‘Just when To was, , beginning

‘to doubt: that’ the. Christmas
"spirit:

is... around in. our
“commercial world, I met
Santa. ‘I would like to. tell
“you about him. Santas come
in all shapes and. forms.:My.
Santa has, ‘no little. round
belly: but. he is ‘tall. and
Slender and. has a* boyish

- grin, shy manner, no snow,

“white beard but a funny gait,
and‘he also has a twinkle in
his eye. And yes, he. ‘also
brings gifts to children; but
not just. once a. year... He
floats from school to school
(perhaps not. down

the ;

and Jane by. ‘helping them
with their work in-math or to
. finish. ‘the’ ‘Christmas Story,
He -also “listens. to their
problems, learns: about the
-guinnea pigs’ new babies or
perhaps that grandpa died.

Don't ask: me how he has
tinie for all of this; but he has
the : : Special fare _ pift of
listening’ and’ he: truly hears
them. But-.then : Santa is
magic. isn’t he? Youcan also
find him. at. the downtown
Y.M.C.A. - working with
little guys, training them at a
lifesaving club that

"| started 30 years ago.st Eagle

he.

Harbour . ‘when, .one. of his
little’ friends. ‘drowned. At

of others. Now this:club has
spread. across the ocean. and’
-you. find . -branches

saved many lives. a

“He is a special man who.
guides and -helps ta. train,
strong ‘bodies.- and spirits.
You may, also’ find. him
bandaging ‘hurt small hands
or soothing a sore ankle and
the children know. that he

from -
Australia to Holland and.
members.and graduates | have

“cares. He helps them to grow
‘tall, perhaps not in body but
, in stature.

_ that time he vowed he would / -
‘teach every.kid'on the’ beach +
to'swim and-to savé the lives.

He neips guide. my little

guy and I am truly grateful
- for it: So: you see, Santa is

alive-and-well-and is living in
West Vancouver. I hope you
will meet him some day. |

Best wishes to the staff of

' North Shore News; keep up

the good work, we like your
paper. .

Erica Ray _

West Vancouver

‘Public has access to municipal reports

Dear Editor:

- There’ s been a lot of talk

- around Ottawa, and across

the country. too, about the
need for “freedom of infor-
mation” legislation. Govern-'
ments and . their bureau-
cracies have been’ too
secretive about what they do
and why ‘they do it. Citizens
Want to know what's going
on.

Butiwhat about freedom of
information at the municipal
level? Here, too, we can
make some improvements.
Let me give you an example.

Now suppose you, as a
citizen and taxpayer, want to

— ‘know what's coming up at

'

the open Monday Council
meeting. Suppose you want
to see the staff report on
some issue to be discussed at
the Policy and Planning sec-
tion of the Council meeting.
As you know, you are allow-
ed to ask questions after
each item has been discuss-

‘ed. If you “have read the staff”
report, you will not only be’
‘able to follow the discussion
with better understanding,
but also to ask’ better ques-

- tions. What rights have you

to this information?

You can, ofcourse, phone
the District Office to find out
what is on the agenda of

‘when a particular. issue. is:

coming up. You can also
read the agenda. in the Sun-

day issue of the North Shore’
. News. .

As for getting an advance
copy of staff reports, this is
what you must do, according
to rules -laid down. by past

«Councils:

1. Phone the District Of-

. fice before noon of the day

the report is to be .con-
sidered by Council and let
them know you want a.copy.

2. Come to Council
meeting 20 minutes before it
starts and pick up your copy.
But you must pay 15¢ per

We must go on with

Dear Editor:

In regards to your News
Viewpoint of Wednesday,
Dec. 12 on “Metric Mania,”
I’m afraid your secret wish is
not likely to be granted by
the Good Fairy Prime
Minister.

Jean-Luc Pepin’'s White
Paper, and is scheduled to
be complete (subject to
Clark's interference) in 1985.
What this means is that the
planning process is complete
and physical metrication is
approximately half-way
done. Too much human and
financial capital has been in-

Canadian metri-—
cation began in 1970 with_

_ vested to be able to tum

back now. Can you imagine

‘the uproar from Canadian

industry if it was told all its
time and expenses were
wasted?

