6 — Sunday, October 20, 1991 - North Shore News POST-ELECTION . DISILLUSIONMENT COUNSELING . GRIEF COUNSEL: NEWS VIEWPOINT Sea change On the North Shere that change was overwhelming: the once dominant Socreds were shut out, replaced by a trio “of, Liberals and the first North Shore NDP ‘winner since 1972. -/ John Reynolds, the former Socred cabi- :Met minister, was crushed by Liberal :-Jeremy Dalton. Marilyn Baker, the enor- ‘mously popular former North Vancouver _ District. mayor, . finished third in North \ one > OMOAY =m 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, 8.C. Distribution Subscriptions Administration fa SN’ RSS wa “People coming to the canyon and jumping is not a problem. What we want to stop are the people coming to the canyon, drinking and jumping.’’ North Vancouver District Fire Chief Rick Grant, on the chronic problem of death and injury at Lynn Canyon Park “The people who have not regis- tered get away scot-free.”’ North Vancouver District Ald. Ernie Crist, on unregistered illegal suite owners. 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 ee Nosth Shore managed - SDA i 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Ltd. Ali rights reserved. NDP sweep makes free enterprise unity now vital ON FRIDAY morning the seven lonely Socred MLAs fi- nally understood what the survivors of the Titanic felt like. Even the party’s closest pessimists had never dreamed it could be THAT bad. Meanwhile, the triumphant 51- seat winner let down his remaining hair in a victory speech promising to make B.C. safe for ‘‘working people” (wasn’t pinstripe social- ism supposed to have done away with class warfare?). College teacher who now finds himself leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition still had to meet, face to face, some of nis 16 elected caucus members. Nowhere was the upset more dramatic than on the North Shore — long a solid Socred fortress — where even the apparently invin- cible John Reynolds bit the dust. . West Van and most of North Van returned to their historic pre-1975 Liberal roots except in the new Lonsdale riding which picked the NDP to defeat one of Social Credit’s worthiest candidates, former North Van District mayor Marilyn Baker. Province-wide, the dramatic Liberal revival after being shut out for over a decade is, of course, the real stery of Election ry 1 Though British Columbians backing free enterprise still out- number socialists, they were determined to punish the Socred government for its sins during the Vander Zalm era. Gordon Wilson’s hour of glory during the TV debate suddenly gave them their opportunity to do so without either voting NDP or simply sit- ting on their hands. They gleefully responded by fir- — ing Premier Rita Johnston herself, all but three Socred ministers and’ all but four Socred backbenchers — one of the biggest blocdlettings in Canadian political history. So what now? First, the hope — however slender at the moment — that Mike Harcourt will indeed prove a more moderate and sophisticated socialist than Dave Barrett or Bob Rae. Given his present huge majority, we could well have him for eight years rather than four. That, secondly, will depend on how fast untried Gordon Wilson and his faceless MLAs can Jearn their job and form the rallying point for a new and united free enterprise bloc. Today's Socreds will obviously be part of it, al- though their name itself is almost certainly dead for ever as an alternative label to the NDP. It now seems clear that a purge of the Socreds’ recent past was PREMIER HARCOURT... “‘maderation”’ es yet unproven. The Cap © Noel Wright HITHER AND YON both inevitable and healthy. But : the salient fact remains that they * . and the Liberals still command a.” majority in the popular vote. °° For free enterprise to eventually return to Victoria, unity musi now be their goal. Vote-splitting — has produced an exciting new pic- - ture —~ but at the cost, for the . moment, of their common cause. WRAP-UP: Salute the 18 serving and retired West Van firefighters. recently awarded the 20-year Ex. emplary Service Medal by Lt.Gov. . David Lam in a ceremony at UBC Golf Club. Honored were Chief Colin Evans; Deputy Chie? Gerry McDoweil; Captains Tom Bell, . Tom Payne and John Phillipson: Lieutenants Graham Corrigan an Dave Tyler; Alex Anderson, Les - Batler, Rex Chandler, Peter Cherry, Lorne Colpitts, Ald. Day, Wally Galpin, Bob Kelier,. ' Harry Payne, Bob Tocher and: Chris Wilson .... Late November target date has been set by West ~~. Van Kiwanis Club for.comp!etion of Kiwanis Court — its new 85-: unit affordable housing complex for seniors at. 22nd and Gordon.- A great Christmas gift for tenants already qualified? ... And happy” 76th birthday tomorrow, Oct. 21," to former West Van mayor Don. Lansksil. . WRIGHT OR WRONG: Nothin, is more permanent than a tem-:'-* porary tax, GORDON WILSON... rally point for the popular vote.