NEWS photo Stuart Davis CONTRASTS IN motion at a Ballet B.C. dress rehearsal for Passion en pointe performed at Centennial Theatre last Monday evening. For information contact 669-5954. Further pertor- mances of the ballet are scheduled at Vancouver locations in March. MP Collins confirms new immigration deal in works BC. to take provincial control A NEW immigration agreement between Canada and Brit- ish Columbia will soon be signed, according to Capilano-Howe Sound MP Mary Collins. In a Feb. 20 interview at ihe Pan Pacific Hotel following her announcement of tax changes promoting the relocation of inter- national shipowners to Vancouver, Collins was asked if any changes er assistance was being made to help transferred shipping — staff with immigration and work per- mits. “That,*’ Collins said, ‘‘will be a provincial responsibility.”” She also confirmed that British Columbia would soon assume control of immigration to the province. Collins, who is also the associate minister of defence, said it was no secret that Canada and B.C. were negotiating an im- migration pact, but it is the first indication of how close an agree- ment is. Elwood Veitch, B.C’s Minister By Fred McCague Contributing Writer of International Business and immigration, who was at the press conference, confirmed Collins’ comments, saying, ‘“‘We are negotiating with them. As Quebec and Canada have already signed an agreement, we should be sign- ing one soon.” Veitch stated that immigration was a shared responsibility under the Constitution. According to Veitch, the new agreement will be similar in con- cept to the Quebec/Canada deal, but the details would be quite dif- ferent, reflecting the situation in British Columbia. The Canada/Quebec agreement uansferred total control over selection and settlement of im- migrants to the provincial gov- ernment. Quebec was already very active in immigration matters and the province has stationed its own immigration officers in Canada‘s overseas immigration offices for a numb :r of years. Tire Quebec/Canada agreement guarantees Quebec a 24 per cent share of new immigration, and transfers 32 per cent of federal immigration spending to the pro- vincial government. “There is a new deal being ne- gotiated,’’ confirmed Colin Gableman, provincial NDP Business and Immigration critic, in a telephone interview from Campbell River. “This deal will probably be concluded before an clection is ealled,’" he said. Gableman said he did not know any details of the negotiations because ministry staff were being “very closed mouthed.’’ Condom Wednesday. February 27. 1991 - North Shore News - 3 machine controversy heats up in West Van School board deluged with letters opposing machines CONDOM MACHINES in. sec- ondary schools will encourage Promiscuity, increase the spread of AIDS and other venereal diseases and help destioy the in- stitution of the family by Jeading to more abortions, according to several parents and other citizens who have been deluging the Wesr Vancouver District 45 School Board with letters. Ey Patrick Raynard Contributing Writer At issue is the proposed in- stalation of cuondom-dispensing machines in secondary schools in both West and North Vancouver. On March 25, West Vancouver (trustees will invite the public to express their views. Board members hope to hold their final vote on the condom issue in early April. Though West Venecuver schools superintendent Doug Player continues to refuse release of the letters to the preis, citing board policy. some of the writers are making their feeling« puodlic following a Feb. 11 anti-condoms meeting at the Lynn Valley Full Gospel Church. At the meeting, Focus cn the Family director Mel Bryan de- nounced public school teachers for their *‘values-neutral...agenda.”’ After West Vancouver tru:tees learned Monday that 13 lewters had been received, in addition to six letters received earlier, Plaver told the News that “the trend generally is in opposition to the coadom machines.”’ Mrs. J. At. White of West Van- couver, who has a daughter in Grade 6, wrote Player stating thai ‘placing condom machines in schools will send a clear message to children that you expect them to engage in sexual intercourse. “This has been the message given by sex education classes that promote contraceptives, and has resulied in an increase in pro- miscuity, with a corresponding in- crease in sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancies and abor- tions.”’ White pointed out that condoms are available in local retail outlets ‘for those who are determined to lead immoral lifestyfes,’’ and ask- ed whether schools would be prepared to be liable for ‘‘any adverse consequences to any child utilizing a condom dispensed on school premises.”” Eve Davidson of North Van- couver wrote Sfayer that counsellors and other profes- sionals have taught children ‘‘the aversion (against) parental respon- sibility,’” and that many parents «have helped this process by living as hypocrites and by starving their children of love. The condom issue, Davidson explained, was the result of the foneliness and confusion of children who are emotionally abandoned by their parents who preach one set of values but live by another. “What if the condom breaks?” Davidson added. ‘Is the resulting child going to be named after the school or the principal?”’ A Mis. F. Stannus of North Vancouver wrote Player that, just as Pierre Trudeau once said that the government has no place in the bedrooms of the nation, so also ‘‘the bedrooms of the nation have no place in government schools.** Stannus demanded to know if the school district would be in- sured against a possible lawsuit if a condom breke and the child became infected with a venereal disease. WEST VANCOUVER superin- tendent of schools Doug Player... refuses to release tet- ters. Stannus also sent Player an Australian magazine article in which researcher Deborah Anne Dawsen said that “prior con- traceptive education increases the odds of starting intercourse at age 14 by about 50 per cent.”’ Another Australian professor, Jacqueline Kassun, said that ‘the notion that teenagers can be deterred from becoming pregnant by more and easier access to con- traceptives and abortions is like expecting people who are given free gasoline to reduce their driv- ing."* Condoms are often ineffective, an Australian study showed, because ‘‘the AIDS virus (is) smaller than the pores in some condoms’’ and can thus slip through. ‘‘Australian states that spent most heavily to provide free con- traceptives and abortions had the highest rates of premarital teenage pregnancy,’ the article sent by Stannus stated. I Index @ Budget Beaters......... 52 WM! North Shore Now ...... 25 HW Business .............. 22 WM Dr. Ruth.............. 48 @ Classified Ads.......... SS WM!Spors................ 17 Wi Comics ...........-... 50) B®WTV Listings ...... ... 88 @ Lifestyles. 2.000002 2000. 47 What's Going On ...... 45 Weather Thursday and Friday, periods of rain. Highs 8° - 10° and lows of 3'C. Second Class Registration Number 3885