INSIGHTS Tis s or ban fer! AN immigration policy making sense at last POLITICALLY CORRECT thinkers, human rights fanat- ics and professional bleeding hearts constantly confuse immigration and racism. Criticism of wide-open immigra- tion automatically tars you as a ‘‘racist.”’ lishening fo the Canadian Unity alks yD NEWS VIEWPOINT Cutting edge HE NDP government has taken a positive step toward protecting trees in urban environments, but whether that step will lead to any praciical solution to save locai trees remains to be seen. A new hill introduced June 19 in the iegislature would give local governments the authority to regulate the cufting and removal of trees on private property by requiring citizens to obtain tree-cutting permits. According to the bill, local councils could also require the replacemen? .and maintenance of cut or damaged trees and would have the authority to protect indi- vidual tvees by designating them as having heritage or landmark importance. Local councils could also order property owners to remove trees or shrubs adjudged to be 2 public inconvenience or a hazard to public property. Tree protection legislation will be wel- comed by a lot of North Shore residents who fave raised much heated protest over the wanton destruction of local vegetation by developers and short-sighted neighbors. In West Vancouver, the unauthorized removal of trees on private preperty has resulied in some major B.C. Supreme Court damage awards. Bui the key to making any focal legista- tion work is determining how any tree- cutting regulations would be policed and who would cover the considerable cost of recording, investigating and prosecuting violations. . Without some expedient system, the process will become another ponderous bureaucracy and be further government in- trusion into private property rights. LETTER OF THE DAY Hence the howls of protest from various such groups over Ottawa’s long overdue tighten- ing-up of its immigration and refugee policy, announced last week by Immigration Minister Bernard Valcourt. Valcourt’s only crime, however, was to speak the blunt truth. His department simply can’t cope with the annual 250,000 quota of land- ed immigrants handed to him by his predecessor, Barbara McDougall. From 1986 onward the intake soared each year to “reach 213,000 in 1990 — com- pared to the 1956-1985 annual average of 138,000. Making matters still worse were Trudeau's 1978 extended family sponsorship rules, allowing any landed immigrant to import un- limited relatives regardless of lit- eracy or skills. Also, by 1984, Britisti and European immigrants were down to 24% from their earlier 92%. . Two out of three immigrants were now from Asia and the Third World, where much bigger families eager to escape economic hardship are common. The strain on Canadian support services from welfare to ESL instruction — for such ill-equipped new- comers has been drastic. Add to all this the refugees, genuine and bogus, whose numbers skyrocketed after 1978 — from a previous 20-year average of $,360 annually to an average of 23,230 a year between 1979 and 1990. Some 60% of them even- tually qualified as !anded im- migrants after up to two or more years in Canada going through the = Researching history of black women in BC. Dear Editor: 1 would like to enlist reader support in gathering information about African-Canadian women who lived in B.C. 1960. This research is part of my PhD from 1858-. studies of British Columbia's Af- rican-Canadian community have concentrated on the 19th century, mentioning only a few prominent women. My research is important because it tries to correct this im- balance. To the best of my knowledge, it is the first study from the perspective of women. BERNARD VALCOURT... new 1 am also willing to share in- rules may stem racism. formation gained thus far with {¢ anyone tracing their family tree. Sherry Edmunds-Ftett The History Dept., Simon Fraser University, thesis on the work of black women both inside the home and- in the communiiy. Previous done in B.C. that examines the history of the black community Burnaby, B.C. VSA 186 © Panteg on 10% recyctec newsorint Nortn Snore managea Display Advertising 989-0511 Distribution 986-1337 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-1337 Ciassified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 985-3227 Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2134 Publisher . ...Peter Speck Managing Editor... Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor... Noet Wright Advartising Director .. Linda Stewart Comptroller ...Doug Foot Novth Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper art qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph Ul of ine Excise Tax Act, 1s published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Sudscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing tales available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. 1139 Lonsdaie Avenue, SDA DIVISION North Vancouver, B.C.- a ee are V7M 2H4 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) SALIMA JER A tending ore Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserve. phans in Guadalajara. Noel HITHER AND YON tortoise-like review process — currently still burdened with a backlog of about 20,000. - Valcourt’s new plan — creating three immigrant streams —- makes no bones about classifying appli- cants by their desirability, but it has nothing to do with race or color. ft strikes a pretty even balance between Canada’s needs and Canada’s sense of compas- sion. . Wealthy investors, spouses and children of landed immigrants, and UN Convention refugees get the fast track. After that — ona first-come-first-served basis — the processing of parents, grand- parenis, other refugees and appli- cants with jobs here already lined up. At the back of the pack will come applicants assessed solely according to their occupational skills. As well, the refugee review system wilt be cut to one hearing instead of the present tw... For my money, Valcourt has at long last earned this government a modest pat on the back. Canada can’t solve ali the world’s prob- lems alone, but his scheme makes sense in both human and econom- ic terms. : I’ve a hunch it may do more than a little to remove the seeds of “racism” sown, above ail, by the crazy 1978 immigration policy. WRAP-UP: Breakfast from 8 “a.m. Saturday at I4th and Lons- dale with the Lions — whose pan- . cakes will keep you going right through the Club’s Grand Parade at 10:30 a.m. frem 13th and Grand Boulevard ... Tomorrow’s ‘also the entry deadline for the male-female North Shere Youth Contest with chance of a PNE scholarship. Forms at Kathychan, 3rd and Lonsdale, and al! White Spots ... Don't miss the big book and record sale 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, Saturday and Sunday at West Yan Ice Arena, a fundraiser for West Van Library extension ... Explor- ing an exciting new culture goes with the summer job chosen by Cap College student Selima Jera — now workiag for 10 weeks in a Mexican orphanage ... And happy birthday today, June 25, to North Van’s Morris Oleksyn. WRIGHT OR WRONG: The only fellow who ever managed to get everything done by Friday w: Robinson Crusoe. .