a SS Re 2 Se ITS YouR BROTHER BOB IN VICTORIA... SN SS SS SSN NEWS VIEWPOINT tethinking sprinkling ; ; ATER iS aot an infinite Tesource, even in. the Lower Mainland, So the Grester Van- couver Regional District’s four-stage 1993 Water Shortage Response Plan should be applauded and supported. The plan, | which would be initiated in April, would begin with the promotion and advertisment of water conservation tips and awareness. ae it would progress through twice-weekly sprinkling . restrictions up to Stage 4's complete outdoor watering ban throughout the GYRD region. ; _~ The plan’ is aimed at heading off the : eritical: water shortage faced by the Lower Mainland jast year, which resulted in the implementation of the first-ever outdoor watering ban in municipalities serviced by the North Shore reservoirs and the rest of _ the GYRD water system. Last year’s 10-week watering bun saved an estimated 20.3 trillion litres 4. § triilion gallons) of fresh water. With snow-pack levels this year already down in comparison with the levels at the same time fast year, a pian to phase in water conservation makes. basic good common sense. Summer irrigation and sprinkling in the Lower Mainland increases water consumption by up to 100% over base usage levels. Jump-starting public awareness of water resource preservation could help: cut the more frivolous use of what. is increasingly a precious local resource. The wet West Coast has not been as wet as it used to be; public attitudes towards water use must therefore be increasingly iuned to conserving, not exploiting, that resource. | LETTER OF THE DAY BC. tl ‘greatly enriching their coffers’ Dear Editor: it wish to draw the attention of your redders to a blatant attempt by BC Tel to rip off the public by — phone bill. an increase of 49%; with the in- creased taxes, over 50%, adding more than $72 a year to my tele- need the increased revenue to make all lines touch-calling. Of course, when they do this they will automatically be increas- increasing the cost of basic. tele- : phone service by a whopping 50% in one fell swoop, while trying to convince us that their motive is to save us money. , 7 This financial sleight-of-hand is .to be accomplished by offering to -make dll calls ‘in the lower mainland local, while drastically increasing all of our !ocal service charges to pay for this ‘argesse.”” In my own case, my charges would go from $12.05 to $17.95, Publisher Managing Editor . Associate Editor Peter Speck .. Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Last year, 1 spent about $4 on toll calls in the Lower Mainland, and I think I’m probably typical. Does that sound as if BC Tel is trying to save us money, or is it just a devious attempt to greatly enrich their coffers at the public’s expense? {n another assault on our pocketbooks, they are petitioning the CRTC for an increase from $1.20 to $1.50 for the touch-call- ing charge, claiming that they Disptay Advertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax Distribution Subscriptions 986-1337 ing their revenue by all the addi- tional customers who will then be charged the additional $1.50 per month. Another example of BC Tel BS. I urge all your readers to join me in protesting these unwar- ranted increases by: writing to CRTC, Ottawa KIA ON2, Let’s stop being sheep meekly led to the shearing, Ron Kantor Lions Bay 986-1337 985-3227 a 10% tecycled newsprint ot ga 00 long on ft! te First N arrows! ’ THE BILL for the collapse of the Lions Gate Bridge into the swirling First Narrows would make the $121 million tab for a new five-lane span look like a Stanley Fark pop- corn vendors’ petty cash. That said, let us pause briefly to give same impeccable bridge experts the opportunity to prove to us beyond all doubt that such a catastrophe is impossible. Nothing would make your scribe happier than to end up with egg all over his face for raising the question, It may well be that 10 times more traffic than the crossing was designed to carry and 55 years of metal fatigue, combined with an earthquake or violent storm, is nothing to worry about. But North Shore residents and com- muters would at least like it in writing. Meanwhile — still in nightmare mode ~ a rush hour tragedy with up to 1,000 lives lost would be on- ly a tiny fraction of the cost. At lease half the economy of the North Shore, with a population bigger than Prince Edward Island, directly depends on secure daily access to downtown Vancouver, There’s no way the already clogg- ed Second Narrows plus an ex- panded SeaBus service could pick up the overload, So what would happen while - Highways Minister Art Charbon- neau and bickering North Shore councils continued to contemplate their navels for further months after the inquest? Wage-earners working over town could be forced to try to move in droves across the inlet, or else wind up on U! or welfare -- since a disastrous drop in business activity would slash North Shore jobs. But relocating in Surrey, Rich- mond, Coquitlam or wherever could often prove impossible because of the dramatic slump in North Shore real estate values. With prices dropping lower than outstanding mortgage balances, many North Shore homeowners would find themselves with a neg- ative equity and no cash to buy elsewhere, North Shore business failures would soar. North Shore malls would be deserted. The burgeon- ing tourism industry here would disappear. West Van in particular would become a virtual wasteland of boarded-up store windows and desperate ‘‘For Sale’’ signs. Kt would be an horrendous price to pay for listening too long to _ sentimentalists and tree-huggers moaning about the beloved ‘‘pro-_ file’’ of the tired old bridge and the ‘‘desecration’’ of Stanley Noel Wright HITHER AND YON Park. Uniess the experts can guarantee © it’s all merely a bad dream, the’: |” completely new replacement span!’ urged by North Van City engineers and Coun, Barbara Pe rault is the only sane decision. And it’s needed quickly. Dithe ing and delay mean we may al- ready be playing Russian roulette | with North Shore livelihoods — and lives. SCRATCHPAD: Calling all young North Shore artists up to age 18 — only 10 days left to the March t deadline for your entry | in the Canada Day Poster cantest, which could win you and your parents an all-paid July 1 trip to: Ottawa. Entry forms at aff com- . munity centres, local schools and © the North Shore News :.. Finish |“ Chamber of Commerce Weck in -' style Friday, Feb. 19, at. the Cele- ; bration '93 Duck Dance from 6: p.m. to 1 a.m. at the International . Plaza. Tickets $40, couples $75, \ , iaclude buffet dinner, entertain- ment and fabulous door prize: 7 call 987-4488 sconest to reserve ... Meanwhile, many happy returns> of tomorrow, Feb. 18, to CBC weather sage Phit Reimer ... And |: the same again tomorrow to © - \ North Van Kiwanis birthday boy : Wally Mulligan. { WRIGHT OR WRONG: If it .* weren’t for teenagers, how would parents ever realize their short- a comings? ; Sales & Marketing Director. Linda Stewart Comptroller Doug Foot North Shore Nows, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph Ili of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and, distributed to every door on *1e North Shore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rates available on reques, Submissions are welcome bul we cannot accept responsibility for unsoliciied material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. 985-2134 Be Administration 985-2131 MEMBER Newsroom FO08 VONCE OF NOMI AN EET MAMCOUTER DUNDAY = WEDNESDAY + TRIGAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved. SDA DIVISION ———s 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) ART CHARBONNEAU navel gazing after the inquest. ° BARBARA PERRAULT... repiacement. new