‘The North Shora Raws is published ty North Shore Free Press Ltd., Publisher Pater Speck, fro: 1739 Lonsdale Avenue Worth Varcauver, 6.0., U70R 24 PETER SPECK -Publisher Doug Foot oe Dealt Comptroller S85-2131 (133). eae zis tis Lina Stewaet Managing Editor Sales & Marketing 985-21 31 (118) anger | 8). ‘Mil Ages “Ton Pes ali Saves Soe 2181 (100 (faa) Bettas. Nowa Editor 985-2151 (114)° - BS-2131 (14) LETTERS TU THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, full address , & telephone number. VIA Internet: trenshaw @ direct.ca COMPUTER _ ser tD:mailbox « » Password! fetters Warth Phere Mews, founded in 1969 a1 an inckyendent suburban and. quulifiod under Schedule 111, Paragraph Itt of the Excise Tax Act, is publishal cach ‘Wednesday, Fridiey and Suruliy by North Shore Froe Pros Lich, andl dianbuted to every door on the North Shore. Canada Pont ‘Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. COBTESE, Maling res naiirhle on ret "Entire contents © 1996 Novth Shore - - «Free Press Ltd. “AML rights reserved, - News story.) _ ORME 16 THE Rep CROSS’ RATIONALE FOR NOT WANTING BLAME ASSIGNED IN THE TAINTED BLOOD INQUIRY “This is not NDP territory.” Former North Vancouver- Lonsdale MLA David Schreck, on election night, on his impending ouster as the North Shore's only - - NDP MLA. (From a May 29 North | Shore News sion ») , oo ; “This area is not park, poor. We need to get a grip.” / . North Vancouver District Coun. --Janice Harris, supporting residen- . tial development on the Noble Towing/Mackenzie Barge property : adjacent to the district's Cates Park. (From a May 22 North Shorz "g900 Definitely: net. Our forests - are the lungs of the earth. We. must preserve the existing forests. as much as possible. Skiing is a y mailbox. Re the News May 22 headline: “Kids protest teacher cuts.” Grade 9 student Kristi Ferriday * states: “Each of these teachers mean a great deal to the students and we -cannot understand why they are being let go.” I am surprised that Kristi doesn't understand her grievance stems ; directly from her recently fired “school district trustees for fiscal _- mismanagement. She should also know that news viewpoint quotes of the week popvlar activity, but then so is breathing. I know more people who breathe than ski.” West Vancouver-Garibaldi Green Party candidate Peggy Stortz responding to the question: “Do you support the logging of 50 acres of old-growth forest in Cypress Provincial Park fur commercial ski expansion or for any other pur-- pose?” (From a May 19 North Shore News story.) O00 ; “We expected a fee increase. We did not expected to be turned upside down and shaken.” | Les Sinnot, president of the North Shore Girls Soccer Club, on 1,600% fee increases for children’s groups using North Vancouver schools. (From a May 22 North Shore News story.) oe (nndocuate education Jl Dear Editor: because of the B.C. Teachers Federation's archaic seniority clause, she should not expect reten- tion of her best teachers. Quality is apparently secondary to union soli- darity.... Being & parent myself, I have witnessed many examples of this inadequate system, which resulted in my children receiving inadequate education for which they are now suffering. Raymond Yates North Vancouver aya 3 a cosines SSRsRTTEe te REALS PES a SIL ISAT Tt ar ABE ECTS Can Gord keep pitbull Glen on the leash? MAY 28, i996, was sack- Noe! Wright cloth-and-ashes night for the 60% of B.C. voters who: oppose the NDP. What might have happened? What will happen now? The first question is easy to answer. In 16 ridings, mostly in the Interior, Tuesday's victorious NDP candidate would have been defeated by the com- bined Liberal-Reform (i.e., free enter- prise) vote. : In real life, of course, it wouldn't turn out exactly that way. Some. 2 Reform followers would just as soon swear aloud in church as join the Liberals. Some might prefer not to vote at all, But even so, it’s hard to imagine that a centre-right alliance would not have reversed the result in at least five of those 16 ridings — thereby giving the banner-bearers: of free enterprise a majority over the socialists. . Strong two-party democracy. works. best — as Britain and the US S.A‘ have long shown. Both Liberals and Reform paid a