* “There is something about a closet that makes a skeleton restless"’

Author Unknown

THE “STORY of the week”’ currently riding the media
merry-go-round concerns the abysmal driving records of
the minister responsible for the Insurance Corporation of
B.C. and his interim appointee, hired to steer the troubled

public company.

‘Lead story after front-page
story has informed the public that
it probably is a good idea to skip

-. aride if Moe Sihota or Robyn
Allan stops to pick you up whilst
‘hitchhiking.

© "Recently, the glare of the media

' arc has cast its glow on the ICBC

: :““whistle-blower’? — the person

“, responsible for leaking Allan's re-

cord to the press. All 31 of them.

This is the real story, full’of

ironies and twists to governmental
policy that make ideal fodder for

‘the pundits and sophists who revel

‘in such things.

By A.P. McCredie
Contributing Writer

On the one hand we have,
without a doubt, a serious breach
of security witain ICBC, Inforima-
tion about one’s driving record is
considered private, not public in-
formation.

On the other hand, we have
something called Bill 50 looming
on the horizon.

Bill 50, the Freedom of Infor-
mation and Protection of Privacy
Act - the initial version of which

N ew bridge: don’t ©
make same mistake

“+” Dear Editor:

7 The inadequaéies of Lions Gate
“bridge were caused half a century
‘|, ago by’ small-town thinking and

“tack of foresight. Let’s not, make /

= this same mistake twice. ; /
‘if-a three-lane,’ cars-only bridge’
‘within a, metro population ofa
‘quarter million became inadequate
within just a dozen years, surely a
- five-laner ‘serving two million is
* an even worse bet.
S Whichever way you argue the
- issue, whether you are, an expert
or. not, you really end up. with
three conditions: q) a new bridge

‘is dnevitable; (2) it must provide

for mass transit; (3) it must be °

environmentally .and  esthetically

friendly. ‘

One’ way to,"meet these condi-
tions is what was. done with many

_.major bridges around the world:
_ they added. train rails beneath the
auto deck. :

We can do the same here. The
implications are beyond municipal
capacities, so the province must be
‘brought in. And, “yes, one-way

“tolls at’ both first and second nar-
rows WOULD be necessary.

- But just think, of it. Rail
< Vight-of-way exists now on much
+ of both sides of Burrard Inlet, be-
tween first and second narrows.

If. we are bold enough to pro-

,vide for SkyTrain to be slung
‘under a new Lions Gate bridge, it

could mean rapid rail transit right

-around Burrard Inlet. Future gen-

erations would cheer!

Furthermore, such a system
would also link up neatly near the
PNE with the SkyTrain which
must inevitably extend to . Port
Moody, " Coquitlam and points
east.

Sure, there are problems. Com-
ing off Lions Gate, a SkyTrain

“would require either an above-

‘ground route through Stanley
Park or @ tunnel under the cause-
way.

Also, as it emerges from = the
park it would have to link with
the present downtown train tun-
nel. And a small SkyTrain-only
bridge or tunnel will be needed at
second narrows,

Also, right-of-way will be re-
quired around reserve land on the
North Shore. And so on, ;

But if the will is there, all these
problems .can be solved. If we
have the foresight NOW to: pro-
vide structurally for rail on the
new Lions Gate bridge.

And if we car drivers don’t like
the tolls, well, we will just have to
take the train, won’t we?

John Yeomans
North Vancouver

LGH Bridge toll bad news

Dear Editor: wo

_, The idea of slapping tolls on
a new First Narrows bridge is a
_non-starter for three reasons:

Firstly, at least 25% of the
traffic that currently uses the
First. Narrows would take an
alternative route, thus creating

_intolerable traffic jams on the
Second Narrows span.
Secondly, even if the traffic
flow. decreases on a new First
“Narrows bridge, the traffic
jams would be twice as bad
because of the inevitable bot-
tleneck at the toll gates.
-. How many times have you
had to wait for at least 60 se-
-conds .when leaving a
= downtown parking lot while
the driver in front of you fum-
bles for change?

Multiply that one-car wait
by 500 and you’! have an idea
of what a toll gate on the
Lions Gate Bridge will mean.

Thirdly, a First Narrows toll
will be bad news for our local
merchants, especially at Park
Royal.

They currently attract a large
number of Vancouver shoppers
who would rather cross the
bridge than pay (o park
downtown.

Slap a toll on the bridge and
they’H do their shopping
somewhere else.

Merchants at Oakridge and
MetroTown are the only people’
who stand to benefit from a

‘toll bridge:

By the way, now that our

' $5-year-cid Lions Gate Bridge

has been, declared unsafe, has
anyone;.asked the engineers
about the life expectancy of the
35-yea‘+old Second . Narrows

Bridge?

lan Michaud
North Vancouver

is to be proclaimed by Victoria in
October — is the NDP’s idea of
allowing the current shafts of
enlightenment to illuminate the
dusty closets of public institutions.

Without question, the idea of
allowing the common weal access
to information about their elected
officials and pubtic institutions
does jibe with our concepts of a
“‘democratic’’ system.

However, the belief being
espoused by a number of NDP
MLAs that Bill 50 will quell the
electorate’s concerns about the
ability of public officials to serve
public interest is, at best, unfor-
tunate. At worst, it is proof of
how detached our leaders are
from reality.

Let us look at the ICBC debacle
as an example,

On the question of rooting out
and punishing the whistle-blowers
— the corporation has strict

er tiger

policies about breach-of-con-
fidentiality — Mike Harcourt’s
government finds itsclf in a quan-
dary due to something in Bill 50
called the ‘‘public interest over-
ride.”

What this means is that snoopy
public employees will not be held
accountable if the public interest
in disclosing the (supposedly)
secure information outweighs the
interests served by refusing access
to it.

Sihota told a Vancouver daily
recently that ‘there is some public
interest in having the information
(about Allan’s driving record)
out.’’

There is a splendid irony in the
head of ICBC not being able to
follow the rules of the road in her
BMW. But has the public interest
really been served by this revela-
tion?

Has your own trust of public

if you think that tin Be
just wait til he gels going

er Cakes
cee aay

officials increased — as NDP
MLAs contend it will — since
learning Robyn Allan doesn’t
drive very well?

If our combined trust has been
broken, it would follow that Har-
court would act to quell our
mounting loss of faith in a public
official.

To date, invisible Mike has
stood behind his minister and the
interim head of ICBC.

What Bill 50 will do is divert
journalists away from the real
issucs of the day, in search of
satiating the public’s perceived
thirst for juicy morsels about the
private lives of public servants.

“Health minister admits to once
having a three-pack-a-day
habit!,’’ the little paper with at-
titude might scream -

Get used to it. Bill 50 is coming
soon to 4 front page n near you.

Suffering council shortsightedness

Dear Editor:

I was infuriated with North
‘Vancouver Council’s decision ta
teject the five lane bridge concept
at their Feb. 8 meeting.

I wonder how often councillors
Dean, Clark, and Beli cross the
Lions Gate. Are these people
blind?

Surely these councillors cannot
argue with the engineers’ report
that the bridge is unsafe and that
it needs to be replaced.

However, they do not want the
bridge or the causeway widened.

One of the arguments they
presented was’ the widening the
bridge will result in more vehicles
using it and that will lead to more
pollution.

I really wonder what is more
polluting, a few more cars moving
freely, or the existing number be-
ing stuck idling in traffic and
wasting fuel. The former is cer-
tainly more efficient.

The highlight of the evening
was when Coun. Dean so proudly
announced that she was the only

council member in the ’70s to op-
pose a third crossing.

Well, councillor Dean, I and
many thousands of other
motorists, carpoolers and transit
users will certainly thank you —
and others like you — for your

shortsightedness then and now as
we sit waiting in traffic day after
day, wasting our time, reading our
magazines and sucking in exhaust
fumes ,

C. Stevens

North Vancouver

Put public transit into plan

Dear Editor:

Hats off for your News View-
point of Feb. 14, “Bridge tolls for
thee.”’

So little has been said about our
need to be truly forward-thinking
as we try to decide what is the

best way to replace the Lions Gate

Bridge and how to pay for it.

We need to pay tolls to offset
the cost of infrastructure repairs.
Plus, we need to figure public
transit strongly into the plan.

Let’s anticipate the effects of
the. decision we inal:e. Expanding
the car-carrying capacity of the
bridge will mean more cars in and
through downtown and the North

Shore. Is this what we want? _

As you said in your editorial,
“the private automobile is. fast
becoming a transit luxury that has
to be treated as such.”’ !

Let’s rebuild the crossing, keep-
ing in mind our capacity — and‘
responsibility —- to create our
future.’

A positive view of the lower
mainland in the 20th century. in-
cludes fewer private cars, cleaner
air, and. effective public transit
and bicycle systems.

Pru Moore
West Vancouver