north shore news MAIL B OX Mother Nature can care for water Dear Editor: Every few months or few years experts on watersheds come out of the woodwork to impress us lowly peasants with their expertise. They are trying so hard to convince us to scalp the water- shed that ir has become obvi- ous that their brothers-in-law or some other cronies own logging companies or water punification businesses. Someone stands to make a buck. It’s as simple as that. God (Mother Nature for the atheists) has been doing a perfect job of purifying water for longer than people have existed. So the best way to manage the watershed is to “manage by leaving it alone.” We'll save millions and have clean water. Don’t take my word tor it. The February 1999 National Geographic says it better than I can: “New York City, for example, calculated that building a water treatment plane would ‘cost between $6 billion and $8 billion US. Instead, the city will spend $1.5 billion to keep develop- meat from overwhelming the Catskill and Delaware water- sheds, which have filtered its water naturally for decades.” In the same issue: “This forest is a living sponge. Without it rain would run off into the ocean, By protecting the native plants we protect our water supply.” When we get people trying so tenaciously to destroy some- thing, there’s usually some big bucks in it. Leave it alone. J.A. MacDonald Bowen Island Prostate pledge condition defended Dear Editor: Re: Prostate —_— Pledge Perturbing -~ Louis LeBlanc (June 9 letter to the editor). it is common practice tor foundations, grantors and donors to impose conditions where the donation amount is substantial. Generally the con- ditions relate to financial man- agement and often they require the recipient organiza- tion to raise additional fund- ing. Why is this done? Firstly, the donor entity wants a measure of assurance that its donation will be man- aged prudently and profes- sionally. Within this may be the ‘expectation, not unreason- ably, that the management of the recipient organization demonstrate an ability to raise funds through its own initia- tive. If che organization is unable to mect this condition | Osteoporasis | Testing NORTH SHORE BONE DENSITY State of the art bone density measurement done in our office. Our § dexa machine is the gq latest technology. The B process is painless and A’ quick and the results Bare graphically present- @ ed in colour and .*. Bexplained. § $140. without referral. BS N -#104-2419 Bellevue Ave, ® West Vancouver, B.C. V7V 4T: 1921-2624): it may poirt to shortcomings in its level of competence. Secondly, a conditional donation is an excellent fundraising tool. It gives the recipient enormous leverage with which to raise additional funds. Many donors are more likely to donate to < cause that has been given a conditional donation since their donation is in effect compounded. I do not know Mr. (Jim) Mailbex policy Pattison or of his motives. But as an astute businessman he has acted intelligently, as well as generously, in attaching conditions to his donation. If managed properly, the flow of donations to the Prostate Cancer Centre, as a result of the conditions, should signitfi- cantly complement = Mr. Pattison’s contribution. Michael Hopkins North Vancouver LETTERS to the editor must be legible (preferably typewrit- ten) and include your name, full address an telephone number. Due to space constraints the North Shore News cannot pub- lish all letters. Published letters may be edited for brevity, clari- ty, accuracy, legality and taste. Submissions can be faxed to 985- 2104 bur still must be signed and fully addressed. with this ad ‘® Mexican Clay Firepiaces ® Excellent Outdoor Heaters and ovens ¢ A Perfect Fathers Day Gift The GreenZone 208 Lonsdale Ave 985-7673 open 6 days a week ‘JAYLORPAOTIVE x3 BCAA, ABA, 1.0.8.0, Approved SPRING SPECIALS 7 LZ Luge, Om & Fu7ver Wy Check battery, test antifreeze, check tires & brakes, visual inspection one, Super LuBe & v 2 technicians, road test ae ’ CoouncTinasLip Pressure test cooling system, he LY wm Wh ep check one up Cam $4 &reportanyfindngs == All above with written B.C.A. A, inspection qe" report, rotate tires, top up all fhids 7 ft. top ip Baldetesserira “ - frena; ack (Scyii pars taxes also spacials on 6 & 8 cyt check bets, - $4 hoses, visual leaks, check on rad condition, ~ tighten clamps, drain and fill anti-freeze “ee d "2 Aln-COND: cueck & REPORT Diagnose AIC operation. Test temp. perfor- mance, check refrigerant level, check com- °° pressor belis. hoses, etc. “wy font Gp High tech, full 4 wheel computer fon $, i check out, with print out & soad test a “Prices cover most cars &light trucks *All service by Govt. registered technicians sez © TALKING Govt. licensed inspection Station $2564 ‘YELLOW PAGES 299-9000 I74'5 15. Appointments 176 Prenberton, North Veet biks South of ttarine Drive) SEG 7 4GS Wednesday, June 16, 1999 - North Shore News - 9 | ted white, mp. advertorial, June 16/1999 CONTROVERSIAL BILLS AND VOTES On June 11th, a couple of weeks ear- lier than expected, the Liberal Government put Parliament into recess for the summer break. Before doing so, time allocation was used to severely restrict debate on a number of Bills which were on the Prine Minister's pri- ority list. Those Bilts were then remmed through all stages in double quick time. On May 31st, for example, we spent several hours, lasting well into the night, taking almost 100 different votes. Then again on June 8th we were stil} in our seats voting on a range of issues until a few minutes before midnight. All of this frantic activity, aiong with the early recess, leaves no doubt that a prorogation wil occur sometime before Parilament re-opens, probably in fate September. (Prorogation is the ending of a session of Parliament, followed by the commencement of a new session, with a "Speech from the Throne" which sets