6 ~ Wednesday, January 29, 1986 - North Shore News

News Viewpoint

Gas and debt

IT THE QUEEN... SHE
Tee PICURE

record high gasoline prices at a time
; when world crude has slumped almost
~-to:1976 price levels tells us as much about
ourselves as about the product.

_"" "Foday’s prices don’t only affect the motorist,
of course. Their impact.on transportation is
‘reflected in the cost of: most other everyday
goods and services. Directly or indirectly, every
: Canadian ‘pays for the $2.50 gallon. —

Yet Energy Minister Pat Carney holds out
little hope of any immediate price relief within
. the next two or three months. And undoubtedly

T he mounting roar of protest against

with: good reason from the government’ Ss.

viewpoint.
: Everyone in the country — from provincial

premiers and university presidents to farmers

‘and fishermen — is screaming for money from
., Ottawa, which so‘far has barely managed to
‘make even a tiny dint in the horrendous $38
: -billion annual deficit inherited by the Tories
“from ‘long years. of. free-spending Liberal
‘mismanagement. - ,
:That deficit is Canada’s biggest and most
‘darigerous problem. It’s the root cause of most

‘of:-eur current .économic woes, including.

.. unemployment and the plummeting Canadian

"dollar — which may yet spark a renewed round |

‘of high interest to further stifle recovery...

*... Excise and sales taxes, the major item in pre-

- sent. gas prices, are the:government’s second
iggest reventic source, and a fast-working one.

reduction, -without tax hikes elsewhere or.
‘cuts in) the handouts demanded by so many ©
ther: interest, groups, ‘would. only add: to the ~

menacing mountain of debt...

Since ‘gas taxes hurt almost gyenone equal. ,

est, Vancouver, -meet™ Cheverly,
aryland. “Tiddlycove already. has
“quite a recordin banning obzoxious
a sig ounds and substances likely to offend
its genteel i inhabitants: But the gente: el suburb
of. Washington, D.C.; goes one better — it even

’ bans: pickups: ‘from ‘parking on «its Streets -

_because they may “‘encourage riff-raff’’. »” Now
* THERE’S:.something for ‘West Van’s -city
fathers {and mother) tc to get their teeth into!

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“Publisher: Peter Speck

: Editor-in-Chiet

Operations Manager.
: _ Noel Wright

Berni Hillias d

Managing Editor
Nancy Weatherley

Advertising Director
“Linda Stewart :

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by North Shore Free Press Lid. and distributed to every door on the North
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©1986 North Shore Free Press itd. Ail rights reserved.

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Member of the B.C. Press Council

afm. 56,245 (average, Wednesday
SDA DIVISION Friday & Sunday)

Necrexa

THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE

986-1937

REMOVED FROM THE
CANADIAN DOLLAR

“CAN: YOU. REMEMBER when -you fast read a paper. So what role should
nice néwspaper article about Brian Mulroney? If the media play?
so, [’d say your memory’ s in Pretty, good shape.

Or about Bill Bennett or

any of his ministers? Bill has
even” been
-, publishing his own newspa-
‘|. per: to. tell his“side of the

reduced to

story. ..

A politician ‘friend of mine
(yes, I do have one or two)
has coined a proverb to
describe the situation. ‘“The
greatest tyranny of all,’? he
observes periodically with a
tolerant smile, ‘‘is the tyr-
anny of the press,”’

His comment hasn’t yet-

kept me awake at night, but
occasionally I ponder it
while shaving. By and large,
once the traditiona! short
“honeymoon’’ period is
over, the media do tend to
get a bit rough on our
elected representatives. Most
of them, thank heaven, are a
good deal better than we
paint them.

What my friend forgets,
however, is ‘that democracy,
by definition, is an adver-
sarial system. ‘Do it our
way,’’ say the guys who
won.'Ycu're all wet, we'll
get you yet,’’ say those who
lost.

