AG - Wedtiesday, February 1, 1984 - North Shore News s - Lo. Crying wolf? - Few recent issues have grabbed the head- lines so rapidly and sensationally as the pro- | gram to shoot up to 330‘ wolves over the next three to five years in northern B.C. The remarkable feature of the uproar so far is the confusion in which it has left the general public in attempting to assess the pros and cons of the program. — The provincial. government — which the furor seems to have taken completely by sur- prise — says the destruction of what reported- ly amounts to about eight per cent of the area’s wolf population is necessary to protect deer and elk herds. The environmentalists — who, in an amaz- ingly short space of time, have drummed up violent international condemnation of the wolf-kill — maintain that wolves slaughter only sick and old prey (although this theory is apparently not supported by earlier. wolf con- trol studies.) The animal lovers also argue that it is morally wrong to kill wolves merely in order that guides and hunters, a big-money business in northern B.C., can have more deer and elk trophies to. adorn their dens. Yet others base their opposition on the popular concept of a balance of nature, which, if left to itself, will automatically maintain an equilibrium between wolves and their prey. The trouble is that all these conflicting claims are based on alleged facts which the lay onlooker cannot hope to confirm without ex- haustive research. With numerous NDP MLAs actually supporting the Socreds on the issue, the problem of getting at the truth is a tough one for the non-expert. . Certainly, the government’s public relations effort on the matter has been woefully inade- quate. But for most of us the jury is still out on who’s right and who’s wrong. — Zap-happy! The theory that lightning never strikes twice im the same place received a spectacular jolt itself the other week. A husband and wife who entered the Mlinois state lottery, using the same numbers without telling each other, won more than a million dollars apiece on the same 6/49-type draw. The moral for golfers: never shelter under a lightning-ravaged tree. And for lottery ad- dicts: never forget to buy next week’s ticket. sunday news north shore news 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 Publisher Pete: Speck Editor-in-Chief Noet Wright Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Clircutation Subscriptions 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986. 1337 080-7081 Associate Publisher Advertising Director Robert Graham Tim Francis Personnel Director Ciassified Director Bern Hiltard Isabelle Jennings Production Director Cnris Johnson Circutation Director Bu McGown Photography Manager Terry Peters North Shore News, founded im 1969 as an indapendant Community newspaper and qualified under Scheduto Hl Pan Ul Paragraph I of the taxcise Tax Act is pubhshed each Wednesday and Gunday by North Shore Free Presa Lid and disinituted to overy door on the North Shore Second Class Mat Registration Number 3865 Entire contents « 1084 North Shore Free Prees Ltd. All rights reserved Subsceiptions North and Wasl Vancouver $25 pet year Mailing rates avaliabio on request No cesponsibility accepted tor unsohcded matenal including manuscripts and picturon which should De accOmMpaniad by a stampod ackitcoaned onveiope Member of the B.C. Press Council * SOA COIVEHON ro, Cg a? 64,700 (average Wednesday & Sunday) sm G THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE By HEATHER WALKER PRESIDENT,.W. VAN . TEACHERS ASSN. Re: January 18 -News story ‘‘Trustee hits WV Plan for Seniority”’ If Mr. Smith is serious in depend solely on si his proposal to knock on every door in the District to inform the public on the ex- emption to Bill 3 currently being negotiated between the ‘Board and West Vancouver Teachers’ Association, then I hope that he will accept my offer to accompany him on his mission. The public cer-" tainly has a right to know far more than Mr. Smith ap- parently feels they do. ~ The negotiation of such exe . emptions:: ‘for public sector employees: was agreed to. by. Premier Bennett and - Jack | ig Munro who was representing ; the Solidarity Coalition. This was one of the elements:of:: .the *“‘Kelowna Pact’? . which: resulted in teachers and other public sector employees returning to work on November 14 of last year. According to Biil 3, such | an exemption must 2.1 (1)(a) *Senable a public sector employer to terminate the employment of employees .. (b) provide fair and equitable procedures, Which are consis- . tent with efficient manage- ment, by which those ter- minations of employment. will be implemented, and (c) provide fair and equitable compensation to be paid to those employees whose employment has been terminated.”’ The draft regulations to ac- company Bill 3 further state 3Q) ‘‘In determining which employee/s shall be laid off or terminated, the employer shall consider (a) the require- ments and efficiency of operation of the employer and the skill, ability and qualifications of each employee concerned and ‘(b) the service. ‘seniority of - each employee concerned.”’ The Compensation - Stabilization Commissioner ' Must approve each exemp- tion and may (2) {a) ‘‘impose any conditions he considers mecessary in respect of an order ... and (b) reconsider and revoke, amend or_vary van. order he has made.’’ Ex- emptions are not negotiated and‘approved for perpetuity or even for Mr. Smith’s ““decades’’. In fact, they must be. approved by CSP > yearly. © «s The WVTA has a memorandum of agreement, dated November 15, 1983 which states that the Board agrees ‘‘to negotiate in good faith by December 12, 1983 a written agreement which, subject to approval of the Commissioner, CSP, would serve as an exemption from Bill 3. When we had not reached agreement by December 12th, the WVTA, at the re- quest of the Board, agreed to an extension of negotiations to March 16, 1984. None of the 40 some agreements reached by other Schoo! Boards and Teachers’ Associations is based on any- thing except seniority and necessary qualifications. I find it very difficult to im- agine that the West Van- couver School Board is. con- CONTINUED ON PAGE A7 Paying the price for values SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS have become an unhappy scene during the past three or four years — plagued by falling enrolments, slashed budgets, layoffs, course cutbacks, strike threats and much all-round frustration. But a meeting last Sunday in West Vancouver proved that education, even in tough economic times, is not all gloom and doom. Optimism and _ positive thinking dominated the mood of the 500 or so people gathered in St. David's United Church to launch a new educational venture by putting their moncy where their mouth is. They wound up by donating some $14,000 to the recently formed North Shore Independent School Society which plans to open a co- educational independent school for North and West Vancouver next September The understatement of the day came from the meeting's moderator, Russcil Brink, a governor of the society, when he declared: “*] believe t's safe to say that we have sub- stantial evidence of support for the school "’ Five hundred pcople pack ing a church hall on a latc January Sunday tn order to pledge an average of almost $30 per head is a pretty con vincing down payment on any community project tet alone one that is going to cost them a bundle for at lcast several ycars to come TYPICAL FORMULA The new school hopes to open with an inittal enrol ment of about 300 rising eventually to 600 — in classes from kindergarten to Grade 12. The prospectus promises that ‘‘fees will be competitive with the best independent schools in Vancouver.’’ (e.g., St. George’s, Crofton House and York House). The location has yet to be finalized. They’re looking at the former Hamilton junior secondary in North Van, closed two years ago because of declining enrolment. But there are other possibilities in North and West Van. What they do alrcady have 1s a headmaster and a cur- riculum philosophy. The former is David Mackenzic, founder and former head of Brentwood College School on Vancouver Istand. The emphasis, he says, will be on English and math, together with the sciences and humanitics. During the cight- hour school day some signifi- cant part of the time will also be devoted to sport and fine arts. The day will open with gencral prayers. And good manners will be an ongoing requirement. It's easy to dismiss all this as the typical WASP formula that characterizes conven- ional tndependent schools throughout Canada Not focus Noel Wright nearly so casy to dismiss, since the beginning of the 19803, are the lengthening waiting lists for entry to inde- pendent schools at a time when the public school popu- lauon has been. stcadily dechning. VALUES What do the parcnts of in acpendent school students get in return for annual fees ranging from $3,000 to $4,000 for day students in the top establishments? The short answer is a positive and clearly defined philosophy, and resultant valucs that correspond (to their own By contrast, the public school system today, despite its excellent academic poten- tial, lacks any clear and positive educational philos- ophy. The ‘‘neutral’’, non- sectarian approach laid down for the public schools as a matter of policy means the only values to which they are firmly committed are those of an egalitarian uniformity. Many teachers and school trustees frankly admit that this absence of a firm, consis- tent educational philosophy is the main problem now bedevilling the public school system at all levels — curri- cula, discipline, staffing, finance and long range pian- ning alike. Most of them lay the blame squarcly on Victoria. Regardless of the dedica- tion of individual teachers and administrators, the ultimate objectives of the system in relation to the society it serves remain large- ly undefined. No such vagueness afflicts the independent schools. Their specific goals and uncquivocal values are not for everyone. But to parents who share those goals and values, they promise results that the public schools can- Hol presently guarantee to provide. That's why ‘‘back to school’ this September will find the parents of some 300 North Shore boys and girts digging willingly into their pockets as their youngstes embark on ai whole new educational experience