AG - Wednesday, November 25, 1981 . North Shore News

eS

Whose interests? |.

Even West Vancouver taxpayers sym-
pathetic to unions may find it a little difficult
to share the indignation of the West Van
Municipal Employees Association over
council’s decision to contract out garbage
collection to a private firm.

‘There is apparently no question of union
members being the losers. On the contrary, a
number of the former municipal garbage
collectors will have the opportunity to join
the private firm as “brokers” operating their
own trucks and earning appreciably more
than they did as city hall employees. The
others will <be- offered alternative em-
ployment with the municipality. No full-time
jobs are at stake.

Meanwhile, the saving to West Van
taxpayers (who include union members) is
estimated at some 33% or $230,000 per year.
That's also the percentage saving reported by
Delta and Surrey which have used the same
private disposal firm under bonded contract
for the past six years.

Service there is rated as highly efficient
and the private firm’s “brokers” gross up to
30% more than they were paid by the
municipality.

_ In short, everyone is happy. Except the
union leaders.

It’s natural, of course, that the latter
should be up in arms over the loss of dues-
paying members, together with their most
potent bargaining weapon: the threat of a
garbage strike. But in the present case that
self-interest appears to be at odds with the
interests of the community and even of some
of their own followers.

Alligator sense

A lawyer who has built the second most
powerful political party in Denmark by
campaigning for the abolition of taxes under
the slogan “Tax evasion is patriotism” has got
a four-year jail term and a $1 million fine
for.... tax evasion.

The moral to Mogens Glistrup's sad story?
Never get an alligator mad at you until you're
safely across the river.

sunday”

ews

narth shore.

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North Vancouver, B.C.

Once the native land
claims are settled in the
Yukon Territories, we can
expect another graphic
demonstration of how the
federal government

negotiates with other levels
of government.

There are still 25,000
citizens in the Yukon, 5,000
of them Indian people, and
almost to a man, woman and
child, they want to become a
full-fledged province within
Canadian confederation.
That’s not much of a size for

Saturday on the North Shore was Ladies’ Day.
It was also Shoppers’ Day. And, as the rain belted
down in torrents, it was a day to play things safe —
if you ventured forth to play at all.

Taking the last point first,
the local 1981 municipal and
school board elections
provided further proof that
the road to hell is paved with
good intentions.

A News survey of 414
households from Deep Cove
to Horseshoe Bay. con-
ducted November 15, asked:

“Will you’ vote in the
November 21 municipal
elections?”

“Yes.” said 76 per cent.
“No,” said 12 per cent.
“Don’t know,” said 11 per

cent, while only onc per cent
refused to say.

The final answer at the
polling stations, alas, was
decidedly different -— an
overall average of 27.5 per
cent. North Vancouver
District’ covered itsclf with
glory by attracting nearly 38
per cent of cligible voters.
North Van City and West
Vancouver limped home
with 23 per cent and 22 per
cent turnouts respectively

These figures are con-
soling to the losers and food
for sobering thought to the
winners. If, for example, you
won with 59 per cent of the
North Van City vote, you
were actually chosen by only
59 per cent of 23 per cent
that is to say, by 13.6 per
cent of the cligible voters

Successful candidates and
the average 72 per cent of
the North Shore clectorate
that sat on its hands might
both do well to mull that
one

Meanwhile the ladies had

it mostly their own way. Out
of the seven female con-
tenders, five were victorious
-- two incumbents and three
outsiders.

WOMEN WINNERS

The most spectacular was
alderman elect Marilyn
Baker in North Van District,
making a comeback after a
two-year sabbatical which
took her on a sailing ad-
venture halfway round the
world.

Mrs. Baker, who served as
a District alderman from
1975 to 1979, topped the poll
by a cool 1,563 votes over
1979 poll-topper Ernic Crist -
- which shows what a little
rest and change can do at the

right point in a political
carcer.

