THOS TERRIBLE NEWS! IF THEY

RETIAE BE ERALY, FL END UP OFENING

HY OAYG SHUFFLING ABOUT TANG To

FIND THNES TO KEEP (Te OCCUPIED AND

SAOTH6 ARUN) THE OFFICERS CLUB

‘ast count) driveway. When I
“tumed off the nimbus of light that

a car carries around with it, I was

.”. surprised to find myself in a basin

of blackness. The power was off.
All over the known world.
My curse — that my good

= wife, who'd been out grocery-for-

‘aging, had retumed and, without a -

thought of her husband, blandly *

* shut off the outside lights once

safely tucked into the home her-

” self — died on my lips.

I felt my way uphill and at the

“door fumbled for the key. No

need. The portal swung open ina

y benign Pickett’s Charge of . _.
“) ‘chortling children, guard dogs on

Greater eer a sub-
"ject, as you know, of end-
“Jess fascination around the ©

a strange | experience. ~ =a .
tuifichionably 6 com-_ oa

monplace that guess no one:
“mentions such’ things'any more. :

~», said: “Daddy?”
globe. But this week Thad i
-,,ecstatically cried

’Daddy!”, there”. ~
being three of them. :

what else to call it?)

fanged duty, and a Mommy who.
not perfectly sure,
asked rather than -
The children:
“Daddy, Daddy, .°.

; in the flashlight:
ight.(no stutter, '-

i they hugged and.’

ing. Lost in the heavy thought"

that this always stimulates, | ;

scarcely noticed the many ever-.

“. green twigs on the road that testi-

fied to the high winds that had

: blown up while I was listening to

“weighty debate on higher fees for”

~ 25-millimetre water connections.’
3° T pailed into the nether regions
_ of our steep, car-clogged (six at,

°°] Publisher

Doug Foot -
* Comptroller

> kissed me extravagantly. rach

repeatedly told me, unnecessarily,

7 that the power was off.

. Their faces generated their

_--own light, shining with excite-- ;
ment. Power off! What fun!:

Grandma was in the family _/

. room, still confronting the carcass
- of the television set that had
\winked off in mid-banality an

"Chris Johnson
Operations Manager

REISER ESE EMT AT TA TOTES IGN TETAS EPIL ERIN TS FPR ALT MRA ACERT ‘

news viewpoint

free
TORTH VANCOUVER City Council
would do well to heed the advice it
& “received at a recent council meeting:
stay out of the marketplace.

It’s advice that all governments would de
well to heed. Because the marketplace is no
place for governments and their legions of
meddling bureaucrats.

“We’re the government and we’re here to
help you.” It’s a greeting sure to set the heart
of any entrepreneur to nervous palpitation.

City council is only the latest level of gov-
ernment set to charge blindly into the free-
market fray to defend one group of players ia
that market.

Last December, some merchants from

North Vancouver’s Capilano Mail appeared
before council to complain about extended
hours being forced upon them. by the mall’s
management, ,

They complained about having to man-
stores at hours being set to accommodate the
demands of large anchor tenants like Wal-
Mart. The later hours, complained the mer-
chants, served the big stores but did nothing.
for their smaller counterparts, which were.
largely empty after traditional shopping
hours.

Council seemed set then to ride to. the
defence of the little guy.

But this week another Capilano Mall dele
gation teld council the opposite story: that 45:
merchants representing 90%: of the mall’s
total retail floor. space supported the. new,
extended hours. | a

~ So councillors might postpone their ride to
the rescue. And so they:should.

Better that they abandon it all together and

Jet the market and the buying public dictate

when stores should be open.

mailbox

Bob's flawer

{was swiftly enhanced.
‘ Miraculously, orsol’dletmy
biographers agree, the lights came

hour earlier. The glow of exotic
candles that I recognized ‘from
Christmas dinner bathed her face

in soft sublime yellowness.

What I noticed most, though,

“ was that my, return was greeted

something like the relief of
Mafeking or ‘the lifting of the
siege of Leningrad.

_ Children who hadn't acknowl-
edged my departure, being dis- .

’ tracted with their usual sibling
" activities — quarrelling, seeking
. advantage, betrayal, revenge —-

reverently clutched at my arms,

my legs, my holy, face, according

me the god-like treatment that

every father in his heart knows he —

deserves, and that is § normally ”

66 I was no longer a pauunchy greying
and dispensable Father of great age... I
was the protector of my family from the

"unseen terrors of the night. 99.

he
served up only by his dog. ;
This status of household deity ,

on.
The children worshipped,
“Daddy —” cried the Biggest,

who is nine... -

“— did —!” cried the

/ Temothy fienshaw ©
Managing Editor

* Linda Stewart :
Sates & Marketing Director

Middlest, who is six.
— it!” cried the Littlest, who
is four.
If they'd had any boils, Id
have allowed them to touch the

hem of my garment and effect an =

instant cure. It was hard to get

them to bed. They competed in’

showering affection on me. ;
On average, cach bade me

‘good night 5.67 times, making

more farewell tours than Sarah
Bernhardt. Their big soft eyes
stared up at me in absolute confi-

dence and reliance, Even the dogs '.”

seemed glad to be released from
their extra patrol detail. ay,
Yet, amusing though it was, a

“solemn transformation had in. fact -

occurred. 2) /
~ [was no longer a
paunchy, greying
and dispensable
father of great age, |
litle more than the |
family.scold when
the others leave
lights burning in.
broad daylight (is
there a Metaphor
_’ , lurking here?) and °
muttering about abandoned half-

bowls of breakfast food..

I was the protector of my fam-

' ily from the unseen terrors of the

night. =
'. It felt good. ' .
And, yes, tomorrow the dawn

-would come, and fear and illusion

equally vanish. But the man at the

: mouth of the cave is teal.

Display Manager

Petor Kvarnstrom |

fish findings:

Dear Editor: a
-, Reading Bob Hunter’s March 12 ‘col-
umn I wasn’t aware that Mr.’ Hunter-was
‘such an expert on fisheries management.
have been a sports fisherman for over

1 40 years and even 1 know: the loss: ‘of..a,

fishery is not: only: blanied on one’seg-‘
ment. Yes, Department of. Fisheries and
Oceans liere on. the . west coast . ha
screwed up terribly.

When a department i in government has:
a head like Brian Mulroney, telling the

what to do’ or not do how. do you expect:
‘ great results? '

However, when we: the people havi
experts like you to, tell ‘us..what:.went

‘wrong and make ridiculous ' statements:

and what one or two marine biologists:
have said or didn’t say it little. becomes:
you to hide behind the ‘media’ to’make ;
these arrogant remarks when anyone. wi
half a brain knows our stocks are in ‘trou-’:
ble’ from ‘a’ great deal of things such’ as,
over-fishing, a native fishery’ completel
out of control thanks to the previous gov

‘ermments, a sports’ fishery out. of control .
.and, yes, a seal population out of. contro

thanks to bleeding hearts like you, sir.
‘If we the North Shore residents had to’: 3
pay for your paper I’m:sure a great mani

‘of us wouldn’ t have to read such on:

sense. ©

‘Harold C. Foster
“North Vancouver

Valerie Stophonson | err Agrios
Classified Mariager '- Promotions Manager

985-21 31 (193) 985-2131 (i 16)"

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