— are the latest casualty. North Van’s Versatile Shipyard ‘was expecting Ottawa to finalize its long promised $500,000 Polar 8 icebreaker contract by summer. Now, it’s on hold again ‘‘until 1990.’" Maybe forever? . In so many of its vaunted, “spending cuts,’’ this government is like the guy up to his ears in the glue who tells you: ‘I won’t buy a new car this year. That will reduce my debt by $12,000!"’ The truth is, you need a microscope to search for worthwhile cuts on CURRENT items not needed by Mr., Mrs. and Ms. Average Canadian —- in- cluding mutlticult, a $16 billion bu- reaucracy big enough for a nation of 100 million and handouts of $3 billion to Third World basket cases. With REAL cuts in such areas the worthwhile Polar 8 project might have gone ahead. But broken promises, which cost nothing, can be made to sound like fiscal responsibility —- and soaking the taxpayer tidies up the bottom line without hurting Ottawa’s FRANK Richards ink. 40 years of 6 — Wednesday, May 10, 1989 - North Shore News Ozone responsibility Ozone is what protects the earth from the sacred cows. All done with smoke and mir- rors! genre ““FORTY YEARS ON” goes the old school alumni’s song — and a veteran of our own inkstained fraternity is presently singing his personal version. This month Saltspring Island’s Frank Richards, president of Gulf Islands Driftwood and doyen of the B.C. community newspaper world, is celebrating four decades as a reporter, editor, publisher and (still today) a regular weekly col- umnist. The Driftwood, incidental- ly, is a four-time national and provincial award winner as best all-round community newspaper. During his 40-year career Frank has known and reported on thou- sands of personalities — local, provincial and national — in- cluding the political stars of the day from Boss Johnson and Mackenzie Kiang to Bill Vander Zalm and Brian Mulroney. He's churned out the equivalent of 20,000 15-inch columns of type since the dark ages of the 1950s before the computer revolution, when it took an hour to set 20 in- ches of type in molten lead. Today it’s done in just seconds — despite which Frank admits to some nostalgia for ‘‘the way it was.’* Even for its bosses, the com- munity newspaper business is not the fastest way to become a mil- lionaire. But being paid for doing what you enjoy doing most for 40 years has its compensations — not least when you do it on Saltspring. Long may your fingers peck away INSIGHTS Polar 8 jobs vanish in smoke-and-mirrors game BROKEN PROMISES AND HIGHER TAXES are the Mulroney government’s battle plan for fighting the deficit. Jobs for 1,000 B.C. shipbuilders — 400 on the North Shore at your beloved old manual type- writer, Frank! hak TAILPIECES: A beachball signed by Steffi Graf, a tennis ball signed by Martina Navratilova, a cabin weekend at Halfmoon Bay, a mountain bike, antiques and other goodies galore are on the block at the North Shore Liberal Party Auction Saturday, May 13, in the Masonic Hall, 1763 Bellevue, West Van. Admission ($5) includes entertainment, a cash bar and a preview of the items from 6 to 8 p.m. Advance tickets from Nonna Weaver, 922-8827, or Jeremy Dalton, 986-2885 ... Elected 1989-1990 Commander of the Seymour Squadron, a unit of Ca- FUNDED 50-50 by Cleveland Elementary Parents Association and a matching grant from North Van District and School Board, Cleveland Elementary School's new $20,000 adventure playground is opened by (left to right) school superintendent Pat Bell, Parents Assn. president Pat Heal, student council’s John Hale and Dep- uty Parks supervisor Jim Slater. T HE OZONE layer is everyone’s responsibility. sun’s harmful radiation. Its steady deterioration in the earth’s atmosphere during the last two decades and its predicted rapid deterioration in forthcoming years will dramatically increase the incidents of skin cancer, cause wide-spread damage of crops and seriously damage the earth’s ecosystem. Drought, fam- ine, floods and worse are predicted if steps are not taken soon to protect the ozone layer. It may already be too late to reverse the damage. Chiorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons — chemi- cals used in air conditioners and refrigerators and in the construction of styrofoam products — are the ma- jor culprits that destroy ozone. Although an effective alternative to CFCs and halons has yet to be found, industry and consumers alike continue to use these dangerous chemicals in increasing numbers. But the situation isn’t hopeless. Everyone can have a role in stopping ozone destruction. North Shore residents must let government know that they want curbs on industrial use of ozone- destroying agents. Keeping iocal MPs and other elected officials aware of constituents’ environmental concerns will get results. Consumers must also request non-styrofoam pro- ducts and packaging. If companies refuse to comply, the firms must be boycotted. : Only then will government and industry alike make the protection of the ozone iayer a priority and the preservation of the ecosystem a reality. Para Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by envelope. suburban newspaper and qualitied under Schedule 131, graph WI of the Excise Tax Act, is published each North Shore Free Press Lid. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscnptions North and West Vancouver. $25 per year. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are weicome dut we cannot sccept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures e which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed Entire contents © 1989 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved. shopping list today for the West Van Kiwanis big Mother's Day Plant Sale — Saturday and Sun- day, May 13-14, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day at 22nd and Gordon — offering geraniums and bedding nadian Power & Sail Squadrons, is iongtime North Van resident Gerry Berg. The Squadron conducts “Safe Boating’’ courses every spr- ing and fall — cal! Doug Alion, 986-3017, for details ... Magee High overtown marks its 75th an- niversary with an all-day open- house reunion at the school Fri- day, May 26, and a gala dinner Saturday, May 27, at Canada Place. If you belong but have not yet registered, call the school, 263-2321, pronto — you may still be in time ... And make up your and herbs. gat lot like a mushroom. You never too late. NEWS photo Mike Wakefield MY MINDS MADE UP.. Sat? Publisher ........... Peter Speck erocecurormssomssrwreoonn Display Advertising 980-0511 Managing Editor... Barrett Fisher lassilied Advertising 986-6222 Associate Editor ..... Noel Wright Denboon ope aga? Advertising Directur . Linda Stewart Eiaetfareecelleshtinlamt es Subscriptions 986-1337 North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent ™ Fax 985-3227 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 59,170 (average, Wednesday Friday & Sunday) MEMBER Sree Rowenpers et Snares i . acvene North Shore owned and managed SDA DIVISION plants of every kind, tomato plants WRIGHT OR WRONG: Love is a know if it’s the real thing until it’s