1139 Lonsdale Avenue
North Vancouver, B.C.
V7M 2H4

PETER SPECK
Publisher
985-2131 (181)

Cianitied, Accounting’

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| wasder Schedule 111, Paragraph til of the

: " Bacise Tax’ Act, is published cach

Wednesday,

Pidy sod Sunday by North Shore Free Pres

Lad, endl distributed to every door on the North

Sales Product "Agreemest No; 0087238.
Maing rte viable on request “

"Entire contents «
- © 1995 North Shore
- | Free Press Lid,
.. All rights reserved.

. Vancouver.
-Consequently all of us, providers and

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fountic money

OW MUCH is an RCMP officer

worth? It’s an important ques-

tion our political leaders must
answer in North Vancouver.

The bottom line is this: a fot of
Mounties look unfavorably upon work-
ing in a jurisdiction such as North
It’s an alarming fact.

consumers of policing services inclusive,

face a festering morale issue.

Mounties are paid the same regerd-
less of where they are sent to work in
Canada.

RCMP officers have little choice in
which community they are assigned to:

it could be Kimberley, i! could be here..

Lower Mainland Mounties are seek-
ing a cost of living allowance to augment
current contractual pay rates. As an
example, a first-year West Vancouver
Police officer, a member of a municipal
police force, earns $40,486.32 annually.
An RCMP counterpart in North
Vancouver gets $31,172. Regardless of
the disparity, junior members of either
force generally cannot afford to buy into
the communities in which they serve.

RCMP officers are also living with a
five-year wage freeze until 1998.

Urban Mounties are seeking a

allowance. The pay boost locally for 151
Mounties would cost North Vancouver
City an extra $239,692 a year and North °
Vancouver District an extra $400,701.

The mayors are crying foul, saying -
they’re facing a fiscal soaking beyond”
the rightful bounds of the negotiated
contractual agreement.

There’s merit to be found on all sides
of the issue, but hard choices face us:
pay the RCMP more; drop local RCMP.
services and establish a North. Shore -.
municipal police force; or continue with’ -
the status quo and watch capable offi-
cers scramble to find postings in com-.
munities where living costs less,

A NEW YEAR! Another 12
. nonths to spread joy and |

gloom!
One feels quite giddy at the

Prospect.

Let us begin by Putting the curse
on an idéa whose time, I wish, had
never come.

It is one of the gravest threats to
Earth's fragile ecology. Global
warming? Stripping the rain forests?
Polluting the seas?

Oh, no. Worse. I refer to the
prospect of “fixing” Marine Drive
just above Fisherman's Cove in
Greater Tiddlycove.

There is nothing like it this side

of Rapallo. 1 can say that because

it’s been 41 years since I travelled

the French and Italian Riviera, and

this is an excellent example of for-

getfulness serving one’s argument.
’ You drive out, out, out of

~ -Vancouver along Marine Drive, past

~. Lighthouse Park, almost past the

. Fisherman's Cove marina itself.
And then ‘the road, which has

already provided plenty of tums and
lush beauty, abruptly rises and -
twists like a snake and — really for
the first time for the touring

:. motorist — opens up a brief and - ,
“breathtaking sea vista that defines
’ the essential character of West

Vancouver.
It’s ‘the most heart-lifting spot on
the West Vancouver Riviera. And

“they” intend to monkey with it.

“They” — the authorities who toil

to remedy all inconvenience, at

great cost — want to “fix” this

crooked little stretch of road.
Why so?

Well, it is so narrow, coiled, and

blind- -spot-ridden that the most
moronic motorists must slow down
and pass approaching vehicles with
solicitous care and tense self-inter-
est. Even the skilled drivers of West
Vancouver's unique Blue Buses
must treat this section with respect.

But new buses are a-coming.
And reportedly they are too long to
navigate the twists. Common sense?
Smaller buses. Rejected. So “they”
have ruled that this stretch of road
will be widened and straightened.

Sacrilege.

Half the attraction is that drivers
must slow down sharply. This pro-

_ Vides a brief, precious moment of

“recruitment and retention” living

Dear Editor:

| malice

Five years ago, in November of 1990, when r was
pregnant with my first child, 1 went through that speci
carriage. My for prospective parents -

. At nine o'clock Saurday morning we eo th
— the baby was OK.

carried on with my lass for ihe oy Junch and a
. fair with a good friend. :
«While at the craft fair I found a beautiful
wreath which I immediately bought. a

wreath, just as [°m crying as 1 write this letter :
I cry because someone e has stole the wre:

‘tersweet memories, but because i doesn’ :

Karen Stewart

North Vancouver

seaward views and contemplation. .
Even reflections on the brevity of
life ~ if some speeding idiot lurch-
€5 iisto your lane — are not without
value at that moment. .

‘And West Vancouver council has

bowed to the apparently inevitable...
‘. Is it inevitable? Should this brief
| blip of beauty, this stunning open-

ing to the sea and skies, be seen as
an annoyance, an impediment as we
hurtle toward our appointments and
amusements? Should the towering

- rock faces be blasted into conformi-

ty because bureaucrats have given
their blessings to bigger buses?

{ think not.

Andy Danylis culls it “the best
ticket value in town” and “a kind of
Academy Awards." Too modest, Mr.
Danytiu. Sounds to me as if. it ree-
ognizes far greater merit than the |
Academy Awards. ;

“It” is the Know No Limits
awards night. It is sponsored by the
Kinsmen Rehabilitation Foundation.
‘Wearing another hat, West ‘
Vancouver councillor Danyliu i is the

foundation's chief executive officer. ;

.The awards are unique. They are
given to deserving youth. Sure, oth-
ers are too. These are different.
“They recognize kids that have
been dealt a bad hand,” including |
physical handicaps and abuse,
Danyliu explained, “and have over-
come awesome obstacles placed in
their path to accomplish great
things.” _

The idea grew from’ Danyli
being “incensed by’ reading of
murder ¢ every two. sks by youn
kids ..:and the. niedia nites

C's of courage, ‘cormmi
_ cooperation.”

too

When the Kinsmen

‘ nominations,

able 400-responses province-

Six have been chosen. Each gets a.
$2,000 scholarship.

amivunced Monday.

The awards dinner is next :
Thursday at the Enterprise Centre,
Plaza of Nations (tickets $125
dents $75). :

It includes a silent auction ‘and a.
showcase of teenage talent, a 24-
piece jazz band, an original David
Foster score, and a group of quadri-
plegic musicians led by: ‘Vancouver
Coun. Sam Sullivan. a

The event has drawn top-fli

- support: Tony Cavelti designed’:

commemorative medals, the Hyatt
will host four out-of-town sinners,
and the B.C. and Yukon Community
Newspapers Association, to which .
the News belongs, has advertised .
the project gratis, ° = +

‘Kevin Evans has been a ‘great

‘supporter (watch the CBC-TV. spe-
cial Jan. 15, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

This column rarely plugs ;
thing, but an exceptional event
deserves exceptional treatment.
Tickets: Call 730- 7244.