News

Lions can’i reserve Centennial Park in perpetuity

Dates cannot be reserved in
perpetuity for events in municipal
parks, Central Saanich aldermen
agreed May 4, turning down a
request from the Central Saanich
Lions.

The Lions asked the municipal-
ity to reserve part of Centennial
Park each Easter Sunday for the
annual Easter Egg hunt sponsored
by the service club.

Club secretary Ken Macdonald
said the service club had held the
Easter Egg hunt in the park for 18
years.

“This annual event has been

going on for so long that our club
was quite surprised to find that,
this year, the area in the park that
we have regularly used for this
event had been booked by another
organization for the same Easter
Egg Hunt purpose on the same day
as we were planning,” Macdonald
added.

He said the Lions Club came
close to canceling their event.
Fortunately, the Lions Club did go
ahead with their Easter Egg hunt
as the other organization canceled
their event a few days before the
holiday.

Continued from Page A6

taxes is another canard.)

The general population also
pays by enduring increased pollu-
tion, crowded roads and schools,
increased crime and the general
environmental deterioration which
always comes with increased pop-
ulation density.

It is a grave responsibility for a
council to decide upon more
development increasing popula-
tion density. Do they take all
factors into consideration? Is it
possible that a member of council
will profit from the change, creat-
ing conflict of interest?

Are the officials aware of the
almost uncontrolled youth gangs
which are springing up in areas of
high density population? And do
they wonder about their children
and their grandchildren and how
they will long for the green hills
and open spaces we once took for
granted?

Many believe that you cannot
stop “progress” but it can and
must be controlled and regulated.
This not an “up drawbridge” men-
tality. It simply recognizes how
much of the environment can be
destroyed and still support a
healthy and enjoyable place to live.

No development can take place
without the conscious decision of
a mayor and council. They must be
held accountable and made to
reflect the will of the majority and
the needs of future generations.
Lloyd Harrop
North Saanich

STA must really
return fo reality

Editor:

We find the statements attrib-
uted to Saanich Teachers’ Associa-
tion president, Vincenza Cameron,
in The Review April 22 to be
tiresome nonsense (Board
blasted).

In B.C. we have two groups of
parents. Those who are genuinely
concerned that their children are
being very badly educated but do
not realize that they can and must
demand change.

The other group are those par-
ents who happily release their
offspring to that “‘free’’ baby-
sitting establishment loosely
referred to as a “‘school’’ for at
least part of each weekday. Regret-
tably, the latter group are the
present education system’s major-
ity constituency.

Once upon a time teaching was
a true profession. Today in B.C. it
has become a refuge for cocoon-
seeking trade unionists too many
of whom are simply grossly over-
paid, glorified baby-sitters.

Cameron’s mewlings are ironic.
Already over 90 per cent of School
District budgets are siphoned off
to pay not only the salaries of
teachers, administrators and sup-
port staff but, in addition, gener-
ous benefits such as health insur-

ance, dental insurance and other
benefits as well.

Instead of more money being
needed for the education system
there is an excess and too much is
being squandered. We have
bloated salaries and benefits for
teachers; empire-building, over-
paid administrators; perk-loving,
politician-aspiring school trustees;
the taxpayer-funded sherry party
masquerading as the B.C. Trustee’s
Association, the self-serving gra-
duate school for incompetent for-
mer teachers which has congealed
into the Ministry of Education; the
summer-dormant fleets of school
buses; the summer-empty but
expensively maintained school
buildings for two months every
year, to mention but a few areas in
which savings are evident.

If the B.C. education system
were the subject of an efficiency

- study — and one is long overdue

— we would probably reduce the
present taxpayer cost of education
by at least one third.

Cameron and all BCTF teachers
in B.C must return — willingly or
reluctantly — to reality. Teachers
are pricing themselves out of jobs
and their clawing at the anachro-
nistic straw that there are infinite
taxpayer dollars for education sim-
ply highlights their divorce from
the real world.

We would have respect for Cam-
eron and her molly-coddled band
if they were to adopt the quality
education of children as their true
aspiration instead of their inflated
cost gouging of taxpayers for a
totally misguided and inefficient
system of “education.”

Let her and them, in simple
terms which even they should
understand, return to reality from
the cloud-nine nirvana in which
they currently languish.

A.V. Gordon

B.C. Property Tax

Reform Committee

Victoria

World watches
whales’ future

Editor:

Recently, an article appeared in
a daily newspaper regarding a
report issued by the consultants
who were commissioned by the
late Social Credit government and
federal Fisheries regarding the
possible damage that could be
caused by siltation resulting from
logging in the Tsitika Valley and its
effect on the rubbing beach at
Robson Bight.

One headline read “Study pro-
ves logging related erosion won’t
harm Robson Bight — MacBlo.”
Such statements surely call for a
rebuttal, particularly since the
headline appears so definitive and
the opinions of MacBlo are so
unconvincing.

Regarding the question of silt in
the streams of the Tsitika Valley,
Derek Ferguson (MacBlo’s man-
ager in that area) declines to

He asked if the Lions Club
could have a standing booking of
Centennial Park for the Easter Egg
Hunt each year.

Ald. Ian Cameron suggested the
Lions Club be given the right of
first refusal.

Ald. Clarence Bolt said the
service club may not want to
continue operating the Easter Egg
Hunt forever:

He suggested the Lions Club be
advised of the usual municipal
procedure for reserving space in
local parks.

Council members agreed.

Topay's| #
REAL
ESTATE

Arlene Davidsen

‘Tim WZahar

IF YOU SMOKE

Yes, we know everyone picks on smokers these days, and we
know that it’s a hard habit to kick, even if you want to. lf you do
smoke, and if your home is now for sale, making it a temporary_
smoke-free zone may help it sell more quickly.

Remember that of all the five senses, smell is one of the most
powerful, People can walk into an otherwise fabulous house that Is
exactly what they want, and if it smells like a an all night poker game,
we just can’t excite them. In fact, all they can think about is getting
out in the fresh air. If you do smoke but don’t want to use your house’ ~
as an excuse to quit, keep it aired out. Try to smoke in other places;
maybe on your back porch if the weather is good. If it’s not try the
garage or taking a drive. Avoid heavily scented room fresheners.
Their smell on top of musty. smoke can be worse than smoke alone.
Wash off walls and consider having your drapes and furniture
professionally cleaned. If you are not ready for Smoke Enders, at
least try to end smoke inside your house until it sells.

Let our years of experience and market saavy serve you. Consult
with us Tim or Arlene on your next move, or give us a call at
652-5171 NRS Properities Ltd.

PUBLIC
NOTICE

Please be advised that as of MONDAY,
MAY 18th, our recycle drop off bin for
glass, cans and newspapers will be
relocated from 2057 Mills Road to”
Sandown Race Track, Corner of
McDonald Park Rd. & Glamorgan Rd.
We would appreciate the public's help in
keeping the area clean in order for the
bins to remain at this site.

DO YOUR PART...
RECYCLE.

emphatically reassure the public
as to whether such siltation could
have detrimental effects, yet he
definitively states that “...the study
shows that any silt created by
logging would not be deposited on
the pebbly beaches of Robson
Bight.”

When one considers the fact that
MacBlo were so sure they had the
possible ““blowdown” problem
well under control when they
applied for the rights to log that
area,...and the devastation that has
occurred in the Lower Tsitika Val-
ley during this past winter, surely
it is now reasonable to question
their predictions regarding the
preservation, in perpetuity, of the
rubbing beach at Robson Bight.

Little wonder that influential
animal rights groups and well
known conservationists in both the
U.K. and continental Europe are
now clammering for detailed
information on the risks the killer
whales of B.C. are being subjected
to by the constant encroachment of
the logging companies upon the
whales centuries” old habitat.

Has anyone considered what
eventually happened to the sealing
industry in easter Canada?

Politicians and “powers-that-
be” in the logging industry are
telling us, after just a relatively few
months of study, that “logging-
related erosion won’t harm Rob-
son Blight” (or the killer whales)!

We have to ask the question “If
we can’t trust our politicians and
the logging companies,...just who
in this day and age, can we trust?”

In the name of all that nature
holds sacred, let us act now to
preserve the priceless treasure that
exists within our midst, for, within
weeks, or at the very most, the next
few months, it may well be too
late! The world is watching.

Andy Bigg

Duncan

IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTION PLEASE CALL

IL/A/1/D/L/A/WI at 383-4392

COMMUNITY PLAN
NEIGHBOURHOOD INFORMATION MEETINGS

Tell us what you want for your town in the future.
It's your chance to comment on and learn more
about the Official Community Plan.

Bring your ideas and questions about issues such as Housing,
Commercial/Industrial, Transportation and Waterfront.

Written submissions are welcome.

Meet Mayor Marie Rosko, Advisory Planning Commission
Chairman Reg Teeney and members of Council and the APC.

INFORM ATION Me ECE aoNe. Ges

Tuesday, May 26 6:30-9:00 pm
Tuesday, June2 6:30-9:00 pm
Thursday, June 4 6:30-9:00 pm

Greenglade School
Sanscha Hall Annex
North Saanich Middle School