It worked fine (for the on-

One aspect of democracy

that’s’ often overlooked -is

Noel Wright. -

ly time in history) in the
market-square democracy of
ancient Athens. All the citi-
zens turned up there every-
day to watch and listen to.
the boys going at it hammer
and tongs, and made. up
their minds on the spot when
it was time for a change.

No need for ink-stained
wretches or sneaker-shod TV
cameramen 10 tell them what
it was all about, or what to
do.

But with 16 million voters
scattered over five thousand
miles of real, estate,
democracy isn’t that simple.
For 15,9 million of them it
wouldn't work at all without
the tube and the hometown

LETTER OF THE DAY

Dumpers lack civic pride

Dear Editor:

We are fortunate in North
Vancouver to have many
natural wooded areas with
paths and trails to be en-
joyed by anyone who likes
walking. North Vancouver
and District should be‘com-
plimented. on the new

publication of maps of. the,

many walking trails.

I am dismayed to see some
of these areas being used as
private dumping sites by res-
idents who live within
‘‘wheel barrow distance’’.

Our garbage collection is

regular, efficient “and
generous; we have Premier
Street landfill’ where
residents may dispose of any
waste at no charge. So it is
difficult to understand why
homeowners who take pride
in their homes and gardens
should think it quite all right
to dump all their . garden
trash in the nearby woods.
An example of this may be
seen in the woods and ravine
near Brooksbank School, a
few. blocks east. of Grand
Boulevard.

The by law sets a max-
imum fine for dumping at

® focus ®

Media ‘tyranny’ exposed —

really - need bother about

* keeping the winners happy.

Armed with thé -keys ‘to the’:

- till and’. ‘orders-in-council,
“they’re - quite” capable of

keeping themselves happy
until’“election day looms,
even if they won't admit it.
The primary job. of. the
“media, therefore, is to. keep
“the: consenting: losers happy

until their turn arrives again.

Instead, of storming —bar--

ticades,-'the losers get their . -

jollies-by reading of all the
goofs the winners are mak-

“ing; writing rude letters to

““consent’?. That is to ‘say, a

‘gentlemen’s agreement that
the losers will await. their

hext chance. without: trying -

to turf the winners out early
by shedding blood, bashing
in heads. and committing
property damage over $200.
Uganda and various other

Third World states are ex- —
amples of what happens to.

democracies where they
don’t know about. ‘‘con-
sent’. Totalitarian states, of
course, have their own effi-
cient method of dealing with
losers and don’t have to
worry about ‘‘consent’’ at
all..

In the democratic scheme
of things, too, no ‘outsider

$250 and garden trash is not
excluded. Yet the by law
appears to be unenforceable.
A District employee com-
ments that the posting of
“NO DUMPING’ ‘signs:
seems to some to be an‘in-
vitation to dump! When the

Parks Department recently ~

developed and completed a
new soccer field in the area,
they erected a ‘‘NO DUMP-
ING” sign, then threw their
temporary fences into the
ravine a few yards away!

I doubt if the ‘‘dumper’’
who was photographed in

the act by the North Shore —

‘the editor. about“ them and . -

being: photographed for TV.
walking ~ around with
placards.

Such is the unique ‘con-
tribution of the media to the
democratic | ‘process.

Everyone is kept happy in- .

side while pretending to be
unhappy outside. Prime
ministers and premiers don’t
get shot. Their supporters
don’t get clobbered with
baseball bats. Nobody sets
their Lincolns and Mercedes
on fire.

{s that media tyranny, my
politican friend, when we’re
actually helping to save your

“hide from the mob? And

say, did you hear about
Brian’s pet turkey ...?

News cameraman some
months ago (published on
your front page) was pro-
secuted,

We enjoy our. walks in
these woods .and wonder
what can be done to instil
some sense of civic pride and
responsibility in those who
show such disregard for
public property. Now that
outdoor burning: is pro-
hibited in the District, the
problem will likely escalate
unless some action is taken.

Bert Cowan
North Vancouver