6 - Wednesday, August 15, 1990 - North Shore News INSIGHTS TCE hee keer, j i “BC. ELECTION 7A | VERE | COME! NEWS VIEWPOINT ; Coyote plan kudos HERE SEEMS to be relief in sight for pet owners living in areas of the North Shore plagued by hungry coyotes. And those residents — not to mention their furry feline friends — have the West Vancouver SPCA to thank for the action that will take place next spring to relocate the burgeoning coyote population. Although the coyotes do not fall within the jurisdiction of the SPCA, the coyotes’ predilection for domestic cats and dogs has long occupied the time of SPCA workers who have had the unpleasant job of col- lecting pet remains. This increasingly recurrent scenario prompted action. The decision arrived at, to net the coyotes, is undoubtedly the most humani- tarian way to reduce the coyote popula- tion. While some residents — usually those without pets — claim that the occasional lost pet is the price we must pay for en- croaching upon the coyotes’ habitat, they ignore the fact that incidents of coyotes attacking dogs on the North Shore have also increased. And those same residents who claim that it is alarmist to fear that coyotes could at- tack children, also overiook the fact that just such an incident was reported in Vic- toria this May, resulting in a lawsuit against the municipality. But next year, lower British Properties residents will be busy helping environment officials locate coyote dens rather than cowering with their pets and kids indoors. LETTER OF THE DAY WV residents should help squatters Dear Editor: Re: Aug. 10 News article, “Stink raised over WV squat- ters."" Imagine that, | thought, a shan- ty propped up in the very midst of B.C.’s most affluent ‘*communi- ty.” Community is a term ft apply very loosely to West Vancouver. If people were really concerned with the squatters’ camp = for health reasons perhaps they should assist somehow instead of whining to the police or the municipality. With the collective wealth that has amassed itself west of the Capilano River, | think it would be a noble if not downright neighborly gesture to offer some sort of acceptance or accommoda- tion to the squatters. I'm sure that somewhere in West Van there still exist’ people who remember tough times, times when a roof was made not of pine, cedar, or glass but of canvas or stars. After all, are we aot a gener- ous, tolerant society that tries to help people truly in need of extra consideration? } need nat remind most people, except perhaps Don Lanskail and Co., of the real world of struggle, absurd rents, and the total in- dignation of homelessness. Maybe then the ‘tworthless’’ land that has been home to squat- ters (including myscif) for many a year could best be served by a bank of Johnnys-on-the-Spot, trash bins and a fresh water tank. Health cisk indeed! Really, Suri, was that last paragraph nec- essary?) Rat infested bunker — hah. | smell a rat all right. James W. Kern North Vancouver Publisher .......... Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewar! North Shore News, founded in 1959 as an independent Wednesday. Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and distnbuted to every door on tne North ==V7M 2H4 Subscreptians North and West Vancouver, $25 pet year welcome but we cannot accept ftespons:bidy for unsolicited matenal including manuscnpts an Osea Poy which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope ¥ SDA DIVISION THE VOICE OF MONTH AMO WISE vaRCUUVE SUNDAY = WEONTSUAS « Fema suburban newspaper and quatiied under Scnedute 111. 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, Paragraph Ii! of the Excise Tax Act. 1s published eacn = orth Vancouver, B.C. a equslté t 88S Shore Second Class Mai! Reqgrsiration Number 3885 59,170 (average, Wednesday Maing tates avaiable on request. Submissions are Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1990 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved. Display Advertising 980-0514 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution 986-1337 Subscriptions 986-1337 Fax 985.3227 MEMBER North Shore owned and managed Five-minute election tip picks October IN POLITICS you can't really depend on the cffect of anything — whether a double-digit lead in the polls or the latest juicy cabinet scandal — lasting longer than about five minutes. So once more Premier Bilt Vander Zalm is playing ‘*will- he-won't-he?"’ with us. Last month I was ready to bet that the B.C. election was off until next spring. Today, signs pointing to an October date are sprouting again everywhere The two big new factors are Sau! Terry, president of the the Union of B.C, Indian Chiefs, and Environment Minister John Reynolds, West Van-Howe Sound MLA. Talks on native land claims — to which the Premier has now agreed — must be preceded, Terry insists, by recognition of ‘aboriginal title’ — meaning Vic- toria must FIRST admit that all B.C. belongs to the Indians lock, stock and barrel. While many B.C. voters support land claim settlements (always provided they don’t send taxes in- to orbit), Terry’s concept of “aboriginal title’’ — with all its unknown impact on private prop- erty, industry and business — almost certainly goes too far for the majority of them. Since the Indian issue is now high on the agenda of most Brit- ish Columbians, that could find the NDP, which endorses ‘aboriginal title,’’ out on a limb. The only issue of greater public concern in B.C. than land claims, say the polls, is the environment. Reynolds has been getting tough recently with polluters and public approval of Socred environmental policy has reportedly risen 30 per- centage points since April. Last week’s Socred caucus retreat at Harrison undoubtedly took a hard look, too, at the economy — to date their strongest card. A Jooming recession, the GST and a winter of discontent REYNOLDS knight. HARCOURT ... store? Noel Wright HITHER AND YON could destroy that ace-in-the-hole. _ Add it all up — Indian intran- sigence and Mike Harcourt ready to give away the store vs. Vander Zalm’s sweet reason; shining green environmental knight John Reynolds; a still healthy economy — and suddenly neither the NDP’s current 10-point-plus edge nor Bud Smith’s phone indiscre- tions look quite so daunting. It explains why the entire Socred cabinet has now been mobilized for a six-week blitz of “town hall’? meetings around B.C. to “take government to the people.’’ Such a summer cam- paign makes no sense if you plan to wait seven months anyhow — braving winter’s unforseeable po- litical perils — before going to the people for their vote. : So bookie Wright’s 60-40 tip this week is on mid- to late Oc- tober. But I’ll be back, of course, in five minutes or so to review the odds! kkk TAILPIECES: Oh dear, some days you just can’t win — as with reader H.C. Hartmann’s letter to the ed. chastising me for my July 25 column Guns, tanks beaten by the marketplace. Its aim was to COMPLIMENT the new Germany -—- where I spent the post-war Marshal Plan years — on winning world economic leadership with the peaceful ‘‘weapons”’ of trade. A language problem, possibly, be- tween German-descended Mr. Hartmann and yours humbly? ... “Business After Hours,’’ North Van Chamber of Commerce’s popular cocktail-hour get- togethers for the foca! business fraternity, resume next Tuesday, Aug. 21, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Bridge House Restaurant, Capilano Road ... Claude MSing Around, Joha Mythen's heart- warming book on Multiple Sclero- sis (Hither and Yon, Sunday), will also be available this fall, Pm told, at Amber Books, Dun- darave, as well as W.H. Smith, Park Royal ... Meanwhile, from the Better Late Dept., congratula- tions yesterday, Aug. 14, to North Van's Norm aud Grace Wood- bridge on their ‘‘Golden 50th” anniversary ... To West Van’s John and Pearl Barrett who cele- brated their S3rd ... And a sorry- its-late happy birthday card to North Van's Ed Williams. kak WRIGHT OR WRONG: The good Lord gives us faces but we create our own expressions.