IT 4S offen said thai goy- ernment is out of syne with the society it attempts to manage. In the expenditure cotunin of any business today there are items that cost more than they ever did before. But there are many items that cost considerably less, Computers, communication equipment, mass purchasing tech- niques and more sophisticated, personnel have created genuine economies. Productivity per employee has soared. The public bug-bear, the Goods and Services Tax, eliminated the corrosive hidden manufacturing tax, lowering prices. Comparison shopping, via fac- simile and other devices, is light- ning fast. Courier services are competitive aad inexpensive. There is one aspect of business: management today that devours with the uniform devastation of termina! melanoma: any item of business management that has anything to do with government. Every government activity (a s0-called service) — without ex- ception — is more expensive than it used to he, New fees are being invented every day. . Tf every business can list items that have become ches per, why has government been immune 10. all savings and all measures’of in- _ creased productivity’? Are there no competent managers ia the system? Or is the systeni so faulty that it defies good management? ’ Much attention is paid to levels’ of taxation. But more insidious are the fees. Like a swarm of mosquitoes. ; hovering over a care uss, all Bove . ernment agencies hit business with” costs for ficenzes and inspections. ‘There are incorporation charges and fiting fees for anything to do with the court system or fand titles’ office. There are higher fees for” going bankrupt. The British, Columbia govern- ment sets auto insurance rates and . ferry fares. There ure various taxes on airline travel, and w new . Vancouver. Airport tan in the off- - ing. , J repeat: every single one of these taxes and fees has been in- -creased, and many new fees have peen added. Unexplained of course ts what value business receives from the hundreds of tax bites it had al- ready been paying before the new “user charge’ was announced. To repeat: why is government the only business that has yet to find a single product or service it can convey to the public ata lower piice than it has charged in the past? Finance ministers and managers in the public service will not and cannoi answer that question. In- stead, they will divert conversation into an internal myopia, narrowly focusing on some departments that have fewer employees than they used to have, or programs - that have been eliminated. Since none of these has resulted in a reduction of charges to the public, and since all of the nega- OPEN LINES tive indices are pounding along at arelentless pace — debt, taxation, expenditures, unemployment ~ the reality is not merely sobering, Atis frightening. The figures suggest that there is no honesty in the system. The only motive of taday's elected leaders is get themseives rewarded and re-elected. It is interesting to note what govern. ments do to each other. The fed- eral government has downloaded huge expenditures Onto the pro- vinces. The provinces have done. the.same to municipalities, schools and hospitals. School and hospital trustees’ have lived with hypocrisy from , Victoria, The provincia! government has increased every item of expen- diture within its jurisdiction, payorts galore 10 party friends, rae unions and pet projecis. - But itdoes not provide the same luxury to scaools and hospi- tals, To meet their budget, school boards have-been forced into. layof Tho. ’ Why doesn’t the provincial - government lay of f some of its staff, or climinate some of its programs, to reduce its deficit?: Provincial debt is.far more grave than anything faced at the local ' “level, But the absurdity of our times is the so-called ‘social contract"’ arrived at by the province with the three jiospital unions, guaran- teeing job security, pay increases, and a 36-hour work week. The unions have agreed to ‘tallow’’'4,800 jobs to be elimi- nated through retirement and at- triion. Why it was necessary for them to ‘allow’? this is beyond me, But layoffs are prohibited. Those who wish to stay will re- main. The government has no idea how these people will be paid, but that becomes a problem for the hospital boards. The health minister hopes to close hundreds of acute-care beds, moving many patients into cither nursing-supported home situa- tions, or to less expensive medical facilities. The most significant economy in reducing beds is the ability to reduce staff. But the jobs are guaranteed, The theory is that these staff members will move to snail community hospiials — with wages and jobs protected. But there is an arbitration plan for employees who resist any move. It is certain that deadwood will re- maiu at major hospitals. And where would they move anyway? Most of the nursing homes and private hospitais are currently non-union with wages: far below the major hospitals, - Are the displaced people from the large hospitals going to work side by side for substantially more money and for a precise 36 hours per week? ‘The inevitable outcome is that all of the private hospitals, nurs- ing homes, and in-home services wilt unionize. And because of this demented “social contract’’, the downloaded employees will dictate salary levels. Hundreds of acute beds will: sc, There will be no saving. em will become far more inefficient than it is today, The next time you go downtown, walk into the foyer and the old CP Station on Cor- -dova Street (the SeaBus empties into its lobby), It is a busy, marvellous atmosphere. Under the high vaulted ceilings, cafes line the marble concourse. Midday, a musician per forms ona a grand piana, At the west end of the hall, a huge electronic sign has been -mounred by the Vancouver Board of Trade. It shows the gross pro- vincial debt and it changes before your eyes. Tick, tick, tick. About $3, 000 more e debt every minute, WE CAN HELP Ask vour Doctor or call us for an appointment, ELARING 36 ACOUSTICS Northmount Medical Centre 302-145 East 13th St, Government Licensed Hearing | Instrument Specialists and | Audiologists | 55-5552. D TOTHE SALVATION ARMY GN MONDA Help us help those in desperate need. The hungry, the homeless, the battered women, the abused child. Please give when ' our volunteer knocks at your door. Or mail your donation to the 1993 Red Shield Appeal. GU~198 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C. 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