Dear Editor: Piease allow me te con- gratulate the News on its fine coverage of the municipal election in North Vancouver. The paper cannot be blamed for the citizenry’s usual dismal turnout. Close to 28% of this mori- bund democracy managed to drive or walk to the nearest school and take five minutes to connect the lines up. Of those who did some were in such a cranky mood that they refused to agree to dedicating parks that already existed! Traditionally, young voters and renters feel the icast attached to democracy. “That is understandable as they, see little connection between. themselves and the goings-on at city hall. But it was not the young renters. who are primarily responsible for the numbers posted at city hall. Thousands of others chose to ignore the election as well. _..Why is it that provincial or federal elections can cause school parking lots to fill up with determined voters while municipal ones make parking lots took. empty? “Many will say that ir is the absence of political parties. We remember the last fed- eral election when the Conservatives received their yorst thumping in history. _oy.-Has life: improved ‘signifi- cantly-:for Canadians since? Have taxes gone down? . oo Are’there fewer children _ living in poverty? Are we. more certain about ‘,,: THE CITY OF NORTH VANCOUVER rs A, confederation? Are we proud- er about our armed forces and their role in defending the nation? We know the answers to these and other questions. Canadians are not better off but the national media treat the Liberals with so niuch uneritical kindness that we seem to be better off than when Big Bad Brian ran the nation. The the people of North Vancouver had another opportunity to really have an influence not only on their tax rates but also on the quality of life of their district. There were real issues and the News and its writers brought them out. What was missing was real debate and popularization of the issues by television and the town-hall meetings. There was little excitement as we have come to expect it in politics. : Communication between the electorate and the candi- dates was superficial in that there were no debates, no challenging discussions and certainly little opportunity for individuals to come out of their prepared scripts and tell us who they were. The formatting of the tele- vised phone-ins guaranteed thar set speeches dominated the evenings. The formatting of the town-hall meetings was a little more spontaneous because members of the public were present. '- Those who attended some or all of the public forums will 4 - know that the top six candi- dates at one cme or another gave responses that enlivened the otherwise deadly dull question-and-answer set pieces. This is not to criticize the efforts of the organizations that did the community a great service in putting on the all-candidates mectings. People should be ashained if they had the opportunity to attend one or more of these meetings and did not. It was a real joke to hear (politically challenged) candi- dates actually talk about “spe- cial interest groups” and “a few militants” having a dis- proportionate effect on municipal life. Well, folks, better with- draw from public life right now. A minority of voters has just elecred another council. Do you realize that one of the most deservedly popular figures in municipal life received 9,467 votes out of a potential 49,173? No. one will accuse Ernie Crist of representing some special or minority interest — at least not to his face. Before the next election comes around people should get off their collective butts and find out when their com- munity association meets, phone up the -president or chairman and attend. The district hall has all rhe numbers. If people are not satisfied with the community association nearest them, they can form their own. In case people don’t know, council meetings occur most 1997 BUSINESS LICENSES The 1997 Business Licenses are due and payable January |, 1997. - Your 1997 Business License invoice will be mailed "to you during the second week of December. If you do not receive your invoice by January Ist or if your business has had a change of location or a change of ownership, please contact the License Department at City Hall: 141 West l4th Street North Vancouver Phone 983-7356 or 985-7761 between the hours of 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday. Petate RTE tla Monday nights. There, you can find men, women and yes, young peo- ple, who have the courage to talk to their council about what deeply concerns them; people who came out to fight for the preservation of a qual- ity neighborhood or rake on city hall over injustices that make them angry. the bealr heute &T DUNDARAVE rem eriy Ve de Py ec Te oe Sunday, December 1, 1996 — North Shore News - 9 ty On Monday nights you won’t find the phoney over- paid stars that entertain on the mindless box every day and all night — just real human beings with all their imperfec- tions who make the supreme effort to make their commu- nities work. Allan Orr North Vancouver PrezR Share the Magic of The Beach House and the 1996 Festival of Lights. Proceeds to the North Shore Counselling Centre Lighting Ceremonies a. Monday, December Znd, 5:15pm In frint of The Beach House / Performance by Collingwood Choir Call 922-1414 for reservations & information. Ce ROLEX — The North Shore News regrets the errors that appeared in Headquarter's holiday ad that ran on page 27B in the Edgemont spe- cial feature, Wednesday, November 27, 1996. The AG gift package should be $19.99 with a savings of $15.99, and the AG travel package should be $9.99. We apologize for any incon- venience this *may have caused Headquarters enc their customers. C@xcellence withstands the passage of time.. Moment by moment, *: it is defined by craftsmanship, reliability and service. : Rolex guarantees excellence. Swedish Jeweler also guarantees excellence. We honour our customers with the world’s finest merchandise and outstanding:service. . , We are proud to be your authorized Rolex Jeweller; OYSTER PERPETUAL DATEJUST VWEDISH JEVVELER Park Royal South 922-2255 LADY OYSTER PERPETUAL Pacific Centre Atrium/Upper Level 682-6711