NEWS VIEWPOINT Water logged IRIDAY’S decision by the Greater Vancouver Regional District board of directors to allow logging to continue in local watersheds indefinitely will leave a bad taste in the mouths of Lower Mainland residents. The board’s decision was consistent with a Feb. 20 GVRD water committee recom- mendation to allow logging in the Capilano and Seymcur watersheds subject to ongoing ecological reviews. But that -Fecommendation ran counter to a water committee recommendation made in late 1991 that called fer logging contracts in the watershed to be allowed to expire at the end of 1992. The most recent water committee rec- ommendation followed a late submission ‘by TWA-Canada. And that late submission has upset all those concerned about the ef- fects of logging on water quality. The last word, they say, was given to the logging lobby, and the last word seems to have caught the most GVRD ears. IWA-Canada president Jack Munro told the water committee that a logging moratorium would idle local loggers — a compelling argument, especially consider- ing the hard times faced by most people employed in B.C.’s forest industry. But surely a more compelling argument in the issue of watershed logging is the quality of water supplied to 1.6 million people in the Lower Mainland area from North Shore and Coquitlam reservoirs. The purpose of the jogging moratorium was to allow a full environmental inven- tory to be conducted in focal watersheds and to determine what negative impact, if any, results from logging forests around drinking water sources. That issue appears to have been lost on the GVRD board. , LETTER OF THE DAY Consider the Swiss example of gov’t Dear Editor: Over !00 years ago Switzerland - solved its political probiems by establishing a government with two houses each with equal powers. One house represents the 22. cantons (provinces) by population, houses, so, in essence, they have a triple “*E'’ senate. Any changes to the constitution, however, must be voted on by all the citizens in a referendum. There are three racial groups and four languages, all are equal, none ‘‘distinct,’’ and none has a has a triple ‘‘E” senate that has . equal power to the other house. The narrow confines of inward- looking bilingualism that we have is replaced with the outward look- Ing, ingualism which has played a ma- jor role in their economic, cultura! world-renowned multil-- the other house has two repre- veto. sentatives from each canton ir- respective of population. All bills must pass in both Publisher Peter Speck Managing Editor .. Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor.... .. .Noel Wright Advertising Director. . Linda Stewart Comptroller Doug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and quatified under Schedule 111, Paragraph itt of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd: and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Ctdss Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates 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. Newsroom V7M 2H4 To summarize: democracy with perhaps world’s highest standard of living Display Advertising Rea! Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. = and academic success. stable the This Wally Thomas West Vancouver 980-0511 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 North Shore Managed Distribution Subscriptions 985-2131 Administration SOA DIVISION 61,582 (average circutatron, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. Alt rights reserved. Why life sans Quebec could be the lesser evil IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY, you may recall, Icartis was the early aviation pioneer who crashed to his death w hea the sun melted his wings — made of wax and feathers. The Beaudoin-Dobbie constitutional report looks like having exactly the same chance of flyin. In the five much ballyhooed coast-to-coast unity conferences the great unwashed were allowed to sound off, but to little purpose, it seems. In soothing language the 131-page report once more shafts “Outer Canada’’ — the West and the Maritimes — well and truly. Now the whole business is back with the politicians behind closed doors, Outer Canada’s only hope lies in its eight premiers hanging tough on the two gut issues: a Quebec veto and Senate reform. Amendments to the Constitu- tion presently require the approval of seven provinces representing 50% of Canada’s population. The all-party committee chaired by Tory Senator Gerald Besadoin and Tory MP Dorothy Dobbie recommends a constitutional right of veto for Quebec on future changes to the Commons, the Senate and the Supreme Court — and in the latter's case a standing guarantee of three Quebec judges out of the total nine. Parliament and the Supreme Court are obviously the cor- nerstones of everything else in the Constitution. So once their com- position and roles are decided during the current process, the veto could mean they were graven in stone for all time. In the un- foreseeable years ahead they could never be changed without Quebec’s assent. if 25% of Canadians dictating permanently how the other 75% run their country doesn’t strike you as lunacy, pray read no fur- ther. SENATOR BEAUDOIN... author of a non-flyer. ARCHDEACON TOM... sitive faith-restorer. @ sef- Noel Wright HITHER AND YO Meanwhile, a Triple-E Senate — already demanded by New- foundland, Manitoba and Alberta as their price for signing any con- stitutional deal — has disappeared down the drain. Instead, the _ Beaudoin-Dobbie report proposes an ‘‘equitable’’ elected Senate — with seats roughly according to population and the Commons always able to override it. Why, then, bother with such a toothless tiger at all? In addition to having no ultimate authority, a “‘rep-by-pop’” Senate would sim- ply reinforce the Commons make-up, with central Canada still cominant — the very thing an equal number of members from each province aims to correct. The Yanks and Aussies, who've long enjoyed the benefits of a Triple-E Senate, must wonder if we’re a bit queer in the head. A Quebec veto and rejection of a Triple-E Senate put Ottawa and dissenting premiers on a collision course leading to a-‘‘Meech I.’* Sadly, it may end in separation. But in a forced choice between the Beaudoin-Dobbie formula and life _ Sans Quebec, the latter could be . the lesser evil for eight of Canada’s nine remaining pro- vinces. TAILPIECES: Losing faith in - human relationships? A healer.ac- claimed internationally for helping in a very sensitive, non-threaten- ing way brings a message of hope to North Van this weekend. You'll -’ be most welcome at all or part of the three-session ‘‘renewal mis- sion” being held by Edmonton’s . . Archdeacon Tom Maxwell Friday night and Saturday, March 6-7, at St. Simon’s, Deep Cove — call Candace Gillespie soonest (929- 7429) for info and to register... - Mark International Women’s Day Thursday, March 5, by sampling some of the 16 free lectures on the theme from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Cap College . . . And also tomorrow, March 5, happy birth- day to West Van’s David Mathieson. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Chisholm’s Law: Anytime things seem to be going better, you have obviously overlooked something.