1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4

PETER SPECK Publisher 985-2131 (181)

Cianitied, Accounting’

~ & Maia Ottion Fax MarR Shere tows, founded in 1969 asm |) dependent suburban sewapapes und qealified | wasder Schedule 111, Paragraph til of the

: " Bacise Tax’ Act, is published cach

Wednesday,

Pidy sod Sunday by North Shore Free Pres

Lad, endl distributed to every door on the North

Sales Product "Agreemest No; 0087238. Maing rte viable on request “

"Entire contents « - © 1995 North Shore - | Free Press Lid, .. All rights reserved.

. Vancouver. -Consequently all of us, providers and

pas

or am ne a

BG ATP AN ESE SATIRE, WE AEE

ORG WAST as PEED DOTA RET UR AES AEE

SWS Wieewpeint

fountic money

OW MUCH is an RCMP officer

worth? It’s an important ques-

tion our political leaders must answer in North Vancouver.

The bottom line is this: a fot of Mounties look unfavorably upon work- ing in a jurisdiction such as North It’s an alarming fact.

consumers of policing services inclusive,

face a festering morale issue.

Mounties are paid the same regerd- less of where they are sent to work in Canada.

RCMP officers have little choice in which community they are assigned to:

it could be Kimberley, i! could be here..

Lower Mainland Mounties are seek- ing a cost of living allowance to augment current contractual pay rates. As an example, a first-year West Vancouver Police officer, a member of a municipal police force, earns $40,486.32 annually. An RCMP counterpart in North Vancouver gets $31,172. Regardless of the disparity, junior members of either force generally cannot afford to buy into the communities in which they serve.

RCMP officers are also living with a five-year wage freeze until 1998.

Urban Mounties are seeking a

allowance. The pay boost locally for 151 Mounties would cost North Vancouver City an extra $239,692 a year and North ° Vancouver District an extra $400,701.

The mayors are crying foul, saying - they’re facing a fiscal soaking beyond” the rightful bounds of the negotiated contractual agreement.

There’s merit to be found on all sides of the issue, but hard choices face us: pay the RCMP more; drop local RCMP. services and establish a North. Shore -. municipal police force; or continue with’ - the status quo and watch capable offi- cers scramble to find postings in com-. munities where living costs less,

A NEW YEAR! Another 12 . nonths to spread joy and |

gloom! One feels quite giddy at the

Prospect.

Let us begin by Putting the curse on an idéa whose time, I wish, had never come.

It is one of the gravest threats to Earth's fragile ecology. Global warming? Stripping the rain forests? Polluting the seas?

Oh, no. Worse. I refer to the prospect of “fixing” Marine Drive just above Fisherman's Cove in Greater Tiddlycove.

There is nothing like it this side

of Rapallo. 1 can say that because

it’s been 41 years since I travelled

the French and Italian Riviera, and

this is an excellent example of for-

getfulness serving one’s argument. ’ You drive out, out, out of

~ -Vancouver along Marine Drive, past

~. Lighthouse Park, almost past the

. Fisherman's Cove marina itself. And then ‘the road, which has

already provided plenty of tums and lush beauty, abruptly rises and - twists like a snake and — really for the first time for the touring

:. motorist — opens up a brief and - , “breathtaking sea vista that defines ’ the essential character of West

Vancouver. It’s ‘the most heart-lifting spot on the West Vancouver Riviera. And

“they” intend to monkey with it.

“They” — the authorities who toil

to remedy all inconvenience, at

great cost — want to “fix” this

crooked little stretch of road. Why so?

Well, it is so narrow, coiled, and

blind- -spot-ridden that the most moronic motorists must slow down and pass approaching vehicles with solicitous care and tense self-inter- est. Even the skilled drivers of West Vancouver's unique Blue Buses must treat this section with respect.

But new buses are a-coming. And reportedly they are too long to navigate the twists. Common sense? Smaller buses. Rejected. So “they” have ruled that this stretch of road will be widened and straightened.

Sacrilege.

Half the attraction is that drivers must slow down sharply. This pro-

_ Vides a brief, precious moment of

“recruitment and retention” living

Dear Editor:

| malice

Five years ago, in November of 1990, when r was pregnant with my first child, 1 went through that speci carriage. My for prospective parents -

. At nine o'clock Saurday morning we eo th — the baby was OK.

carried on with my lass for ihe oy Junch and a . fair with a good friend. : «While at the craft fair I found a beautiful wreath which I immediately bought. a

wreath, just as [°m crying as 1 write this letter : I cry because someone e has stole the wre:

‘tersweet memories, but because i doesn’ :

Karen Stewart

North Vancouver

seaward views and contemplation. . Even reflections on the brevity of life ~ if some speeding idiot lurch- €5 iisto your lane — are not without value at that moment. .

‘And West Vancouver council has

bowed to the apparently inevitable... ‘. Is it inevitable? Should this brief | blip of beauty, this stunning open-

ing to the sea and skies, be seen as an annoyance, an impediment as we hurtle toward our appointments and amusements? Should the towering

- rock faces be blasted into conformi-

ty because bureaucrats have given their blessings to bigger buses?

{ think not.

Andy Danylis culls it “the best ticket value in town” and “a kind of Academy Awards." Too modest, Mr. Danytiu. Sounds to me as if. it ree- ognizes far greater merit than the | Academy Awards. ;

“It” is the Know No Limits awards night. It is sponsored by the Kinsmen Rehabilitation Foundation. ‘Wearing another hat, West ‘ Vancouver councillor Danyliu i is the

foundation's chief executive officer. ;

.The awards are unique. They are given to deserving youth. Sure, oth- ers are too. These are different. “They recognize kids that have been dealt a bad hand,” including | physical handicaps and abuse, Danyliu explained, “and have over- come awesome obstacles placed in their path to accomplish great things.” _

The idea grew from’ Danyli being “incensed by’ reading of murder ¢ every two. sks by youn kids ..:and the. niedia nites

C's of courage, ‘cormmi _ cooperation.”

too

When the Kinsmen

‘ nominations,

able 400-responses province-

Six have been chosen. Each gets a. $2,000 scholarship.

amivunced Monday.

The awards dinner is next : Thursday at the Enterprise Centre, Plaza of Nations (tickets $125 dents $75). :

It includes a silent auction ‘and a. showcase of teenage talent, a 24- piece jazz band, an original David Foster score, and a group of quadri- plegic musicians led by: ‘Vancouver Coun. Sam Sullivan. a

The event has drawn top-fli

- support: Tony Cavelti designed’:

commemorative medals, the Hyatt will host four out-of-town sinners, and the B.C. and Yukon Community Newspapers Association, to which . the News belongs, has advertised . the project gratis, ° = +

‘Kevin Evans has been a ‘great

‘supporter (watch the CBC-TV. spe- cial Jan. 15, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

This column rarely plugs ; thing, but an exceptional event deserves exceptional treatment. Tickets: Call 730- 7244.