I 6-S arth Shore News Re ELEN ETERNAL FIRES OF DANINATION? NONO, WERE MORE REFINED THESE DAYS. WE NOW OUST HAVE LONG, .__ ENDLESS FERRY LINEUPS. NEWS VIEWPOIN reat expectations SVER-CYNICAL taxpayers will be ex- cused if they don’t cheer too loudly | diLépver a recent announcement by ‘Capilano-Howe Sound MP Mary Collins that she is wading into the swamp of gov- ‘ernment spending and bureaucracy. Collias announced’ a: two-year joint ven- - ture with the provincial government aimed ‘atcutting government spending and bu- '- yeaucratic inertia. |: The venture, according to reports, would “consolidate business information services “from senior levels of government under one ‘ roof. ; . ” . The Canada-British Columbia Business’ Service Centre is scheduled to open in .November. and would save B.C. an ‘ estimated $220,000 annually — presumably NEWS QUOTES OF THE High Profile feature.) ‘Councillors are expected to pay all their expenses. Being a coun- by trimming service duplications from both senior levels of government. Coilins was quoted as saying that the pilot project is aimed at reducing confusion and frustration for customers and *‘wouldn’t that be nice.,..’’ It would indeed. But don’t bet on it. To repeat the modern-day curse: “I’m with the government. I’m here to help you.”” The new office will begin with a staff of 16 and a first-year budget of $1.2 million. Expect both to increase steadily, consistent with the appetites of fledgling government bureaucracies everywhere. Expect confusion to likewise increase. And, meanwhile, expect nothing of con- sequence to be done about the critical debt situation now facing Canada. ESTE Ia They are calied the twist, the barbecue, and the softball.”’ cillor is not a money-making pro- position.”’ North Vancouver District Coun. Ernie Crist, on the financial side of being a municipal councillor. (From an Aug. 29 News story.) “Peopie find it inconsistent that one can be a sensitive artist-type and an aggressive, competitive, and sometimes obnoxious, lawyer.” ‘ North Vancouver lawyer Bernie Malach, on being a lawyer and a stonecarver. , (From the Aug. 29 Publisher Managing Editor Associate Editor .. Sales & Marketing Director Comptroller ....Peter Speck Timothy Renshaw . .Noel Wright Linda Stewart Doug Foot ‘‘Whenever Bill went from Van- couver to the legislature in Vic- toria he took the ferry. His father used to walk.’’ Columnist, author and general political jester Allan Fotheringham — during. an Aug. 26 speech to lacal Liberals — on Bit and W.A.C. Bennett. (From an Aug. 29 News story.) “Not a politician, she’s an oppor- tunist with the attention span of a hummingbird. People say she has no policies, but this is not true. Display Advertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution Suoscriptions 986-1337 Fax Administration 985-2131 BB Mr. Fotheringham again, from the same Aug. 26 speech to local Liberals — on Prime Minister Kim Campbell. (From an Aug. 29 News story.) “They alt ran out of the room and hid behind their briefcases. It was really quite exciting.”’ Astist Maxwell Newhouse — recalling. audience reaction to a 1974 show in which he erected a concrete slab wall and smashed it. (From the Sept. 1 News Now Spotlight.) mH wep ) Ts newspaper contains recycled fibre. North Shore managed 986-1337 985-3227 MEMBER then © Morth Shore News, lounded 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. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mai} Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rates | available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accep! responsibility tor unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, self-self- addressed envelope. , V7M 2H4 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, ~ North Vancouver, B.C. & a awa’ & SDA OWVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1993 North Shore Free Press Ltd. Alt rights reserved. | epate war in for arty FOR LIGHT election comedy last week you only had to watch the heavy thinkers at the TV networks tying their knickers into knots over the party leaders’ debates in Englists and French. For the past two decades the debates have posed no problem. They have been confined to two or three leaders, both or all either bilingual or at least able to cope respectably in both languages. But this time, horror of horrors, c’est impossible! Fiest, there are now FIVE par- ties represented in the Commons, which gives each of their leaders a legitimate claim to participate in both debates. Right away that makes the show horribly unwieldy — the best entertainment value being just TWO verbal gladiators. Then comes something far worse. Reform party Jeader Preston Manning doesn't speak a word of French and has no inten- tion of learning the language in the next two weeks. He has proposed to confine himself in the French debate to short opening and closing state- ments — leaving the cut-and- thrust fun to the other four — unless, of course, the networks chose to provide a simultaneous translation service. “No way’’ was the knee-jerk reaction of the networks, led by Holy Mother Corporation. Each leader must participate fully in BOTH the debates or in neither. Simultaneous translation . would turn the show from drama into a sleeping pill. If Preston can't hack away at Lucien Bouchard en francais he can’t debate him in English either. That’s where it stood at mid- week, when the networks paused to grapple with some other little problems suddenly rushing at them. How can you exclude Manning who is running candidates every- where except Quebec, but retain Bouchard whose Bloc Quebecois is running ONLY in Quebec on a platform to destroy Canada? Meanwhile, what about Mel Hurtig’s new National Party — with 150 candidates running, though not yet represented in the Commons? But then again, if you let in one party with no MPs so far, how can you shut out Liber- tarians, Christian Heritagers, Rhinos, et al.? By the time you read this, the heavy thinkers at CBC, CTV and Global may finally have battled their way to one of several win- win solutions for Reformers — the WELCOME TO the “Golden 56 West Van’s Arthur Club”... and Dorothy McLaren. HITHER AND YON root cause of the problem. If they allow Manning into the French debate with his brief statements, and with or without simultaneous translation, he hasn’t a thing to lose. His anglo ‘ constituencies won’t even be watching, and with no Quebec . candidates he has no Quebec votes to forfeit. If they kick him out of both debates, it becomes merely a mat- ter of how many extra seats they hand the Reform party in carn-. flake-box country out west. Cer- tainly more than a few, even if -— in the interests of fair balance — they bumped Lucien Bouchard as well. i : In the more likely event that’ they KEPT Bouchard — . spokesman for a caucus of traitors © © _— Reformers might even be ~ : looking at‘a minor landslide in Alberta and B.C. at Tory expense. The easiest, fairest and best. --: solution, of course, is to cancel the debate altogether and give _- each leader 30 minutes individu- ally in prime time, in the lan-.- guage(s) of his/her choice. The debates can do nothing te solve Canada's desperate prob- fems. They simply reduce them to the level of a personality contest - — where charisma wins because, substance has no chance to com- pete. / , ’ With bankruptcy staring Canada in the face, we’re out of time for further fluffy entertain- ment of that kind! ee _ WRAP-UP: Drop by 2-5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, at YIC’S, 127 East 3rd; for Moodyville Lions open house and com- plimentary lunch ... No musical experience necessary to join West Van Youth Band — register at 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 9, at Irwin Park School or cal! Sheila Adams 922-4562 ...From the Better Late Dept., congrats to West Van’s Ar- | thur and Derothy McLaren who celebrated their entry into the “Golden 50 Club’’ Thursday; Sept. 2. Dundarave-West Bay.’ residents since 1943, Arthur is founder-president of Allied Ship- builders, Dorothy an active com- munity volunteer ... And many | happy returns of Tuesday, Sept: 7, to West Van Memorial Library’s original chief librarian Elizabeth Musto. ° eo WRIGHT OR WRONG: Faith comforts you. Doubt educates