G — Friday, February 13, 1998 — North Shore News north shore news VIEWPOINT Terminal transit posal to establish the new Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority packs too many unknowns to be swallowed whole by the region’s municipalities by the Feb. 29 dead- line. Provincial negotiator Bob Lingwood presented a convincing case in the Feb. 11 News for the establishment of the GVTA, which would wrest the authority and con- trol over iocal transit from Victoria. But the overall cost implications for the various municipalities remain too fuzzy. Under the deal, the new authority would assume 40% of BC Transit’s overall debt, which is currently $1.47 billion. And while the GVTA would also be given the authority to raise I: has many positives, but the pro- as tolls and property taxes, it faces a task far more daunting than simply assuming BC Transit’s current debt. The GVTA would, for example, also be on the hook for 40% of the -debt generated by the proposed Broadway-Lougheed-Coquitlam- New Westminster LRT line. The cost of that line is currently estimated at $1.5 billion. But such estimates regu- larly balloon well beyond original numbers, The governmeat argues that the Feb. 29 deadline must be met to address the issue during the next feg- islative session. But it appears to be little more than an attempt to buffalo local councils into making a snap decision that would relieve the province of a substantial debt and an acute organi- zational headache. operating costs through such avenues mailbox Back-pedalling on tree bylaw berated Dear Editor: Re: NV Tree Bylaw chopped (Jan. 16, 1998). I was disappointed, though nor surprised, to read in a recent paper that North Vancouver District council gave way to “negative public feedback” on the issue of tree cutting in North Vancouver. I was disappointed not only because the council decided that property rights are more sacred than life itself, life of tiexs,\of the animals that live in and feed from them, and hunins who depend on them for oxygen, shade, and beau- ty (which is as necessary as oxygen for some of us) but also because that decision was impulsive and came about because thé, majority on council lack a comprehensive vision of our community, : North Vancouver District council has no coherent vision of our future nor an understanding of immediate communi- ty needs, Our local government has no collective integrity. It sways back and forth with the: strongest wind, breaking down and falling either north or south depending upon the direction of the gusts. Does reliable, sensible legislation ever come out of such continuous vacillation? Although it is imperative to acknowledge the councillors who do have vision and the courage of their convictions in that vision, the council as a group has proven itself unreli- able and capricious. It has neither a coherent social philoso- phy nor an awareness of the vast body of data that proves trees and greenery are essential to human survival. _ A council that gives way every time windy, privileged property owners complain that their rights are being tested is ignoring the legitimate needs of everyone else. The wel- fare of all North Vancouver District residents and the welfare of those intricately connected, non-human clements that ensure the health and happiness of us all should be the pri- mary consideration of our district council. Mary Gray North Vancouver ‘north shore Month Shore Wows, founded in 1969 as an wndependent suburban newspaper and quaiched under Schedule 11, Paragraph 114 of me Grose Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press. Lad and distibuted ta every door on the North ‘Shore. Canada Post Canadkan Publications Mail ‘Sales Product Agreernent No. 0087238. ber 2 Distribution Manager 988-1337 (124) The Wer Create Sears Menage 905-2131 (127) 61,582 (aera crcutation, Wedrestay, Fray & Sunday) th Shore News is published by North Store Free Press Ltd., Publisher Peter Speck, fram 1139 Leasdale Avenue North Vancouver, B.C., V7M ana : HE GOT WAS | A GoLb?!! (= Board system is sham democracy “LITTLE things mean a lot.” So said an old song — popular long before I was born, mind you. (I think I heard it from my grand- mother, ahem). In the columnizing busi- ness, especially when two or more sides have conflicting stories /views on some issue, 1 look for the little things that may tell a lot. Here’s the little thing thar tells me a lot about the imbroglio surrounding the North Shore Regional Health Board, where an ice wall went up between Lions Gate Hospital chief executive officer Inge Schamborzki and the North Shore doctors: Diana Hutchinson, the community health board’s chairman since inception, met the ultimate boss, Health Minister Joy MacPhail, only once. Which was when MacPhail handed her the report that fired her —— and the rest of the board. How’s that for warm, sensitive ties between the powerful minister and her top contact in the closer-to-home health regime that the government trumpeted so loudly, and that’s blown so many sour notes in __actual practice? Meanwhile Schamborzki, the main source of the doctors’ ire, still has her job. Hutchinson, a former legal secretary and former neighbor of minc, now fiving at idyllic Woodlands on North Vancouver's Indian Arm, has devoted much low-paid (as a 13-year West Vancouver councillor) and unpaid (as health board pioneer and chair- man) time to community works. Nice PETER SPECK F Human Resources eS tot ) 985-2131 (177) Photography Manager Classified Manages 965-2131 (160) 906-6222 (282) Doug Fea Comptroller 985-2131 (133) reward. It’s a tribute to her loyalry that she remains wedded to the virtues of the sys- tem: The hospital dispute, she insists, obscured board success in preventive and mental health care, control over long-term care facili- tics, and much more. Also she doggedly sill supports Schamborzki, who — surprise? — equal- ly supports the dismissed board. Which hired her. And who can only be fired by the board. The interim “board” named by MacPhail is Len Kelsey, a former Lions Gate Hospital board chairman. My skeptical view from the start has been that the community board system is just slightly this side of sham democracy — a fine example of New Democratic Party socialism. The unpaid boards, cager to do good works, are loaded with the (local) responsibility. The minister, eager to look as if she or he is handing over contro} to the little people, keeps the ultimate power. So, a dispute time arrives, the boards are the ham in the sourdough sand- wich. MacPhail couldn’t fire CEO Schamborzki and couldn’ fire the muti- nous doctors, who have spelled out their disgruntement with her in large fetvers — because as chief transition officer she wrote the terms for the CEO job and then applied for it, because she fired popular Lynette Best, because she’s seen as an inflexible autocrat. So MacPhail fired the board. Didn’t cost a penny. So much for the little guy. So LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, full address & telephone number. much for grassroots democracy. In the ot crunch, the NDP system keeps all the levers = |: in Victoria. " B And Schamborzki has made it clear she’s:. not resigning. If fired, be sure that she'll either get yet another of the fat severances «|: that the public health administration system ~’ is famous for, or she'll take costly legal : action. : So my prediction is that cither she'll stay, or she will not go gendy into that good - night. And if the new board retains her, MacPhail will smugly say, in so many'words: “Sce? Two different boards have supported our Inge. So whom do you think is at faule, -: dear public?” — allowing her demure gaze 3 e°"f to settle on the gents with the white smocks . and stethoscopes around their necks, © My guess is that the Great Fare Evasion ©... Wrangle concerning the public transit sys 09. tem isn’t over, and could end up in legal action. Bk 1 talked to a retired driver who has ..*Y worked for different bus systems in B.C. He.” broadly agrees with driver Susan Falls, who =» claims the evasions are frequent, glaring and |): costly. He wouldn’t put a number on the amount of evasion. However, he said that in systems where electronic fare boxes have been installed, the take jumps 15%. BC Transit is scheduled to begin installing these devices, which almost instantly count the change and check transfers for validity, next December. Foes soe This driver points out that a large pro-_ portion of BC Transit driver assaults — averaging more than one a day — concern fare disputes. ; ‘ Would it be very surprising, indecd for- givable, if some drivers don’t “see” fare eva- sion — because they don’t look? NO WAT OPREACASUS) Administration 985-2131 Display Advertising 960-0511 Real Estate Advertising VIA e-mail: trenshaw @ direct.ca Managing Editor 905-2131 (116) Display Manager 908-0511 (106) Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press Ltd. 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