Ad - Sunday, May 20, 1984 - North Shore News T THE risk of having some smarmy swivel servant pounce on my tax returns, looking for an excuse to seize my house or force me into bankruptcy, I must con- fess that paying my taxes this year has generated more than the usual sullen purple- faced fury. I guess it’s because the tax- man has a higher and more sinister profile this year than last, what with all the revela- tions about incompetent tax officials wrecking small businesses, gouging artists and driving farmers out of their homes in order to score brownie points with the upper-level mandarins at Revenue Canada. I know, when we finally figured out what | would be Paying out in taxes, my in- stinct was to yank my trusty Lee Enfield off the wall over the fireplace and go looking for a tax vampire to shoot with a silver bullet through the heart. To calm myself, | tried to think of all the good things Strictly personal by Bob Hunter Those taxing truths Ouvawa has done for me late- ly. Let’s see... There’s bil- ingualism in sports, metrification and the na- tonal debt. There’s Dome Petroleum, the Senate, the post office, VIA Rail, and the seal hunt. You get my drift To keep all these Canuchy wonders happening, there are 260,000 civil servants shuffl- ing through their shifts and 282 elected party hacks zipp- ing around the country on various kinds of passes. Then there are all those Crown corporations like Eldorado Nuclear and the Canadian Development In- vestment Corp. that won't even open up their books to the auditor general. But this line of thought ts obviously not heading in a happy direction. The stark, inescapable truth ts that my tax money will be lavishly mis-spent this year, as it was last year and the years before. The mindless bloated bureaucracy that passes itself off as our federal govern- ment will blow some $98 billion at a rate of $388 million every working day all through 1984. The fact is that in the last 20 years, Canadian taxes have been rising faster than any other single item. They’ve gone up 1,102 per cent since 1961. Has anything really improved as a result? We have universal medicare, but is our health care system actually any bet- ter than it was 20 years ago? | can't see wt. The waiting period in doctors’ offices is longer, if anything. Hospitals are overcrowded and under- staffed. Paramedical facilities are just about non- existent. There are more laws, Statutes and regulations than ever, but is this a more just society? Are our rights better protected than before? Don’t believe it! The new constitu- tion has so many Catch 22s it can only be described as a sham, and the feds are hard at work devising new and sneakier ways (0 spy on Canadians. Our education system has been expanded, but what good does it do? Is it somehow more dignified to have a degree when you line up to apply for the dole? And if the schools are so hot, how come businesses have to advertise abroad to find the kind of skilled workers they LIVE ON STAGE! ™ MITCH LEIGH cases pines tn Produced and Directed by MITCH LEIGH JUNE 20 - JULY 15 QUEEN ELIZABETH THEATRE TUESDAY-SATURDAY 8 P.M. SUNDAY 7:30 P.M. SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS MATINEE 2 Pm PLUS 2 SPECIAL WEDNESDAY MATINEE PERFORMANCES JUNE 20 & JULY 11 EXC ECLIVE KING & | PHONE & oc HARE NUIMESE Fe 280-4477 Th RE TSS AT AL’ VIC €.BO WOODWARD S A EATON ', APR RIRIY SOC OPE AND) Cob BRL UG THON TICKETS $29 50, $25 50, $19 50 & SERVICE CHARGE need? Sure, there’s the Canada Pension Plan, but if it is real- ly so nifty why 1s it that the vast majority of people living below the poverty line in this country are old folks? All this might be vaguely stomachable if the tax system was even remotely fair, but everybody knows that it isn’t. The pensions of disabled peo- ple on Workers’ Compensa- tion are taxed, but ourfits like Shell Canada have been known to escape income tax enturrely. A high school teacher or a cop will forfeit a quarter of their income to Revenue Canada’s goons, but a cor- poration like TransCanada PipeLines, with assets worth billions, will get away with paying something hke seven per cent. As it is, we have taxation withoul representation, a dic- tatorial Income Tax Act that views us all as guilty until proven innocent, and a corps of arrogant, bad-manned, often ignorant tax collectors who are a law onto themselves. Them’s facts about tax. Taxing, what? i pe sit eo ay | ' THE NATURAL CUT foliows the flow of the hair and is cut exactly as the hair falls. Comb and let dry or blow dry. : : INCLUDES SHAMPOO & CONDITIONING WITH THIS AD EXPIRES THE NATURAL PERM follows the flow of the hair and is curled exactly as it falls Shampoo and let it dry | $35 3 ~ 5 — | “ 5 5 NATU RAL ; a oils x28, 3 a lasting, and very lovely set (REG. $45) 4 sculptured for you alone | 922-6161 Mon-Sat. 10am-7pm_ # a Renaissance 660 Clyde At Park Royal ! ese ee wen ee 8s 2 we we wee ee we we ee al WATERFRONT PLACE ae) = HAS WHAT YOU WANT! * Furnished private offices for your exclustve use * Excellent receptionist and secretarial support* e Ideal for legal practices, sales and manufacturers agents, new businesses, consultants and you! «Absolute confidentiality guaranteed e Nearby Seabus terminal for easy access to Vancouver * Answering Service* Telex * ePrice? Less than the cost of one secretary! Waterfront Place 119 255 West Ist N Vancouver BC. Executive Offices & Secretanal Services 986. 1296/7 A DIVISION OF WESTERN NOVA IMPORTERS | Tt) “NAME OPTICAL ATRUE DISCOUNT OPERATION OF OURTIME! FREE FRAMES THOUSANDS TO CHOOSE FROM WE D0 WOT AVE INFLATED LENS PRICES! OF POWER (cir ocr) NO-NAME OPTICAL , EOE ons EXAMINATI AOANCED 14.4.6 LONSDALE AVE «(noe van) | CHARGE IT! » BROADWAY < HEATHER (2: by BROADLY )