heavy price fo ignoring democracy's first rule: neither “we” nor. “they” can prev: divided 3 What will happen now is a much tougher question on this Day Five of B.C.’s first second-in-a-row NDP government. A reasonable. Start~:° ing point for the 60% opposed to it, your scribe suggests, is:to “foi give” Glen Clark and his gang their past sins — but never forget them. The new Clark administration has won power again fairly. acco "ing to the rules of our system, but this time with a razor-thin majority. : And more than once since becoming:NDP ieader one of the charis- matic Mr. Clark's disarming tricks has been to say: “Sorry, we goofed. We’ I learn from our mistake and won't repeat it!"* So wipe the past slate clean. But as of today put his- -government oO strict probation like a young offender, with Gordan Campbell and his. greatly enlarged Liberal opposition as the NDP’s Probation offi cei. Campbell’ $ task is to slap down hard on any signs of relapse i into the government's bad old ways: broken pledges: shameless patronage; wan-: ton spending and soaring debt; king-size scandals (still not yet cleared ‘ up); and ruthless muzzling of freedom of expression in the so-called ' “human rights” legislation anc the new Election Act. Which brings us to the final “what now?” question: Is Campbell t the man for the job — any more than he was the man to be premier? Can- he be relied on to make the hard choices and take the tough decisions . that will constantly face him as opposition Seader in the next four a years? ne ee Can he bring the three Reform/PDA opposition MLAs on side on. issues vital to all free enterprisers? And when the chips finally-a down, does he have the killer instinct without which rio successful political leader ever survives? Gordon Campbell is undoubtedly a decent man and proved a ‘compe tent Vancouver mayor. But is he up to the far tougher test of keeping : that political pit bull Glen Clark on the leash? His disappointing election performance cause many.to have doubts. . If he faiis, he'll have to be replaced — and sooner rather than later. Life for the 60% of the B.C. electorate hus to go on! . vi QOga MANY HAPPY RETURNS of yesterday, June 1 (her 8th biithday) to! Pearl Leathem — 55-year North Van resident still in her own home and kept busy by her five children's families, church work and host of, friends. 920 WRIGHT OR WRONG: Measure people's size by the size of the things that bug them. nner enenertnent aterner tea enim eAtey iNO n| om SRI a Ag mpLtnAtOmeA Yh RriCny HAIER seRlmn RA Nein ~TRI nme LI HR AY AE HEPA 8 roa nee Sensitive situation During council i°’eitins, of course, raises issues that debate, i rately fit into the diversity-sensitivity Mayor EJOICE ye of thin skin: insensi- Rive could soon be against ‘the Jaw in North Vancouver District. Council has decreed that something called “diversity sensitivity training’’ will be applied to district staff. And not one for missing the opportu- nity to add ‘another layer of bureaucra- cy to lecal proceedings, council will also seon have another committee for every- one’s betterment. This one will be called the Diversity Advisory Committee. Sounds important. _. Also sounds suspiciously like a new eeicpal ferm of NDP-enforced Pleas- -antness. Le Murray Dykeman said that the mea- sures might be unfortunate, but bad apples in the district were making diver- sity sensitivity training a must. He described it as “a way of working together and bringing about a balanced community.” Enforcing a balanced community of thought appears to be what is really on the agenda. Why not balanced political outlouks too? . More disturbing still, Coun. Janice Harris later said that News columnist Doug Collins was the inspiration behind council’s action. category. His style is provoestive and disturbing to some. Feedback is equally provocative. and disturbing. And because of the discussion generated, the North Shore is perhaps one of the Lower Mainland’s most open and honest areas. in which to debate tough local and national issues. The NDP is already working overtime to limit public discussion and narrow the field of free speech. We don’t need local governments wading deeper into the affairs and attitudes of private citi- zens.