SOT SAWN AN ASE SAWN INTC ee ANAS SAF Ate oe ST Sony So” tants a) ~ Check brakes EBATE over the Upper Levels Highway brake-check station at the | top of the steep hill leading to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal has been _ detoured down the wrong road. ‘Ht is ‘currently raging around whether the . station. should remain manned. But there is little douht that it Should. ot ‘A more important issue is beefing up the enforcement powers of station personnel. According to a Feb. 13 News story, repre- ~ jseritatives from the B.C. Ferry Corp. and the ‘provincial Transportation and Highways, ~ ' Ministry have been discussing the fate of the , brake-station since last fail. Discussions, secording ‘to a highways: department spokesman, have fecused.primarily on which ‘provincial entity should operate the station. A But the B.C. Ferry, and Marine Workers’ f. Union maintains that brake-st tors will be replaced with electronic surveil- lance equipment. . The issue came to the fore after the B.C. Court of Appeal ordered a new trial for the truck driver whose runaway dump truck, ation inspec. | loaded with hot asphalt, was involved in a fata accident at the Horseshoe Bay ferry ter- minal in July 1990. An Ontario woman and her nine-year-old daughter were killed when their parked van was hit by the truck. The truck driver was initially convicted of crimi- -fal negligence for failing to check and adjust his truck’s brakes. He had stopped at the Upper Levels brake-check station, but had ! not adjusted his brakes, ' A requirement that proper brake checks be made and the appropriate adjustments performed by brake-check personnel before ‘frucks leave the station could help head off any recurrence of a similar tragedy. _ Give buses and bicycles some space Dear Editor: | The possibilities for an updated crossing of Burrard Inlet have been getting a good deal of space recent- ly-and obviously change will have fo came. However, in the rush to spend millions on new projects, the root sause is being largely ignored. That is that over 90%. of our rush-hour traffic consists of driver-only cars, The fact dat massive. construc: tion projects are inidated before our wasteful habits are changed is a total joke. This traffte is not an act of God though may would seem to think Pubtishor.......... vow Peter Spach so, bul one where the simple ace of car-pooling to capacity would immediately solve the problem. HW evoluntary pooling fails then laws enforcing this must be passed tinless we wish (o'see air pollution and a dehumanized city destroying what makes Vancouver beautiful, Constructing bus-only lanes and cycle routes designed by cyctists would go along well with the change in commuter attitudes, Itis plain that the rising crash of automobiles worldwide cannot be sustitined for another generation, but the saturation TV advertising bellowing the message that your Oispiay Advertising 980-0511 Distredution Managing Edito Timothy Reashaw Associate Editor Noel Weight Sales & Marketing da Stewart Comptroller... Doug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an - independent suburban newspaper and qualilied under Schedule 144, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday und Sunday by No:th Shore Free Press Ltd. and distriputed to every door on the North Shoro. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0987238, Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome bul we cannot accept responsibility far unsolicited maternal including manuscripts ard pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed Senvelope,, °-” Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-6222 Fax Classitied Advertising Newsroom ° 985-2131 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver B.C, V7M 2H4 North Shore Managed Administration life will likely fail without this month’s new model in your two-car aurage is, without counter advertis- ing. changing our lives and the health of our phinct with a criminal lack of foresight. We have a very new city. We know the cause of the problea, We SGI have a chance t plan it with foresight. Would it not be wonderful to achieve this as a model for other cities rather than following every: one else's mistakes? lan Fry North Vancouver 986-1337 986-1937 985-3227 985-2131 MEMBER " semsouven anes Secu ene SOA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday a Sunday) Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. any ot] TO PARAPHRASE: Mark ‘Twain, forecasts of the death of Social Credit if Grace — McCarthy loses tomorrow in Matsqui may be greatly exaggerated. We're not talking here merely about the party's current muts-and- ’ bolts organization, Rather, we're * talking about an independent made- in-B.C. political mavement which gave the province three and a halt decades of unmatched prosperity _ and still has over three times miore* grassroots members than its Johinny-come-lately Liberal com- petilor. Grace may yet, of course, snatch victory from the jaws of the 60% (last week’s count) of undecided Matsqui voters. ; All those “foreign” immigranis from Burnaby and East Vancouver may not yet have entirely destroyed the Bible Belt’s long-standing Socred loyalties. : ; Hf,-on the other hand, the lady’ does bite the dust this ime, she her- self will automatically be political toast on Friday. But the 40,000 or more home- grown B.C, free enterprisers called Socreds and the thousands of others they personally influence at clec- ‘tion time would stiff be around. So what happens to THEM? Well. the remainder of their youth wing might follow those who've already temporarily desert- éd to Gordan Campbell's : Liberals—which could be inviting a sorry fate for both themselves and B.C. : Within two years or less Jean Chretien’s government will rival Mulroney's in terms of public scorn and disillusionment, Meanwhile, Ottawa's traditional shafting of this province will gon- tinue apace. However hard Campbell may huff and puff about the “independence” of B.C, Grits, ° the federal mud will rub off all over. them. With the free enterprise vote thus fatilly split and in disarray, the doar would be wide open for a sec- ond NDP victory in 1996, Altematively, the pofitical demise af Grace MeCarthy could spur the Soereds to tackle their greatest weakness with an about appeal ta youth —- beginning with a young, Capable and respected new leader, Aside, however, tron finding the right candidate, this strategy faces one even bigger obstacle: the party NAME, ‘To today’s younger set the “Sacred” image is one of horse- and-buggy B.C. slove-pipe hats, stuffy SLAC. his surly son Bill, Howe Street shenanigans and sean- fdal-plagued Vander Zoli. If you're 20 ta 35 it's no longer a vote-getting name and won't ever be again. The nai who huids the salution to this and most other current Socred problems is, of course, Preston Manning, The simiurtest mave today’s Sacred brass could make would be to convince the Reform leader it's lime to sanction an official B.C, wing of his party — and then hand him their membership mailing list! Soereds and Reformers have no basic philosophical differences. Promotion of western interests in face of Central Canada arrogance is common to both. " HITHER AND YON ° Socreds clearly: voted Reform en... masse at Jast.October’s federal": election. And in Ottawa, Reform: :: has already built a strong momen~. ©: tuim-as the “official opposition” of: * angtophone.Canada. ey What a pertect deal for beth par- lies in toda, ‘> B.C; situation. * | Manning could at last wet his feet.’ in provincial politics with the orga- nization and moncy already there. ‘ Social Credit — wearing its new name Lag -— could win back from the Grits its defectors who vote’) *' Reform federally and could becomie °. once again the dominant, made-in- . B.C. free enterprise opposition: — With so much to gain, surely a: Socred by any other name smells just as sweet! SCRATCHPAD: A smart salute : for 10-year News. carrier .and Sentinel grad Chris Radaiminski (now first year Science, UBC). Third among 38,000 1993 grads winner of the Governor General's Bronze and a string of scholarships. he recently capped it all by receiv ing the B.C, Premier's Excellence Award .. Enjoy a “Behind The: Seenes” four of West. Van- Museum .& , Archives. C Mondays and Wednesday March 30 — call 926-9254 to reg: ister... IDC. Boys Choir, in its 25th anniversary season, is accepting. hew members aged eight ta'24 — phone 926-5230 foraudition ..7, Aad many happy returns of Friday, |, Feb, 18, to North Van Kiwanian Willy Mulligan, coe aoe WRIGHT OR WRONG: If the grass looks greener on the other side, first make sure it's not artifi- cial curt Ny CHRIS RADZ laden grad.