Sunday evening’s -severe accident on Taylor Way in West Vancouver, — when a huge semi-trailer heading downhill to Marine Drive lost its brakes — is a warning that Highways Minister Alex Fraser would be unwise to ignore.

The California-based rig, whose licence had: reportedly expired, crushed one car, critically ‘injuring its woman ¢gccupant, and damaged several others — thoygh mercifully

with no other serious human c

runaway. trailers. on the. long hill Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal which,. like Taylor. . Way, comes under | - Ministry jurisdiction. In response to’ from Mayor Derrick Humphreys the ministry beefed'‘up warning signs and inspection patrols.at the summit of the descent from the Upper Levels.

Similar action by the ministry has now become urgent at the top of Taylor Way — the other major danger spot for runaways —_- where there is so far only a small warning notice and no stop-test-brakes enforcement at all. Sunday’s crash demonstrated the grim possibilities, especially if a heavy com- mercial. vehicle should go out of control during a peak traffic period. During the morning rush hour on Taylor Way the carnage could he orrific.

‘The’ responsibility for doing everything possible to ensure that it doesn’t happen again on either of West Van's two. steep. hillside links from the Upper Levels lies squarely with Mr. Fraser.

Enforcement measures similar to those instituted at Horeshoe Bay should be put into effect without delay on heavily travelled Taylor Way. Even one disaster like that of Sunday is one too many.

Soul saving

On a recent visit to the Vatican’s private | garage Pope John Paul told thé Holy See's 40 chauffeurs that their cars deserved the same loving care as the human soul. His Holiness should consider visiting Detroit with the same message.

A little more loving care in the design of Pinto gas tanks and automatic transmissions

might help save the car-makers’ immortal souls, too.

TR VOICE OF NORTH AnD WERY VANDOVVER

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_ but

OTTAWA. (SF): - A new

: technique © in stlling federal

governnient actions to. busi- ness and fhe public is being used with considerable suc- cess by the Trudeau Cabinet, it’s an extremely dangerous game. It's akin to political guerrilla warfare. The major developing issue in Canada involves the conflict between “Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed and Prime Minister ~Pierre

‘The irrational urge that drives many a nice girl

Canadian Comment

BY PETER WARD

Trudeau, as manifested by their respective energy ministers, over an oil pricing agreement, and the future development of the Alberta tar sagds oil deposits, - The

into the arms of a rascal — to her eventual sorrow

— may also be at the root of today’s widespread public disillusionment with politicians.

“Charlie is so solid and dependable,” says Nice Girl about her rejected good guy. “But Roger, with all his faults, is more fun.”

It matters not that Roger may routinely beat his women before abandoning them, or be destined for an inevitable jail term.

Roger has “style” — a quality with an irresistible appeal to most women and most voters. Charlie has no style, though he may have everything else.

Theo meaning of the word used to be confined to a person's manner of writing or speaking — to female fashions and the shape of automobiles. But personal “style” as we understand it in 1981 embraces much more: a promise of excitement and inspiration, seasoned with the unexpected and packaged in a certain aura of mystery.

There isn’t much style of this kind around among our present-day political leadcrs especially when com-

pared to the giants of history. TOO MANY CHARLIES

Sir John A. Macdonald, who boasted that the voters preferred him drunk to his opponents sober, had real atyle. So had = Lincoln, Disracii, Laurier and Ltoyd

+

George, way.

Style was the dominant characteristic of Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Charies De Gaulle. Particularly De Gaulle, who stayed home in great dignity tending his garden until they begged fim to return as head of state.

Currently, Pierre Trudeau (whatever clse one may think of him) can hardly be accused of lacking style. Britain's Margaret Thatcher has it. Ronald Reagan, if he keeps his finger off the button, may well prove to have it.

But otherwise decade has been chiefly notable for a surfeit of political Charlies — solid, well-meaning characters completely devoid of political scx appeal. -

The Gerry Fords and Jimmy Carters, the Bob Stanfields and Joe Clarks, the Bd Broadbents and Bill Bennetts. Nice to

each in his own

have

around as brothers but hardly the stuff of which flaming love affairs aro made.

Numerous of them — had they been capable of arousing a little more passion in the clectorate — might well have proved to have been as strong on substance as they are weak

the past -

tar sands, remember, con- tain something in excess of 800 billion barrels of oil — more than the entire oil pool of the Middle East. It's expensive oil to recover. It costs $9 billion to build an extraction plant which can _ Produce 125,000 barrels - daily of synthetic crude oil.

Construction price is _ escalating daily, because of inflation, yet Alberta won't «give the green-light to planned tar sands operations ‘until a pricing agreement on oil generally is reached with Ottawa.

In late fall a story came out of Mr. Lougheed’s office to the. effect that - federal Energy Minister Marc Lalonde had been asked at a private. dinner what the federal government would do if Alberta persisted in denying permission for tar sands plant construction. Lalonde, according to the story, was dining with seven or eight others, and so he must have known that his remarks would be passed around.

His reply was reported to be that if Alberta proved stubborn, then Ottawa would invoke the Petroleum

. by the federal government:

Administration Act, de¢ national interest, and over jurisdiction of the t sands from Alberta. .

Something that extrem would be sufficient to indi revait in Alberta. It migh even mean the use of for

. The Lalonde remark remember, may not ha been made at all. The j portant thing is that. Premiere Lougheed’s offic it is believed that Lalo expressed those intenti You won't find Loughe office asking the fed

change took place, beca

there would be no point. Ti Albertans would not beli a federal denial.

It's possible, howev that the Lalonde rema actually were made, witho the Minister in question hi ing any intention of t the action he said was po: i ble. It could be, in othet words, the political use: scare tactics.

Remember when we were all petrified over ..th MacEachen budget, bef it was produced? Leaked s ries about the tax incre: coming were horrifying. the extreme. They made the actual budget, when it was

son. Tactics, that’s what: are secing. Danger tactics.

Focus:

by Noel Wright

on style. But love affairs,

political or personal, rarely —

stem from substance alone. Its absence becomes a problem only at a later date — which explains today’s growing public disen- chantment with the political process.

ASKING TOO MUCH?

Prime Minister Trudeau first swept to power in 1968 by conquering the heart of the electorate with techniques similar to those employed by Anthony on Cleopatra. After 11 years the relationship has produced no substance at all. The west is suing for divorce and only

short-lived might, after all, have a more worthy mate: ‘for: Canada in these hard, unromantic times.

But what use is that: thought if you allow the) media to photograph you!) chewing apples and havin your mouth wiped in public A Churchill or De Gaull would never have fallen in such a trap. Donato’s photo#: montage elsewhere on this page shows that Mr. Clark’ ‘ image problem is by 10; to ‘ti

means due solely cartoonists.

Canada is not alone. same sense of overall le down by the body politi ; exists today in other western; democracies. Until we onc again breed leaders Ww possess style and substs in equal quantities, it’s lik to persist. *

On the other hand, ma we're demanding too m with our craving, politic for great lovers who are exomplary husbands. -. problem of finding some ( who combines the virtyes& Charlie with the oxcitéms of Roger has plagued girls aince the beginal time, 4 “

Not to mention voters. |