A2 - Sunday, April 11, 1982 - North Shore News Cana He talks about how we have more than enough land to develop the kind of in- tensive farming that would feed our population. ‘“‘We have natural resources sufficient for a prosperous export trade that would amply pay for the import of goods we cannot economically produce and also for the development of secondary industries which centralist policies have denied us during our 110 years in Canada,” he claims. We already have our own orientations in the great, wide world at large, he says, towards the lands of the Pacific Rim and western “We have the scientific and industrial skills, the artistic and intellectual modern world.” Disagree over wording FROM PAGE A1 exchange, he said. Council couldn't agree on amending the primary objective of the community plan, which now _ reads: “That a population of 50,000 persons be established as the ultimate growth target for the City, and that the annual growth rate not exceed 3 per cent.” Some council members wanted to include a limit on the number of dwelling units in which those 50,000 people could live, while others argued that North Van City’s population, now about 35,000, would never get near 50,000. Staff will study these issucs and report back to council, Some of the amendments to the community plan that did pass were ®thal have the quahty of Ife the highest pnonty. even above considerations of economic and == orderly growth, fm strictly personal A by Bob Hunter Options for the west IN HIS latest book, Confederation Betrayed! historian George Woodcock argues “there is no doubt that in British Columbia we are perhaps more favorably placed to embark on an in- dependent existence than any other part of Woodcock’'s version of the history of British Columbia's entry into Confederation and the shabby behavior of successive federal ad- ministrations towards the hinterlands, including the Maritimes and the North West Territories, not just the West, is enough to make you grind your teeth. Yet at the end of his damning recital of federal boondoggles, swindles and scams, Woodcock stops short of advocating the creation of an independent British Columbia. He writes: “We could survive and prosper as an independent entity, probably, more casily than Quebec. And yet a kind of impoverishment would ensue if we were divided from the rest of Canada. “We would be abdicating the citizenship of a vast and fascinating land. We would ®single family zoned areas remain that way but that a mixture of dwelling types be introduced in the = City, adequate community and recreation § facilities be provided — especially in the more populated areas, and that low income and family housing be available in all areas of the City, @Upper Lonsdale continuc as a centre for shopping, community and institutional activities and that shopping. commercial, office, public and transportation uses be encouraged in Lower Lonsdale, @public access to the waterfront be encouraged, ®adcquate corndors for pedestrian and = vehicle traffic be provided, public transit be encouraged, and park and ride facilines be provided, ®and that natural “the remaining environment be be abandoning links with other regions and with their people that have been and still could be stimulating, based as much on the chalienge of difference as on the support of agreement.” He adds: And something verging on the miraculous would go out of our lives if we did not belong to the same con- federation as the French- peoples of Quebec and Acadia. “It is the prospect of this impoverishment in cultural ‘relationships that makes one most reluctant to accept the idea of drawing a line along the Great Divide and saying: ‘On this side we are British Columbians; on the other side begins another land.’” I can certainly appreciate what Woodcock is saying. The confederation of which we are members does verge on the miraculous in many ways. It has been in the past, on balance, a potent force for good in the world. The question’ British Columbians are up against in our time, however, is not just whether it would be a good idea to secede or not, enhanced and preserved.” Most of the resolutions were revisions of the original policies of the community plan, adopted in 1980. We have used books about everything from the Hardy Boys to The Holocaust Books on Biology and books on Boating. yours to enjoy tor as littte as 20 cents We have the largest selection of used art books on the North Shore Pacific Books 1135 Lonsdate North Vancouver 980-2121 GRAND OPENING SHEARS Ig han studios ) are pleased to announce the Grand Opening of thetr Hair Salon and welcome clients & Friends to join them at 1444 Lonsdale Rhassenn OPEN: Mon.-Sat., Late Thurs. & Fri 1444 LONSDALE AVE., NORTH VANCOUVER 880-4536 but whether other regions might break away, anyway, and then what are we going to do? Doesn't it make sense to have some kind of “contingency vision” tucked away in a vault somewhere? In this respect, Woodcock’s examination of the separatist option in B .C. is quite dis- appointing. All he really says about it is that to separate from Canada “would in fact provide opportunities that would not exist if we were to allow ourselves to be ruled by a constitution that will only perpetuate the in- justices Central Canada has always imposed on the hinterlands.” But what are these op- portunities? It is unfortunate that Woodcock does not seem to have looked into some of the arguments being put forward by spokespeople for the bio- regional movement, who call for across-the-board decentralization of all the large modern nation-states with their increasingly powerful -- and dangerous — bureaucracies. This particular political philosophy has been called “watershed democracy.” It defines a region affected by a given watershed as a natural community. The objective is to give local people a meaningful role in determining the fate of their immediate homeland. It has been pointed out that rich B.C. would be a wonderful place to try out the economic ideas of E.E. AMé en $ . wor into othev tresistible Aewplatious) Savy ni sv Schumacher, as expressing in the book, Small is Beautiful. Despite the fact that he doesn’t examine any of these alternatives, and therefore deprives us of his insights COPIES into several potential 50 For Only 34.99 scenarios, Woodcock’s book is well worth reading. Whatever the merits of his case, one way or another, it is still a daring intellectual leap. Very gutsy. FOR SPEED AND ECONOMY BRING YOUR INSTANT PRINTING TO: ee william meek ~~ printing itd. 988 1817 988 7770 GAMBIER ISLAND ce p RANCH 7 \ perme” a a eT a . 1. a if ¢ i. tial fF ren test : Led ere” _ “de whe why waist re Bin | aaa A unique experience -° in waterfront living 5 -..-an outstanding tax shelter ... and a sound investment in 300 acres of land only 40 minutes from downtown Van- couver. 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