ayy Dear Editor: I am writing in disgust to Leo Knight's article “High Cost of Heroin.” If he doesn’t feel that a new powerful strain of heroin which is killing deug addicts is newsworthy, how could he possibly think his narrow-minded opinion of the subject would be worth reading? I find it saddening when people like Mr. Knight stereotype drug addicts as all being on welfare and having criminal records. He talks of the ensuing pain, suf- fering and financial loss to the hardwork- ing people who are continually victim- ized by the drug abusers. What about the suffering of the person addicted to drugs? Tragic tale ighten dark Does Mr. Knight understand that drug addition is a disease that kills families, relationships, people and their dreams? No one chooses to become a drug addict, just like no one chooses to be an alco- helic, work, sex or relationship addict, yet society is filled with people trying to recover from these addictions. The last thing they need is to feel rnore worthless than they already do. A friend of mine died two months ago as a result of his heroin addiction. He wasn't on welfare and he wasn’t a crimi- nal. He had parents, a sister, a girlfriend and lots of friends. The caring words spo- ken at his jam-packed funeral brought tears to everyone's eyes. He touched many people with his kind words and deeds. He was reaching out, trying to recover from his addiction, but it was too much for him to handle. Now the pain and sorrow is in the hearts of those who loved him, as I'm sure it is each time a drug addict dies. God help Leo Knight if one day his daughter, son or a loved one should fall prey to the evils of drug addiction and all anyone arcund him can say is “took how much it's costing society to keep this per- son alive!” GiniGrey |. West Vancouver Bring back N. Van board Dear Editor: . Re: the tragic suicide of Ben Wight. Let's hope this case will alert the powers- _} that-be that mentally ill | people need care and that their nearest and dearest need to be listened to. Let . Us hot permit psychiatrists to hide behind the screen of civil rights to avoid the nui-- 4 ance and responsibility of. |- -commmitting : a seriously LA. mentally ill: person ‘against {- “| hishher will, °° 7, Elizabeth O’Kiely Jb Chae! ladies By Dear Editor: As a mother, grandmother and as a great grandmother of children who have and who ‘are attending school in North ‘Vancouver Disirict 44; as a parent in the parent-teacher movement of — British Columbia for over 40 years, and. as _a,member of ‘the ‘District 44. Board for 31 years, I-am more than distressed at the firing of our democratical- ly elected school board. _I'believe. that the seven school board: members have ... Shown “ great. courage: and responsibility and have done a service to education in B.C. by announcing in January that they would be unable to sub- mit.a balanced budget due mainly to eight years of -, underfunding by the province. They. were faced with the impossible task of providing adequate education with inad- equate funds and it was time it became a public issue. Three. of the present trustees haye served this dis- trict for-12 10°15 years. They, along: with the other trustees are in good measure responsi- ble for what ‘has long. been trict in the province. Having attended all the public meetings and events that have ensued I appreciate the outrage of parents and other citizens over this firing and your announcement that your appointed trustee will try to mun our schools until municipal December. Now that your trustee, Robert Smith, has vin- dicated the action of the school trustees, they should be reinstated without delay and with apologies. Dorothy Lynas j both sides. elections —in- @ e theft warning Dear Editor: My name is Mandy and I'm eight years old, Today Wednesday, April 24, 1996, at 4:20 p.m. 1 had my bike stoien and it did- n't feel very nice. It all happened when I went to knock on my friend's door just across the street. I had gone inside to help my friend get her bike outside.. | Then I had gone back outside to get my bike but_ it was gone. Luckily my friend who aiso lived up the street had seen this happen. There. were two men both with black hair and looked as if they were in their 20s, _ They. were driving a black car with flames col- ored orange and ycilow on learned is to. never leave my bike ‘unsupervised .}' again, . PS.: If you see this car. please report it to. the,.