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NEWS VIEWPOINT

onvenient
y-AS THE killing of a cougar on
, Monday a matter. of convenience
“VW or necessity?

‘ When one kills such an animal, it is said
“to have; been “‘destroyed.’’ Through the
‘magic of language, the act is sanitized.

«: The cougar is spoken.of in terms of be-
ing :a “‘problem’’ cougar. It is said to have —

terrorized those who encountered it in the
“Seymour Demonstration Forest area. 7

~ It, was. perceived as.a threat. Those who
‘saw the magnificent cat, saw an incarnation
_ Of wildlife that is itself threatened. '

The ‘cougar,: common to the area in

’ there.

: District’s
_» ‘at home in a habitat increasingly stressed as
humans inexorably. work their way up the

TED : SIELINYY:

n/a

‘LETTER

Nerth Shore mountainside. :

_ Rather than succumb to the natural.
human inclination to destroy that which we — interest, eat the food from their ..
do not understand, it is the responsibility
of all who pass through the wilder side of
our great province to respect and be aware
of the ways of the creatures that dwell in action, covertly avoiding being

t

Had the cougar wished to ‘‘destroy’’ one
of the people so terrorized by its presence,
it would have done so without warning.

Rather, this killing. seems to have been
an easy response to the ‘“‘problem’’ caused
by the Greater
closure of the Seymour
Demonstration Ferest as a result. of. the
cougar sightings. ;

Vancouver ‘Regional

i

THE DAY

econo!

iy Ol

lerercl

LOUIS XIV had one of the most resourceful finance
ministers in history. J.B. Colbert was famous for. his
remark that ‘‘the art of taxation consists of so plucking the
goose as to elicit the least amount of hissing.”

He is also famous for the an-
swer he got from the business
people of the day when he asked
them, ‘‘How can I help you?”’.
Their answer was please, Jaissez
nous faire. Leave us alone, and
hence the term /aissez faire to
describe those who believe gov-.
ernment should have a limited role
in the economy. :

Iam reminded of Colbert by
the current surge in the under- .

' ground economy, for much of

what goes on there is a form of
hissing against the unwanted effect
of the tax system.

People barter, ask for cash
deals that don’t involve the pay-
ment of tax, smuggle, engage in |
cross-border shopping, buy and
sell contraband goods, under-
report their income, do-it-
themselves rather than pay

after-tax dollars, take more time «
off work rather than work for the ”

small after-tax return from .
working, lend money.to friends
and relations but don’t report the

own restaurant without declaring

the benefit, ‘‘forget’’ to report

their tips, etc. oe
It is the underground econom

plucked by the omnipresent tax
collector. .

The Fraser Institute first
published work on the measure-
ment of the underground economy
nearly 15 years ago and since then
there has been a veritable explo-
sion of interest:in it. |

Both official and unofficial |.”
studies have been undertaken to ,’
probe the extent, and nature of this
shadowy economic world. — .’

This interest is itself an in-’
dicator of the large and increasing
size of the underground economy.

And because it is the result of
the attempt of people to elude
detection by the taxman and other
governmental! bogeys, the under-

By Michael Walker
Contributing Writer

‘ does not make much sense to
write a cheque. That would create
a paper trail that could be’
followed by a suspicious tax
auditor.

So, you pay cash. :

Estimates of the size of the un- 7

derground economy published by
the Fraser Institute in the early, -

be as much as 14 cents worth of. :
underground activity for every —

ity, 0 ; J :
Recent estimates based on the

large as 22% of the measured «
economy... oa

What are we to make of this .. _

apparent growth in the under-
ground economy? ;

First, we can infer that the -
level of taxation is higher than
some, perhaps a growing number
of, Canadians are willing to bear.

