6 - Wednesday, August 14, 1985 - North Shore News Editorial Page Age pays off he Ontario Human Rights Commission has ruled it is discriminatory for in- surance companies to charge higher premiums for drivers under the age of 25. Younger drivers tend to be involved in more accidents. And this pushes up in- surance rates for all. But charging young drivers more because they might have an ac- cidest is not the answer. ICBC does not charge on the basis of age. The government-owned corporation says driving records should be the only criterion. And they’re right. There are good and bad drivers of all ages. Only those with poor driving and accident records should be made to pay higher in- Surance rates. And those rates should be such that an average driver with a clean re- cord is not penalized. Charging young drivers. more, simply because they are young, assumes they are guilty ‘of poor driving habits before they have proven otherwise. Meanwhile, someone in a higher age group with a poor track re- cord gets a break because of an eerlier birth date. ; ; Understandably, insurance companies plan to appeal the commission’s ruling, saying it increases premiums for other age groups. Realistically, they should look at radically restructuring insurance rates. Perhaps an * equal base rate should be levied against all drivers. This rate would only increase with traffic tickets and accidents. The increase should be dramatic, leaving those with poor driving records to pick up -the onerous tab for the major portion of insurance costs. Supernatural wamis and ESP experts from all over the world will coaverge on the Lower Mainland next month to peddle their supernatural wares at the annual Psychic Fair. Perhaps this would be a good time for the Ben- nett government te get some professional ad- vice — their own crystal ball gazing into the solving of B.C.’s problems leaves a bit to be desired. wut weet ott sna mt st vencouvte ‘north shore.’ news. oa ave’ Oe: SUNDAY ( WRONWEROAY | FRIDAY Display Advertising 980-0511 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 988-2131 Circutation 986-1337 Subscriptions 985-2131 1139 Lonsdate Ave., North Vancouver, 8.C. V7M 2H4 Publisher Peter Speck Genera! Manager Roger McAfee Operations Manager Bern Hilliard Advertising Director - Sales Linda Stewart Advertising Director - Admin. 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Press Council = 0b 56,245 (average, Wednesday SDA DIVISION Friday & Sunday} SN’: THIS PAPER !S RECYCLABLE WARNING SIGHS — PART 2 Tech change dam to burst SUPPOSE YOU LIVED in a small town just downstream from.a big dam. And suppose, one day, some engineers came down from the dam to warn everybody that it was about to burst wide open and change your life forever. By GRAHAM LEA United Party MLA, Prince Rupert You would expect your town’s mayor and council to get together with you and your neighbors, to see what could be done, right? But suppose your mayor said he was too busy plann- ing next year’s local fair. And the aldermen said they had to give all their attention to rezoning the suburbs to attract a new factory and a shopping mall, Wouldn’t you worry a Jittle? If so, start worrying now. Because something far more devastating than a dam burst is going to happen to B.C. over the next few years, and neither the Socreds or the NDP are giving it any alten- tion. The problem is the impact of technological change on jobs. One job in five has already been fost in the forest industry, not through recession or slumping foreign markets, but by the introduction of new machin- ery. And the experts say that’s only the first trickle (through the cracks in the dam. The flood will soon follow. Tech change in the workplace is aimed at the working middle class —~ the skilled workers who make the good wages and are sup- posed to be relatively safe from ups and downs in the ecanomy. But they’re not saie any more, RESTRUCTURING Listen to Dr. Arthur Cor- start to dell of the Science Council of Canada: “The introduction of machine intelligence into the manufacturing and service sectors is leading to a divi- . sion of workers into those who are highly skilled and those who are unskilled.”’ In other words, the new technology will mean jobs for the programmer and systems analyst at one end of the scale, and jobs for the unskilled assembly line worker or cash register pun- cher at the other end. For those in the middle — which is most of the workforce — there is no se- curity. A job that required years of training and experi- ence can simply disappear, replaced by a microchip. In a study entitled The Uneasy Eighties: The Transformation to an In- formation Society, Dr. Cor- dell noted the example of a newspaper that switched over to computerized typeset- ting. The total number of jobs on one shift at the printing plant was cut from 52 to 29. Twelve typesetters were replaced by five video display terminal operators. Ten correctors were replaced by another five VDT opera- tors, and seven people replaced 15 layout workers. The jobs that were eliminated were held by highly skilled workers who earned good salaries. The low-payed VDT operators who replaced them needed only basic typing skills. What happened at that newspaper can happen in any industry in B.C. and it probably will happen in the next ten years. ‘The workforce willbe. restructured. There will be good jobs for the computer- literate professionals. there will be job-work jobs for hordes of keyboard opera- tors. And massive unemployment for tens of thousands with unneeded skills. There is no hypothetical threat, no ‘‘what-if’’ scenario from a stience fic- tion movie. This is the future, and the near future at that. So what are our elected leaders doing about it? What plans are in the works to get us through this wrenching transition from the old economic structure to the new information economy? NO PLANS The NDP have no plans. They're running for cover on the issue of tech change. They know that the new technology is going to hit hardest at the unionized workforce. So far, the reac- tion of union leadership to tech change is that they're against it. So the NDP have to be against it, even though it’s as unstoppable as the rain. The Socreds have no plans. Right now the gov- ernment’s entire attention is focused on Expo 86 and NGEL WRIGHT on holiday their Specia! Enterprise Zones. They're hoping that one or both of these whiz- bang initiatives will create an economic miracle and put everybody back to work. Both old-line parties in. B.C. are acting as if there are no cracks in the dam. They’re trying hard to believe that the future will be just like the past. But if you and I are going to be living in that future all too soon. Thousands of jobless skilled workers are’ already living there now, wondering if they will ever. work again. “ It’s: time our leaders faced up to tech change. Instead of driving our best academics out of the province, Victoria should be putting some money into research that will tell us what’s going to hap- pen io our workforce in the next few years — so we can start planning how to survive the crisis. Instead of dithering on about full employment, the NDP should be leaning on its labor allies to develop a comprehensive enlightened position on tech change — so that industry and labor can begin to get their act together, And our leaders in poli- tics, business and labor should be putting this issue squarely before the people of British Columbia. It’s time somebody leveled with you about what's going to hap- pen to your job in the next few years. Expo and SEZ’s won't stop the dam from bursting. We need a plan to handle massive structural unemployment in the !990s. And we need a vision of a new economy for British Columbia. This time, we can’t afford to do nothing until the flood waters are up to our necks.