Wag 6 - Friday, March 1, 1991 - North Shore News Ee eee Canada’s VISA card nears its credit limit THE MULRONEYITES peered at the enemy Tuesday and discovered it is ourselves. That’s the message in Finance Minister Michael Wilson’s seventh — and probably last — Yj NEWS VIEWPOINT Killing whales HALES, AND any other creatures in this world, do not exist for the benefit of humans alone. With the recent death of Vancouver Aquarium’s killer whale, Hyak, and now the death of a young trainer at Sealand of the Pacific after she fell into a killer whale psol, the obvious conclusion surfaces: large marine animals do not belong in small tanks. An snimal used to roaming the high seas cannot be expected to adapt to life in a tiny, chlorinated pool. That these axizials are ‘‘treated well’’ begs the question. Taey should not be in aquariums or marine parks at all, and certainly not for the entertainment of onlooking humans. The educational value of whale shows is also questionable. How many facts about dorsal fins and feeding habits can a person Association has Dear Editor: absorb while taking in the thrill of the big splash? Extensive research has been gathered on marine animals in their natu- ral habitat, research more valuable than that gathered studying neurotic animals in captivity. And what values can we hope to insti in our children by tsking thein to an aquarium where animals appear for their instant pleasure? 'a the wild, animals ap- pear to us because they are curious, or becanse they are busy going about their own activities. Sometimes they do not ap- pear at all. There are many natural history tours available in B.C. where whales, especially, can be seen in their wild state. By taking children to an animal’s natural habitat we enforce the need to preserve these natural environments for animals who exist in their own right. LETTER OF THE DAY double standard it to their position on the lost rev- Has Mr. O'Hagan and _ the President Fred O’Hagan of the East Seymour Community Association (ESCA) reflects a troubling double standard when he chastises North Vancouver District Council for ‘turning its back on the opportunity to earn $28,000’" (Letter of the Day, Jan. 9 This figure would be the interest foregone by the district through Council granting the Parkgate Mali developers a six-week cefer- ment in completing the lease agreement and paying the first in. stalment of $2,850,000 of the total $4,850,000 lease. District taxpayers should be aware of the incongruity of Mr. O’Hagan’s community associa- tion’s stance when one compares Publisher Peter Speck Associate Editor Advertising Director —_ Linda Stewart enue that would follow from use of the ‘Northlands’? tract of district-owned land for a_ golf course. Using the conservative land values and development costs of two of the district’s consultant studies on the golf course, the lost district profit from misusing the Northlands tract for a golf course amounts to $43,700,000. Based on 1990 actual expen- ditures for running the district (excluding education), what con- cerns Mr. O’Hagan’s association amounts to the cost of running tlie district for one-fifth of one day. The lost profit to the district treasury by misusing the Nor- thlands site for the golf course is equivalent to the cost of operating the district for 283 days! Comptroller Doug Foot ; Disptay Advertising 980-0511 Distribution 986-1337 Managing Editor . Timothy Renshaw Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-1337 .Noel Wright Classitied Advertising 986-6222 Fax Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2131 ESCA executive worried about this mega loss? In no way. Those who favored the golf course concept because of concern over the density of development in recent Seymour developments should heed what looms ahead for Northlands. Recent council decisions for a 115-acre golf course and a housing objective of 1,000 housing unit sites means that there will be vir- tually no passive park iand and a housing density on the remainder of the site that is well over twice the density stipulated by the Seymour Official Community Plan. W.J. Blakely North Vancouver North Shore managed 985-3227 MEMBER —— Norilh Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph 4) of ihe Excise Tax Act, s published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Nortn Shore Free Press Lia. and gistnputeG tO every door on the North Shore Second Class Mail Registration Number 3685 7 Subscriptions North and West Vancouver. $25 per “~ year. Mailing rates available on request Neanionsdale Avenue. Submissions are welcome bul we cannot accept responsibility for ungolcitec) material including V7M 2H4 manuscripts and pictures which should pe accompanied by a slamped, adaressedenvelope. Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. | OO ee OO eee eee ‘The WORCE 09 wOMTTM AnaC WEST VeCOUVER SUNDAY + WEDNESDAY + SRIDAY <=> SN’ pevos SDA DIVISION 61,592 (average circulation, Wednesday. Friday & Sunday) budget. It says we insist on government doing much more for us than we’re prepared to pay for. The result: a national debt reached $400 billion by June (about $15,000 for every Canadian man, woman and child) and almost 42¢ of every tax dollar going just to meet the interest. So Michael has at long fast swung his machete right, left and centre in a bid to save almost $13 billion over the next five years. Much of it by slashing health and education payments to 8B.C., Alberta and Ontario, plus cuts in spending on the environment, on grants to business and special in- terests, on cultural goodies and foreign aid. In addition, UI premiums rise by 24 per cent. Civil servant pay hikes are limited to three per cent. And for poor wretched puffers the cost of 10 minutes of nicotine bliss soars from 16¢ to 19¢ a ciga- rette. Many business ciccies say it’s still not encugh. Meanwhile, outragsd protests from the s«iave’’ provinces on the chop list have nothing to do with money, of course. They are purely politi- cal. There’s only ONE taxpayer, regardless of which level of gov- ernment has its hand in his pocket. Bill Vander Zaim, Don Getty and Sob Rae would ob- viously prefer the hand -- or alternative cuts in services — to be Michael Wilson’s instead of their own. But the bottom line for tax- payers is the same in either case. Moreover, ALL of us, tax- payers and governments alike, are to blame. We elect governments that promise and provide the ser- vices we demand without bother- ing about an estimate. Until the true bills arrive, we go on merrily living off the government’s sup- posedly inexhaustable supply of credit: Any slaphappy shopper armed with VISA or MasterCard knows the story. The only difference be- ing that when the personal crunch comes, you can’t fire your bank and simply elect a new one. The crunch with both Michael Wilson’s VISA card and mine is how much interest we have to pay monthly on the debt. When it costs a quarter of our income, there may still be hope. When it takes half our income, we're likely faced with borrowing more and more simply to eat. Until, of course, the interest consumes ALL our income and FIRST NORTH YAN CADET to win North Van Legion’s medal of Excellence for citizenship, Sgt. Shane Hunter (centre) of 2573 Noel Wright there are tio more lenders. Then it’s game over. - With no money except yours and mine, the interest biting 42¢ out of each tax dollar, Canada is now uncomfortably near that halfway point. The classic cure for recession — ‘‘government spend- ing its way out of it’? — is no longer possible. Merely paying for the groceries day-to-day is now Ottawa’s main problem. So after six years the Mulroneyites may finally have got it right — for all the wrong reasons. A tough, unarguable grin-and-bear-it budget because they and we have left ourselves no alternative. The grin, of course, is optional. eee TAILPIECES: Check 926-5541 or 988-0388 fast re any remaining reservations for North Van Rotary’s Duck Ball tomorrow, Mar.2, at West Yan ‘Y’ — a fun cocktails-dinner-and-dance kickoff to the Mar.10 Great Capilano River Duck Race (duck dress op- tional!) ... The Junior League of Greater Vancouver is seeking ail former members for its 60th anni- versary reunion lunch Tuesday, Mar.5, in the Hotel Vancouver — call 872-7942 about tickets ... A “Golden 50th’’ anniversary salute today, Mar.1, to Ron and Eve Rowe, North Van residents ever since arriving from Britain 34 years ago ... And happy 60th bir- thday tomorrow, Mar.2, to George Bush’s .— hopefully still! — good buddy, Mikhail Gor- bachev, eee WRIGHT OR WRONG: Hiding your head in the sand is not the ideal way to hold your end up. NEWS photo Paul McGrath Army cadets—accompanied by his ©.0., Lt. Mike Millard-- receives his award from Legion’s Jim O'Connor (left). Pr. ae