British Columbia NPA’s zoo project ‘inhumane, COPE Vancouver park board’s plans to spend $40 million on the Stanley Park zoo will take more forested space from the public and result in cruelty to the zoo’s animals, the Committee of Progressive Electors has charged. COPE parks candidate Patricia Wilson said the proposal by the Non-Partisan Association board will mean “unthinkable, cruel, inhumane treatment” for the large animals intended for the zoo. And, the former parks commissioner charged, the plan is part of the NPA’s over- all scheme to turn Stanley Park into a big money tourist attraction at the expense of Vancouver’s low-income residents. Wilson made her comments after the board, whose seven commissioners are all NPA members, heard more than 40 sub- missions basically divided along pro and con lines at a public hearing Wednesday. The plans include spending $40 million over 20 years to replace animals from other countries in the “upper zoo” with species indigenous to British Columbia — includ- ing large carnivores such as grizzly bears, cougars and moose. Wilson said the inclusion of such large creatures, whose natural domain is vast tracts of wilderness, is inhumdne. That charge has also come from groups such as Vancouver Humane Alert, the Association for Fur Bearing Animals, and Lifeforce. “If we've learned anything from the polar bears, it’s that such large animals have no place in small confinements,” she said of the controversial bear pit in the lower zoo area. Wilson said the plans also call for the encroachment of more natural wooded areas currently enjoyed by the public at Nas large that are adjacent to the existing zoo: Many people, including COPE’s parks candidates, support an upgrading of the zoo for public education purposes and that is why many citizens appear to support the NPA’s plan without being aware of its full impact, she said. But COPE proposes the new Zoo contain small animals which have no problems with confinement in small areas. The NPA board claims the new zoo will continue to be open free of charge. But Wilson noted the proposed operating budget is more than $2 million per year, while the current cost is $330,000. “Ifyou don’t have adequate maintenance dollars, the animals really suffer, and our experience is that the city is constantly try- ing to pare back our budget for the zoo. There is the fear that you wouldn’t be able to maintain it properly, and that’s where the temptation to charge admission comes in,” she said. Wilson said the zoo proposal fits in with the NPA’s pro-development stance that has seen affordable facilities such as the Pros- pect Point restaurant turned over to the private sector, and converted into a high- priced outlet. Wilson-said she has urged the board not to approve the plan until after the civic election Nov. 19. But at any rate, a COPE- run board will put the whole issue of zoo upgrading out for public input, she said. COPE’s just-released parks board policy calls for board meetings to be held around the city, access to all facilities regardless of income, comprehensive child*care and a priority for acquiring new park land. COPE candidates are Wilson, Mike Chrunik and Tim Louis. The other four seats will be contested in a labour unity endorsement by the Civic New Democrats. Hewison’s four opens Oct. 26 Communist Party of Canada leader George Hewison will begin a tour of British Columbia to promote the party’s federal election candidates [= po Oct. 26. o The speaking tour begins in Victoria and visits Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Camp- bell River, Gibsons, White Rock, Van- |. couver and Kam- loops. (Details are included in an ad- vertisement in this issue on page 11). | HEWISON There are 12 Communist Party candi- dates contesting ridings in the province. Let’s hear aa tall from you Let’s talk Tribune. Each week we spend an intense five days to bring this paper to you: digging out stories, taking photos, and making up the pages. And each week we ask ourselves if we're doing it right. Are — we ask ourselves — articles too long? Too short? Do they provide the information you need in the fight for peace, full employment, for progressive government? Do we need more “newsy”’ articles or more analysis? Are we reflecting politi- cal realities, regional diversity? You'll get the chance to tell us, at two readership forums outside the Lower Mainland in the coming months. We'll be visiting Kamloops to hear readers’ ideas on Nov. 20. And in early December, Nanaimo can air its views on what we can do to improve the Tribune. It’s all part of this year’s drive to win’ 300 new readers for B.C.’s only labour weekly. New readers have the chance to win some prizes, as do those who