Furthermore, to be con-
siderate to the U.S., our ma-
jor trading partner, we also
have to metricate. The U.S.
is proceeding in a voluntary
process with the leadership
of the multi-nationals and is
predicted to be complete in

1990! If we stop, in 1990, -

we'll be the only major
trading nation in the world
not on metric. What will this
do to our economy? Our
exports will fall drastically,

No metric is ‘stupid’

Dear Editor:

Your plan to help delay or
cancel metrification is the
dumbest idea I ever read in
your paper. This clinging to
a long out-moded system
shows such a_ atick-in-the-
mud attitude.

We don't need to worry
about the Americans, they

are in the process of going
metric too. After all,

anywhere in the entire world
they go, they find everything

metric.

As has been said umpteen
times before, the metric
system is simplicity itself. Its
use is as casy as falling off a
log. Another good reason for
Canadian industry to go
metric is the fact the the
EEC has imposed a time
limit beyond which all im-
ports of machinery, equip-
ment, etc., must conform to
metrid standards,

Karl Volkmer
North Vancouver

page to cover the. cost of co-
pying.

To encourage citizens’ in-
terest in municipal affairs, to
promote participatory
democracy and to expand
freedom of information at
the municipal level, I would
go further. I suggest that
. Staff reports should be

available to the taxpayer'not

only on . Monday before
Council meetings ‘but also on
the preceding’ Friday “after

4:00 p.m. In the near future, —

I shall be bringing’ this: to
Council’s attention in the
form of.a-motion to change
the present policy. ~

As far as I am concerned,
the more open government
is, the more citizens are in-
terested and involved, the
better our democracy will
work.

Ernie Crist,
Alderman,
District of

North Vancouver -

metric

widening our already huge
balance of payments current
account deficit, and creating
massive unemployment.

I realize that learning a
new system is difficult. I also
realize that the government
has neglected the public; it
has made no effort to help
you and me through the pro-
cess. However, like it or not,
metric is necessary for our
economy. Medicine doesn’t
always taste good.

_K.E. Hollett
North Vancouver

KEEP IT SHORT

Readers’ lettera on all loa
, are welcomed and MAILBOX

wants to print as many as possl-
ble, subject only to space
limitations. To help us print
YOUR letter while it's still time-
i. please keep it short and to
the point-normatly no longer
than 200 words (about 20 lines
of average typing oF 26 tines of
average handwriting).

All lettera muat be signed and
include an address andlor
phone number. The writer's
name must also bespelied out
clearly in block letters. Street
addressea and phone numbere
will not be published, and a
nom-de-plume witl be used it
specially requested. We
reserve the right to edit letters
tor brevity, taste and legality.

Let's hear from you — often. The
address is: North Shore News,
1130 Lonadale. Avenue, North

Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4.

Dresses

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¢ Pants

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e Party Wear

Dear Editor: -

As the. “spirit and joy of
Christmas “Surround us, I
would like to express,
through your’ pages, the

- thanks of all of us at CARE
to thousands . of British
Columbians who supported
the. work.of this organization
in 1979. CARE programs of
relief, self-help, community
development and medicine
in 36° developing countries
around the world would not
exist but for. the individual
‘gifts of such men, women
_and children.

“One of CARE’s programs, '
the World Food Crusade,
‘provided a daily meal for.
more ‘than 24 million
children this year. Other
programs provided hundreds.
of rural villages with their
first ever pure . drinking
water supplies, farmer
groups with new seeds and
modern implements, and
medical clinics with needed
medicines, more modern
equipment, and treatment

¢ Designer Fashions

Fall and winter's best.

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Share with CARE

‘and teaching assistance by

‘

dedicated. Canadian doctors

and nurses.

While the spirit of giving is

‘on us at this time” of year,
.some of your readers,..who
_ perhaps have never thought

of -it before, will remember

. those in need: throughout. the
world. Especiallythis year,

when natural . and.. man-
induced catastrophes have
left~ literally. ~ millions of
people _hongry and

‘homeless, it’s comforting. to

know — CARE i is there.

“Christmas. «Here...
Christmas . There. . We. are

_Here — CARE is There” is

our mesage to British
Columbians this ‘holiday
season.. We. hope those of
your readers who.are. able to
share with someone
“There”, will know that
CARE is ready, willing and
able to carry their message.

_of love.

Glen Ringdal,
CARE Canada -

Country @Paruat, C®

Park Royal
922-7411

Westview Mall
985-5535

Lansdowne
278-7619