north shore news

MAIL BOX

Cut sexist views,
ads from News

Dear Editor:

L normally enjoy reading your (Timothy Rershaw’s) col-
umn in the North Shore News. That was not the case for
your Sept, 6 contribution (An inequitable summer”). In
that column vou claimed that the federal governmenr’s pay
equity issue is just anether opportunity to spend taypayers”
money. FP agree with the fact thar the gosernment: should
stop spending money it doesnt have and pay back what it
owes but in this case TP think you are wrong. Being a white
male you have missed the point entirely because you have
never had to face being underpaid for equal work becsine of
your appearance. Asa temale engineer, T have faced obstacles
to advancement, more rigorous qualifications for employ
ment and fower pay than my male counterparts.

You claim that “equal pay for equal work” is a buzzword
without definition. However, many corporations have
ilready put rhis systematic evaluation of employee concribu-
tions into practice. Very little work on your part would have
been required to understand that this is not an arbitrary
practice.

While I've got your atrention, | want to comment on a
few of the other blatanely sexist aspects of vour paper. First
of all, please edit the smile of the day. Although most of
them are innocent enough, the odd scantily clad one makes
me thankful that my kids do not read your paper. Surely your
“smiles” who are looking for a date o¢ a job can find an
alternative medium.

1 ate your boobs-busting-out advertisements for auto-
motive and sports equipment businesses. You'd think the
people who place these ads would realize that they alienate
as many potential customers as they draw. Perhaps they have
yet to realize that 50% of the North Shore market (the 50%
that handles 90% of the disposable income) are turned off by
this type of ad. As a novel concept why don’t they advertise
guality service and competitive prices

Finally, you have a half-page ad drawing attention tr five
of your columnists. Do you notice rhe obvious omission
here? Let me spell it out for you — all five of them are male.
Give me Shannon Humphreys any day.

Lorrie V. Welch :
North Vancouver

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Pee ee ee ercrns

Hard of hearing

Dear Editor:
Well Welll Well! So Prime Minister
Chretien hadn't beard of pepper spray and

ted white, m.p.

Wednesday. October 14. 1998 — North Shore News - 9

Tranian Consul Nouri hadn't heard of
seams with his passports,

Oh! and by the way my name is Mickey
Mouse.
Kenneth MeLean
North Vancouver

advenonal, Octoner 14/1998

THE LOONIE IN FREEFALL?

Over the course of the Summer. the
rapid decline in the value of the Canadian
dollar became front page news, and the
loonie was hittina new lows almost daily
throughout July and August. When asked
about his apparent lack of concer, the
Prime Minister was quick to deflect blame
away from himself, and onto a host of
other culprits - including, but not limited to,
the Asian crisis, the Russian crisis, and
international currency spectators. While
these factors may fave had an effect, they
do not explain why the dollar has been
gradually depreciating against the US
dollar for twenty years, which invites the
questicn - what is the reai problem?

PERCEPTIONS AND FACTS

* A low dollar is good for business.
This continues to be a commen excuse
put forth by the Finance Minister for his
refusal to take action with respect to our
currency. It is true that a weal: currency
boosts demand for Canadian exports, but
rising prices on imported goods squeeze
the bottom line of any company that uses
imported raw materials. and the cost is
passed down the line to the companies
and individuals that purchase their
products.

* Financial crises in Asta and Russia
are responsible. Economic problems
overseas can explain a portion of the
rapid short-term decline against the US
dollar over the Summer, because trouble
in the financial markets typically motivates
investors io move their money into the US,
which is seen as a safe haven for capital.
This in turn, causes the US dollar to
appreciate against all currencies.
including our cwn. What the problems in
Asia and Russia can not explain,
however, is why the loonie also declined
against mest major European currencies,
and why the depfeciation has been
happening for decades.

* Speculation on the Canadian dollar
is responsible. The simplest and most
inexpensive way for speculators to profit
from a falling currency is through the
futures markets. However, it is important
to note that futures transactions have no
direct effect on supply and demand for a
currency because no money changes
hands at the time the contract is agreed to,

| and the settlement price at maturity is

fixed. This means that the only possible
effect such trading could have on the
vaiue of the dollar is as a signal to other
investors to sell their Canacian doiiar
denominated assets, and there is little
evidence to suggest that speculative
activity was a major factor in convincing
investors to get rid of their Canadian
dollars.

There are of course, other ways that
speculators can arrange to profit from a
dectine in the value of the doilar without
using futures, but the amount of such
speculative activity necessary to cause a
decline of the magnitude Canadians have
witnessed since March of this year would
be enormous, and trading professionals
on Canadian exchanges denied that any
such activity was taking place.

