"NEWS VIEWPOINT Meter merit O BE really effective, any Lower Mainland water conservation plan has to pay. And the recipient of that finan- cial payoff has to be the consumer. All other approaches are merely plans wreathed in wishful thinking. The proposal currently being considered by the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) to meter residential water use there- fore makes good sense. The estimated cost to install water meters in every household in the Greater Vancouver area would be about $150 million. The cost of building a new Seymour dam to increase water capacity would run around $90 million. But increas- ing the Seymour reservoir’s capacity would also mean flooding huge areas of North Shore forest and would create a reservoir turbidity problem that would take years to clear up. Water meters would promote serious water conservation because water charges would be based on household water use; increasing local storage capacities would address only the immediate issue of con- sumption. And while the increasing Lower Mainland population is placing greater . demands on local reservoirs, the area desper- ately needs some hard lessons in water con- servation. Extended dry spelis in the summer and early fall of recent years have underlined the reality that, wet as it is, the West Coast has limited supplies of fresh water. But that reality has yet to penetrate the local collec- tive consciousness: Lower Mainland water consumption is approximately 35% higher than anywhere else in Canada. We have a tradition of water gluttony that needs io be changed. Water meters would be a good first step in changing that tradition. Automating lighthouses a step backwards Dear Vditor: Why do politicians have more power to make decisions than peo- ple directly involved in their occupa- tion? I am referring to the matter of closing down the 35 manned lignt- houses in B.C, and automating them instead. This is like trying to get help and all you get is a recording machine. For obtaining information and for safety’s sake lightkeepers on the job are a must. They are on the spot watching for distress signals and able to take action immediately. As was recorded, between 1986 and [991 the lighthouse keepers Publishar.... came to the aid of the distressed 32,000 times —- rescuing the drown- ing, providing pilots with emergency weather reports and alerting the coast guards to vessels in distress. This service cannot be automat- ed. Early last July 3! in Active Pass, the fishing boat Bona Vista collided with a barge and capsized with six people inside. All, including a child, died. “As a matter of policy the light- house keeper was kept right out of the search and rescue” it was report- ed. Instead of learning from this inci- Display Advertising Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax Newsroom 980-0511 Distribution Real Estate Advertising 985-1982 Subscriplions 985-213% Administration dent, the coast guard is saying it wants to increase the response time from one hour to two hours. Instead of helping people to sur- vive they are retrogressing. Since lighthouse keepers have traditionally been the lowest-paid workers in the civil service and are considered essential and therefore can't strike, where are the savings going to be? I believe our best bargain is to keep the lighthouse keepers for the all-embracing protection of life. They are a necessity. Mrs. N, Gavin North Vancouver 986-1337 986-1927 985-3227 985-2131 secytied fibre MEMBER CN ok EVAN RE North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an indapandant suburban newspaper and qualitiad under Schedule 114, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Prass Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shorea. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0087239. Mailing rates available on vequest. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsiblity for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. iy ann — == 1 139 Lonsdate Avenue North Vancouver B.C. V7M 2H4 North Snore Managed SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Momentum vs. NDP shifting to Reform B.C. READY FOR a second-term NDP government — four to five more years of Mikey, Glen Clark, Liz Cull and Motz Sihota? If not, may f politely suggest you study some elementary election mathematics. FAST. The rumors mount daily that Premier Harcourt plans to calla snap election this fall, after barely three years in office. It may not be the [DEAL time, but in terms of practical politics it may be the best time he’s ever likely to have. Consider first the numbers. Among decided voters, two independent polls released in early June — Marktrend and Province- U.TV — respectively gave the Liberals 38% and 39%, DOWN from 53% three menths earlier, and Reform B.C. 34% and 28%, UP from just 6% in March. The NDP scored 23% and 21%; the once-mighty Socreds 3% and 1%. So what is there now to worry about, asks our dedicated anti- socialist voter. If the above figures hold, Liberals and Reform B.C. can between tnem count on the support of at least 66% of British Columbians, leaving Mikey & Co. backed at best by 23%. Unfortunately, that’s not at all the way it works under our winner- takes-ali system of majority votes by ridings. In 1991 the NDP won 51 of the 75 legislature seats (68%) with only 41% of the province-wide popular vote. The 59% of the popular vote scored by opposing parties netted the latter only 24 seats (32%). The math is simple. Once you split the majority vote in a riding more or less evenly between iwo major parties, a third single party commanding a minority vote as low as 35% can theoretically sneak up the middle to win. Its victory becomes even easier if one or two minor parties, or “spoilers” with no hope of winning the seat them- selves, are also competing. This happened time and time again in 1991, as the free enterprise vote split between demoralized Socreds and instant Liberals. Today’s picture is basically unchanged, the one difference being that Reform B.C. is now rapidly attracting the former Socred vote. Given time, Reform B.C. has a golden chance to replace Social Credit as B.C.’s dominant free enterprise voice. Especially as some of its gains have undoubtedly been at the direct expense of the Liberais — by winning over former Socreds who, disgusted with the Vander Zalm scandals, had tem- porarily “parked” their vote with Gordon Wilson in 1991 until happi- er times returned. By next summer —~ with organi- zational drive and Jack Weisgerber confirmed as leader at its conven- tion this October -— Reform B.C. could well succeed in taking over most of the entire former Socred vote, with Liberal election s.upport stashed back to fringe party figures. Reform is already leading or tied swith the Grits in much of the Interior, but stil] has quite a lot of consolidation work ahead, That's what is so strongly tempting the premier to summon HITHER AND YON B.C. to the ballot box this fall, while the opposition remains, on paper, evenly split. With the NDP at only 21-23% in the polls it’s still a considerable risk — but not nearly as great a risk as it would be against a single dom- inating opposition party. If Mikey docs decide to rofl that dice, the best hope for the seven out of 10 B.C, voters who want to send him packing will be to vote with their heads, not their hearts, for the opposition party with the most real- istic chance of winning a clear majority of SEATS. The June numbers suggest the Liberals are NOT that party. WRAP-UP: Opening tomorrow until Aug. 17 at North Van City Hail is North Van Arts Council’s 25th-anniversary Juried Art Exhibition — works by well- known local artists and seven young Queen Mary School artists on the “Cultural Transition” theme ... B.C. Fuchsia and Begonia Society holds its annual flower show and competition 1-6 p.m. Saturday, July 23, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 24, at Vandusen Gardens with plant sale, refresh- ments, door prizes —- admission $1 ... From the Beiter Late Dept., many happy retums of a landmark July 18 to West Van's former first - lady Margaret-Humphreys ... More birthday wishes Friday, July 22, to West Van’s Don Hamel ... And ditto Saturday, July 23, to his fellow Kiwanian Gordon Piatt. WRIGHT OR WRONG: He who hesitates is not only lost but several miles past the last exit. BIRTHDAY GIRL ... West Van's Margaret Humphreys.