NEWS VIEWPOINT Sinking ships T HE FEDERAL government kas of- But it is now obvious that those prom- ficially decided to let the once _ ises were hollow froza the start. vibrant West Coast shipbuilding in- The federal agenda for West Coast dustry sink slowly in the west. shipbuilding is rationalization of local yards and eventual closure. North Vancouver shipyards have not even been given the option of bidding on repair contracts for vessels that they origi- nally built. All is now in eastern hands. North Vancouver yards have been left to sink or swim on their own. And perhaps that is best. If local ship- yards survive, no one in the industry will be beholden to Ottawa. Nothing will be owed to the federal Conservative government, especially votes and support in the next federal election. LETTER OF THE DAY Bridge needs immediate attention Last week the federal government an- nounced that it would give North Shore and other B.C. shipyards money only to downgrade or terminate their operations. The federal Tories also rejected all the recommendations from a local shipbuilding action group that had been formed to try to save the West Coast industry. That knockout combination follows last February’s cancellation of the $500-million Polar 8 icebreaker contract, which local MPs had promised for so long would come to the West Coast. Open letter to the Mayor and Council of West Vancouver: Mayor Mark Sager’s concern regarding public cynicism toward elected officials is well taken. While the public does applaud those who serve to the best of their ability, we are cynical because some action taken by public officials has not served electors well. The majority of West Van- couver’s residents did not think the following developments preserved or enhanced the com- munity’s character. They include: The new highrise office tower at Taylor Way and Marine Drive; the rape of lands west of Caulfeild; The rape of ccrtain creek banks by totally unsuitable development to the site; the ap- proval of monster houses; the whole golf course issue above the Upper Levels; the horrendous growth in municipal debt and in- terest charges. I note council is setting up sun- dry task forces. Why haven’t the following questions been address- ed? *Why has council not ap- pointed a task force to examine and improve West Vancouver's citizens’ position on Lions Gate Bridge? *Why has council not ap- pointed a task force to study the appalling situation of the ferry terminal in Horseshoe Bay? A less principled municipality would outlaw any expansion, refuse permits, threaten to have police stop everyone going to the termi- nal to check their licences or for contraband until Victoria recon- siders. Your nonexistent task force would tel! you that a new ferry terminal between Iona Island (beside the airport} and Gabriola is about 10 miles shorter than Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo. Yes, Mr. Sager, we citizens are cynical, but we don’t want to be, We want to see the council act and now. Be the council to turn the ferry terminal around. No cit- izens want this expansion. We all want the lona alternative, yet council spends its time worrying about how to develop above the Upper Levels. fs council aware that none of the Socred candidates seeking the nomination (for the election yet to be called) had the faintest interest in Lions Gate Bridge or the ferry terminal? If no one on our council cares, why should these candidates or the provincial government? I hope that when this council’s term is up, we will have lost our cynicism. Neil S. Thompson West Vancouver Publisher... ; Peter Speck Display Advertising 980-0511 = Distribution 986-1337 Nortn Snore Managing Editor . Timothy Renshaw Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-1337 managed Advedising Dies tor Linge sgn Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 985-3227 Ne i] War News 5 ini: i > Comptroller Doug Foot WSFOOM 985-2131 Administration 985-2131 North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an MEMBER independer: suburban newspaper ano qualiied under Schr Jule 111, Paragrapn Ill of the Excise Tar Act, i¢ published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Nortn Shore Free Press Ltd and distributed 10 every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mai! Registration Number 3885 Subscnptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Marling rates availabie on request. Suomissions are welcome but we cannot accep! responsibility for unsokcited matenal inciuging manuscnpts and pictures wich stiould be accompamied by a Stamped. addressed envelope 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 SDA DIVISION $< $1,582 (average circulation, Wednesday. Friday & Sunday} Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Ltd. Al rights reserved. Communication isi’t always What it seems IN MY wartime British army recruit squad Set. Blanchard taught us about basic communication problems by standing with 30 to 40 of us in a large circle. He'd whisper a message in the ear of the man on his left, who passed it on to the next man. And so it went round the whole circle. But by the time it reached Blan- chard again, it had often changed quite a bit — like the classic ex- ample he used to quote us: “Send reinforcements, we're going to advance.”’ What he got back was: ‘‘Send three-and-fourpence, we're going to a dance.”’ Former district mayor Marilyn Baker, now Socred candidate in the new Lonsdale riding, believes she, too, is the victim of people’s tendency to hear (or read) only what they WANT to believe. Ten days ago the News reported that she had asked party HQ to clarify why Premier Bill Vander Zaim hadn’t stepped down while being investigated for possible . conflict of interest over the sale of Fantasy Gardens. The News quoted her as saying she’d been told there was a dif- ference between cabinet ministers stepping down and the premier doing so. She wanted the dif- ference to be explained publicly. All cf which was true. But the News report, says Marilyn — whose phone promptly began to ring off the hook — led to the wrong public interpretation. Was she ‘except for the tears) a second Nicole Parton, signalling that she was about to disown Bill and quit? Her Lonsdale NDP rival David Schreck gleefully lectured her about her duty to either step down or stay loyal to ‘‘the Vander Zalm bunch.’’ The Bigtown media lick- ed their chops in anticipation. Bui desertion was apparently the last thing Marilyn (‘’ma team player’’) had in mind. It seems she thought she might actu- ally be doing Bill a favor. She tells me she had heard there were solid legal and constitutional reasons for the Premier to remain at his post during the conflict-of- interest probe. If that was true — and the reasons were made public —- his tormentors might back off. Hence her question. She’s now received the party answer, checked it with other con- stitutional experts and declares herself perfectly comfortable with its main points, viz: © Unlike his ministers, the premier can't be replaced by a cabinet shuffle. ® There’s no LEGAL reason to prevent Vander Zalm from staying on. © SFU’s constitutional authori- ty, Ed McWhinney, says it would not be in the public interest for fesson MARILYN BAKER... a from passing grief. Noel Wright cs a2 4 HITHER AND YON the premier to step aside over an accusation of conflict. - So what does Marilyn’s passing gtief teach first-time provincial candidates? First, that the shark-infested waters of provincial politics are a world removed from gentlemanly city hall potitics. That might make a strong case for electing fewer power-hungry sharks and more honest, straight-talking civic and community leaders. Second, when issuing messages, never forget Sgt. Blanchard’s ‘circle’? game! WRAP-UP: Numbers could make Saturday’s North Van District byelection a tricky three-way race. Pro forma frontrunner Joan Gadsby — who lost to Murray Dykeman in her 1990 bid for mayor — topped the poll more than once during her 10 years on council. But Tim Jones and Bruce Edwards came within six per cent of last year’s low-winner vote, with Edwards only 60 votes behind Jones. And newcomer An- thony Jasich might split the poll enough to upset any one of them ... Ever wonder exactly what a billion dollars in your savings ac- count would mean? At only a modest six per cent, you’d have to spend $164,384 every single day before you even began to touch your capital. Dream on! ... And no such luck for tomorrow's West Van birthday boy, but many hap- py returns of March 7 just the same to Tom Wardell. WRIGHT OR WRONG: It’s easy to be successful. All you have to do is follow the advice you give others. DAVID SCHRECK... moral lec- ture short on facts.