WHAT iS THE REAL PROBLEM?

The primary reason fer the twenty year

stide in the value of our dollar is excessive
spending by successive Federal
Governments, which has been financed
through borrowing and high taxes. The
continuously increasing tax and regulatory
burden or Canadian businesses is
gradually wearing away at their profitability
cornpared to US firms, and investors are
responding by selling their Canadian
corporate stocks and bonds in search of
higher returns ir: other countries. The
additional returns to investors who moved
their money out of Canada 20 years ago
have been dramatic. In her August 29,
1998 column in the Financial Post, Diane
Francis stated that “if a Canadian
investor had put $1,000 in the Toronte
Stock Exchange 20 years ago and it
performed the average rate of return, it
svould be worth $9,900. That same
$1,000 invested in the Standard &
Poor's (stock market index) in USS$s
would be worth USS521,009.”

The long term underperiormance of
Canadian denominated securities is also
related to the high level of Cariadian
Government debt held wy foreigners.
When Canada makes interest payments
to foreigners, the debtholders convert the
payments into their home currency, and
the resulting oversupply of Canadian
dollars impacts on the exchange rate. This
process has been going on ever since
Canada began running large deficits
during the Trudeau era, and it has
contributed significantly to the decline that
has taken place since that time.

Unfortunately, even though the Federal
Government is expecting a smail surplus
for the 1998/99 fiscal year, we are still
making huge interest payments on our
national debt. In 1997, the combined
interest charges of all levels of
Government in Canada totalled nearly $76
dillion, much of which was paid to
investors in the US and overseas. That
annual outpcuring of Canadian dollars
onto the international currency markeis
has an enormous effect on the value of our
dollar, and despite the newly balanced
budgel, we remain on very unstable fisca!
ground. To put things into perspective,
according to 1997 estimates of the Fraser
institute, Canada's Debt/GDP ratio
(69.6%) was worse than such economic
powerhouses as Morocco (68.3%),
Mexico (66.3%), Uganda (63.0%),
Pakistan (49.7%), and the Russian
Federation (34.8%). Hardly a picture that
inspires confidence in the investrnent
community.

As your MP, ! will continue to push
the Government to reduce spending,
lower taxes, and pay cown the debt.
However, personal letters from
ordinary Ganadians like you are
important in backing up our efforts in
the House of Commons. If you would
like to write to the Finance Minister, the
Hon. Paul Martin, PC, MP. he can be
reached at the House of Commons,
Ottawa, ON, K1A OAG.

‘Ted White, M.P.., #302-1200 Lynn Vailey Road, North Vancouver, B.C. V7) 242

7 Tel: 666-0585. Fax: 666-0509, Incernet: hr

www. form white-t/ :

X.

Thanks for your
support

Capilano College celebrates
is 30th binkday thas vear.
We would hike to take this
opportunity fo thank the
member of the community
sho have supported as over
the vears. twas through
ComMuUnITy support na
{os referendum that
Capilano College was
bronght into heme. The
College bis growaa from an
intial encolment ot 784
students te anchide 6500
credit students per term and
TAN non-credit students
per year attending campuses
in North Vancouver.
Squameh and Sechelt. We
couldn't have done tt
without you.

: Travel lecture on

tMexiso’s Copper
Canyon

Join omithulogist and
naturalist Syd Cannings on
Monday, October 19 at 7:00
p.m. fora free travel lecture
on Mexico's Copper
Canyon. The lecture
precedes a trip to Copper
Canyon that will be led by
Syd. January 20-31, 1999,
Everyone is welcome. The
lecture is in Birch building,
room 321. Please call
Cacikda Tang in Continuing
Education at 984-4909 to ler

ws know you're coming.

Graphic Design
students’
exhibition

An exhibition of mixed
media artwork by 21
graduating students of the
Graphic Design and
[hostration program will be
held Saturday, Oct 24 and
Sunday, October 25 at the
Ferry Buikling Gallery at
1414 Angyle Avenue in
West Vancouver. Entitled
Perspectives: A Group
Show. this fundeaising
exhibition will help fund the
ches's educational trip sa
New York City this year.
Call Reth Payne at
923-7266 for more
information.

» Painter Landon

Mackanzie
discusses her
work

Tracking Athabasca:
Rethinking Visual Certainty
in Canadian Landscape is
the tapie of rep Canadian
pointer Landon Mackencie’s
lecture being held
Wednesday, October 28 at
7:30 pam. Join ber in Cedar
building, room 48 for an
Mustrated lecture about the
issues and ideas shat lie
behind her visual
production. Admission is
free and open to the public.

CAPILANO
COLLEGE

2055 Purcell Way
North Vancouver

986-1971