6 — Wednesday, duly 9; 1986 -' North Shore News

News Viewpoint

Expo and

unionism

s Premier Bennett's Cough farewell act in effective- ly prohibiting — through the threat of back-to-

work fepislation

any

strike action by gov-

ernment workers during (he life of Expo 86 really jus-

tifiable?

The labor movement has predictably condemned it as a flagrant assault on the collective bargaining prin- ciple. But that, in turn, raises the question of basic priorities in a democratic society of which organized labor totals only a minority of about one-third, and the BCGEU only slightly over 1%.

Even though the government union has undertaken not to picket the world’s fair itself, it's obvious thatan all-out strike — especially its effect on the hospitality industry through the close-down of liquor distribution — could seriously hurt B.C.’s massive 1986 tourism drive, of which Expo is the core. In so doing if could also tarnish the positive image that the province is striving to create for the future, not merely in terms of disgruntled Expo visitors bul by again confirming our unenviable reputation for labor upheaval.

As a result, much of Expo’s hoped-for economic payoff in future years could be jeopardized. And since the eventual bill for the fair will be a minimum of around $400 million, the loss would be compounded for every B.C. taxpayer, including all union members

themselves.

In this situation we suggest the vita) interests of the

majority outweigh those

of a= minority, however

hallowed the principle at stake for the latter. In politics principles exist to serve people, not people to serve

principles.

MUNDAY es WRONE NAY oF pay 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4

57.6EB cayer ye Mednottay Feedage stat ited

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North Shore ews, . . ‘

We've been here before in

HIGH SUMMER isn’t the season when Joe Voter becomes all excited over November’s municipal elections. But come September, 13 worthy West Vancouverites are hoping to get him hot under the collar on the subject.

They head the community’s latest body politic, West Van Citi- zens for Good Government — founded June 25 by a crowd of about 27 at a Rec Centre meeting. tt elected a 10-member board of directors who are scheduled, later this month, to come up with plans for ensuring Tiddlycove gets nothing but the best in its council chamber and schqaol board offices.

One of the first tasks of the board — Bill King, Jean Lawrence, Tom Marshall, Larry Pearson, Catherine Rahne, Emer- son Short, Doreen Blackburn, Keith Duncan, Bill Ware and Frances Gray — will be to choose its own leader. For the moment it remains a corporal’s guard without a corporal.

Acting chairman Jim MacCar- thy, one of the three moving spirits behind the WVYCGG_ concept earlier this year, is due to quit after September for unrelated personal reasons. And, rather curiously, neither of his fellow pioneers, David Hall and Bob Wyckham, are directors, though serving tem- porarily in ‘tadvisory’' roles.

The stimulus for the organiza-

didates to present themselves to the voters, and to stimulate interest and participation in municipal pol- ities.”

Noel Wright

® focus @

tion, says David Hall, comes from West Van's switch this fall to the biennial election system already adopted by North Van District aad City. For the first time the seats of the mayor, all six aldermen and all five school trustees will be up for grabs simultaneously, with elected candidates holding office for the Next two years.

That aside, the WVCGG — which to date claims some 80 paid-up members at $15 a head — bears many of the marks of a phoenix struggling to rise from the ashes.

Its stated aims are to ‘‘en- courage qualified people to seck municipal office; to assist can-

LETTER OF THE DAY

Abortion editorial ‘nonsense...slander’

Dear Editor:

The curious combination of nonsense and slander that has characterised your editorials on abortion in the last year or so (remember lumping in Pro-Lifers with Armenian and Sikh extrem- ists?) continued undiminished in Pro-Life Error on June 27.

Just who came on ‘‘too strong” and how and when? The defeated

candidates, all well qualified, whose eminently moderate views were published in your own paper, or those who ran around saying you must be against the hospital if you're Pro-Life?

Where was the *‘frenzy’’, except perhaps in those who proclaim democracy is dead if Pro-Life wins?

Who is ‘‘holier-than-thou?’’ Those who say killing the unborn

If these motherhood sentiments ring familiar, you’re net mistaken. The WVCGG's founders make no bones about their intent to con- tinue from where the late, unlamented West Van Electors Association left off,

As you'll recall, the WVEA, which finally died a lingering death last year, was a club of 150-200 self-ordained kingmakers who told West Van's other 24,000 voters who to elect (and who, by implica- tion, (0 reject).

Nothing wrong about that, of course, in a free country — except that the WVEA also mustered the financial clout to back its anointed contenders with strong group

is not an avceptable way of dealing with problem pregnancies and who work at providing emotional and material support to pregnant women, or those who smugly write about how thinking, caring and saddened they are by it all and of- fer nothing more than ‘‘education in sexual morality’’ (whose by the way?).

It is totally irresponsible and un- true to infer that unless hospitals

advertising and hype which lonely “rejected”? candidates, paying their own way, often found hard 10 compete with.

Plus the fact that the latter had no counterbalancing — political group to which to turn for span- sorship. If you MUST have parties in municipal elections, the Van- couver City set-up, where the NPA squares off against COPE, is the only fair way to go.

David Hall, himself a former WVEA directer, says bluntly that the WVCGG has ‘basically the same objectives as the WVEA". Endorsation is still being discuss- ed, out he considers it *likely*’.

Encouraging good people to run and fostering public involvement are noble election goals — already pursued, anyhow, by such bodies as ratepayer associations, the Chamber of Commerce and com- munity TV in the form of all-can- didate publicity and all-candidate debates.

But promoting a ‘‘club’’ slate with enough ‘club’? money to neutralize alternative candidates who depend solely on their own pocketbooks is another thing again,

If the WVCGG seeks a credibili- ty that the defunct WVEA de- servedly forfeited, it should think twice about bankrolling ‘club’ favorites. We've been here before!

provide this violent and degrading service, we are going to be faced with scores of dead teenagers and deprived, ifl-treated babies.

Before the change in the abor- tion laws in Canada, there was on an average of about one maternal death per annum in B.C. (and most other provinces) from illegal abortions.

It is well known, not only that babies born of pregnancies that

Publisher: Editar-in-Chiet News Editor Advertising Director Linde Stewart

Peter Speck hor) VWoght

Barrell Fisher

Prntes contents

148 Moth Shore

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TODAY'S HISTORY LESSON

PATTERNS of world trade were to be changed ‘or ever after July 9,

1497, the day on which Portuguese Admiral Vasco de Gama sailed from Lisbon to seek a new route to the Far East. He returned over two years later, having reached the East Indies via the Cape of Good Hope in history’s longest voyage to that date. The discovery of this sea passage to the Orient — hitherto accessible only overland from Europe — diverted trade from the Italian states to the more northerly seafaring nations and caused, in particular, the fall of Venice from its commercial dominance up to then,

Also on this day, in 1874, Belgian parachute inventor Vincent de Groof jumped to his death from a balloon when his new parachute failed to open.

Zachary Taylor, the twelfth U.S. president died on July 9, 1850, and it’s the birthday (1916) of former British prime minister Edward Heath.

were at one time or another un- wanted are usually well loved and cared for, if allowed to be born, but that there are hundreds of couples in this province alone longing to adopt children, but unable to do so because the babies are being destroyed by your ‘‘re- asonable, compassionate people.”

P.K. Horn West Vancouver