6 — Wednesday, September 23, 1998 — North Shore News north shore news VIEWPOINT Smoked again pathy for the pushers of tobacco. Theirs is an industry based on the sale of one of the most destructive consumer products legally available today. Smoking kilied ar estimated 40,000 Canadians last year and accounts for approximately 6,000 deaths each year in British Columbia. It is also an inCustry that is on the _legislative ropes ali over North America. The normatiy fog-headed NDP government in B.C. is leading a hard- nosed assault on Big Tobacco. Legislation introduced in June imposed a new fee on all tobacco [= hard to work up much sym- = manufacturing companies that sell ‘their products ir. B.C. . The fee, which,the government says will be invested in programs ‘mailbox , ‘Dear Editor: was very disa ondary: Pre-gra Pre-grad. party _ reaction ‘unfair’ inted with the coverage of the Sentinel party in the Capilano River regional aimed at convincing young people not to smoke or to help young nico- tine addicts kick the habit, is project- ed to generate $20 million. Fair enough. Governments in various American states are seeking billions of dollars from tobacco companies to heip off- set the staggering medical ccests that result from the use of their products. But an oddbaii section in the NDP legislation prevents tobacco manufac- turers from passing the cost of the fee on to its customers. Big Tobacco is venting smoke from its ears over that one. It rightly argues that government should not be dictating what it can charge for its product. And surely cost is a key factor in helping dissuade smokers from light- ing up in the first place. THE key political question in B.C. is no longer what new abomination Glen Clark’s NDP mob will commit next. It’s whether Gordon Campbell can ever be brought to his senses? park.’ Ue! Dhie‘article didn’t mention that the group was clustered a remote part of the North Shore, nor that there ‘cars in the parking lot, as everyone knew not drive home, Mrs. Scott’s calling the affair “downright dis- ing, that’s not: fair cither, but g?. How dare Mrs. Scott ask if the police Ing people today. Har it been that long since ‘a: teenager that she doesn’t remember youth men- breakin up the group, the police would have been hage cluster of intoxicated teens into residential yurhoods and into streets leaving the possibility of ng one of them hit by a car. By: moving the teens, mischievous activities .and. other hi ior Would surely have ensued: I believe the police’ very. intelligendly and avoided many potential prob- .by monitoring. the situation and keeping the teens together.:In future, F hope the officers act equally as well and - pethaps Mrs. Scott and others like herself would understand that the teens were just having some noisy fun, but were “ otherwise not trying to cause problems. Anushe Rabbani rade’12 Handsworth Secondary student fimay@hoemall com. 'TTERS to the editor must be legible (preferably type- ‘written) and include your name, full adaress and telephone ; number, Submissions can be faxed to 985-2104 but still must be signed and fully addressed. north shore ‘Marth Shore News, founded in 1969 as an Independent suburban newspaper and quaitied under Schedule 111, Paragraph 117 of the Excise Tax Act. is published cach Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press {Utd. and déstriouted to every Coor on the orth Distribution Manager 906-1337 (124) 905-2131 (127) 61,582 (average citculstion, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) And if not, how to replace him, in time, with an opposition leader who knows what must be donc? Hence the message from that impressive 3,000-strong anti- NDP rally in Prince George the other week under the theme “Have You Had Enough Yet?” As much as the angry citizens of our northern metropolis tore into the scandal- and deccit-ridden record of the NDP, they attacked equally hard the failure of Liberals and Reformers to unite in order to throw the rascals out at the next clection. The 1996 election was the Liberals’ to lose. Amazingly they obliged, giving Clark his wafer thin three-scat majority provided by less than 40% of the ballots cast. Ft could happen again in 2001. The math says it all. With the latest Angus I Reid poll showing Liberals at 46%, rm at 20% and NDP at 18%, it’s crystal clear that Liberal-Reform coopera- tion — even by simply running only the more favored party candidate of the two in each marginal nding — would once and for all block the NDP from sneaking to victory up the middle, as it did in so - many ridings in 1996. PETER SPECK Publisher Resources Manager 985-2131 (101 905-2101 (177) Photography Manager Classified Manager 985-2131 (160) (202) Ra andy _ Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press Ltd, Att sights reserved. StR, WE'VE ANALNSED THE LIBERAL LOSS IN THE SHERBROOKE BYELECTION PIRECTLY LINKED To OUR APPEAL OF THE PAT EQUITY So who’s to blame for thwarting this obvious solution sought by at very least two out of three B.C. voters? For one of nwo reasons it can only be Liberal leader Gordon Campbell, either because he can’t con- trol militant anti- Reform elements in his caucus, or because he. fears for his personal future in any pact with a respected or populisr Reform leader. So to date he has firmly rebuffed both respected former Reform leader — Jack Weisgerber and his’ charismatic successor, former Socred premier Bill Vander Zalm. But in slapping down the larter Campbell may have made his final — and fatal — error. Vander Zalm had to resign as premier in 1991 in a conflict-of-interest scandal over the sale of his Fantasy Gardens theme park to a Taiwanese billionaire. But the details (which revealed no indictable offences) pale’ into insigniti- "cance against the current and recent: NDP scandals. Meanwhile, the Zalm’s magnetic per- sonality can still mesmerize crawds — cially the many outraged by the NDP- led attack on Christian and family values — to a de; the cold, detached © Campbell can only dream of. -Often forgotten, too, is that Vander Zalm himself is a former Liberal. If, on the comeback trail, he chose to rejoin that party and mount a challenge from within to bring about a working alliance with Reform in order to oust the NDP, WOMEN THE I vote. Who else is there but the Za Campbell — who bears much tae responsibility for the NDP steal ond term 28 months ago = coil himself i in an untenable siruatio Judge, however, for yourself. V. Zalm visits the North Shore this Frida' Sept. 25. He'll address a public, every one-welcome mecting at 8 p. ) David's United Chirch, Taylor 4 ay Upper Levels, West Vat. IF you worry, _ about B.C.’s future, iz-coul be an evening well spent! WOO. ful 19th century master mariner‘an trader —- who worked the coast from Washington to Alaska, survived shipv and other hazards, married a native raised a family at Fort-Vancouver. “be brought alive by Jim Delg tive director of Vancouver: Ma row, Sept. 24, to Wes Peter Wardell... Mo: Friday, Sept 25, to North’) .. And wish ap} See ay, Se MP Mary: WRIGHT OR WRONG: To’ find'th right answer you, mist first learn sk the right question. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name,- full address & telephone number. VIA e-mail: trenshaw @ direct.ca Comptroller tot 985-2131 (183) pee (116; Agrics Asean Promotions Manager 905-2131 (218). 805-2131 (105) Internet etna. nensws.com Acting Display Manager General Office Manager 980-0511 (307)