es w AND AFTER 1 SCRAP TY LATEST BUDGET, fl LEANING FOR THE FAIKLAND ISLANDS WITH THE ENTIRE TORY CAUCUS WHERE WE PLAN TO START A PENGUIN CULT. NEWS VIEWPOINT — 3 Smoke and Mirrors T IS not necessary to legalize mari- juana. Renewed calls for a softer approach to a so-called soft drug, on the national level by B.C. MP Jim Fulton and on a Vancouver — student Chris Laing, have refocused public atten- iccal level. by . West tion on the debate. But their arguments are smoke and mir- rors: smoking marijuana causes no harm; ' But over the years, the simple possession of a minimal quantity of marijuana — amounts obviously meant for personal consumption — has become de facto legal. Many convicted marijuana users were once jailed for up to two years for simple / possession charges. Today fines, conditional and absolute users. i@’s just like smoking and. drinking; it’s hypocritical te:admit having tried the stuff yet not support the legalization of pot, and. on and on. Yes, police are obligated to enforce the Narcotics Contro! Act. discharges are the norm for convicted The shift in the scale of punishment recognizes the degree to which the moder- i ate use of marijuama has become accept- ! gociety. able across a broad spectrum of Canadian ” NEWS QUOTES OF THE WEEK = “It’s: as, good looking us any sludge de-watering Piant will ever be.”” » West Vancouver’ District Coun. Rod Day, on the architectural value of the North Shore's new sewage sludge de-watering plant. “We were tozether on a cruise ship that sank.” Daryl Bennett, on how his Fe- rocious Fish sound design team first got together. “with.”” ‘ “I’m not sure we have defined what it is we are trying to deal North Vancouver District Mayor Murray Dykeman, calling for a second took at the district’s proposed bylaw that would penal- . ize Blue Box scavengers. “Excuse me. You chose to live in - a ferry terminal.”’ . Bowen Island. resident, Julie Ovenell-Carter, during a debate in West Vancouver District hall over parking restrictions in - Horseshoe Bay, responding to a Horseshoe Bay resident’s comment that Ovenell-Carter had little to com- plain about ‘because she had chosen.to five on Bowen Island. “Our objective is to try and put ourselves out of business.’’ North Vancouver SPCA super- intendent Jeff Lawson, on the SOMEONE ONCE asked the chaplain of the U.S. Senate what exactly his job entailed — “| imagine you look at the country and pray for the Senators.’’ ‘‘No, sir,’’ replied the chaplain. '‘I look at the Senators and I pray for the coun- try.’’ 1am moved to reflect on this observation as Brian Mulroney and Joe Clark both prepare to plunge back into private life — or, in the case of Mr. Clark, to get into it for the first time. For these two men, in politics together for many years, intense rivals yet also close partners, leave office in vastly different cir- cumstances. Mr. Mulroney, of course, has been Prime Minister for eight years, has dramatically restructured the Canadian economy and the Canadian budget in ways that were clearly essential, and is currently losing a popu- larity contest with compost. Mr. Clark, on the other hand, was Prime Minister for only nine months because he couldn't count, lost the fcadership of his party while leading in the polls, produc- ed a series of Constitutional deals that were rejected, increasingly indignantly, by the people of this land, and is currently winning a popularity contest with Mother Theresa. Why, then, is Mr. Mulroney so unpopular? Is he the monster his critics portray? Was it appropriate for MPs from the other parties to break with the traditional show of respect for a retiring leader, and denounce him on the steps on Parliament on the very day of his ‘resignation? Was he that bad? Did he stay up late throughout his time in office thinking of ways to put women of color out ef work, and then deny them UI? No, Mr. Mulroney is so hated because, in his own small way, he has sought te remind us of the maxims of the Gods of the Copy- book Headings: if you do not work, you cannot eat; you cannot spend what you haven't earned; it is better to tax the consumption of our national wealth then the pro- duction of it, and so on. . This writer frankly feels that Mr. Mulroney didn’t go nearly far enough, and worries that the win- dow of opportunity may be clos- ing on a solution to our debt and deficit problems. But at least he - ‘tried. He told us to pull up our socks. Instead-we threw our shoes at him. Mr. Clark, on the other hand, was inept. From his days in stu- dent politics, warning us of the _ By John S.P. Robson ' Contributing Writer American threat while the Soviet Union romped unchecked, to his sudden demise as Prime Minister, to his losing his luggage on a _ world tour, to his disastrous per- formance as Minister of National Unity ... almost everything Joe Clark has done has been wrong-. headed, and most of it has failed pathetically. Whatever you may think of Mr. Mulroney's accomplishments, they are considerable. Name one of Clark’s ... just one. You can’t, ean you? One prominent commentator : even declared on national TV that - Clark had ‘served with distinc- — ~ tion’* as Prime Minister. Com- pared to whom? Our fourth PM, Sir John Sparrow David Thomp- son, whose term in office ended. . rather awkwardly when he pitched - forward into his soup, stone dead,’ . while dining with Queen Victoria? Even he lasted two years as Prime Minister. A recent editorial in the Finan- “gial Post made this point this way:, “Canada is a nation of losers, with all the bad attitudes losers usually develop ... a sense of en-’ titlement, a tendency.to freeload, i reluctance to change, and an in-, ability to face both reality and their own weaknesses.” Though I consider this ‘overstated, I think it is symp- tomatic of a serious national problem that we love Mr. Clark, and we hate Mr. Mulroney. In fact, Mr. Mulroney used to say, half in jest, that whenever he got worried about thé next elec- tion he would look across the House of Commons to the Op- position benches, and his spirits - would rise. Me, 7 look: at-the - leaders we love, and I pray for the: country. a Noel Wright on vacation valuable work of the SPCA. Peter Speck Distribution 986-1337 Managing Editor... Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor .......Noe! Wright Sales & Markating Director Linda Stewart Comptroller ..,.Doug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as ‘an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph {Mi of the Eacise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Norlh Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No, 0087238. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited materia including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. Display Advertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-1337 Classified Adveriising 986-6222 Fax ' 985-3227 Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2131 B Publisher contains tecycled hbre SUNGAT + WEUNESDAY © FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, 8.C. V7M 2H4 Entise contents ® 1993 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved. VICKIE KAZAKOFF reads from a new cookbook. designed specially for seniors. The book is published by the North Shore Nutrition Neighbours. its recipes are geared to seniors’ ets. : vo SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday)