The Worth Shove News és published by North Shore Free Press Ltd., Publisher Peter Speck, from 1139 Lonsdzie Avenue Worth Vancouves, 8.0., V7M 214 aaa ai PETER SPECK Publisher 985-2131 (191) Human Resources Manager 985-2131 (177) ae . Display Manager 960-2511 (103) Neh: 885-2131 (218) Distribution Manages Creative Services Manager 986-1337 (124) 985-2131 (127) Saute preg WSO reach! us : 285-2131 960-0511 985-2131 (114) Andrew McCzedie-Sports/Commenity Editer 9B5-213¢ (147) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, full address & telephone number. VIA Intemat: trenshaw @ direct.ca COMPUTER BBS - 980-8027 malibox * rd:letter Canadian Publicathins Mud Sales Product Agreemen No (OU87238, Mailing rates -railable on request. a eee - 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents » © 1996 North Share "Free Press Lid, > All rights reserved. au BRITOH COLUMBIANS Have 3 eN ENGAGING IN BiG-Time GAMBLING FoR Some Time: mation x Open letter to Mr. Denis Desautels, Auditor General of Canada: RE: GST special report request. We request that you consider a research study by your department to determine the leakage of Canadian taxpayers’ GST dollars paid. In other words, what is the dif- ference between what the Canadian consumer is paying at the “rill” and the net GST proceeds that Ortawa is applying against the deficit? We are talking about taxpayer dollars that aze not getting to Ottawa. Our premise is simple. The GST is basically a consumer tax but at the same time it is a complicated multi- level value-added tax that is account- ed for by non-ccnsumer enterprises. In theory the accounting done by 21.5 million GST registrants should equal the amount of GST-paid by consumers and other exempt enter- prises. In reality the difference is, we expect, so great that the government would have no choice but to scrap the entire GST concept. We ask that your department calculate this dis- crepancy in order for the govern- ment to consider such action. We realize we are asking you to take on a significant project but, we believe, the Canadian taxpayers are entitled to know why the net GST proceeds to Ortawa are less today than the proceeds of the old Manufacturers Sales Tax in 1990, the year prior to the implementation of the GST on Jan. 1, 1991. We believe the discrepancy between what the Canadian con- sumer pays in GST and what Ortawa receives net is immense because: @ the GST is very complicated, unintentional errors, which favor the filer could probably be found on n FESS ME SY US PE Lae ye HE Inuit have all sorts of terms for almost every return filed; @ the opportunities to make inten- tional errors are too numerous to mention on a simple three-line GST report. With 21.5 million filers in some cases sending in monthly reports, the number of filings must overwhelm the 8,000 GST auditors presently employed. It would be vir- tually impossible to calculate the GST losses to the government unless all GST reports were audited; @ Besides the unintentional and intentional errors on GST returns that are being filed, there are still registered filers who have not sent in their first return. There are enter- prises thar charge GST and are nor registered. There are businesses that go out of business that take millions of consumer GST dollars with them. In your calculations we are not asking you to consider the under- ground economy that has grown and is thriving in this GST environ- ment. The underground economy does not report cash transactions and is depriving Ottawa of billions of dol- lars in both GST and income tax over and above the GST leakages. explained previously. We are not asking you to calcu- late a decrease in Canadian econom- ic activity because of the damper this tax has had on consumer spending. We are also not asking you to consider the cost to both business and Revenue Canada in collecting and administering this cumbersome tax, We ask you to take on this pro- ject which will result in an “cye- opening” leakage figure. Please call for turther informa- tion on this GST project which: is of vital concern to all Canadians. Ace Cetinski, C.A.. MBA Chairman, GST WAR2 Coalition Sherwood Park, Alberta 1-888-GST-WAR2 snow crystals form. SOA ST Saks Se an Reyes lae res ARANDA ALTA OY TORTIE BN POLY B.C. can learn much from the Kiwi comeback BRITISH Columbians who fanta- size about becoming an independent nation if Quebec separated—spark- ing the break-up of the rest of Canada — can learn some interest- ing lessons from New Zealand. Recendy this column looked at that coun- try’s breathtaking physical beauty and its friendly, gentle people. “Gentle” however, as things have turned out, with quite a lot of stcel in their backbones. But first, a few remarkable parallels with our province. a Though New