The Herth Shore News is published by North Shore Free Press Ltd., Publisher Peter Speck, from 1139 Lonsdale Avense Vancouver, B.C., YIM 214 Doug Foot val _ Comptroller 985-2131 (133) 4 Michael Becknt-Mews Editer 685-2131 (114) ity Editor "96-2138 (147) eae ; ve Letters must include your name, full address & ‘slephone number. . VIA Intemet: trenshaw @ direct.ca COMPUTER BBS - 980-8027 ‘> User ID:mailbox * Password: letters peeorverenntn RU ararTan eae as arvma esti RoR ANN one Sechenae Mor) Shore Mews, founded in 1969 35 an independent Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. news viewpoint APOLOGIZE FOR USING UN PARLIAMENTARY LANGUAGE next TIME IL uSH TO USE ENGUI ay CAL JENNY Kw AUR Tiresome Ted Fea etna Am enon 1 aang AD ALM Oa mene Rakt a RReTR N ND N RN Po da Ee Hc initially denied the rumor, then admitted SEN RSS truction firm lauded | . Dear Editor: 4 Residents of the 100-block ° West Queens Road recently received 2 notice from North Vancouver District advising thar there would be temporary - parking restrictions due to the diversion of traffic along West: Qucens to accommodate stage five of the Westview Drive-, Interchange. o ‘ As I have a daughter etl, attending Carson school near- by, F telephoned Walter & SCI: Construction (Canada) Lrd. to | |- voice my concerns and sas referred to Dave Taylor, 0)" I explained to Mr, Tayloz.- that the additional traffic duc. . to the detour, would make it more difficult for children i the neighborhood te cross _ West Queens Road safely, * > Mr. Taylor listened to m: pitch that his company provid a crossing guard for the period that the traffic would be diverted and promised to cal me back. Iwas skeptical rhat I would ever hear back from Mz Taylor, so imagine my surprise when { received a message tha Walter & SCI Construction (Canada) Led. would furnish 2: 1 D’S excellent. political adventure has . taken a turn for the worse. The Liberal m@. MLA from West Vancouver-Garibaldi has received a righteous pounding in the press over his tasteless gaffe carly last week in: the leg- islature. - Mr. Nebbeling has apologized for ofiending MLA Jenny Kwan but the damage to his polit- _ ical persona has been donc. And that damage could be permanent. The North Shore MLA was the subject of a Good Friday press conference called by Kwan to complain about what she took to be Nebbeling’s mockery of her in her use of Cantonese in the legislature to wrap up a speech in English. Nebbeling was at first rumored to have made fun of Kwan’s use of Cantonese during her that he had said the Cantonese equivalent of “you are a liar.” Regardless of what the public thinks of Kwan’s melodramatic press conference and her demand that Nebbeling extend his apologies to the entire Chinese community, it raises some troubling issues for North Shore residents in Nebbeling’s riding. As ill-advised, childish and petty as Nebbeling’s initial action was, his subsequent denial that he had said anything in Cantonese during Kwan’s speech, then his admission, after those comments were found to be audible on legislative tapes, that he did, is far more damag- ing to the credibility of the North Shore MLA. Ted Nebbeling’s own integrity is now in question. crossing guard at West Queens® - and Mahon Avenue! Since my initial conversa-:) f’* tion with Dave Taylor, I have :: learned that his company also ®: provided bus service to school ;. students thar had to cro~ highway. Walter & Construction (Canada) 4 the sct Leds.’ are to be commended for: responding to community concerns and sharing responsi- bility to safeguard our ch dren. In addition, I they are very fortunate to Dave Taylor representing their company in the communi Vivian North Vancouver ry. think thar j; have “ address to the House. A storm in a China teacup says it all about last week’s well publicized spat between rookie MLAs Ted Nebbeling and Jenny Kwan. As you'll recall, Ms Kwan took it upon herself to conclude her reply to the throne speech with a four- minute suminary in Cantonese. From the opposition benches Mr. Nebbeling (Lib., West Van-Garibaldi) interjected “gong dye wah,” a Cantonese phrase in which he’d been coached by a fellow Liberal MLA meaning “you’re telling a big lie.” MLAs not being allowed to call each other liars in the House, our Ted -— after dodging the issue for a day or two — eventually apologized to the Legislature and Ms. Kwan. Though he certainly didn’t emerge smelling like a rose, there hither and yon the matter would normally have ended — were it, not for that “R” word that plagues so much of public life nowadays. So Ms. Kwan celebrates Good Friday by call- ing a press conference where — backed by the B.C. flag and wiping away tears — she demands that Nebbeling apologize to the whole Chinese As is his judgment. Two sides to Ted and Jenny spat community. Not surprisingly, Vancouver’s Chinese media rally behind her, some clamoring for Ted’s resignation. As a political aphrodisiac nothing today -beats “racism.” But just who is being “racist” here? Brief use of other languages is permitted in the Legislature, mostly to welcome non-English- speaking visitors. However, Jenny Kwan’s Cantonese reply to the throne speech was a strictly political statement during regular House proceedings, ; Since there’s no translation system in the Legislature, her remarks were incomprehensible to all but a tiny handful of Chinese-speakers pre- sent. So surely it was Ms. Kwan who — in order to score Brownie points with her Chinese con- stituents -~— didn’t give a damn about offending her fellow MLAs by making political statements they couldn’t follow. Agreed, Ted Nebbeling was naughty to call a fellow MLA a liar in any language. But his frus- tration — and doubtless that of other non- Chinese-speaking MLAs — is certainly under- standable. Having made amends, even if a fitde tardily, as required by House rules, is he now supposed to crawl on hands and knees through Chinatown clad in sackcloth and ashes? If so, U’ve another idea for Jenny in her cam- paign against “racism.” How about making Caucasian Canadians feel a little more welcome in Richmond's famous Chinese shopping mall — where scarcely an English word is ever uttered, nor an English sign ever seen, ; After all, those pesky Caucasians mere there: first, Jenny. Can you imagine a “no-Chinese-cus- .- , tomers-wanted” mall in Beijing or Hong Kong? : ~ 000 : SOCREDS (remember them?) rally this Friday, April .4, for their three-day Convention "97 at: Burnaby’s Clarion Villa Hotel under the slogan “The New Team.” For onlookers the key item: ° comes Saturday afternoon with the leadership voie — confirming or replacing interim leader Ken Endean. Their big pitch: Only such a home-grown B.C. party with no links to any fed eral party can give British Columbians the kind =’ of morally right government they long enjoyed during the glory years of W.A.C. Bennett. Stay tuned! ... A few tickets still available ($14, seniors/students $12) for the famed Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir concert (the only North Shore one in 1997) at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 5, at Rockridge school, West Van, sponsored by St. Monica’s Church — cali Peter Buitenhuis, 921-8296. Qo00 WRIGHT OR WRONG: Advice is what we seck when we’ve already figured out the answer- but wish we hadn’t. — The North Shore News believes strongly in Sreedam of speech and the right of all sides in a debate to be beard. The columnists published in the News present differing points of view, but those views are not necessarily those of the newspaper itself.