out the Governmeni's objectives for the new session.) Govemments tend to use prorogation as a way to get rid of Bills which have been allowed to languish at first or second reading because they turned out to be badly flawed or outright disasters. After the new session begins, the Government has the option to bring back Bills which it still wants to pass, while allowing its embar- rassments to disappear forever, or to be resurrected in a greatly amended form. It follows then, that what happens in the House just prior to prorogation tends to be a good indicator as to which Bills are like- ly to vanish from the scene or be subject- ed to substantial amendment. NISGA'A AND C-49 One very controvarsial piece of tegisia- tion which nad been expected prior to the break, but never did make it into the House, was the Nisga'a Treaty. The Native Land Management Act (C-49) however, was rammed through, using closure, as the last item of Government business on Friday June 11th. (Bill C-49 has received a lot of attention in this news- paper because it will change the way the Squamish ‘Band manages its’ reserve lands.) At this stage it seems likely that the Nisga‘a Treaty was deliberately held back so that it can become a focal point of the Throne Speech at the start of the new ses- sion, (a new era in relationships with "First Nations", etc, etc.), but the Government clearly wanted to get C-49 out of the way prior to prorogation. After all, ithad been a maior battle for the Minister to get the Bill passed and sent on to the Senate, only to then see the Bill amended by the Senate and referred back to Parliament just a few weeks later. During the debates on C-49 while it was still in the House, the Minicter had continually insisted that the Bill was per- fect, and had refused to accept any amendments, despite the fegitimate and serious: concerns of municipalities, lease hoiders on Native lands, and even some Squamish Sand members themselves. As a result of the public outcry, the Senate, including our own Senator Perrault, had promised to thoroughly study the Bill over the summer, but in the end only approved a minor amendment to the expropriation powers in the Bill and rushed it back to the House. Nothing was done to deal with band-member concerns about matrimonial property rights, or municipal concems that bands are not required to consult with them about land development plans which could impact upen surrounding areas. The end result is that Billi C-49 remains badly flawed, which is a great shame, because almost everyone seems to agree that It makes sense to turn over the control of development on reserves ta the bands themselves. Unfortunately, C-49 presently lacks the checks and balances which are normal- fy found in land use legisiation appiica- ble to municipalities, or even to provin- cial governments. The Minister should have held back the legislation, and spent time over the summer meeting with the 13 bands which initiated the legislation to work out amendments which are acceptable to ail sides. We could have then swiftly passed the properly amended legisiation at the start of the new session. CONSECUTIVE SENTENCING Another very controversial Bill, which passed al! stages just a few days before the-House rose, was actually a Private Member's Bill, C-251, which Liberal MP Albina Guamieri has been trying to get. pessed in various forms for several years. C-251 initially provided for mandatory consecutive sentences for crimes such as multiple murders and serious sexual assaults. in other words, a person murder- ing, say, three people, would end up with three sentences added to one another, instead of the present situation which allows the three sentences to be served concurrently. Aithough the majority of MPs supported the Bill, the Government had Stalled it in committee because, as you already know, it has no mterest in getting tough on crime. Stalling C-251 in commit- tee had prevented the Bill from passing alt stages in the free votes which are custom- ary for private members' bills. Recently though, Albina reached a compromise with the powers that be to alter her Bill so that it gives judges the dis- cretion to make the sentences consecu-_ tive, with a requirement that the judge give written reasons in cases for which consec- utive sentencing is not used. Half a loaf is obviously better than no foaf at ail, so when the Bill was allowed back Into the House the overwhelming majority of MPs. voted in favour at both second and third readings. The Bill was then forwarded to the Senate on June 7th, piacing it just a whisker away from becoming taw. However, only one cabinet minister was present for the third reading vote, raising concems that the Senate may have been told to allow the Bill to drop off the Order Paper during prorogation, never to receive fina! approval. One ‘of a handful of MPs (almost afl of them lawyers) who voted against the Bill was former Solicitor General, Andy Scott. | questioned him about this after the May 31st vote and, to my amaze- ment, Andy told me that our sentences © in Canada are already too tong. When | asked him if he realized that hea is out of step with the vast majority of Canadians on this issue, he sald that - most Canadians probably do not know that our sentences are longer than thoge in many other. countries. My response was to tell him that I suspect that most Canadians don't care what the sentences are in other countries - they care what happens in their own back yard. . Based on our conversation, | am shocked that Andy was ever given the | job of Solicitor General. Nov: | have my fingere crossed that he does not end up as Minister of Justice during the expectad summer Cabinet shutffie! ‘Ted White, M.P. , #302-1200 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver, B.C. V7J ZA2 . Tels 666-0585 Fax: 666-0509, Internet: http://www.reform-ca/white-t/ ~