6 ~ Friday, May 26, 1989 - North Shore News INSIGHTS Vander Zaim’s business foes a shade too leaky? THE CAMPAIGN BY B.C. ‘‘BUSINESS”’ to oust Bill Vander Zalm as Socred leader raises some pertinent queries about the role of the boardroom in our democracy. Compared to the total elector- ate, business doesn’t have many votes. So it makes up by pursuing its political goals with money and media manipulation. Which is okay, provided everyone knows what’s going on. A classic example is the $5.2 mil- lion donated by business to the Canadian Alliance for Trade and Job Opportunities, whose massive pro-free trade propaganda rescued IN SIX YEARS, $10,000 FOR COLLEGE ...Courtney McNeill, 12, receives her draw prize from Canedian Brian Muironey from the bottom of the polls to win his second ma- jority last November. (In addition, it neatly got around the limits on campaign spending by political parties themselves!) But aside from paid ads, cor- porate ‘‘public affairs’’ pros also know how to promote political goals in the news and opinion con- tent of the media — a favorite method being the ‘‘leak,’’ some- Scholarship Trust Foundation’s Gordon Youngson. Calli of port makes the industrial heart of the North Shore Fe anyone who cares even remotely about what beat, Sunday’s Port Day ’89 celebrations should be required attendance. The event, which will be based for the second year in thing few newsmen or editors can resist. Thus, Bigtown’s morning tab recently published results of a leaked poll — ‘‘commissioned pri- vately by a group of Vancouver businessmen’’ — which suggests the Socreds could even lose a bunch of their Interior strongholds unless the premier quits before the next election. A Financial Post column this week, again using an obvious leak, cit2s a private ultimatum from “‘business’’ to Vander Zalm at last fall’s Socred convention. Its gist: NEWS phcto Peters “Get yourself loved by the sum- mer, or quit — otherwise we’ll pull the plug on the party.”’ For what they’re worth, the reports may be factually true. Nor can the media be blamed for carry- ing them. Regardless of their substance, leaks CAN be news merely because of their source — what’s said can be less important than who says it. And once the bandwagon is rolling, pack jour- nalism inevitably tends to keep it rolling in follow-up stories. Yet everyone in the news business knows that the sole objec- tive of a deliberate ‘‘icak"" is free publicity. Which, in this case, raises some obvious questions that are still unanswered: Just how numerous ARE Vander Zalm’s business enemics? What are their names? How repre- sentative are they —- especially of SMALL business, the source of most new B.C. jobs? Do they speak for B.C. voters as a whole? If thwarted, are they ready to em- brace an NDP government? Or are they simply trying a major bluff? Is the premier REALLY the po- litical albatross he’s painted in the corporate ‘‘Ileak"'? Or the victim of a handful of executive-suite flacks on a power trip? On Sunday we'll delve a bit further. tee WRAP-UP: Congrats to Courtney MeNeill, 12, of Lions Bay on win- ning a Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation draw worth about $10,000 for her post-secondary education from age 18 onward ... Elected 1989-90 president of the North Van Kiwanis Club is Norm Rutledge, supported by past prez © friday focus ® NEW Seymour Squadron Com- mander Gerry Berg presents Past-Commander's flag to Sandi Crawford at recent Change of Watch ceremony. Don McKay, veepees Rob Metcalfe and Ed Williams, and treasurer Bob Handel ... Burnaby North High's Ciass of '69 will celebrate its 20-year reunion over the August 4 long weekend — if you belong, call 596-2881 for all the details ... Happy birthday today, May 26, to The Skipper, for 20 years, of the good ship North Shore News — founder-publisher Peter Speck ... And a 91-candle salute tomorrow, May 27, to North Van birthday girl (and great-great-grandma!) Harriet Cordocedo. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Then there was the man who boasted he never gave away secrets — he always exchanged them for others. a row at North Vancouver City’s Waterfront Park, provides a unique opportunity for the citizenry of the North Shore and beyond to behold the many industries that make Vancouver the largest purt in Canada and the largest bulk port on the west coast of North America. _ The North Shore itself, which is home to over 50 per cent of Vancouver’s deep-water port facilities, ships more tonnage annually than the entire port of Mon- treal. ; But appreciation of the waterfront industries responsible for such impressive statistics is often over- shadowed by more glamorous businesses and the natu- ral beauty of Vancouver and its great recreational resources. The Vancouver Port Corp.’s annual Port Day pays homage to a vital facet of the port of Vancouver's persona: its soot-covered, blue-collared waterfront. Though the recreational aspect of the waterfront suffers from the byproducts of its industrial counter- part, it is all too easy to forget the latter’s contribution to the quality of life enjoyed by most North Shore and Lower Mainiand residents. , Keeping vital industry clean is essential te our en- vironment, but keeping essential industry is vital to our economy. Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions Publisher Peter Speck Managing Editor... . Barrett Fisher Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director . Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph III of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday ard Sunday by Norih Share Free Press Ltd. and distnibuted to every door on the North ‘i Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. 59,170 (average, Wednesday Matting tates available on request. Submissions are Friday & Sunday) welcome but we cannol accept responsibilty for unsolicited material including manuscripts and piciures « which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. SDA DIVISION eno 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 MEMBER