Second, those of us who are"
more libertarian in perspective
may take the view that under-. °

ground economic activity is better

than no activity. oo
The. business that occurs there -
creates incomes and hence

employment as well as other eco-;.. >.

nomic spinoffs... .
- But, third, we all must .
recognize that with the very large .
deficits Canada is experiencing the
taxes not paid by those who” |.
escape will have to be paid by
‘others who are unable or unwilling
to avoid them. : ns

Accordingly, a large and grow- : :

ing part of the underground

economy is simply'a barometer of

tax shifting, © 0080 ors! ere
The end result is of course that. ~

. those who have not yet switched .

ground economy can’t be measured have an increasing incentive to do |

directly. .

One of the main ways
economists attempt to get indirect
measurements of the underground

SO.

dollar’s worth of legitimate activ. |:

~ 1980s suggested that there might

same method suggest that'the un-°
derground economy might be as:

a Consider the options when voting

5 Dear Editor:
«In 1985, a, political book en-
| titled The Patriot Game was writ-

The: temptation on the North

Shore would then be to vote either ~. f t
nancial association for us).

Liberal or Reform to counter, a

Bloc Quebecois ‘“‘threat.””
Since the PCs have been hkar-
boring ‘‘separatists”’ for a decade

ten’ by an Englishman named
- Peter Brimelow.

This book predicted. the con-
current .rise of a Western Cana-
dian protest movement. (the
Reform (party in -1987) and a
“Quebec sovereigntist coalition (the
' Bloc Quebecois in 1990).

When the electoral appeal of one
of .these ‘‘parties’’ becomes ap-
parent in the other’s geographical
domain, the effect will be a cen-
trifugal political force which
‘breaks Canada apart.

cabinet minister), it does not make
sense to trust them now.
But this election should be more
about voting strategy than trust.
Brimelow also predicted a fed-
eral election which left Quebec

corridors of power in Ottawa,
’ The Quebec leadership would
then be free to blackmail Canada

Display Advertising 980-0511
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Peter Speck
Timothy Renshaw
Noel Wright

Publisher . .

Managing Editor
Associate Editor
Sales & Marketing Director Linda Stewart
Comptroller Doug Foot

North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an
independent suburban newspaper and qualified
under Schedule 111, Paragraph til of the Excise
Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and
Sunday by. North Shore Free Press Ltd, and
distributed to every door on the North Shore.
Canaca Post Canadian Publications Mail, Sales
Product Agreement fe. 0087238. Mailing tates - 1139 Lonsdale Avenue,
: available on request. Submissions are welconte but ‘

J we cannot accept responsibility ‘or unsolicited North vancouver, B.C.
material including manuscripts and pictures which V7M 2 i
should be accompanied .by a slainped, self- —
addressed envelope. Loo :

(Lucien Bouchard was a Mulroney.

completely disenfranchised in the .

Distribution
Subscriptions 986-1337
Fax
Administration 985-2134

into ‘‘sovereignty-association”’
(political sovereignty for them, fi-

The surest way to keep Quebec
in the ioop politically (but with its
hands out of the till financially) is
to help elect. a minority: govern-
ment, at least for the time being.

So if you believe it might be a
Liberal majority, you should con-
sider voting PC and vice-versa.

Reform may be a good option if
you feel that a minority govern-
ment is in the works.

Just a suggestion,

Dave Janis
North Vancouver

st
986-133 ce
This newspaper
a contains
Baa recycled fibre

Narth Shore managed

eeueo

985-3227

MEMBER

ia) <> SR

‘=pa
SDA DIVISION

61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday. Friday & Sunday)”

Entire contents © 1993 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved

economy is by observing the frac-

tion of their wealth that they hold

in the form of currency. .
If you are about to evade the

GST ona significant purchase, it

Noel Wright
on vacation

NEWS photo Mike Wakefleid -

THE NORTH Shore Neighwourhood House hosted a Family

Hoedown recently for the employees and many volunteers of ©
‘the busy community centre. Here, Cindy-Lou (left) and Bitsy
do a turn on the dance floor to the sounds of a country and.

western bard. -