6 - Sunday, April 30, 1989 - North Shore News A buck is a buck is a buck — except in Ottawa! FLAT INCOME TAX — the benefits of which we explain- ed in two previous columns — is regarded by both the elected and the unelected Ottawa establishment as a dan- gerously subversive idea. No wonder! Power is the name of the game there. Whichever party governs, a simple flat tax system would rob it of its primary means of exercising power and working to retain power — income redistribution and socio-economic ‘‘engineering.”’ Votes come ultimately from many different interest groups: families with children, senior citi- zens, students, the handicapped, professional peuple and business entrepreneurs, to mention just a few. The present income tax system with its complicated laby- rinth of deductions, exemptions and business write-offs enables a government to fine-tune its appeal to selected categories of voters, ac- cording to how the political winds are blowing. It also enables our rulers to car- rot-and-stick us into moving in what they deem to be desirable economic and social directions. Examples are tax-free RRSP con- tributions to encourage us to save for our old age; dividend credits for investing in Canada; tuition fee claims to enhance our educational level; charity donation claims for supporting needed services which government might otherwise have to pay for; capital gains exemp- tions and business loss write-offs to stimulate entrepreneurship and job creation. The list is endless. Praiseworthy as many of these aims may be, using the tax system to pursue them is philosophically questionable. In a free enterprise society that stresses individual choice why, for instance, should a bachelor be penalized more than a married man when each freely chose the kind of life he wanted? Why should a childless senior citi- zen enjoy a tax break over twice as big as a father gets for three teenagers? If a business has a loss, it can write it off — so if I earn $35,000 and spend $40,000 during the year, why can’t I deduct MY $5,000 ‘‘loss’’? Endless similar inequities exist but Ottawa, of course, is not in- terested in inequities. Whatever the color of the government, the pres- ent tax system is an indispensable tool for keeping a firm hand on its citizens’ economic lives and for wooing group votes when neces- Even were it not so, there’s one other almost insurmountable obstacle to flat taxation. The ad- ministration of the comp!ex, cumbersome system we now suffer — with its infinite loopholes for smart taxpayers able to exploit them — keeps a huge bureaucracy happy. The cost of collecting 1986 income tax was $775 million and this year it will be nudging $! billion, if not more. The highly efficient simplicity of a flat tax would put thousands of Revenue Canada employees out of a job. Since the civil service in itself is a powerful voter consti- tuency, can you imagine any Ca- nadian government adding THAT to its problems — in addition to losing its tax controls over the citi- zenry? A buck is a buck is a buck, ex- etpt in Ottawa. So if we want flat is« — the only equitable, non- Preserve history LESS WEST Vancouverites definite and positive action, one of the district’s most significant heritage buildings will be replaced with another apartment development. take some intrusive and cost-efficient income tax system appropriate for a free enterprise society — we’ll have to holler loud and long for it! eet TAILPIECES: Your visitor tomorrow (Monday) night will be calling about shelter for the homeless, meals for the hungry, care for impoverished seniozs, guidance for alcoholics, help for single mothers, needy families and under-privileged kids — among dozens of other Salvation Army services for those whom nobody else assists. When the Red Shield Appeal canvasser knocks during the single-evening blitz, please remember the Sally Ann’s own motto: ‘‘No onc is ever turned away”’... A to Z of the past comes alive in Museum Alphabet, now showing through June 28 at the North Shore Museum, 209 West 4th, North Van. It features 26 fun displays, artifacts and memorabilia from life in the early years of the century — admission free Wed.- Sun., 1-4 p.m. ... West Van artist Sue Bengtson is currently exhib- iting her acrylic flowers at North Van District Hall — 8:30-4:30 weekdays through May 24 ... And the only Canadian entry chosen for the American Watercalor Society’s 1989 exhibition in New York has won a $500 award from the Society for Cap College painter Kiff Holland. grt WRIGHT OR WRONG: } agree with what Joe Louis said: I don’t like money actually, but it quiets my nerves. “Dp” FOR OUCHI...Terry Lewis ...ows dentures, a drill and other ar- NEWS photo ‘Cindy Goodman tifacts from carly 20th century dentistry at the Museum Alphabet exhib- idon now until late Jue at the North Shore Museum. Whiie there has been great public outcry over the loss of the less important Hollyburn Manor and disputes over the need to save the old ferry building, an edifice of true historic and aesthetic value could be reduced to rubble without so much as a tear. The home of the late Gertrude Lawson was built 50 years ago out of ships ballast stones saved by John Lawson (the father of West Vancouver) and with the first mortgage granted a woman in B.C. Miss Lawson’s heartfelt desire to have the house preserved was not stated in her will, and the property kas already been sold for over $1 million. Municipal officials tried to acquire the house, but were not in a position to deal in a bidding war with developers. There remains the possibility of either swapping the new owner for some municipal iand or getting the building moved to another site. The move would be a daunting prospect, but if that kind of effort could be made to save the Dutch Expo castle for Fantasy Gardens, surely the same could be done fer a legitimate piece of West Vancouver history. For a building that could be the perfect setting for various community activities and for one that is gain- ing in historical value with every year, saving it in any location should be the bottom line. JEWS photo Cindy Goodman STUDENTS FROM Handsworth Secondary wanted to make their annual Milk Run really fun recently. The students dressed up in costume, carried balloons and ran eight-legged races for the fund-raising effort. The result was $500 for physically disabled children. 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 THE VOICE OF NDATTH AND WEST VANCOUVER Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions Publisher . Peter Speck Managing Editor... . Barrett Fisher Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director .Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and quatitied under Schedule 111, Paragraph tl of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Share Free Press. ie and aistributed to every door on the Noun V7M 2H4 Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. §9,170 (average, Wednesday Mailing rates available on request. 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