lawyer under scrutiny Anna Marie D’Angelo News Reporter dangelo@nsnews CLIVE Bird, a lawyer and the current chairman of the West Vancouver school board, is under investiga- tion by the B.C. Law Society for allegedly improperly communicating with a judge. Bird «as doing work for the provincial government as a lawyer when he ailegedly improperiy con- tacted B.C. Supreme Courr Me. Justice Alar. Thackray, Bird alicyedly improperly phoned the judge concerning a $330 million restructuring plan fora closed Prince Rupert pulp nil. Bird works 2t the Vancouver law firm of Ladner Downs. He did not return News calls to press time. The Prince Rupert pulp mill, Skeena Cellulose, was closed in June 1997. Since then the provincial gov- ernment has been. involved in a number of so-called bailout pack- ages to have the mill reopen. The mill is one of the main employers in Prince Rupert, which is part of Deputy Premier Dan Miller’s riding. According to a staff member at Milice’s constituency office in Prince Rupert, Skeena Cellulose’s restruc- turing plan mainly involved loans and some grant money from the provincial government. ~ West Vancouver Capilano Liberal MLA Jeremy Dalton said he was dis- appointed thar Miller might have thought he could influence the courts. Dalton said he personally knew Bird to be professional and honorable. . The law socicty investigates com- plaints of alleged misconduct by lawyers. A law. society investigation may conclude there is no basis for action on a complaint or may even- tually discipline a lawyer for miscon- duct by way of a reprimand, fine, suspension or disbarment. CLIVE Bird: investigated by law society Friday, February 20, 1998 — North Shore News - at oJ NEWS photo Mike Wakefietd NORTH Vancouver massage therapist Alan Lim works on a patient at his Westview Shopping Centre clinic. Lim is one of 15 North Shore massage therapists choosing to remain within the MSP. Therap out Recent rule changes Robert Galster News Reporter robert@nsnews.com LIKE their physiotherapist counterparts, local raassage therapists are feeling the pinch of limited government funding — with much the same result. To date, 2) of the 36 registered massage therapists working on the North Shore have opted out of the Medical Services Plan (MSP). Last August, 70% of the 50 North Shore physiotherapists also decided to opt out of the plan. The impact of opting out is the same for both sets of practitioners. Those opting out of the plan will receive more moncy from cach patient, but are likely to experi- ence a drop-off in the number of patients choosing their services. Ministry of Health spokesman Carol Swan said 637 of 1085 massage therapists across the province have opted out of MSP. “They certainly have the right to do that. I don’t know exactly what their reasons are,” said Swan. “There hasn’t been a cut to the budget.” Alan Lim is a North Vancouver massage therapist with a practice in Westview Shopping Centre. He has chosen not to opt out of the MSP. cap charges to MSP Sts opt .G. plan “In principic, I like to provide the universai access to all my patients and not have financial barriers dictate who I see,” said Lim. Lim said massage therapists had the amount they could charge MSP capped as a result of recent rule changes. While a physician may refer a patient to a mas- sage therapist with a request that any number of areas be treated, the therapists will only be paid for the primary area and one secondary areca. “We'll still treat the (additional) areas but we're not being paid for it,” said Lim. Patients receiving care from a massage therapist pay a $10 user fee. The therapist then bills MSP for a maxi- mum of $8.70 if two or more areas have been treated. Massage therapists opting out of the MSP charge $30 per half-hour of treatment, 100% of which is paid by the patients. “There arc those patients who have seen opted- out therapists from the beginning and have been content with the private fee practice,” said Lim. Mcanwhilc, physiotherapists who opted out of MSP fast summer report little difference in the number of patients they are secing. “There has been a little bit of a drop but not enough to cause a problem,” said Alison Murray of the Macfarlane Murray physiotherapy clinic in North Vancouver. “But because we make a little more on cach patient, we're able to spend more time with cach parient.” Grouse Suicide pact for women Robert Galster News Reporter robert@nsnews.com A pair of 21-year-old Japanese students who spent a frigid night atop Grouse Mountain last week had more than just the cold to deal with. . According to the North Vancouver RCMP, rhe duo had made a suicide pact and arrived on the mountain equipped with tools of destruction. Their weapons of choice were 40 Nirol sleeping pills apiece, a dose strong enough to be fatal depending on a person’s metabolism. According to North Vancouver RCMP spokesman Const. Tom Seaman, the two women purchased the Nirol at about 1 p.m. and made their way to Grouse aboard the 3 p.m. Skyride. While suicidal tendencies are often hard to trace, Seaman said the women pro- vided a motive. “The girls both indicated they were upset about recent break-ups with their boyfriends,” said Seaman. But a note found on one of the women after her arrival in hospital last week throws their stated reasons into doubt. The note contains an apol- ogy for what they had done, but according to Scaman, it docs not specify what they were sorry for. The two arc enrolled in the Shizouka Eiwa program at UBC's Vancouver School of Theology. According to the school’s Internet web site, it is a nine- month program that accepts 15 female Japanese - students and secks to “decpen under- standing of Japanese and Canadian Christianity, cul- ture, history and society.” Neither the women nor 2 spokesman from the school of theology was available for comment to press time Thursday. 3 Minister to appoint new health board members From page 1 x Region board before they quit to protest the process under which Schamborzki’s contract was extended by the region's board. Former Health Minister Joy MacPhail fired the board in January and installed Kelsey as public administrator. Since then, there has been a watch over Schamborzki’s future as CEO, even though the former board said she man- aged the region the way the board wanted her to. Meanwhile, Kelsey said he wants to put a small board of about cight or nine members in place within a month. . Those members will get on with planning and governing for the region.. Kelsey expects to be on thar board. The former chairman of the Lions Gate Hospital board said he would like to have links to previous boards, bur would not say whether he meant the region’s fired board or the hospital boards in place before the NDP’s regionalization process. “I'm looking for some continuity and I’m really looking for the best people I can find, not driven as much by what board they were on.” Kelsey said he wants represen- tation from community care, the medical staff and the three major municipalities on the North Shore. Because there are huge finan- cial issues for the beard to wrestle with, Kelsey would also like some- one wath financial experience to sit on the board. He said March 31 is the year-end for the region, which will have a $160-million budget when it takes on ail its health responsibilities on the North Shore. Kelsey said he will make recommendations on board appointments, but it’s up to the minister to appoint members. The small board will be added to over time, he said. Kelsey said it’s important not to interpret his appointment as a flashback to the past. He said he is still committed to the regionalization program started by the NDP government. He “What we have to do is get ali the stakeholders involved and onside so that we can implement them effectively.” -—- North Shere Health Regios public administrater Len Keisey remains committed to the region’s major programs. “That’s not to say that a new board won’t want to look at those programs and may want co have some input to them, bur the key directions that are in place are fun- damentally in’ keeping with what has to be done. “What we have to do is get al! the stakeholders involved and on- side so_ that we can implement them effectively,” he said. . Kelsey said the issuc of whether Lions Gate Hospital needs administrative help must be studied. Consultants say current managers are overburdened. Kelsey, 54, has been a West Vancouver resident for 28 years. MacPhail said she chose the British Columbia Automobiic Association vice-president as the public administrator because he’s well-respected and understands the issues facing the hospi- tal and board.