6 - Sunday, July 44 19% - Nunn Shore News “-Ayd drals whab we elect our politicians for Wee INSIGHTS Vacation break fy ANDS UP all those North Shore par- f ents who think 10 weeks of summer m. #8. vacation is too long. Right. The rest of you please have your heads examined. Seon. ' By-now, though only halfway through their annual respite from attending public school classes, most school-aged children will doubtless be cross-eyed with boredom. After almost six weeks of vacation, B.C.’s battalions of schoo! district administrators and teachers will likely just be recovering from the gruelling two-month stretch of work they logged since the recovery periods provided by Spring Break in March, Easter Break in April and the assorted professionai days and community interaction days pro- vided along the way. They will likely need the rest of the sum- mer and beyond just to fully unwind from the rigors of that educational marathon. | Kids, however, are a different story. Two hours in a row without some concrete activity results in wild mood swings and snarky behavior. The original summer school break was established long ago when scnooil-aged chil- dren and everyone else in the primarily rural family of the day were needed to work on the family farm. No such need exists today. But the jJengthy summer break continues to the detriment of all involved. Sure, they need a break from schvol in the summer, but kids need regular menial and physical stimuli as much as they need food and water. They need challenges; they need to test themselves; they need to grow. They don’t need to relax for 10 weeks going stir crazy, “We don’t need a demonstra- tion of clearcuts.” North Vancouver District Coun. Emie Crist, opposing a recommen- dation to allow more aggressive logging in the Seymour Demonstration Forest. (From a July 27 News story.) “But I don’t carry a butcher knife in my car ... Besides, the meat would have spoiled by the Disp'ay Advertising Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising Sales & Marketing Directo Newsroom Comptroller.............. North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mai) Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rates 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. V7M 2H4 time I got home.” Arthur Schopp, who hit a cow with his car while driving ona Nevada highway, on why he was unable to use the cow's carcass. (From a July 24 News story.) “1 think the school year should continue all year.” Tracy Howe of West Vancouver, to the July 22 North Shore News Your Call question: North Shore Managed “Do you think the provincial schoo! year is too short?” “They keep us in line and stop us from being like a construction crew.” Squamish band paddler Klatle- Bhi, on the effect the female pad- dlers have on the male paddlers aboard the band’s canoe bound for the Commonwealth Games. (From a duly 29 News story.) 980-0511 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 Distribution Subscriptions 986-6222 Fax 985-2134 Administration MEMBER 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver 8.C. SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) nn rere Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Is Grits’ plan to let the IMF take the heat? IF YOU OWED — over and above any mortgage — more than you make in the entire year, I guess you might be a tad worried. So if you plan to go on living in Canada, feel free to start being a tad worried right away. Even with the preliminary good news. Which is that next year's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -— the total value of all goods and services pro- duced annually by Canada — will be around $745 billion. A very tidy amount relative to our population. The bad news 10 days ago from the Conference Board of Canada, one of the nation’s top economic think-tanks, is that by next March the total debt of Ottawa and the - provinces will reach $755 billion. This means Canada will owe 101.3% of its annual income — even though the country itself is mortgage-free. Its debt is like that of accredit card with no upper limit, the balance due growing ever big- ger to pay for more and more day- to-day goodies we can’t afford. In fact, Canada now has the dubious honor of shortly joining Italy —— to date the only member of the G-7, the world’s seven major industrialized nations, owing more than it earns. None of the other five G-7 66 The bad news 10 days ago from the Conference Board of Canada, one of the nation’s top economic think-tanks, is that by next March the total debt of Ottawa and the provinces will reach $755 billion. 99 nations come near the plight of Italy (debt-to-GDP ratio 118%) and soon Canada. The closest is Japan with an expected 83% ratio next year. The U.S. ratio is a mere 64%. So what else is scary? First, of course, without urgent action the debt will continue to rise. This year the economy will grow by some $47 billion, while interest costs alone will be about $75 bil- lion. Thus annual growth in the economy alone can never overtake current interest payments, Second, some 30% of the debt is owed to foreigners. As the total sours, they become twitchy about the safety of their money. If the Canadian dollar drops, they fear being eventually repaid in devalued currency and demand higher inter- est fates to cover the higher risk. Or they simply sell off their Canadian bonds and invest elsewhere. Finally, the mid- 1980s horror story of New Zealand, which had a relatively manageable debt-to-GDP ratio of less than 90% when its ete HITHER AND YON international lenders abruptly pulled the plug. Overnight the country was plunged into bankruptcy. All ser- vices — including health, welfare, pension and unemployment bene- fits —- were slashed to the bone, and New Zealand’s living standard plummeted from third in the world to 22nd. Meanwhile, Canada’s Parliament is in recess until the fall. There is no indication how the Liberals, after nearly a year in power, can reach even their initial . $6 billion deficit-reduction goal by 1995, a Renewed high interest rates, together with delay in revamping health and social assistance policies until after the Sept. 12 Quebec elec- tion, may well scupper Finance Minister Paul Martin’s budget promises — leaving us with a deficit again nudging $45 billion. © Martin knows the urgency of the problem. But cabinet colleagues — including the PM — are reportedly holding him back to avoid upsetting the Quebec election applecart. | Or is the hidden agenda even more sinister? Is Chretien so afraid of political fallout from a full-scale attack on the deficit that he deliber- ately plans to let Canada run — New Zealand-style — into the wall? After which, the International Monetary Fund would impose its own tough solutions, inflicting drastic hardships on all? Canadians. Does he hope that in this way the IMF —- even though not answerable to Canadian voters — would somehow take the political heat off the Grits, whose lack of courage and leadership had caused the crisis? SCRATCHPAD: Tours of Point Atkinson lighthouse Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., are being sponsored by West Van Rec Centre -- call 926-3266 for info ... North Van Youth Band is offering free summer practice ‘ses- sions for youngsters with some band experience during August — contact Ron, 929-3637 for details ... The Red Cross child abuse preven- tion program for adolescents is cur- rently seeking volunteers. Excellent training provided — if interested in helping, phone 527-1500 ... And happy S3rd anniversary wishes today, July 31, to North Van's Reg and Evelyn Horne. WRIGHT OR WRONG: The only dumb question is the one not asked.