4 - Sunday, September 18, 1988 - North Shore News THESE ARE heady days for environmentalists. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has proposed nothing less than a ‘projet de societe’’ to give ourselves ‘‘the best environment that could exist.”” And down south, good old boy George Bush himself has pro- claimed: ‘‘l am an environmen- talist.”” ERT ee vf has been a year of environmental horror stories.’’ 2S LE ERAS Well! Here we have a ‘‘national vision’’ based on saving the en- vironment in the north and Eco- Republicanism in the south. The revolution must have come, eh? Of course, everyone is entitled to be born again. The idea of Mulroney’s Tories really doing something about environmental preservation may seem every bit as fanciful as Ronald Reagan’s left- hand man joining the Sierra Club, and therefore not to be taken seriously, But, then again, you can never tell. I think it was mean-spirited of the Green Party's Jim Bohlen to argue at their recent annual meeting in White Rock that there was no point in ecologists trying to work through a major party. Bohlen has been saying this sort of thing for 20 years, but it is bas- ed purely on his own bitter experi- ences trying to get the NDP to adopt hard-core ecological policies. It probably never occurred to Bohlen to try convincing the Tories Man not guilty A B.C, SUPREME Court jury recently acquitted a 29-year-old Vancouver man charged with manslaughter in the Nevember 1987 North Vancouver beating death of 27-year-old Ricky Ray Dixon. Robert Bertram Vermaak was found not guilty after a five-day tria “CANADIAN F EXPECT EXCELLENCE MARYLIN TOWARD | offer experience, en- thusiasm, and ability proven by a consistently successful sales record. Bus: 925-2911 Sussex Res: 926-5890 ussex Group-S.R.C.Realty Corporatio or Republicans. Yet here we are, in the late ’80s, with the Right — rather than the Left in particular — moving, rhetorically at least, to absorb the fast-growing public sense of panic about the discovery that the sky is indeed falling, after all. All my natural instincts, by the way, are to assume that Mulroney and Bush are lying. But supposing they aren’t? There is no doubt that in a modern federal state with its vast centralization of powers, the political will is the way. Look what mischief a Canadian cabinet, in particular, can do! If a prime minister were to get serious about cleaning up the mess, he would have all the public sup- port he needs. The polls all show this. The majority of Canadians are ready to pay almost any price to fight back against the pollution that is now nearly ubiquitous. I mean, when they are closing down the beaches in Deep Cove, you know the end is nigh! Whether either man would act once safely in power is the big question, and there is simply no way of answering that in advance. Here’s where the question of trust comes in, When the Tories got into power last time around, one of their first projects was to hack Environment Canada to shreds. But everybody can learn, I hope. This has been the most intense year of environmental coverage that I have ever seen. Partially this is because I’m living Down East, but I stay plugged into West Coast media, and the same stories are playing: Mass deaths of seals in tire North Sea, a crashing nuclear sat- ellite, fires flickering at Russian reactors, dried-up rivers, dust tor- nados whirling darkly along, dead lakes, dead trees, steep growth in the bottled water industry, the ship full of toxic waste shunting like an unwanted ‘Flying Dutchman” from port to port in Europe, obscene sister ship to the giant garbage scow drifting, shunned by every wharf in New York harbor, the bodies of whales and dolphins washing up everywhere, along with syringes and contaminated blood samples from outlaw midnight garbage dumpers... It has been a year of en- vironmental horror stories. There is a pervasive mood of quiet despair, prevented from develop- ing into mass rage by a paralysing sense of deja vu. Haven’t we been here before? I read with sadness thal a new book claims a great moment in history was missed a year or so ago when John Turner paced the floor of his official residence, begging his flunkies to give him a vision to take to the Canadian people. Apparently, all they could come up with was legalized prostitution, domes in the Arctic, and a royal commission into marjjuana. If somebody could just have whispered into his ear: ‘‘Clean water, clean air, clean food, clean earth. Just clean up the God damned mess, John!”’ He might have gone forth, those big blue eyes radiating power beams. And instead of wasting his energy tearing the free trade agreement in half, he might have got around to being the one who stopped the acid rain. Surely, there's vision enough for any man in our times! The long-predicted ecological crunch is on. Mainstream political parties are starting to move, like great hulks whose sails flap fitfully in the wind of puolic opinion. God, it’s a slow process! © ay residents cite highway problems From page 2 uation and we'd like to see it rec- tified now," said Klatt. Residents at the meeting were vehement in their demands to get the highway finished. “We shouldn’: allow (the situa- tion)...it’s a crime,’’ protested former Lions Bay alderman Bert Eldridge. ‘‘I think council should tell highways to get the hell out here and get it finished.’” Until the acceleration lane is complete, council is requesting that the highways department reduce the traffic from four lanes to two. “It may offend some skiers, but it will save some lives,'’ said Mayor Gordon Prescott. Klatt said there is another pro- blem area close to the first. Some northbound drivers, con- fused by a sign into thinking they are inadvertently on the turnoff to Lions Bay, have steered on to the wrong side of the cement divider that splits the two directions of traffic. Klatt said that while some have been fucky and not crashed head- on into oncoming traffic, there have been at least two accidents that he knows of. He said he hoped the situation had been improved by a recent clarification of the sign’s message, but said it is too early to tell. IMPAIRED DRIVING Ardagh Hunter Turner Barristers & Solicitors #300-1401 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver 986-4366 Free Initial Consultation DR. TERRY McKAY announces the openirg of his Practice of Family Dentistry at #204-1590 Bellevue Ave. West Vancouver Appointments Wednesday. Thursday, Friday and Saturday 922-5544 AMBLESIDE REVITALIZATION PROG RAM seed: CONSTRUCTION UPDATE Weather permitting MARINE DRIVE WILL BE CLOSED TO ALL TRAFFIC ALL DAY SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18 for final paving. No access will be permitted from east of 13th to west of 19th. See map below for detour routes. Marine Drive will be open to traffic again on Monday September 19. During the week censtruction will be continuing at various locations between 13th and 19th. SHOP IN AMBLESIDE — SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MERCHANTS! REVITALIZATION STEERING COMMITTEE 21ST. STREET TO/FROM HWY. 15 TH. STREET TO/FROM HWY. cree ae "14TH. STREET MARINE ORIVE CLOSED TO ALL TRAFFIC | Joes _ | LIMITED ACCESS | { TO AMBLESIDE PARK ! VIA BELLEVUE FROM |! 21ST. STREET