NEWS VIEWPOINT

Aerial assault

ORTH VANCOUVER District

council got this one right:. there is

no piace in the Lynn Headwaters
Regional Park for a heli-picnic site.

Council unanimously passed a metion

Monday night opposing a plan currently

being considered by the Greater Vancouver

<Regional District to establish a site in the

wilderness park to which adventurous pic-
nickers could be transported by helicopter.
' The propossi has-been forwarded to the

GVRD by Vancouver Helicopters Inc. The.

company cannot be faulted for pursuing
business opportunities afforded by
Lower Mainland’s abundant adjacent
wilderness areas.

the .

But the GVED's parks department has
been rightly faulted by North Vanconver
District Council and others concerned
about the quality of that local wilderness
for considering allowing the service, even
on a trial basis.

A wilderness under regular urban assault
from helicopters is not a wilderness at all.

North Shore residents have already to
dea! with enough airborne noise pollution
frowi helicopter tours that depart regularly
during the summer months from Grouse
Mountain.

They and the surrounding netural en-
vironment should be spared further aerial
annoyances. _ ,

; LETTER OF THE DAY

Everyone receives same standard of care

‘Dear Editor:
- In spite of my reluctance to

become involved in‘ a_ public
debate in the press, I, as one of
the “opted out’’ physicians on the
North Shore, feel it is important
to try to allay any unnecessary
anxiety regarding this issue.

Firstly, 1 feel it is important
that’ the public recognize that
these physicians are not using pa-
tients .as pawns in negotiations
with government as stated by one
of your readers.

Qur decision ‘to ‘‘opt out’’ was

total control
Provision for
sultation or

hardships
direct billing,

Publisher .. .. Peter Speck
Managing Editor... Timothy Renshaw
Associate Editor. .. .Noel Wright
Sales & Markeling Director Linda Stewart

Comptroller .Doug Foot

North Shore. News, . founded in 1969 as an
independent suburban newspaper and qualified
under Schedvie 111, Paragraph iil of the Excise
Tax Act, is published each x Wednesday, Friday and
Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and
distributed to every door an. the North Shore.
Canada Post Canadian Pub‘ications Mail Sales
Product Agreement No. 0087238, Mailing tates
available on request. Submissions are welcome but
we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited
material including manuscripts and pictures which
should be accompanied by a Stamped. addressed
envelope.

Newsroom

V7M 2H4

a pernmianent decision in response
to the government’s deliberate at-
tempt to subjugate us to their
with virtually no
meaningful
arbitration of
unresolved issues.
Regarding concerns of financial
associated with. our
I would like to
publicly state that no individual is
going to be.denied health care for
financial reasons. .
In my office, every patient is
advised that no additional charge

Display Advertising
Real Estate Advertising 985-6982
Classified Advertising

will be levied if it causes any fi-
nancial distress.

of your readers are unaware that |
treat more than 15% of the pa-
tients that [ see in my role as an
emergency physician at Lions Gate
Hospital FOR FREE because of
lack of medical coverage, etc.

These patients, nevertheless,
receive the same standard of care
as ail the other patients.

Leon Bard, MD, CCFP (EM)
North Vancouver

con-

a,
up
This newspaper
contains
recycled fibre

‘North Shore managed

Distribution 986-1337
Subscriptions 986-1337
986-6222 Fax 985-3227
985-2131 Administration 985-2131

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

Entire contents © 1993 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights" reserved.”

I’m also sure that the majority

just to collect

your tax

loney

JUST SEVEN more days to F-Day — like “F’’ for filing
your income tax return if, like me, you’re a tardy type who
postpones the agony to the last minute because your bot-

tom line is a pay-out, nota

The agony gels even worse
when you consider the scandalous
price we pay simply in order to be
robbed in the first place by
Canada's ludicrously complex
system.

A 1986 in-depth study by the Ca-

nadian Tax Foundation put the
largely hidden DIRECT costs of
collecting the tax in that year at
$5.5 billion, With inflation, make
it over $7 billion in 1993 dollars,
or one-quarter of the current $30
billion-plus budget deficit.

How did the Tax Foundation
arrive at this staggering $7
billion-plus tab just for transfer-
ing our hard-earned bucks to Ot-
tawa? Here in summary are its
calculations, with original 1986
figures again translated into 1993
dollars:

@ Value of the time spent by in-
dividuals doing their own returns
plus the dollar cost to those han-
ding the job over to tax firms,
Overall average per taxpayez,
$152, ‘Total: $2.54 biltien.

@ Cost in time and wages to
business and industry, including
the collection and remittance of
payroll tax deductions, UIC and
CPP contributions, Total: $3.61
billion.

@ Annual administrative cost of
‘operating Revenue Canada with
its more than $9,000 employees:
$1 billion.

As shocking as these DIRECT
costs are, they're still a drop in
the cup compared to the hidden
costs of our archaic tax structure.

First, every tax hike adds fuel
to the ‘underground economy,”
which functions without cheques,
receipts or any other traceable
paper. At least 95% of such cash
or barter deals go undetected,
thereby iucreasing everyone else’s
tax bill. Yet enforcement on the
scale necessary to catch greater
numbers of them would obviously
cost untold millions more.

Add to that the huge loss to the
economy of tens of thousands of
its brightest, most creative minds
— the lawyers, accountants and
tax return preparers who prosper
solely from figuring out tax
avoidance tricks that won’t land |
their clients with hefty fines or:
jail.

Diverted to productive work,
they'd soon enrich the country to
the point where the deficit disap-

refund,

HITHER AND YON _

peared and taxca could be .
lowered, Especially if we switched ©
to the vadically sintplified FLAT
TAX system endorsed by many’
well qualified tax experts, © *
True, this would throw some
18,000 Revenue Canada employees
out of work. But it was precisely.
in order to cope with progress that
we invented retraining programs __
and Food Banks, wasn’t it? a

_ ° *
’ SIGN-OFF: Fun family’ dinner
and dance at the new Squamishy .. .
Nation Rec Centre highlights West:
Bay School's 40th anniversary |.
celebrations Satusday, May } — ,,
call Pst Beron, 926-3113, for any.
remaining $10 tickets ($7 for. -
under-13s). ... Toys and clothing
bargains galore at the “Children’s:
_ Good As New ‘Sale’ Saturday, -
April 24, at Sejuacar eights .
Edementary, 2440 Carnation St. :
A. very happy April 23 to all’ - :
ethnic Brits who remembered to
wear a red rose teday honoring
St. Geonge of Merry England. ...
Also today, many happy returns
of April 23 to North Van’s Bette
Booth. ... More of the same today _
to North Van birthday boy David
Bain. ... And wish happy birthday °
tomorrow, April 24, to North:
Van’s Heft Adams.

WRIGHT OR WRONG a A genius ;
is one who aims at something no.
one else. can see and hits it.

NEWS photo Brad Ledwidge

SCHOOL TRUSTEE Margot Furk helps Marcus Wong cut the rib-.
bon ait this month’s opening of West Vancouver's newly ceno-
vated Pauline Johnson school. The ceremony is watched by (left

Stephanie Westwood.

; to right) Scott Fraser Daufinee, Adrian Rasekh, Kia Besharat, and.