983, she reaffirm- ed the accuracy of her posi- tion that the Legal Ajd budget was not cut this year. Sue’s facts may be correct but I am afraid she missed the point. Legal Aid may be receiving the same budget of about $20 million this year, but this fact ignores the point that the Legal Aid system has been in a state of crisis over the last couple of years because of the dramatic increase in the number of people who finan- cially qualify, i.e., those under $800 per month. For example, when I work- ed for Legal Aid over a year ago, there was a dramatic in- crease in unemployed ap- plicants seeking a lawyer to represent them in foreclosure hearings. The Socreds refus- ed to increase the Legal Aid budget to deal with this reali- ty, so Legal Aid was forced to deny tanff coverage to those people. Staff laywers did their best to properly ad- vise such persons, but they didn’t have the time to in- vestigate the full merits of each case and neither do the Judges. One ignorant buffoon in Cabinet had the audacity to say that poor people don’t need legal representation because Judges can do a good epough job themselves to protect their rights. What these elected nut cases failed to realize is that the Judges don’t have the time to inter- view every unrepresented per- son on the details of their case. And until he does, he Subsidized babysitting? Dear Editor: Re ‘‘West Van Preschool- ers need companion.”’ Let’s hope Susan Ander- son’s remarks to Wendy Hayson regarding this topic were misquoted. In paragraph three, ‘*money cannot overcome feelings of isolation or buy a friend for your child living on the same block.’" Two paragraphs later, ‘“‘we need proof from the community before we can go asking for help or finan- cial support."’ The idea to utilize used cross PACKAGE schoolrooms is excellent but in these times of restraint and available private enterprise preschool facilities it certain- ly would be out of place to be considering financial input from tax dollars at this time. Surely enterprising mothers with preschoolers will organize to occupy themselves to handle this situation without any burden on the tax payer — or are there some looking for sub- sidized babysitting. Jim Cairns West Vancouver q! sapeienng a” je SKIS, BOOTS, POLES, BINDINGS 20% to 35% OFF GREAT OUTDOORS 201 LONSDALE 980-3313 "We're the Cross-country experts” can’t properly know if there is a legitimate defense to any remedy sought. As a lawyer, I saw the strain on Judges’ faces when they had to deal with 60 or more foreclosure applications in a morning. This workload makes them totally dependent on _ the lawyers to ensure that all rele- vant facts are presented. When unrepresented persons came forward, the Judges were powerless to properly inquire as they had only minutes to deal with each matter. What is particularly sad about this denial of justice is that the legal profession has been providing services to Legal Aid at exceptionally low rates. Legal Aid is not welfare to lawyers as some people misconstrue, it ischari- ty from lawyers. But, in spite of being offered this excellent bargain, the Socreds are say- ing they don’t want to pay for it due to some esoteric no- tion that they don’t want to mortgage the future of our children. If Bennett is so con- cerned about mortgaging their future, why did he spend over a billion dollars to subsidize North East Coal? Perhaps they should have left the coal in the ground for our kids when it is profitable to remove rather than pull it out prematurely at such a huge cost. But even if North East Coast was a good investment, the budget for Legal Aid and the Rentalsman is so small in comparison that it is Outrageous that Bennett would claim that a shortage of funds justifies denying justice to the poor and misfortunate. After years of cutbacks, the Rentalsman of- fice has been honed down to the epitomy of efficiency. To dismantle it now, when it is so efficient, reflects a total absence of moral respon- sibility to the people as well as lack of economic sense about what is worth funding. As a final footnote, if Ben- nett is right about saying that a majority support him, one wonders whether a small and sometimes uninformed ma- jority should ever have the power to deny people social and economic justice when the relative cost for same is so small. Paul S. Hundal North Vancouver draperies by S. Laursen Custom Draperies, Bedspreads 1” Venetian, Vertical and Wooden Blinds “‘In-home Service’”’ FREE ESTIMATES GLADLY GIVEN All biinds 20% off list Labour per panel $5.50 (unlined). $6.50 (lined). FOR THE FINAL TOUCH 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday thru Saturday call 987-2966 TWIN 75 WATT SPOT-TRACK SYSTEM GLOSS WHITE 30" AVAILABLE IN 2-3-4 FT. LENGTHS VANCOUVER LIGHTING MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTE FIXED & MOVABLE TRACK LIGHTING, SYSTEMS From $11 OO! SPOTUGHTS BOTH SINGLE & DOUBLE IN ABOVE FINISHES (ver 200000) 54 ft devoted entirety fo Spot & Track Lighting ‘See the Specialists First VANCOUVER LIGHTING 42444 BRIDGEPORT ROAD. RICHMOND (NR 95RD) 270-4644 270-1435 wh ie BL ee