6 ~ Wednesday. July 1X, 1990 - North Shore News AY Asaannqnnnncensinagy HUME if if i if amy UA ans, MY CEI NI bbs on y vat Ulli tithes” INSIGHTS Emergency addition save lives. The new 9-1-1 number is a wel- come and vital addition to local emergency services on the North Shore and throughout the Lower Maintand. The enhanced 9-1-1 system enables emergency services to immediately trace a caller’s address and the name and number of the phone’s owner. And that means a quicker emergency response time. The information will also enable emergency agencies to be more thorough in following up uncompleted calls, But perhaps the system’s best feature is its simplicity. Before Sunday, North Shore residents were faced with a choice of seven, seven-digit phoae numbers depending on which service was required and which [= QUICK, easy and will = municipality the caller was in. The simplified system will make it easy for everyone, including children, the elderly, handicapped and non- English speakers, to call for help and get a response even if they’re unable to speak on the phone. But the simplicity of the system also Opens it up to abuse. Now that emergency services can determine the source of would-be anonymous calls, they will be obligated to follow through on those calis. People must be taught, therefore, to regard the 9-1-1 system as a_ vital emergency service that should be used only. in an emergency. Prank or frivolous calls will reduce the effec- iveness of 9-1-1 and ultimately result in what could be a tragic delay in a real emergency. for Socreds’ promotion Open letter to Premier Vander age-making advice to the govern- ment cost approximately $2.5 mil- Premier: almost Is the expenditure of $30 million of public Zaim: The 1990/91 provincial budget calls for advertising expenditures of $29.3 million, an increase of 11.8 per cent from the previous year. That is a significant increase. The 1989/90 public accounts revealed some interesting informa-. tion. Public opinion research (polling) expenses totalled $1.5 million. Public relations and im- Publisher Associate Editor . Wednesday, Fiuday and Sunday by Ni Press Lid and distnbulec to evety dou: uo. envelope .Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban rewspaper and quatied urder Schedule 111. Paragraph It of the Excise Tax Act. published each * Shore Free ‘he Norih Shore Second Class Mai Regrstration Number 3885 Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year Mailng fates avaliable on request Subnussions are welcome bul we cannot accept responsiodity for unsolicited matenat including manuscupts and pictures: . which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed lion, Film and video production cost $1.25 million. Advertising agencies were paid nearly $15 million in 1989/90/. Judging by the non-informative TV government ads that one sees these days, and the colorful but shallow flyers and magazines, | have to wonder for what purpose is all this money spent? } publicly ask you. Mr. SUNDAY + WEONESDAY + FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 59,170 (average. Wednesday Friday & Sunday) SDA OIVISION Display Advertising Classified Adve. tising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions money justified? Do all these ads and polls truly increase the awareness of govern- ment services? Or is this flurry of spending not the usual pre-election build-up, using our money to promote the party in power? Jeremy Dalton Liberal candidate West Vancouver-Capilano 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 MEMBER North Shore owned and managed Entire contents © 1990 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Ethical alternative to being found out ETHICS, LIKE beauty, are in the eye of the beholder. If you’re shopping around for a set, the Bud Smith tapes scandal provides a whole supermarket of ethics for you to choose from. Political opponents and many ordinary citizens may feel the former Attorney General fully deserves his downfall. But a fot of them remain equally unhappy with the way it was brought about. Bugging a phone without telling 1 n° 2 “> BILL Vander Zalm ...trapped by the inevitable. its user and giving tapes of what he thought were private conversa- tions to the public simply isn't cricket, they say. Note in passing, by the way, that the NDP denies any part in the bugging — its justice critic Moe Sihota says the tapes were sent to him anonymously. As well, it seems eavesdropping on cellular and radio telephones with a $150 scanner is so far NOT illegal. Having cleared up those two important points, who are the good and the bad guys in this un- savory soap opera? Let’s start with a basic ques- tion: Is the right to privacy sacrosanct even when protecting it can cause grave harm to others or to the public interest? There's a new gizmo on the market which looks like a Walkman pocket stereo but is ac- tually a powerful amplifier which lets you overhear conversations a considerable distance away. So if ! listen to a guy in the backyard across the lane talking to a pal about his plan to walk out on his wife, what do I do? Absolutely nothing, of course. It’s none of my business. Nobody is in any physical danger. No out- siders are involved. For all I know, the lady herself may be glad to be rid of him. But what if my gizmo picks up someone discussing his plot to rob a bank or assassinate the premier? Must I stay silent because — you argue — I'd no right to eavesdrop in the first place? Ethical or not, the tapes of Bud Smith’s free-wheeling phone talk suggest (to put it mildly) an at- titude of mind inconsistent wiih the trust the public musi have in B.C.’s chief law officer. Asa result, they have raised questions about his personal dedication to the impartial administration of justice — a vital concern of all citizens. Would it be better for us never to have known? Even if the matter had first been laid before the premier pri- vately, what purpose would have been served? Vander Zalm could hardly have fired a senior, hither- to clean-nosed minister without a full explanation — failing which the NDP would blow the whistle anyhow. In going public Sihota merely did the inevitable. When, as too often happens, private and public ethics collide, our system of law and order decrees that the latter must take precedence. Meanwhile, the best PRIVATE ethic is the old proverb that says: If you don’t want to be found out, don't do it! nat WRAP-UP: Welcome to Ralph Blackman, new executive director of Camp Artaban, the Anglican- sponsored inter-faith retreat on Gambier, and wife Marlena who have just moved to the North Shore. Formerly rector of St. Chad’s, Vancouver, Rev. Blackman is enthusiastic about the Artaban summer program now unfolding for adults and children, and invites inquiries at 980-0391 ... Lions Bay Mayor Gordon Prescott has dropped out of the Socred nomination race for West Vancouver-Garibaldi provincial riding, only to be replaced by two new contenders — former B.C. Health Assn. chairman Jane Sorko of Gibsons and West Van businessman John Wells. They'll slug it out with Margot Furk, Eric Cant, Dr. Rodney Glyan-Morris and Gordon Frampton at the Sept. 12 nomination meeting ... Meanwhile, happy anniversary cards to four North Van ‘*Golden Club’’ members — Eric and Dorothy Price who today, July 18, celebrate their 55th ... And Lawrence and Suzanne Reitan- Henricksen who chalk up their SIst tomorrow. kak WRIGHT OR WRONG: If you must borrow money, borrow it from a pessimist. He'll never ex- pect to get it back. for alt faiths.