SPACED-OUT AND SEEDY WHAT'S HAPPENING TO VANCOUVER?

I have lived here for 57 years. I remember my family taking the
inter-urban tram from South Burnaby to the B.C. Electric Station on
East Hastings to shop safely at Woodward's and Spencers and have lunch
at the Only Fish Cafe. If mother were alive today, I wouldn't take her
down there in an armoured military vehicle.

I also remember Granville Street glittering with fine shops,
restaurants and theatres. Now, with a few exceptions, it has become a
depressing, rundown haven for drug addicts and their dealers.

Whose fault is this? I believe it is our fault, we long-time
residents who have sat back and allowed the unacceptable to become the
norm.

We must force our politicians and courts to clean up this city. It is
time for average citizens to say no to organized crime and the control
it has taken of our streets and port. Vancouver's obscene drug problem
and the crimes it breeds will only be stopped by a grassroots movement
of citizens who have reached their moral limits. We have the power to
do this. Do we have the will?

Mike Steele

Vancouver