|-: North Vancouver RCMP so they can get my. dike back and . so they don't What I've: considered a _lighthouse dis- ig ae it One of the major news items of the last . | two weeks was the announcement that the GST would net be abolished, but would i Instead be. “harmonized” with provincial J sates taxoa, Liberai MP, John Nunzista, i protested this broken promise by voting . | againat his government's budget blll, and was quickly expelled from his Caucus for 7 i doing so. ‘the prescription. i We realize you may have special needs, so we build our shoes in ‘a full range of widths and sizes. After all, shoes that fit better, perform better. BL 2 WIOTH S WW800 WALKING . WX756_ CROSSTRAINING bag EPI) WN STOCK AVAILABLE PROMPTLY BY SPECIAL OHDER Certam men's models available sizes 6-18; women’s sizes 5-13 The Prime Minister. defended the expulsion | by stating that John had voted no confidence in the Government, and that long standing British" f parliamentary tradition laft no option but to f remove him from Caucus, Whilst it fs true that voting againsi,. or defeat of, a “money dill” is usually, but not always, | fooked upon os a vote of no confidence | in the Government, tradition does not B specifically require it to be that way. Free votes, even on money bills, could be y impiamented immediately, without any threat to 1 the Government, if the Prime Minister would § stand in the House and say “The defeat of a j Govartiment bill, including a money bill, will not I be treated as a loss of. confidence in the Government, but will be followed bya conti- dance. vote to determine whether the Government hes majority support to remait: in ‘offics.” Precedents for this way of managing parliamentary votes already exist in both the UK and Canada. REAL REPRESENTATION There is no doubt in my mind that most of the public dissatisfaction with MPs of the “old tine” parties stems from the faiiure of those MPs to represent the will of their constituents in Parliament. Unfortunately, because those MPs are requized to vote the “party line”, they cannot reasonably be expected to critically analyze Government biffs in the House. in fact, they do not even have to know what thay are voting on, because the Whip tells them how to vote. This isa sad commentary indeed on what is supposed te be a democracy, but the reality is, the Prime? Minister : is ‘the person who decides whether a Bill will pass, ‘and oll North Vancouver North Vancouver of the debit, questions and commen in the world, will not change that real ty. During the election campaign the Libe promised more free votes” in the, reuse 2 _ Commons, | but to date: not Government bill. has. been subjected 4 voting against his or her Party, but untit John Nunziata voted against the budget bill, no one. had been expelled. It now appears. that. the: Prime Minister wants to pula stop to the grow- ing: trend amongst his MPs. to bagin represent- ing the interests of constituents ahead of those: | of the Party, This is a shame, because compul- sory party line voting is'a holdover from a past era, and is simply .not ‘compatible with - Information Age politics. * TRE: FUTURE There is growing pressure for parliarnentary ° democracies around the world to more accu- ralaly reflect the will of volers, and Canada will not be able to resist this pressure indefinitely. At_ the vary least we will have to become like the. UK and allow more iree votes in the House of” Commons. Or, like New Zealand, we may have § {o move towards a form of proportional repre- | sentation, along with the right to citizens’ initia- tive and referendum. As your MP, in determining my voting deci- sions in Parliament, i am already obliged by Reform policy to consider (a) the official Party position, {b) my personal beliefs, and (c) the will of my constituents, If these three consider- § ations come into conflict with one another, it is the will of my constituents which will prevail. This ts the way of the future, and in my opinion voter representation wilt be the biggest issue of | the next election. A well educated and well intormed Canadian public Is fed up with being told what to do by successive’ Governments which take no notice of them Between elec. tlons.” b> Leam the Theory of Coaching The Kinesiology and Human Kinetics department uf Capilano College is offering 2 Coaching Theory course, Level 1 (NCCP). This two-day workshop mins cn Saturday, June 15, from . 8am. to 6 p.m, and Sunday, June 16, from 8 am. to | p.m., in the Library building, room. 309. Cost is $50. To register, cal! Dianne at - 986-1911, local 2955, or Sally, at 984-7571. 00:5: . Access, PowerPoint ‘and i Windows. Youcan ako. find out what the : Intemet can dos for you introduction to the” ripidly expanding — online universe. Call Extension Programs at 984-4901 for a course calendar or to register. » Sesome a Medical Cifice Assistant An information meeting - for the Medical Office Assistant program will be held on Wednesday, May 8,7 to 10 pan, in - the Fir building, room 212. CAPILANO - COLLEGE 2055 Purcall Way” North Vancouver: Sritish Columbia 986-1911.