Robert Gaister

News
robert@usnews.com

IT will be a few days before
Upper Lonsdale’s Great
Look Unisex Hair Studio
looks great again.

People inside the North
Vancouver salon were shaken
Friday when an empty pickup truck
rolled down a slope and came to a
halt partially inside the salon. The
truck had been parked on a side
street on the opposite side of
Lonsdale = Avenuc. Ir rolled
through the busy thoroughfare
untouched before crashing into
the salon.

“Onc of the employees that was
there phoned me and she was in
shock. She couldn’t even talk,”
said the salon’s owner Malck
Mostafari.

Lec Dieu was the unfortunate
employee in the middle of a hair-
cut when the truck burst in.

“We didn’t pay atrention to the
outside,” said Dieu. “I heard the
noise and looked up and it was
already in the window.”

‘The truck barely missed a salon
client sitting near the window, The
crash caused a small ncon sign to
fall to the ground, barely missing
another client. The vchicle’s owner
‘showed up at the scene a short
time later, but said he didn’t know
what caused ic to roll away.

=“He was a very nice guy. He

is feeling very much sorry about
what happened,” said Mostafari. “I
c.in’e tell if it was his fault, negli-
gent or a problem with the car. I
just thank: God nobody was hurt.”

*Mostafari. said the damage at
the! salon. will probably cost his
insurance company between
$10,000 and $15,000.
As for the haircut Dieu was in
the, middle of, she couldn’t let her
client leave lopsided.
4S] stopped for 10 to 15 minutes
and-then ¥ had to finish ir,” she
said,

North Vancouver RCMP is
investigating the cause of the
mishap.

BUSINESS at Upper Lonsdale’s Great Look Unisex Studio was disrupted briefly last Friday
when an unwelcome visitor in the form of a runaway truck entered through the front window.

Hepatitis C sufferer rode across
Canada to petition for compensation

Liam Lahey

Contributing Writer

CHALLENGING the prime minister on the controversial
Hepatitis C compensation package is not the average summer
break activity for most 15 year olds.

Jocy Hache is not your average teen.

Diagnosed with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in December 1991, Hache
was angered by the federal government's decision to only compensate those
infected benveen 1986 and 1990. Not content to sit idle, the pragmatic teen
decided to launch his own private campaign to raise public awareness of the
issue, and to be “the PM’s conscience.

“Tt got involved with this whole issue right after the government's vote (on
April 28),” Hache said from his Russell, Ontario home. “I knew it wasn’t
going to be in the news throughour the summer and | wanted to ensure that
it was.”

To that effect, the Ortava-area teen came up with the Cyele of Conscience,
a cross-Canada bike tek that saw an estimated 22,000 Canadians sign a peti-
tion demanding the federal government reconsider its position on HCV com-
pensation. He would like to see compensation for all victims.

Hache rolled through North Vancouver and met with North Vancouver
City Mayor Jack Loucks on Aug. 20.

“Originally, I wanted to rollerblade across Ontario or Canada,” Hache said.
“But I didn’t have the physical strength to do it ... then I considered biking
across Canada as an alternative.”

Hache’s 67-day trek began on June 15 in Halifax and ended in Victoria on
Aug. 23.

“I made the final decision to bike across the country about six days prior to
the start,” he said. “i wanted to be involved with something that would fill up
my entire summer, and hopefully change things.” ;

The Hache family funded the entire journcy.

“It was a success for everyone,” he said. “I didn’t worry too much about
whether or not I could complete it and se on ... [knew I'd reach my eventual

Toll-free calling change

From page 1

down by a narrow margin. The
refined proposal present
Monday will again fall under
public scrutiny.

“The Canadian Radio and
Television Contmission
(CRTC) requires public input
on issues such as this,”
Schneider told city council.
“But our first step is to meet
with the GVRD’s board of
directors on Oct. 2 ... we'd like
your support and are hoping to
pass a resolution prior to mect-
ing with the CRTC.”

North Shore residents cur-
rently enjoy the lowest local
billing charges of all municipal-.
ities at $22.16 per month,
compared to Vancouver which

NV City Coun. John
Braithwaite backs more
input on phone pian.

requires CRTC approval

pays (approximately) $25 per
month and the Fraser Valley at
$28 monthly.

Braithwaite asked how
much money BC Tel would
take in with the rate hike, and
how much it would cost the
phone company to implement
the program.

“BC Tel will make (a X-
imately) $12 million trom the
increase,” Schneider respond-
ed. “(But) BC Tel wilt actually
be out of pocker by $20 mil-
lion to launch the program ...
the rate increase will help
recoup some of those losses.”

If endorsed by the CRTC,
the plan would go into effect
by ‘mid-1999. The other
North Shore councils haven't

been approached by BC Tel. tance charges.

Wednesday, August 26, 1998 — North Shore News - 3

| | Hearing set for
NVD complex

A public hearing for a duplex and
townhouse complex at 27th and
Mountain flighway has been set
for Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m.

North Vancouver District ¢
split 4 3 on the issue with Mayor Gon
Bell, councillors | fist, Janice
Harris and Pat Munroc supporting
the move.to a public hearing.

Owners of the seven single-family
hones ia the 2600-biock Mountain
Highway who sought to redevelop
their properties in 1996 were referred
to the Lynn Valley Plan‘s public pian-
ning process then under wa

By the time that process was com:
plete the district, had prepared a
Development Cost Charge (DCC)
bylaw which, if implemented, would
cost the proposed development
approximately §160,000.

Council deferred adoption of
NCCs in February unl Oct. 2.

The proposal calls for the develop-
ment of 40 townhome units at a floor
space ratio of 0.96 — less than the
Lynn Valley Plan’s suggested maxi-
mum of 1.2.

Malek Mostatari photo

~— Murrin Millerchip

MAYOR Jack Loucks presented Hepatitis C victim Joey Hach
15, with a petition during the teen's cross-Canada bike trek. -

er.” we
Meanwhil, North Vancouver resident Darlene Morrow, 44, maintains a
web site on the Internet dedicated to the exchange of HCV information, with °
a link that connects to Hache’s own web site. Morrow believes she contracted.
HCV in her mid-teens. She sces Hache’s efforts as nothing short of ourstand-,.
ing. ae
“He has a lot of courage to undertake something so big, he should be com-
mended,” Morrow said. “He’s a very proactive young man and let's face it, the
boy is sick.” ; ”
Morrow praised Hache for keeping the HCV issue alive. 7
“IL know he’s made a lot of people take notice, he’s put Hep C into the lime-
light,” she said. y

Sce NV page 8.

Graphic courtesy BC Tel ~

SHADING indicates local calls between communities with no long dis-