In the same race, in
cidentally, tax assessment
crusader Betty Griffin, a
former provincial Com
munist candidate, failed to

win o seat by only 93 votes

out of ai total of about
11,300. The ladies, it
seemed, could do little
wrong, regardless of
ideology

Aside from that. the
voters showed ai marked

preference for sticking with
the faces they knew Of the
12 incumbent North Shore
aldermen = and trustees
coming back for more. only
two got the boot

North Van City clectors
(all 23° per cent of them)
retumed their entire six
member council intact

a province, smaller in
population even than tiny
Prince Edward Island, but
the potential economic clout
of the Yukon is tremendous.
Elected Conservative
leader of the Yukon govern-
ment, Chris Pearson, claims
that the Yukon could make
it now economically as a full
province, if the territory had
full claim to the revenue of
natural resources the way
the other 10 provinces have
under constitutional right.
The Trudeau government
is still fighting with half the

other provinces over rights ~

to resources, because of the
revenue which those
resources produce. Ottawa
has even restructured the tax
system to encourage
resource development in
“Canada lands” — the ter-
ritories and the sea bed —
rather than in the provinces.

Native land claims are a
key in the Yukon, because
only when it has been

. decided how much territory

and how much revenue will
be going to native people
will the federal government
and the Yukon government
know what is on _ the
bargaining table.

Playing it safe on a rainy day

by
Noel Wright

having carlier
Mayor Jack
acclamation

In the Distnct, Alderman
Gordon Rose went down to
defeat Even if Marilyn
Baker hadn't been around,
he might well have been
clobbered by Betty Griffin
who led him in the losers’
parade by nearly 800 votes

West Van stayed truc to
incumbent Aldermen Diana
Hutchinson = and Dave
Finlay. and finally chose
worthy “underdog” Gordon
Rowntree - making his tenth
bid for office -- to fill the seat
being vacated by retiring
Alderman Gcorge Morfitt

re-elected
Loucks by

TRUSTEE UPSET

in the West Van school

board contest however

Canadian Comment

BY PETER WARD

Count on the federal gov-
ernment to hold out the
promise of full provincial
status for the Yukon as a
carrot to gain agreement to
Ottawa retaining jurisdiction
over all or most of the
natural resources of the
territory. Ottawa will reason
that all of Canada has in-
vested in the Yukon to
develop those resources,

ergo all or most of the
revenue belongs to all
Canadians.

The trouble with that line
of reasoning is that the fed-
eral government regards
money collected = as
belonging to the party in
power, not something given
willingly by the taxpayers for
use in the interest of tax-
payers.

If Yukon negotiators are
smart, they'll hold out for
jurisdiction over resources
and not allow themselves to
be stampeded into giving
something away to the fed-
eral government for all time.
With title to those resources,
the Yukon can become a
viable full province, with a
bright future, and that’s as it
should be.

Tiddlycove voters -- hit this
year with the highest school
taxes in the province — took
the bit between their teeth.
Symbolically, they threw out
the sole imcumbent can-
didate, Fran McDowell, but
nevertheless continued to
put their money on the ladies
-- rejecting two male con-
tenders in favor of com-
paratively little known Dawn
Sikula and Margot Furk,
who promise somchow to
combine educational cx-
cellence with a sharp pencil
at budget time.

Wide-open Sunday
shopping in North Van was
endorsed by fairly = slim
majorities. The City, with a
59 per cent “yes” vote is
already implementing it. In
the District, where the
favorable vote was only 53

per cent, council is still
agonizing but will probably
fal) into line Sunday

opening of home im-
provement stores (backed by
three out of four voters) ts 4
certainty

Finally, amalgamation of
North Van City and District
is now “a dead issue”. ac
cording to District Mayor
Don Bell. City voters refused
by a 53 per cent mayority
even to authorize a study of
the subject.

Not a particularly exciting
election day. But a safe onc
for municipal democracy.
with evidence of much
commonsense being
exercised by the minority
who care.

Typical of North Shore life
in geoncral during the other
404 days