i Teneo Gone Ca He Wyre. g ee: 7 Ine rey HOW YOU MAKING OUT WITH THE GST ?... A taxing situation Council members should be worry- ing more about the effect a 22 per cent municipal property tax increase will have on district residents than how many votes it will cost the district’s politicians. Qn Monday night, Aid. Ernie Crist in- troduced the district’s $57.4 million provi- sional operating budget with the pro- nouncement that it ‘‘means an automatic Joss of 1,000 votes in the community.’’ Fellow district Ald. Rick Buchois, while calling the 22 per cent increase ‘“uncons- cionable,’’ estimated the lost vote count at closer to 2,000. Neither estimate will concern taxpayers in the least; what will concern them is the dramatic jump in taxes. Crist blamed higher levels of government Decors VANCOUVER District for some of the predicted increase, saying they are not shouldering their share of public casts. He may be right. But he should also take a close iook at what share of the blame should be shouldered by the district and council members themselves. Last year, for example, the district’s aldermen raised their own annual salaries from $13,677 to $18,000, a 31 per cent in- crease. The salary for the district’s mayor went from $45,591 up to $54,000, an 18 per cent increase. Both salaries are by far the highest of any council members on the North Shore. _ So before fingers are pointed elsewhere, local politicians should take a good long look in the mirror for clues as to why district taxes are going up again. LETTER OF THE DAY Every child is perfect . Dear Editor: “He's perfect!’’ were the first words my husband said when he saw me after the birth of our first child. To look at him, Danny was perfect. He was a beautiful child, pink and perfectly proportioned. We delighted in his presence. The first few weeks were fine — then the incessant crying started, his health deteriorated and f spent most of my nights and all my days trying to relieve his pain. Months of heart-breaking hos- pitalization, testing and assess- ments by one specialist after the other followed. He was nineteen months old when he was finally diagnosed as having cerebral palsy Publisher Associate Editor Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Advertising Director . Linda Stewart — 90 per cent of the brain was destroyed -— he was labelled ‘profoundly retarded.’* We have such hopes and dreams for our children. It is almost im- possible for a parent to accept this type of tragedy, but accept it we must and so, after a period of mourning, I did. [ accepted Dan- ‘ny for what he was — not for what he could have been had he been normal but what he truly was — a permanert 4 month-old baby. Many would regard Danny’s life as fruitless, yet, few of us could claim to have accomplished as much in our lifetime. Everyone fortunate enough to have known Danny has been the ‘north:shore SUNDAY - WEOWESOAY - FMOAY North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent Fax suburban newspaper and qualitied under Schedule 111, Paragraph Ill of the Excise Tax Act, 1s published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday dy Nortn Snore Free Press Lid. and distribuied fo every dour an the North Shore Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year Mating rates available on request Submissions are welcome but we cannot accepl responsibility for unsolicited matenal including manuscripts and pictures which should pe accompanied by a stamped. addressed envelope 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V?7M 2H4 59,170 (average, Wednesday Friday & Sunday) SOA DIVISION ia Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions richer for the experience. Brother, sister, family, friends, casual ac- quaintances were better people because of Danny — less selfish, more patient, more loving and with a better sense of the true valve of life and Jove. How many of us can claim such a contribution? A perfect child indeed! One that brought me many years of joy, pleasure and love and taught me more than any book or experience ever could. He truly was the greatest gift I’ve ever had. Danny passed away when he was 18, Sylvia Wedepohl North Vancouver 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 VAN MEMBER North Shore owned and mariaged Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Pay ‘equity’ not as simple as it sounds TO THE guili trips 1 refuse to have laid on me any longer, please add women’s pay equity. It's not MY fault — sim- ply because I’m male — that Jill’s pay packet is only 65.8 per cent as fat as Jack’s. That latest Statistics Canada figure is a mere 0.2 per cent better than the average of 65.6 per cent of male wages earned by women five years earlier. “Shocking,’’ wails Phebe-Jane Poole of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, stabbing an accusing finger at the entire male half of the human race. ‘‘Employers are dcing absolutely nothing to change their discriminatory pay practices.”’ Is it REALLY so simple, Phebe-Jane? Remember first, that 5.8 per cent covers ALL TYPES of employees. The overwhelming ma- jority of women in lower-paid service jobs — from banks to fast food outlets — obviously lowers the overall average significantly. It also explains why the wage gap is widest in the service in- dustries, where women earn only 53.2 per cent as much as men. Relative to total staff, such opera- tions mostly require only a limited number of managerial positions, which naturally tend to be filled by the fess transient, more ca- reer-oriented male minority. The gap narrows dramatically in jobs where gender numbers are more equal, with the women will- ing and qualified to exercise the same responsibilities as men. Fe- male teachers, for example, earn 87 per cent of the male figure. ~ Maybe still not good enough, but getting much closer. Some other relevant numbers are worth pondering. StatsCan found that men, on average, work Louger at their job each week: 41.4 hours compared to 36.1 hours by women -- who have to do the housework as well when they get home. Moreover that, job for job, men tend to have a higher educa- tion level and to have been in the labor market longer. This last fact goes to the root of much of the pay equity problem: biology. Motherhood — and fin- ding work conditions compatible with it — can necessitate job- hopping, periods on UI or even longer absences from the work force. A recipe for steady career progress it is NOT. Then there’s bright new mom Jill — six months on a new job and able to do it just as well as Jack does after eight years. Does equity entitle her to Jack’s eight annual pay hikes as well? Noel » Wright HITHER AND YON No question about complete pay equity for women who stick with a career on equal terms with men. But if they don’t, or can’t, what does their return to the work force do to male job seniority? Let’s also admit that more than a few women — while liking, or needing, as much money as they feel personally able to earn — simply don’t WANT the hassle of responsibility and extra time de- mands heaped on many : ales in the full-time career rat race. And that’s how it’s likely to stay, Phebe-Jane, unti] men can have babies and all women think like men. So kindly stop blaming it on ME. I had no part iri making Jack and Jill the way they are. So beef about THAT to the Design Manager — up on the top fyvor! eee WRAP-UP: A weekend for North Van to celebrate the Land of the Thistle and its bard — first at the Robbie Burns Supper, 6 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Jan. 26, in Lynn Valiey Hall, 3590 Mountain Hwy., sponsored by the Si. An- * drews Caledonian Society (call 988-8803 or 988-6275 re tickets, like this minute!) ... Then on Sunday, Jan. 27, at 1:30 p.m. en- joy “A Wee Taste of Scotland” with Highland flings by the Sherril Dancers at Silver Harbour Centre, 144 East 22nd ... Many happy returns of today, Jan. 25, to North Van Kiwanian Jim Reavili .. And tomorrow, Jan. 26, a sparkl- ing first anniversary toast to North Van’s Jeff and Jenny Adams. ee WOMEN WORKERS dominate the service industries restaurants and banks to stores and house-cleaners.