Fue oF ALL BATES STS GANT THE GIs E iEHOIGAIY GRINDING a IN THEIR v 7 ’ Ry ys Ra a INTO TINY MEAT SWIMMING eeber pe ptdired? paginas ~~ SS NSS SAAN SSS ‘SS SS ws Ns NEWS VIEWPOINT A vote for democracy District byelection might not seem T OMORROW’S North Vancouver to some folk like a big event in the democratic scheme of things. But they would be wrong. A free and democratic election is always a big event, whether it takes place in North Vancouver District or anywhere else in the world. It just so happens that most people in the district and in similar communities across Canada take democratic elections for granted. In other parts of the world, people in small communities are fighting and dying for the right to vote in a free election. Tomorrow, district residents will be ask- ed io choose between four candidates run- yr a single aldermanic seat that was vacated late last year by Biil Rodgers. ning * They will also be asked to say yes or no to a Lynn Canyon Park dedication referen- dum question. The referendum will lay to resi once and for all the controversial issue of whether to preserve all the land within the 617-acre Lynn Canyon Park area as parkland; it will give district residents the chance to voice their opinion on the issue in the one way that really counts. But voicing that opinion requires making the effort to vote. In the 1990 municipal elections, only about 30 per cent of district residents bothered to vote. That’s a dismal effort by any measurement. A good turnout Saturday could help convince onlookers that district residents really do care about their community and really do care about democracy. LETTER OF THE DAY Collins was unfair to judge Dear Editor: With reference to a recent col- umn by journalist Doug Collins, | fail to understand why he singled out Khatun Parpia, a Canadian citizenship judge, as being unfair to a lady from Surrey who ap- parently applied for her Canadian citizenship after having lived and enjoyed life in Canada for 20 years. Mr. Collins has insulted my community by using the phrase ‘*heavy East Indian accent’’ to describe Mrs. Parpia. We both belong to the same Shia Imami_ Ismailia Muslim community led by our spiritual leader His Highness the Agakhan. Therefore, through our spiritual faith, Khatun Parpia is my spiritual sister and I am in turn her spiritual brother. My purpose is to tell the North Publisher . Managing Editor Associate Editor Advertising Director Comptroller Peter Speck Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright . Linda Stewart Doug Foot Shore News readers that Mr. Col- lins needs his ears examined when he says he had a lot of difficulty catching what Khatun Parpia was saying. Furthermore, his statement that during all the time he was on the phone to Khatun Parpia he could only hear ‘Sinclair Centre’ is logically and physically untrue. Maybe Mr. Collins’ watch needs repair. Can any reader imagine being on the phone 15 minutes and catching only one word? Khatun Parpia did not come to Canada from India. She was born and educated in Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa. She was therefore not a “‘potato peeler’’ when she arriv- ed in Canada to ri:ake it her per- manent home. She and her hus- band also brought a lot of wealth with them which they invested in the Canadian business sector. The recruitment officer hired by the Canadian Federal Government Display Advertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom $85-2131 Distribution Subscriptions Administration was certainly not bribed to recommend Khatun Parpia to the position of Canadian Citizenship Judge. Every one of us, including Mr. Collins, has an accent. Many Ca- nadians have Italian, German, Chinese or East Indian accents. It is possible that Khatun Parpia, despite being born and raised in Africa, may have an East Indian accent because her parents came to that continent from India. But, so what? Even Mr. Collins has an accent. But how on earth did he manage to get a scale large enough to ‘*weigh’’ one accent against another? Perhaps Mr. Collins would like to tell the North Shore News readers what accent he has and whether it is light, medium or heavy. Name Withheld 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 MEMBER Way to save Canada is not Keith Spicer’s THE CITIZENS’ Forum on Canada’s Future is getting an awful press right now as a costly, go-nowhere circus. So I'd hate ringmaster Keith Spicer to feel hurt because this column ignored him. Nowhere, of course, is the only piace you CAN go by simply ask- ing a million citizens what kind of Canada they want. All you get is a million individ- ual hobby-horses being flogged by everyone from Quebec separatists to Indians claiming they own the whole of B.C., to Prairie farmers demanding Ukrainian as a third official language. The closest ap- proach to a consensus being repeated calls for the abolition of politicians. At its present rate the Spicer circus may be lucky to collect 200,000 replies by its June deadline. With a bill of already $27 million, that works out at $135 per individual beef. Finally, they'll all be poured through a computer and handed without any recommendations to Lord Mulroney of Meech Lake. As the girl in the TV commer- cial says, ‘‘there has to be a better wayl?? There is, of course. The snag being that it terrifies every federal and provincial politician of whatever party. The only sane way to assure Canada’s future is a constitutional assembly — an elected bady, parallel to the federal government but entirely independent of Ot- tawa and the provincial legislatures. Assembly members would be respected citizens from all walks of life — the public service, pro- fessions, business, churches, In- dians, culture, sport, the en- vironment — you name it. The only exception being politics. No past or present MPs or MLAs need apply. Their sole function would be to draft the new constitution for final approval ia a national refer- endum. After which the assembly would be dissolved. It would elect its own perma- nent steering committee and chairman to look after the ongo- ing agenda. Its various specialist committees would hold coast-to- coast public hearings. All votes in assembly debates would be free votes. And its final endorsation of the draft constitution — prior to the referendum — would require a 75 per cent majority. Election of members would be by regions. In a 200-member assembly, for example, 50 each from Ontario, Quebec and the West (including the Territories); 36 from the Atlantic Provinces; and 14 from the native peoples. To encourage personal integrity Noel Wright HITHER AND YON and independence of thought, members wouid not only be paid at least 2s much as MPs but also a healthy pension. If they did their job successful- ly, a couple of hundred million bucks or so would be a bargain for Canada compared to the Spicer Forum’s $27 million tab (and counting) for its trip to nowhere. There could be big savings, too, from present politicians rendered redundant — which is why it won’t happen quickly. If you have any better ideas for mending this wacky but wonderful country of ours, please let me know! ees TAILPIECES: North Van Legion Branch 118 on 15th celebrates its 60th birthday with the Stardust Orchestra playing tonight and Saturday from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. and a special 2-6 p.m. party Sunday featuring Ted Hopkins and Minstrel Music — call 985- IL15 ve tickets .... Bargain-hunt Saturday, March 9, at the Spring Flea Market 9-11:30 a.m. in St. David’s, Taylor Way and Upper Levels ... Hurry ‘he malls to buy your last $5 entrants in North Van Rotary’s Great Capilano River Duck Race — I p.m. Sun- day from the Upper Levels bridge to Ambleside Park ... A special birthday salute to Kiwanis Lynn Manor resident Helen Fulton who today, March 8, turns 102 ... And congrats tomorrow, March_9, to North Van’s Paul and Agnes Zabolotny, celebrating their 64th anniversary. een WRIGHT OR WRONG: Drive-in banks were invented so the owners of our cars could get to see them once in a while. North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and quatitied under Schedule 111, Paragraph Wl of the Excise Tax Act, ts pubDkshed each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Nortn Shore Free Press Lid. and distnbuled to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885 Subscriptions North and Wes! Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing tates avaiable a> request Submissions are weicome but we cannot accept responsivity for unsolicited matenat inctuding manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope <=: SN arerie Gar 1139 Li dale A . NEWS phato-Mike Wakefield North vancouver BC. so#owses THE PLAQUE commemorating the part played by former West V7M 2H4 Van mayor Don Lanskail (left) in developing the West Van- couver Seawalk was unveiled last month by Mayor Mark Sager (centre) and Bruce Lanskail. 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday. Fraay & Sunday) Entire contents © 1991 Novth Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved.