Cook’s

CHUCK COOK sent me a - book the other day. I call it Chuck Cook’s book.

By Syd Stone Contributing Writer

Chuck Cook’s book has a great look.

It's printed on what looks like a cheap brown paper bag, some- times called Kraft stock, which is actually quite expensive.

. Looking cheap costs money.

_ That's because it’s very fashion- able and in great demand, especially for people who everyone knows actually spend a lot of money. So when you want to print a book that looks cheap, the paper companies charge you a lot of monty to look like you're spending none. ~ Chuck Cook’s book has a great

* title.

It’s cailed, ‘‘What You think is

- important!" Beneath this are

* fisted exciting and hopeful phrases

‘about senate reform, provincial

powers and the like. In fact, the

* entire package is engineered in such a way as to make it hard for

you or me not to open Chuck Cook's book.

Which suddenly makes me wonder: did he.write this himself,

._. or.did he hire a writer? A check - with his office revealed that no,

- Chuck Cook wrote Chuck Cook’s book.

Where most Canadian books are filled with new ideas, tight prose and original thought, Chuck Cook's book is filled with 29

» complex and unanswerable ques-

. tions, mostly arising from the un-

. Solvable mess his party’s govern-

“ ment has put the country in.

. The only actual writing in _ Chuck Cook’s book is his preface,

’ where, after being North Van-

- couver’s MP for 12 years, he

:.. makes the earth-shattering

. discovery that he now believes it’s

vital for him to know what you

. and I think before he acts on our a behalf f°.

: Presumably he was representing the view of North Vancouver voters when he announced that

- the Canadian book publishing in-

ONE WouLD THINK, THAT

A"COOK"

HAVE SOME RECIPES INIT...

dustry was an expensive frill that the country no longer needed and could ill afford.

It’s possible i.at many of us, you and I, privately communi- cated this to him on our own by mail or by phone, so he was only making the announcement. A grass-roots uprising? | wonder.

The well-publicized 1990 annual

general meeting of the North

Vancouver riding association for our Member of Parliament was attended by approximately 11 people. This is counting Chuck himself and the party volunteer serving coffee.

Eyewitnesses arriving late peered through the window and were (oo embarrassed to enter.

So the uproar following his denunciation of the worth and value of Canadian books presum- ably was a result of something Chuck Cook undertook. He cer- tainly struck a nerve. The torrent of disgust he’s focused on himself and North Vancouver has been

Cove co-op comments are hate-mongering

Dear Editor:

As a long-time owner of a home in Dollarton, | wish to distance myself — from here to Cape Town perhaps — from the sentiments being expressed by an element within our community about co-op hous- ing.

Their views are offensive.

I challenged the perpetrators of this hatemongering cam- paign on the basis that they did

_ not have their facts straight.

What evidence do they have

that crime is oozing out of the handful of co-op housing ven- tures we have east of the Seymour River? Seemingly, their RCMP source is just one RCMP female radio dispat- cher.

Regularly, the North Shore News publishes a Crime Alert map showing the locations of recent crimes. An examination of these maps, compiled from police reports, shows that there is no extraordinary amount of crime taking place east of the river, Indeed, West Vancouver performs quite well, by com- parison, when it comes to theft.

I asked the gentlemen who appears to be at the root of this controversy where present and future occupants of co- »p housing should locate themselves and was answered along the lines: ‘“‘anywhere but here.”’

Bruce Young North Vancouver

national in scope.

Speaking as a North Vancouver voter, and a writer, | think Chuck Cook should take a second look.

Although the Canadian publishing industry actually does well in promoting and marketing Canadian literature and thought by international standards, sub- sidized as it is, it's still no way for a writer to make money.

Canadian writers, published in Canada or not, make an average of $12,000 a vear. Why would anyone do this?

The first thing that Chuck Cook, even having written Chuck Caok’s book, fails to realize is that writing isn't a career in Canada. It isn't even an occupa- tion. It's an affliction.

