1 ’ 6 ~ Wednesday, October 4, 1995 - North Shore News Nort D RNA ANP ENURENER El TI DO RENT 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4.- PETER SPERH Publisher: 985-2131 (191) Chris Johnson . Cperations Manager 985-2131 (166) Doug For Comptroiter 985-2131 (133) Timotiy Ranshart inde Stewart Managing Editor . 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SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday} errant CcALaatOn M0 TRON commana savernrens pe) & , Entire contents : © 1995 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved. news viewpoint "T vescans HITTING the books in North : Vancouver Schooi District 44. Unfortunately, the beaks are in the accounting department and the hits ave the _ kind the district would prefer to do without. ‘- A Sept. 29 story in the North Shore News reveals that the operating deficit faced by District 44 is far more serious than originalty ' forecast by the District 44 board. But it is not the first such revelation to cause concern over ' budget management in the district. Earlier this year, taxpayers were shocked ‘to learn that District 44 had doled out $300,600 in banked sick-day payouts to four, retiring District 44 administrators. ‘ The district also revealed that it would he running a $1.7 million deficit. o Area taxpayers now discover that the,real deficit facing District 44 is $2.6 mittion, almost $1 million more than previously esti- tuebec’s abs COULD THE Quebec refer- endum be won (or lost) OUTSIDE Quebec? If you'd be happy with a 51%-49% result, it’s mathematically possible. Circulating in B.C. and the Rest of Canada (ROC) since last month have been a leaflet and registration form from an outfit called The Committee To Register Voters Outside Quebec. It appears to enjoy the official blessing of the Director General of Quebec © . Elections, whom recipients are invited to call, toll-free, at 1-800- 363-0963. The leaflet advises that “If you date of retumn litting th mated. District 44 treasurer Len Berg stated that “it was not a vintage year for revenue.” No kidding. {t remained, however, a good year for spending. / District 44’s. budget is currently closing in on $100 million. According to pre- liminary budget figures from the Education Ministry, District 44 spencis less on adminis- tration, maintenance and transportation but $167 more per-student ov instruction than the average per-student instruction cost of five other similar-sized B.C. school districts. Something is seriously amiss financially in District 44, — : North Vancouver-Lonsdale MLA. David Schreck, who deserves credit for his pursuit of fiscal accountability in District 44, has called for the board’s dismissal and replace- ment with an interim trusteeship. For once he could be right. nt vote! elsewhere. On that basis Quebecers living since October 1993 in other parts of Canada are estimated to total at least 70,000 and possibly as high as 100,000 — which brings us to the election math, Quebec has approximately 4.9 million eligible voters. Assurning a high 80% turnout with the usual - number of spoiled ballots, that would produce a total (100%) of about 3.9 million acceptable votes. Which in tum works out to 39,000 votes for every percentage point. On the same reckoning 3 70% voter tumout would result in 34,000 votes for every percentage hither and yon “If the Quebec but temporarily assigned were a qualified voter when you left Quebec and have been outside Quebec for under two years you are probably eligible” to vote by mail in the upcoming referendum. Just what “probably” means is left for the reader to nose out else- where. | Buried in the otherwise short, simple registration form comes the likeliest explanation of “probably”. . Applicants are asked to declare “I intend to return to Quebec: Planned date of return is uncertain, a foot- note helpfully advises the applicant to enter “unknown.” _ Ho-hum ...! Numerically, the “expatriate” Quebcee vote is not to be sneezed at. Statistics Canada figures sug- gest an AVERAGE of some 25,000-30,000 Quebecers have left La Belle Province annually since 1981. Add to these the consider- able number of civil servants and foreign service staff domiciled in point. So even with an 80% turnout the expatriate vote could, in theory, make the difference between 49% and 51% either way. With a turnout © of 70% it could give one side as: much as a three-percentage-point lead. es And while these margins may seem slim, never forget that Parizeau’s PQ won last September's election by a mere 0.3% of the popular vote. Pension principle payment | Dear Editor: " Sept. 11, 1995, was a day taxpayers must remember. That was the day that every Member of Parliament had the chance to opt out of the outra- geously rich parliamentary pen- sion plan... ; .. |The good news is: that 57 MPs — 5! Reformers and six Liberals — had the guts and the principle to put their conscience . ahead of cash. By doing so.” they saved taxpayers an esti- mated $33 million.: . The bad news is that the other 238 MPs who decided to keep clinging to the pension trough could potentially cost taxpayers more.than $218 mil- lion in. lifetime pension: pay- outs, ‘ It’s wrong for MPs to keep a pension ‘that’s far richer than anything Canadians in the pri-" vate sector could ever hope to: afford. 7 Even worse, Liberal . MPs: are keeping this perk. while - preaching restraint to the rest of us, It’s a case of “do as I say — not as Ido.” : Fortunately, taxpayers can still have the last word. When the next federal election rolls around, remember Sept. Lit: 1995. . ; If your MP refused to do the’ ‘right thing and opt out on that »Q; day than make him or her pay |} with your vote. ge That's the only tactic muny MPs seem to understand. °. ‘Bavid Somerville res at President,. The National. | - Citizens’ Coailtion wee MAILBOX POLICY. “ LETTERS TO the’ editor: must be legible (preferably typewritten) and include your name, full address and telephone number. Submissions can be faxed to 985-21040 > riddle Which makes one wonder again about that “when-are-you-return-©: ing?” query on the absentee voter. registration form. Many Quebecers who have left since 1993 probably have no intention of returning any- ‘time soon and might thus be pre--. sumed to be “No” voters in the ref- erendum. ’ et . Under the Quebec election act |. : they must be offered.an opportuni- | ty to participate.. But given the neck-and-neck results that have ~- been produced by poll after poll, one could hardly blame the sepa-." ratists for deciding that the fewer __. non-residents voted the better. °°" So we may never know the” answer to the REAL question ?s" | raised by the registration forma: °~ >, how many qualified absentee”. ..:.. Quebec voters stand to be rejected because they won't say when - -they"ll be back home? ~ MANY HAPPY returns of Saturday, Oct.7, to West Van Kiwanian Bob Miler. eee WRIGHT OR WRONG: When you shoot an arrow of truth, dip it in honey.