A4 - Sunday, December 2, 1984 - North Shore News HE BABY BONUS, brought in after the Se- cond World War, arrived just in the nick of time. My father had run off with another woman, leaving my mother to support two small children. He didn’t give her a cent. R T Strictly persona She got a job as a waitress You can imagine what the wages were like. Had i not been for aunts and uncles we would have gone hungry, no doubt about at. Too sull remember the boxes of food they brought over. And of course the hand-me-down clothes, which | resented at the time, but they kept me warm And the baby bonus. It wasn't used frivolously, tet me tell you. Food and clothes. The arrival ot the cheque from the government was eagerly awatted, prompt- Iy spent on necessities, and we struggled on tor another month. Nearly 40 years later, some things haven't changed. Che ques from the government still arrive in my mail box While my two oldest children have Qutgrown the stage of tamily allowance, | have two small ones for which Ottawa rewards me monthly What is i? Twenty-seven dollars a month each Something lke that. As a matter of tact. |] use these cheques to invest im oa scholarship scheme for the kids It’s avery good plan, by the way Simply by depositing the family allowance cheques every month, | guarantee the kids a UnEveEsity cducdtion starting about the beginning of the Heal conlury Now, obviously, loop preeiate those little cheques Thev re hands things A kind of aoperk really Just one of the many, any benebits at bertp a © athadian Bat do P NEED them? Of Course not! My wile isa cablesitsion systeris designer whoo oakes as much oan an hour as my poor mother ased toothake i data near a week lornoa treebhanecer woth tis own compas Ny inarkets are ox pandang steadily Between olumns, magazine articles scripts: and oreyvatties oon books Pom quite alo right, Pack ba WOW MICROWAVE OVENS! That LEADING BHANLN, INCREDIBLE SELECTION puy WITH CONFIDENCE you FIND TT ADM yerrat POA LESS we)_ vi fee The Oe Ff & Re NCE HOME FURNISHINGS WarehouselS howroom OPEN TO THE PUBLIC (2 biks. behind the Avaton) at 1075 Roosevelt Crea., N Van. 2-4 Sun DOB 138 12-4 Sun My country, well that’s a different story. Having been grossly mismanaged by an in- competent megalomaniac and a pack of snivelling toadies for far too long, the coun- try’s economy has been run into the ground. The deficit stands at almost $35 bilhon. ‘““The economy isn’t going to be turned around ... but it would be a Start.’’ The economy isn't going to be turned around by the sim- ple expedient of cutting guys like me off from my family allowance cheques, but it would be a start Im tar from being one of those bank presidents making $800,000 thar Brian Mulroney referred to when he opened the great debate on the universality of © anada’s social programs. But the question definitely applies to me, ay, indeed, i apphes to many of my frends and relatives, including one in law wha makes 200 prand a \ SS = 4,. ‘ng pre by Bob Hunter eady to give year, yet sull gets those fami- ly allowance cheques. What does he use them for? Probably to pay for the phone calls involved in keep- ing track of his condos in Hawaii. i don’t see any reason why Mulroney should pay any at- tention to the views of the discredited Liberals on this or any other matter. But [| do understand the reasoning behind the NDP's position that universality ws sacrosanct. Unless social pro- grams are kept that way, the argument goes, heartless bureaucrats will be given yet more power over the individual. Thus, the dreaded “‘means test’ must be avoided at all COSTES But what is the income tax form if not a means test? All! the government has to do, once wt decides what the threshold for qualification tor family allowance should be, 1s add the total that | received during the year in tamily allowance to my taxes I don’t know precisely where the line should be drawn. But common. sense tells me that it should be drawn somewhere. Give the baby bonus to those who need wu. Don't waste if on me or my rich relatives. And if my fortunes change down the road, don’t worry, I'll be the first to let you know ORT v5) 4 Ait \\ ee =— = =—— March 2-23/85 == il One week — Children under {2 trom. —— $2QQOOSS Call samantha 922-930) or 921-8888 ll sherry WH 2 aborts South Park Royal bil i NORTH VANCOUVER RCMP _ had a report of an early morning prowler become a jornt RCMP-West Vancouver Police operation that ended with the ap- prehension of two men being taken sought by the West Van department. RCMP, responding to a Norgate area woman's com- plaint of prowlers tn her yard, found three members of the West Vancouver Police combing the area in search of a car thar had eluded pursuit that began in West Vancouver The RCMP pitched tn to help, locating the car in quesuon and then bringing police dog Buck to the scene to locate the driver Buck did just that, leading RCMP to two men hiding in the area. 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