re News J ANODISNS GET INVOLNED j 7 NE BET D iN THe TREND OF BORTERING FOOD FOR RUSSIAN GO0S..... Look... | KNOW WE ASKED FOR FRUITCAKES..... Gung-ho Reform E still faces two (major problems MONDAY NIGHT'S Centennial Theaire rally confirmed anew the momentum ihe Reform Party has gathered in four short years. That it may reshape the entire political landscape at the nex federal election is no longer merely possible. It’s looking more and more probable. NEWS VIEWPOINT Suite silence idents should be asking their elected council what has happened to the issue of illegal secondary suites in the municipality? District council recently approved a 17- point housing policy that covers a host of issues facing the municipality and its future socio-economic growth as a com- munity. The policy appears to be based on an enlightened philosophy of building a community with a social conscience rather than building one based solely on the in- come levels of its residents. But conspicuous by its absence from that policy is the issue of secondary suites. That absence may be conspicuous but not surprising: the district has been wrangling with the illegal suites issue since the mid- 1980s. And in 1992, it appears to be no Nites! VANCOUVER District res- closer to a solution. INegal suites must be addressed in the housing policy of any growing municipali- ty. Secondary suites provide a form of low-income kousing, which if eliminated, would run counter to the districi’s avowed philosophy of providing housing for all income levels. Unregulated secondary suites would also be unsatisfactory, creating the kind of housing climate conducive to housing sharks and tenement landicrds. Council has already voted 4-3 in favor of regulating secondary suites, at least un- til the year 2000. Why then the delay in implementing a policy? All district residents, not just those renting or occupy- ing secondary suites, need to know where the district is going on the issue. LETTER OF THE DAY Why is Port reluctant to comment? Dear Editor: At is good of Mr. A.J. Jordan of the Vancouver Port Corpora- tion (VPC) to take time out to correct what, .he considers to be myths about Maplewood Flats (‘Many myths surrounding mudflats’) in response to Peggy Trendell-Whittaker’s well-resear- ched article of Dec. 6. It is a pity that he and his VPC colleagues weren’t quite so forth- coming when Ms. Whittaker tried contacting them by phone for their input and comments. If talks are under way with the Canadian Wildlife Service to have Publisher Peter Speck Maplewood made into a wildlife sanctuary, why are VPC officials so reluctant to discuss it, or to issue a formal press release on the subject? Mr. Jordan’s airy refer- ence to, ‘“‘an announcement made a number of months ago,"* was in fact his response to a question put to him by a Vancouver Sun reporter during a Goat tour of the Burrard Inlet last August. As a member of the Vancouver Natural History Society and the Maplewood Flats Committee, I am obviously delighted that the Port has said it will begin negotia- tions with the Canadian Wildlife Display Advertising 980-0511 Distribution Subscriptions Service regarding transfer of the land. However, we are disappointed that the Port is so reluctant to comment on the matter, either through an official press statement or in response to questions posed by journalists like Ms. Whittaker. The public has a right to know. After all, the Vancouver Port Corporation is a federal Crown corporation owned by Canadian taxpayers. K. M. Belt Conservation Committee Vancouver Natural History Society 986-1337 986-1337 North Shore managed The party’s some 100,000 members in Alberta, B.C. and the Prairie provinces give it real hope of a sweep in many western ridings. In Ontario 99 constituen- cy groups are already organizing. Interest is beginning to stir in the Maritimes. Meanwhile, 2 Mclean’s-Decima January poll found 46% of Ca- nadians outside Quebec ‘‘some- what likely’’ or ‘‘very likely’’ to vote Reform next time. More re- cent polls put it ahead of the rul- ing Tories. Success can be measured in negatives, too. The rent-a-mob of protesters outside the theatre slandering Reformers as ‘‘racist, sexist and anti-gay’? — combined with increasing attacks and slurs by old-line party leaders — show that the RP is now taken very seriously indeed by the discredited status quo politicians and entren- ched interest groups it threatens. Nonetheless, the party still has three major problems. One is un- solvable for the moment: its lead- ership’s lack of any governing or parliamentary experience — otherwise, the Maciean’s-Decima 46% might well have been con- siderably higher. The other two ARE solvable, given effort and political will. Age-wise the present member- ship profile is that of the grey and white heads which continue to predominate at RP rallies. These are politically mature citizens, fed up with the current political pan- tomime, who have at least found in Reform the alternative to the jaded, self-serving old Ottawa crowd that they’ve been seeking. Urgently needed, however, is an all-out drive to attract the younger generation, many of them totally turned off by politicians of ANY stripe. The party’s present may be solidly based on 45- year-olds ard up. But a far healthier proportion of voters in the 20-45 age bracket is vital for its future. It must go get them quickly. Also vital is a more positive approach to Quebec. Present par- ty policy is to wait to hear what Quebecers want in a new Canada before organizing there. Since a majority of Quebecers share Anglo disgust with today’s politi- cal antics and wish basically to remain Canadian, this shut-out smacks of another Anglo “‘in- HITHER AND YO! sult.’* Certainly it does nothing for unity and it’s hard to imagine what the RP has to lose by at least offering itself to French Canada right away. Reform’s progress to date is impressive. But it still has work to do — and fast — before facing the test of the ballot box nation- wide. WRAP-UP: Need a vacation abroad or afloat? Plan it Satur- day, Feb. 8, at the 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Travel Fest in West Van Seniors’ Centre — featuring travel displays, slides, films and holiday fashion shows, with a dozen local travel agencies and tour operators participating . . . Accountability of police in the community is the topic Tuesday, Feb. 11, at the 7:30 a.m. Ambleside Inn breakfast meeting of West Van Chamber of Commerce with guest speaker David Edgar, chairman of the B.C. Police Commission — Call 926-6614 to reserve your bacon . . . And happy birthday tomorrow, Feb. 8, to two of West Van's best known 67-year-olds — genial Ambleside Inn host Willy Brueckel and retired Park Royal manager Hugh Addison (now liv- ing on Saltspring). aoe WRIGHT OR WRONG: When worms are scarce, does-a hen stop scratching? Not on your life — she just scratches all the harder!. Ce ] Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 985-3227 Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2131 MEMBER ac om SUNDAY" WEONESDAY TROY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, SDA DIVISION North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. Atl rights reserved. Managing Editor .. . Timothy Renshaw Associato Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director inda Stewart Comptroller Doug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph Ill of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 pet year. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept fesponsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. TAR VON OF MONTH AND WEST WCOUVER attic fast WILLY BRUECKEL... a day birthday boy. : PRESTON MANNING... work still needed. 81,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday)