And Gratgh the magie N of the previots golerments accounting, the rabbit ...er... 1 Mean, Your monsy is eer a0. . NEWS VIEWPOINT Hurrah for heroes breed in the modern era of every man for himself and what have you done for me lately? But, fortunately, they still exist; North Vanceuver’s Wayne O’Grady is living piosf, The businessman put his own safety and life on the ling Feb. 5 when he leapt into a runaway, driverless truck on Canada Way and siammed on the brakes of the two- tonne vehicle before it could do any serious damage in its rampage. Those whose vehictes had been hit by the truck and who had seen O’Grady run across the road and into the runaway velticle immediately crowned him a hero. O’Grady said he didn’t know whether he was a kero or not — he just reacted to a situation. R= HEROES aare an all too rare That he reacted to the situation without thinking of himself and his own safety first is the mark of a real hero. lt would have been far easier O’Grady to have simply watched drama unfold and wait for police, epertment and ambulance crews to fomm their usual heroics. Sut fortunately for our society that kind of it’s-not-my-job attitude has yet to be fully ingrained in everybody’s psyche. There is still enough self-relicnce left in the hearts of just plain folks to allow spontaneous heroic reactions to jump to the fore in a crisis. for the fire per- We can all thank Wayne O'Grady for stopping that rampaging truck and for reconfirming that there are stiil some real hometown heroes out there. LETTER OF THE DAY NVD praised for new animal bylaw Dear Editor: At a recent North Vancouver District. meeting, council unani- mously passed a bylaw to stop the cruel exploitation of performing animals. Everyone involved is to be hear:ily congratulated: the council for their humanity, the district clerks who so carefully drafted the Publisher Managing Editor . Associate Editor Advertising Director Linda Stewart Comptroller Doug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and quaiified under Schedule 111, Paragraph Il of the Excise Tax Act, is published each lednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and distributed to every coor on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we canncl accept fesponsibiity for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. Peter Speck . Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright bylaw, and all the animal welfare groups, whose years of selfless work have encouraged the humane treatment of animais. Peter Hamilton of Lifeforce was present to thank council and to tell them that their bylaw is so complete and comprehensive that it will be used as a model for other communities. Mr. Hamilton quoted Mahatma Display Advertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Newsroom 985-7131 Distzibution Subscriptions Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax Administration Gandhi’s wise dictum that the degree of a society’s civilization is measured by its treatment of animais. The District of North Vancouver is more civilized todsy thanks to all the caring peopie who had a part in passing the animal performance bylaw. Judy Stone North Vancouver 986-1337 North Shore 985- 988-2131 MEMBER wen, S's SF 1139 Lonsdale Averue, ~~ North Vancouver, B.C. W7M 2H4 fA i] SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday. Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Medal in order for a fearless N. Shore MP ASKING WHAT PEOPLE want withovt being able to give them it is the most dargerous of political activities. So North Van MP Chuck Conk qualifies for some kind of medal in this (red?) neck of the woods. His latest 16-page report to constituents, based on a recent write-in survey he conducted, gives a detailed picture of what North Van citizens think about, and want in, the Constitution. Over 1,500 responded — in rel- ative terms a sample some 500 times bigger than Gallup (which tells us what 26 million Canadians think by asking a mere 1,050 or so). So Chuck’s quiz is solidly founded. By carrying it out at all, he earns straight A’s for courage. The answers he got frequently suggest Mr. Cook is in either the wrong party or the wrong riding for his own political health. More than three out of four respondents turned thumbs down on Quebec as a distinct society with special powers (such as Ian- guage restrictions on signs and immigrant education), while 37% tejected the concept even with NO special powers. To Mulroneyites, of course, Quebec’s distinct socie- ty status is sacrosanct and non- negotiable. Meanwhile the Triple-E Senate got a big hand, with 62% backing representation by provinces (ver- sus only 18% for representation by regions) and 66% calling for an equal number of Senators from each province — an idea that flies like a lead balloon with Joe Clark. Hardly surprising, therefore, was the response to another key question in the survey: ‘Which is the party most likely to achieve success in resolving our current Constitutional problems?’’ Among the decided 65%, nearly half (29%) plumped for the Reform Party, which beat the CHUCK COOK... political health endangered? KAHLYN, ANITA, YARA... Japan here we come. Noel Wright HITHER AND YON Liberals (14%) and the Tories (11%) combined. . On the role of individual MPs, 88% of respondents wanted more free votes in the Commons, 91% thought that MPs should reflect the majority views of their con- stituents and 56% said a local MP should vote against government proposals that are not in the best interests of B.C. — even if they are in the best interests of Canada, Chuck promises the survey results ‘‘will guide my thinking as the government prepares a final Constitutional proposal. . . the voice of the people of North Van- couver will be heard."’ That's nice, but he’s still a country mile from committing himself to do what 91% of them tellkimhe SHOULD do — vote against any government constitutional package that he now knows they would find unacceptable. In wartime they give soldiers medals for far lesser acts of brav- ery than fearless Mr. Cook’s con- - stitutional opinion poll! TAILPIECES: Congrats to three hardworking Cap College students — Yara Ainsworth (B.Comm. transfer program), Kafiivn Daniel (Sciences) and Anita Rethje (Stu- dio Art/Creative Writing) — chosen for an all-paid six-month visit next fall to Cap’s sister col- lege, Aichi Gakusen, in Japan under the 10-year-old exchange program between the two seats of learning . . . North Shore guests at tonight’s Royal Vancouver Yacht Club dinner-dance celebrating the 90th birthday of Monaco’s Consul General Fritz Ziegler include Willy and Martha Brueckel, and Frank Beraard .. . And if you read this in time, another good way to spend to- night (Wednesday, Feb. 12) could be at the Handsworth School Bands’ ‘‘Sound Spectacular VIIY’ — starting at 7:30 p.m. in the . Centennial Theatre and featuring everything from classical to jazz. WRIGHT OR WRONG: If your work speaks for itself, don’t in- terrupt.