Writers have their own visceral connection with words, a talent which they find compelling and in some ways addictive. That’s because words are the fabric of language, which in turn is the medium to express pure, new

What’s so attractive about working with words is that it’s a way of almost magically discover- ing your own new thoughts and ideas.

And there’s nothing quite as powerful, or as dangerous, as a new idea. Perhaps that’s what worries Chuck Cook.

But writers pay the price. There's no medical term for the condition of a Canadian writer, but in many senses it results almost in a kind of disability. In these days of giving proud and hopeful names to the handi- capped, I'd cali them ff. inancially challenged.

I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody.

Admittedly, there is an . underclass of writers who are not thus. They’re not really writers at all. They're grant artists. They spend 90% of their time getting and spending 90% of the govern- ment grants meant for all Cana-

MAILBOX

dian writers, and produce little of value.

They're essentially parasites.

They spend a lifetime hooked into a deliberately sought and well-established network, stroking bureaucrats like honey ants who feed them money.

I've never been subsidized in my life. The thought seldom enters my mind. [ have no idea how to go about it. Been too busy writ- ing. I don’t have the network, More’s the pity.

So by and large, the Canadian publishing industry is not some government-funded cash cow. Believe me. It is more a system for the efficient spreading of new Canadian ideas and thought throughout the population. Ac- cording to the industry, the number of Canadians who pick up and read something published in Canada in a year is something like 50% — not 5% as Chuck Cook said.

Possibly he was thinking of Chuck Cook’s book,

For the paucity of ideas in Chuck Cook's book, indeed, in the time he’s been our MP, he - makes $64,000 a year, plus another $21,300 tax-free, plus endless perks and cheap gourmet meals, and a vast and horizonless pension.

Ir. that entire time he’s remain- ed silent, ensconced like a speckl- ed bullfrog deep in his parliamen- tary office. Now, for some reason, after 12 years he gives one great croak and manages not only to embarrass himse!f but all of North Vancouver in the process.

If he were really serious about solving the country’s problems, he wouldn’t just mail out 40,122 copies of Chuck Cook's book of unanswerable questions, He would try telling us what his own carefully, well-thought-out an- swers are and asking us what we thought of them.

This is what’s lacking in Chuck Cook’s book. It’s called lead- ership. Supposedly that’s some- thing we're paying him for.

Chuck Cook just got a raise — another $6,000 for travel and’ meals. What does he really want — a new approach to solving the nation’s problems or another plate of Oysters Rockefeller?

Increase would require services

Dear Editor:

information for your Nov. 8 News article ‘‘Cove co-op out- cry,’’ was taken over the tele- phone and in my view the repor- ting has been misinterpreted. While I am president of the Deep Cove Community Association (DCCA), I was not representing the opinion of the DCCA.

As in any modern community, crime is always on the increase, and it was unfortunate I heard of a vicious assault recently in this area involving teenagers from a Seymour co-op. Of course we ali have to live somewhere, so I retract comments I made on “*in- creasing co-op crime.’’ I can only apologize to all who felt victimiz- ed.

My real concern with the Bur- rard View site, which at present is under review for co-op housing (50 units), is which schools will the 100 or more children go to?

From recent News articles we al- ready know our schools are overflowing. What about youth facilities and bus services? We are sadly lacking here in the Cove.

The District of North Van- couver has, through the Official Community Plan, delineated Deep Cove for its ‘‘village at- mosphere.”’

It is not a question of staying out of the Cove; rather, if the population is to expand

N. Shore News

LETTERS TO the editor must include your name, written legibly, your full address and telephone number.

Due to space contraints the

dramatically in this area, then the District of North Vancouver must compensate with the social ser- vices and facilities that we need.

I volunteer my time with the DCCA to try and ensure our community continues to grow — but with emphasis on the preser- vation of our natural beauty here in Deep Cove.

Brian Charleton North. Vancouver

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