Zealand is less chan one-third the land area of B.C.; its : population (3.5 million) is almost identical. So is its labor force of some - - 1.6 million. Its diversified economy is headed by food processing, wool production, forest products, textiles, machinery and a burgeoning services and tourism sector. Sound familiar (aside from the wool)? : In terms of Gross Domestic Product — about $55 billion compared to B.C.’s roughly $100 billion — New Zealand is less dollar-wealthy on —- paper than ourselves. But aside from television sets (372 per 1,000 versus Canada’s 626) there’s little discernible difference between the general liv- . ing standard of the average middle-class New Zealand family and its B.C. counterpart. Per capita statistics show virtually the same levels of home and car ownership, and similar numbers of phones and appliances... - The big difference is that New Zealand Ras already gone broke — a . fate some see looming fnr B.C. under its present NDP government —. . . and with the help of those steel Kiwi backbones has made a remarkable. comeback. ; oe Twelve years ago Big Government excesses there led foreign lenders to” suddenly pull the plug and face the country with bankruptcy, Almost: :, overnight all services — health, welfare, pension-and unemployment ben-. efits — were slashed to the bone. And government assets had to be liqui= dated in a kind of frenzied national fire sale. It was not pretty, but when. -~- the grocery money is threatened, you can’t monkey around. ; New Zealanders’ living standards plummeted, but its leaders learned - fast. They cut the top income tax rate from 67% to 33%, compensating | with a 12.5% GST. They “privatized” civil servants, making department heads on fixed-term contracts personally responsible for performance. They smashed the excessive power previously wielded by the unions. . Trade with Asia’s Pacific Rim “tigers,” from Indonesia tu Korea, has become vital for New Zealand in order to replace lost trade with the U.K. and Europe. They’re working hard on that, too — another link with B.C. After a number of tough years the economy is now rebounding briskly. Under Prime Minister Jim Bolger’s National (Conservative) government * they’ve balanced the budget and aim to tear down the debt to 20% of the: GDP by 2004. Following the Oct.12 election Bolger’s party is now back" in power in a coalition with Maori leader Winston Peters’ New Zealand |“ First Party. Everywhere one sniffs confidence and optimism in the air. Few British Columbians, least of all this one, want a break-up of Canada. But should it ever happen, New Zealand is comforting proof that B.C, — just as rich in resources and skilled workers — need have no fears about surviving and prospering as an independent Pacific Rim nation. ° Q on BELATED happy birthday for yesterday, Dec. 28, to West-Van Kiwanian Bill Pulham .., And on Tuesday, Dec. 31, many happy returns of 8:30 am Monday through Friday to CKNW’s talk-show birthday boy Rafe Mair. ; : 0200 . WRIGHT OR WRONG: Giving is better than lending. The recipient thinks more of you, and the cost is usually the same. : — The North Shore News believes strongly in freedom of speech and the > right of all sides in a debate to be heard. The columnists published in the News present differing points of view, but those views are not necessarily those of the newspaper itself. a oe See RA mE HI ee ne HOARE Ca ME OMA AN at UCT te EB UMN A A OIC Snow hardened up to become glaciers snow, Over the past week or so we have had perksertok (drifting snow), katiksugnik (light snow, deep enough), aput (spread-out snow) and ayak (snow on clothes). By the end of this cold spell and the coming of auksalak (melting snow), North Shore residents will have lots of their own terms — most likely not all flattering — for the white stuff too. Let’s not forget: snow is natural magic. When cloud temperature is at freezing or below and clouds are moisture filled, The ice crystals form on dust particles as the water vapor condenses. Partially melted crystals cling together to form snowflakes. No two snowflakes are the same. There are lots of terms for snow crys- tal forms in the atmosphere. There are needles, sheaths, columns, pyramids, cups, bullets, plates, scrolls and branch- es. We remember snow for the fun it brings or the disruption it causes. Snow as metaphor communicates purity, isolation, transience. covers approximately 10% of the Earth’s land area. Fresh snow falls each year on nearly one square mile out of every two in the Northern Hemisphere. In global terms, at least a third of all the water used for irrigation comes from snow. Let’s face it, most of us have a love- hate relationship with snow. Bottom line: we need it. Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!