Liberal MLA roasts govt for spending millions on THE PROVINCIAL NDP government is playing party politics with B.C.’s transportation and highways system by allotting millions of doliars in government funds for pro- jects in NDP ridings while ignoring ridings represented by the Opposition Liberals and the Social Credit party, West Vancouver-Capilano Liberal MLA Jeremy Dalton charged this week. Dalton said Liberal research, based on press releases issued by the Transportation and Highway Ministry, shows the NDP gov- ernment has spent just over $15 million since October on highway ministry projects in 12 NDP ridiags. During the same period, just over $1 million in ministry funds have been spent on one Liberal riding and one Socred riding. On Tuesday, Victcria announc- ed that $6.3 million will be spent to build a new bridge over the Thompson River on the Trans- Canada Highway near Kamloops in the riding of Transportation and Highways Minister Art Char- bonneau. City council By Surj Rattan News Reporter Dalton said the Upper Levels Highway interchange project at Westview Drive should be given a higher priority. The intersection acts as the boundary separating Dalton’s riding and the North Vancouver-Lonsdale riding repre- sented by NDP MLA David Schreck. “Every time I raise the issue in the legislature, the government, and Mr. Schreck, say there is no money for Westview. They say it’s on indefinite hold. The business people in my riding are very con- cerned,’’ said Dalton. discusses Presentation House fate Report to outline structural woes THE FATE of North Vancouver's Presentation House Arts Centre may well be known by Monday night. North Vancouver City — staff plans to present a report outlining the building’s structural woes to council members at their Dec. 7 in-camera meeting. Coun. Bill Bell, who is also a Presentation House board member, said a decision could follow the presentation. **It’s absolutely necessary for council to make a decision before the new year. We can’t leave the beard (of Presentation House) out on a limb,” he szid. The report follows accusations made by 2 Vancouver theatre director that the arts centre’s owner — the City of North Van- couver — is engaging in slum landlord tactics by refusing to put money into repairing the 80- year-old building. By Evelyn Jacob News Reporter The facility's leaky roof is caus- ing electrical short-circuits and the cost of fixing it, plus repairing heating problems, has skyrock- eted. Bell said council has three op- tions: spend a minimal amount on repairs until a permanent solution can be found; pay the full cost of repairs, or demolish the structure and build a new arts centre, which he says would cost roughly $1.6 million. Presentation House is home to an internationaliy renowned photo gallery, a theatre and the North Vancouver Community Arts Council. iNV RCMP teens to meet A MEETING set to open lines of communication between the North Vancouver RCMP and Iocal teens on Wednes- day is being greeted as a positive first step by youth workers and young people. Said Theresa Campbell, a youth worker with Seymour Youth Ser- vices, ‘‘] think it will really help to improve the relations between the teens and the RCMP.”” She added that a number of re- cent incidents have shown that those relations need drastic im- provement on the North Shore. Campbell said many of the teens she deals with feel the com- munity generally sees all teens as potential trouble. Ben Kramer, 18, of Windsor secondary school, said a key prob- lem is that many teens are choos- ing to arm themselves. “You can no longer have a fight after schoo! and settle your problems. If there’s going to be a fight, somebody is going to get = Classified Ads 8 Cocktails & Caviar @ Editorial Page @ Fashion. B® High Profiles By Michael Becker News Reporter seriously hurt. There’s always a weapon involved,’’ he said. Michelle Annan, 17, another Windsor student, said the meeting wiil help teens see the police as something more than a uniform. Said Annan, ‘‘To me all along it’s been like they’re superior. You look up to them, and you think there’s no way they are going to understand. They’re finally com- ing down to talk to us and see what we think.”’ The meeting is set for 4:30 p.m., Dec. 9, at the Eagles Hall, 170 West 3rd St., in North Van- couver City. ® Lifestyles § Travel i Vintage Years @ What's Going On Weather Monday & Tuesday, cloudy with showers. Highs 6°C. Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number 0087236 He added thar he may have to apply to have the North Shore declared a ‘‘ghost town"' to secure funds to build the Westview inter- change. Dalton made the comment after Charbonneau announced on Nov. 13 that $594,500 wil! be spent on three bridges to ‘‘provide access for recreational users to a histori- cal ghost town’’ in the New Den- ver area of NDP MLA Corky Evans’ riding. Charbonneau and Schreck have both said Victoria has to place priorities on transportation and highway improvement projects. The Westview interchang? pro- ject, which has again been put on hold, was originally announced in October 1985. It was scheduled to be completed after the Upper Levels interchange project at Lonsdale Avenue was finished in 1990. But Dalton charged that the list of NDP ridings receiving highway ministry funds is increasing each Sunday, December 5, 1992 — North Shore News - 3 Dalton pushes for Westview overpass highway projects in NDP ridings week. “This week, Joan Smallwooid's riding of Surrey-Whalley received $200,000 for traffic lights. That makes five announcements in five weeks; only 46 more NDP ridings to go before non-NDP areas have their turn,”’ said Dalton. “For this government to claim it has no money and then regular- ly announce highway improvement for NDP ridings is a disgrace. “If one of the busiest and potentially most dangerous in- tersections on the Trans-Canada Highway doves not rate some at- tention, what message does this send to the travelling public and to the business community?’’ said Dalton. But Schreck said that just over $5 million has been spent on Transportation and Highway Ministry projects in Liberal and Socred ridiugs since the NDP were elected last year. He added that ND? ridings represent about 64% of the total land mass of the province, Liberal tidings account for about 6% and the Socreds represent about 30%. Schreck said some of the major projects in opposition ridings in- clude the expenditure of $634,031 on secondary highway improve- ments in North Vancouver. “His (Dalton’s) allegations are simply not true. f£ find it par- ticularly offensive that Jeremy Dalton finds the Westview inter- change project as solely his con- cern. “When the project goes through, I will take full credit for it,”’ said Schreck. He added that there is a big difference between spending $594,500 on two tourist bridges to a historical ghost town in an NDP riding in the Kootenays and spending an estimated $35 million on the Westview interchange pro- ject. ¢ See News Viewpoint: page 6. NEWS photo Mike Wakefield SUZANNE EDWARD, the mother of Anne-Marie Edward, one of 14 women engineering students rourdered by a gunman in Montreal in 1989, spoke Thursday to a Capilano College crowd that 1 ad gathered to commemorate the shooting victims. Slain student’s mother addresses Capilano College memorial service THE MOTHER of one of 14 women students who were murdered by a gunman three years ago at a Montreal engineering school broke down emotionally when talking about the slain women during a memorial service at Capilano College on Thursday. Suzanne Edward’s daughter Anne-Marie Edward, 21, was one of the women engineering students who were gunned down by Marc Lepine on Dec. 6, 1989, at the l’Ecole Polytechnique in- stitute. Since the incident, Edward has become an advocate opposing violence against women. She spoke at Capilano Col- lege’s third annual rally to commemorate the women murdered by Lepine. In an emotional address, Ed- ward told the crowd that her daughter was an outgoing person who enjoyed horseback riding, kayaking and skiing. “Her friends had nicknamed her Spunky. Anne-Marie had just made the downhill ski team at the University of Montreal. She was so proud of that that we buried her in her ski jacket,” said Edward. She added that her daughter also enjoyed riding her horse Crystal. By Surj Rattan News Reporter “The thought of Anne-Marie riding Crystal in another dimen- sion is comforting to (brother) Jim and me,” said Edward. Since the murders three years ago, Edward has lobbied the federal government for stricter gun-control legislation. But she told the crowd that it has been a tough fight. “To add insult to injury, after the incident for three years all we're hearing is Marc Lepine and the 14 women. IJ said I would not mention the name (Lepine), but yet here we are again,’' said Edward. Another speaker, North Van- couver City Coun. Barbara Sharp, told the group that prior to the last federal election, only 34 women had been elected to office during the last 75 years. She added that it is time for society to change its attitude towards women and_ violence against women. “Women’s bodies are used to sell cars, beer and just about anything. In Canada, a woman is raped every 29 minutes. Everyday women are abused, raped and killed,"’ said Sharp. Capilano College student Trista Bassett, a member of the students’ union women’s issues committee, said she experiences some form of sexual harassment every day, whether it is in person or through advertising or televi- sion programs. Former Capilano College stu- dent Chris McDowell, one of the organizers of the Women’s Monument Project, said murder is the second leading cause of death for women in the United States and the leading cause of death for black women in the United States. “It is deeply unacceptable for a woman or a child to be murdered by a man. I myself Ihave been nearly killed, and we don’t want to five like this. violence against stop,’’ said “We want women to McDowell.