bring in the most new subscriptions. And to help promote the paper to those who are tentative, we’re offering six-month subs for only $6. That’s less than one-third the cost of an annual subscription. We want to continue to be the paper that is a must for those in the labour, community and peace movements. So we’re looking forward to that little talk. and from new readers 2 e Pacific Tribune, October 24, 1988 Police city hall protest _hits ‘restraint’ wages presented the mayor with two letters. Vancouver police officers, bolstered by others from several B.C. communities, line up in ranks to prepare for protest march around Vancouver city hall Tuesday. The Vancouver Police Union was protesting the lengthy wage negotiations, now in mediation, that they said have produced no offer to significantly increase wages which currently run at $36,000, below the national average of $40,000 for major police forces in Canada. Aceusing the city of fighting the union “for its own political reasons,’’ union president John de Haas said Vancouver police are ‘‘frus- trated and angry” over strained resources and restraint-era wages. Following a miliary style march around city hall, police filed in to city council chambers and Burnaby residents launch mass assessment appeal A Burnaby citizens tax group is launch- ing a mass appeal of assessments that have dramatically increased values on some resi- dential properties by as much as 50 per cent. Operation Fightback is co-ordinating a mass appeal submission to the Court of Revision on all Class 1 residential property assessments appearing on the 1989 Assess- ment Roll. The escalating prices, which mean higher residential property taxes, have been caused by property speculation which has spilled over from Vancouver into Burnaby, Opera- tion Fightback spokesman David Fairey said. He told a Burnaby meeting Tuesday that individual property owners also face higher tax bills because the Social Credit govern- ment has dramatically lowered taxes on industrial and commercial properties. Although commercial business assess- ments rose seven per cent over last year and industrial properties rose 14 per cent, resi- dents have been stung with an average 24- per-cent increase in their assessed residential properties, Fairey said. “The large jump in assessments will further place the burden of increased taxes onto homeowners. This is unfair to long- time residents and those on fixed incomes,” he charged. The group was successful in stemming large tax hikes last year after appearing before a then newly elected Burnaby munic- ipal council. As a result homeowners’ Increases were kept at a minimum while industrial properties were taxed at a higher rate. _ However, industrial properties will get a big break this year, thanks to a recent announcement by Finance Minister Mel Couvelier that industrial property assess- ments will be capped at a 20-per-cent increase. Fairey charged that it is a discriminating action by the Socred government in protect- ing industrial property owners while ignor- ing other classes of properties. The tax giveaway affects such large cor- porations as Shell, Chevron, and Trans Mountain Pipeline, which operate in Bur- naby. For example, Trans Mountain’s con- troversial Westridge loading facility has received a 49-per-cent reduction in their assessed value over last year, to $4.9 million from $9.4 million. Nearby, Chevron’s tank farm will get a 26-per-cent reduction, to $15.4 million from $20.8 million. Currently, municipal councils are not allowed to adjust tax rates for different classes of property by more than five per cent each year. The government-appointed B.C. Assess- ment Authority, which includes former real estate agents, has recently embarked on a publicity campaign in anticipation of a flood of appeals from angry homeowners. In their pitch, they have told the public that increased assessments do not necessarily mean an increase in taxes. Operation Fightback will be,urging Bur- naby council to support the group’s fight and is planning a mass appeal submission by the Oct. 31 deadline. Fairey noted that a similar action by homeowners in the early Eighties resulted in a decision to review all increased assessments in the province, dur- ing a time when real estate prices, through speculation, skyrocketed. The group also criticizes the limited operating hours of the B.C. Assessment Authority offices, noting the difficulty for working homeowners to gain access to information in preparing appeals. Fairey said the present system of bi- annual assessments, occurring during a period of intense property speculation, should be replaced by a system which addresses the inequity between industrial and residential properties.