The problem is that not tims was terminally ill, book is no more dangerous “They spend very well — quickly and in larae amounts.”” ‘Former auditor general Kenneth Dye, on the ability of govern- ments to spend money. “I talked to a man kere in town who was operating a small five- ‘gallon botiled water service. He sat back in his chair, with a cigar hanging out of his mouth, and said; ‘Listen son. No one will ever buy bottled water in Vancouver.’ And right at that moment [ knew | pubtisher wee THANASIA IS a hot topic. And it has become even hotter since Final it entered the picture. Final Exit, a book which instructs the terminally ill in ‘‘self-directed dying,’’ has been linked to three recent suicides in B.C. The mother of the most recent victim, a 27-year-old Vancouver man, is calling for the book to be banned on the grounds that it facilitated her son’s death. When the book first appeared it was criticized by the anti-euthanasia faction. Now that the book has been linked’ to : deaths of non-terminally ill people critics - are crying for a ban on the book. The executive director of The Right To Die Society, John Hofsess, believes the vases... Peter Speck — Display Advertising 980-0511 Distribution 986-1337 North Shore Managing Editor... Timothy Renshaw ‘Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-1337 managed Associate Editor........Noel Wright Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 985-3227 Advertising Director ...Linda Stewart Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2131 Comptroller .............O0ug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an Foe wank oe oer is wEsY MancouvER MEMBER ind: dent suburban Newspaper and qualifi on i go under Schedule Itt, Paragraph Ut of the Excise north. shore” ww SN" VAN, Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and . _ fo x uN Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ld. and ‘ SSF distributed to every door on the North Shore. ltNosreatenesnse ties, oSaee . ba bed Sees Gas i uncle = ; tpt forth a fest Vancouver, = year. “Mailing tates available on request. 4139 Lonsdale Avenue, SDA DIVISION Submissions are welcome Gut we cannot accep! tesponsibility for unsolicited material inctuding manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped. addressed envelope. NEWS VIEWPOINT Final exit or other weapens. OF course the book itself does not kill, but it is more readily available than hand- guns, which require a permit and carry an age restriction. And the methods prescrib- ed for dying in the book are fess frighten- ing and therefore more ‘‘appeating’’ than other radical and violent forms of suicides. An outright ban on the book would be unfair censorship, but limiting its purchase through mail order only or stocking it behind the counter at bookstores might reduce the ‘‘impulse’’ buyers who have us- ed the book to lead them to premature death. one of the vic- The author should also consider inser- ting information on local crisis-lines, counselling centres and programs to assure than handguns _ people that help is available. NEWS QUOTES OF THE WEEK it was going to be a success.”’ Canadian Springs co-owner, Glenn Bailey, on starting the suc- cessful water company. Vancouver shipyard. “It’s the most relaxing thing there is. The only thing that worries me is if the bad drivers start flying.”’ Eighty-two-year-old pilot Clayton Wilson, on flying. ‘awe were told we would be taken care of. We have been lied to and cheated out of our fiveti- hood. Even old ships get a decent burial.”’ Former Versatile Pacific Ship- yards Inc. worker Joe Brown, on the issue of severance packages for workers displaced by the closure of the company's North “EF don’t even know what the right is.” B.C. Liberal party leader Gor- don Wilson, dismissing sugges- tions that the B.C. Liberal party should move to the political right. North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. ROD CLARK... seeking sciu- tlons to the debt. . STELLA JO DEAN... seeking solutions to crime. On dealing with the debt before it deals with us BULLY FOR City Ald. Rod Clark for his gallant — though predictably futile — effort to get some positive ac- tion by council on the $400 billion national debt. Like all Canadians living out- side Ottawa, Ald. Clark knows that the continuing, debt-fuelled recession —- not the Constitution — is everyone’s No. | worry. So he moved that council urge Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to cut spending by 7% a year, pass a law banning deficits by 1996 and retire the debt aver 25-30 years from the GST. Since no junior government wants Big Brother to reduce handouts to the Little Brothers, the motion was, of course, defeated 4-1. In a ictter to this paper last Wednesday Clark underscored what so many rightly fear. If con- tinually ignored, the debt (likely to hit around $480 billion by 1993) could crush us all by AD 2 Noei Wiigh 4 HITHER AND YON Which brings us to another solution proposed by Toronto- Dominion Bank executive Doug Peters: PRIVATIZE the debt by taxing individual wealth (NOT in- comes). Every Canadian would 6 With taxes already at a savage level, more than one-third of Ot- tawa’s revenue today goes to pay interest. Within 10 years or less at the present rate it would be well over one half — and counting. required to report his or her From then onward the govern- assets. Then, say, 80% of the deb ment would become unable to sign * would be distributed on a pro rat: current-level pension, UI, basis to asset-owners, each of medicare and welfare cheques, fet whom could decide whether to alone stimulate the overall pay off his/her share or just go economy. Bankrupt, they call it, on paying the interest. : in business circles. An AVERAGE for maybe Ii The real nub of the Clark milfion households with assets message, however, is that it's works out at roughly $29,000 of OUR debt because it’s OUR debt, or $241 monthly interest, elected servants who have run it though widely differing individual up since 197] — the year of the shares make that figure largely last budget surplus, whes: we owed meaningless. : a mere $17 billion. So there's no But at least those best able to way we can escape being hitrt in afford it — including some who one form or another, had benefited most from the past . ee government exiravagances that go us into the mess — would bear most of the burden. Honest toilers with no assets would not be penal- ized, regardless of their earned jn- comes. Thanks, Ald. Clark, for raising the problem again. Ways to deal with it before it deals with us can’t be talked about too often. And a very happy weekend to everyone — especially all asset- owners! POSTSCRIPTS: Concerned about the growing crime rate in North Van? Then zap — or set your VCR to record — Shaw TV Cable 4at 1:30 p.m. next Thursday, Dec. 5, when the situation will be discussed by RCMP Supt. Beb Byam and City Ald. Stella Jo Dean, chairman of the Joint Police Liaison Committee, in an interview program hosted by District Ald. Ernie Crist ... The first of Sitver Harbour Centre’s Christmas dinners this year takes place Friday, Dec. 6, with enter- tainment by ‘‘*The Quay Notes’’ — for tickets call 980-2474 ... And Norvan Boys and Girls Club needs volunteers tc teach six to 12-year-olds recreation activities from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. If you can help, Lestie Wait, 986-3449, would love to hear from you. WRIGHT OR WRONG: To be born a lady or gentleman is an accident. To die one is an achievement.