The Merth Shore ews |; peblished by North Store Free Press Lid., Paiblisher Peter Speck, from 1139 Loesdale Avenae ‘PETER SPECK Publisher 985-2131 (161) x a en Doug Foot " Comptrolter 985-2131 (133) Dee Dhaliwal Human Resources Manager 985-2131 (177) i Meriefing Decor 985-2151 (116) . 980-0511 (319) Create 986-1337 (124)... 985-21 ion Me | sean d Manager, zn) >>” S (COMPUTER BBS - 980-8027: f°. User iD:maltbox « Password:letiers citculation, Wednesday, Friday & Sundy) Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved. Wa EEG AT RAS tarsal, READ THE WARNING LABELS? HECK NO! ~WE CANT READ. malibox Time to take action on playground trash Dear Editor: 4 cel a great need to “pipe up” about ‘something horrible y just witnessed. It’s Friday 1 p.m. and I make a trip with my three-year-old. to Queen Mary school so she can have a play in the playground area. Upon our arrival I am greeted by a gust of wind and an empty potato chip bag in my face. My. daughter proceeds to start . playing, unaware of what I'm doing. - As { look around I am wonder- ing if and when the playground was “ceonverted into the North Van City dump. I have never seen so much garbage in my life. I picked up an empty grocery bag and began picking it up. One hour later, ! think I've made a good dent yet as you stand up straight you see more and more. A class of young students con- verges on us from the schoo!, screaming and playing. While I'm keeping one eye on my daughter and picking up the filthy mess, I am being completely ignored by the class teacher who is busy chatting with another teacher Or parent. It was time for us to go, I had an overflowing bag of garbage. I stopped in front of the teacher and exclaimed my disgust that these children were playing in garbage. Hoards of it. All she could say was “I know.” I suggested putting a garbage can in that area of the playground and was met with another “I know.” T know the teachers are over- worked and underpaid, but this is a solution that doesn’t cost. Does anyone remember getting garbage duty? I do. It was something you did when you had detention. It entailed going to the play- ground and picking up garbage with a bag and point-stick for the duration of your detention time. It worked for me, for now I am an adult with a child of my own who not only is saddened by the litter around us, but actually takes the time out of my day to stop and pick it up where I can. Not to just ignore it. Think about it Queen Mary, and parents, it doesn’t take very long to teach your kids the co: ¢- quences of North Van being uses ‘as a garbage dump. They’!l have to live in it. : ‘J. Donnelly North Vancouver 1 np typical of all dictatorships THERE’S a grim irony about the drive by our NDP government and its Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) allies to eliminate free speech in B.C. Nothing strange about the policy itself, which has kept the world’s Hitlers, Mussoiinis and Stalins — along with a host of minor-league dictators — in power for extended periods of time. Muzzle all oppos- ing news and views, especially in the media, and you may rule forever. Hence, the Srar Chamber “trial” of the News and outspoken colum- nist Doug Collins that’s finally expected to go ahead this spring before. . the NDP-appointed hacks of the quaintly narned Human Rights : Tribunal. The charges (punishable by fines up to the tens of thousands of ee that the News published material | by Collins that offended: the . . . Tough comment, even though fair, often offends somebody. So the. true message from Victoria is: Beware of any public comment that dis- : pleases us or any of our pals (who also include trade unionists, militant: fems, aboriginals, homosexuals and multicult drum-bangers):" oe The other shoe fell last week with a heavy thud from BC’s chief elec- tora} officer Bob Patterson. He’s chasing alleged violators of the NDP’s, Election Act during last May’s election. The act, as you may have heard, includes a gag clause forbidding anyone other than a registered party to spend more than $5,000 on election-related advertising. =.” As a result, the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition has now been~..--’ dinged with 2 $220,000 fine for condemning fishery aspects of the | Nisga’a land claim deal. Vancouver accountant Garry Nixon has been hit: with a $13,000 penalty for criticizing NDP bookkeeping. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation faces a fine as high as $440,000 or more for ads supporting balanced budgets and curbs on taxes. Cae es Interestingly, no action seems yet to have been taken against union ads just as blatantly plugging health care and public education against candidates who wanted budget cuts. One assumes Mr.’ Patterson, a ne tral public servant, will eventually get around to Ken Georgetti’s .* -: naughry boys too, once he’s dealt with those pesky right-wingers. < . Fortunately, there’s hope that the B.C. Election Act’s gag clause may yet be throwa out by the courts. A similar federal gag law that limited third-party eie-tion advertising to $1,000 was struck down last- year by the Alberta Court of Appeal. ; wo ES That still eaves us with the NDP’s odious, all-encompassing “hum: rights” gag law — itself to be appealed as unconstitutional. Mcanwhile,: the NDP policy of denying B.C. citizens their democratic right to free-: dom of speech and unfettered debate within the laws of libel continues So back to the irony of the pending “trial” of Doug Collins and the. : News for offending the CJC in the cause of freedom of expréssion.“: If free speech and a free press bad existed in Nasi-Germany, tow could the Holocaust — with sts thousands of non-Jewish victims, many of th Socialists, as well as its millions of Jews — ever have happened?. The more information, opinions and ideas a government can sup press, the more it can get away with — even murder. It’s that simple. 1 . HAPPY BIRTHDAY today, Mar. 23, to Mount Seymour Lion Kea Poon at 44 ... And ditto Tuesday, Mar. 25, to fellow Lion David Sinclair. at 67. : WRIGHT OR WRONG: Forgiving and forgetting leaves you much ‘ha D- pier than resenting and remembering. o ; — The North Shore News believes strongly in freedom of speech and the right of all sides in a debate to be heard. The columnists published in she News present differing points of view, but those views are niot necessarily those -.- of the newspaper itself. mews view pole When thrills an avalanche.” ere does this extreme sport madness on the North Shore end? Following two deaths of out-of- bounds snowboarders on Cypress Mountain earlier this year, another life was lost this week when kayakers tested their prowess on a raging rain-swollen rive. The outcry from daredevil climbers, out-of-bound skiers, kayakers and canoeists is predictable: the thrill’s the . thing, and the more dangerous the river, mountain, or rock wall, the greater the pleasure. It seems in-bound skiing and kayak- ing on rivers at regular levels is no longer enough to get the blood boiling. But what can be done? Fines and rescue charges have been discussed, but found to be unpalatable. But there’s an alternative. Education. « The least people searching for a big- ger and better outdoors high could do is learn about the rivers and mountains they are entering. - How often have rescuers lamented: “If he had only stayed where he was instead of trying to get himself out of this mess,” or “Conditions were ripe for Extreme enthusiasts call themselves tisk-takers. Yet many don’t even understand the risks they put themselves or those who have to come after them under. Pushing the limits is one thing, but not knowing your limits nor being able to gauge them accurately is another. _ At a time when extreme sports are becoming more common on the North Shore, it’s time participants treated the challenges with more judicious respect. These tragic deaths are becoming all too common.