AG - Wednesday, August 18, 1582 - North Shore News ‘moves by B.C. Progressive Conservative leader Brian Westwood and certain other- B.C. Tories to amalgamate with the separatist Western Canada Concept are an exercise in confusion which bodes ill stability at both provincial and In jecal levels. political “polarizatio case ni” Socreds vs. NDP in Victoria, Tories vs. the Liberal-NDP majority in Ottawa — is a fact of life ‘and by mo means necessarily an unhealthy one. At least the electorate has a clean-cut. choice: provincially, between free enterprise and socialism; federally, between 14 years of disastrous Liberal mismanagement and the hope that a switch to Canada's sole alternative government could only be a. change for the better. Neither. Tories nor the WCC, even in ‘combination, have the slightest chance of forming the next provincial government. But political pata by expl aimed at short term political gain olting negative protest, would inevitably splinter the free enterprise vote and thereby distort the clear options between which British Columbians must relation to the next federal election. A Conservative-WCC alliance in B.C. could Cancda of is Trodeau: Liberal albatross. It: would be an act’ of blatantly cynical rtunism, potentially harmful to the public interest. B.C. Tories should condemn and repudiate it as such. Lie back... Mauufacturing, not the sale of resources, Switeerland emncl — right? WRONG, Last week sountry capita income of $16,440 (Canada was 1ith with $10,130). Bat all industrial countries were left far behind by two ofl-peddiing nations which manufacture mothing: The United Arab Emairates ($26,850 per capita) and Kuwait ($19,830 per capita). If you have it, why not enjoy it! sunday news north shore news 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, 8.C. V7M 24 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Editor-in-Chief Robert Graham Noe! Wright General Manager, Administration & Personnel Mrs Bern Hitard Circulation Director Production Director Baan A Elis Rick Stonehouse Advertising Director Tem Francts North Shore News, founded in 1969 a3 an under Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid and distritudted to every door on the North Shore Second Cinss Mall Registration Number 3865 Entire contents * 1962 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Supscriptions, North and West Vancouver, $20 per year Matting rates avaiable on request No responsidiity accepted tor unsobcited mater Manuscnts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stampod addressed envetope VURTFIED CARCULATION 53.985 Wednesday, 53,484 Sunday THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE federal government to make major changes in the way Canada operates, and the fact that federal forecasters were out to lunch ‘when it came to predicting what would happen to the international price of oil. Seers selling us shoddy goods } — ; - a | ‘ 4 GROWTH INDUSTRY Number One today is a morbidly fascinating activity known as “foturism™, which provides work for more and more "people every month. The product it is pictures of tomorrow and there’s a limitless: market for them. In fact, futurism ought to be the economic success story of our time — if only the product itself wasn’t so con- investment analysts, economics professors, finance mimistess, computer programmers and a tion of learned “think tanks”, ranging all the way from the Club of Rome to Vancouver's Fraser In- stitute. Not forgetting the DEAD ENDS Wath afl this wealth of talcat ceaschezsly at work, pointing the way abcad for us, it's amazing how often we wiad ep with a wrong tur ning of a dead end. Tomorrow, when it arrives, rarcly bears mech rescm- blance to the book we rcad about it in advance. By way of illustration, just a few quotes from cminent latter-day futurists now living quictly on a diet of their own famous last words: “North Americans won't settle for small cars” ... “A university degree is a meal ticket for life” ... “The Montreal Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby” ... “You'll never go wrong with real estate” “The oil shortage can only get worse” .. “The government won't ever let a depression happen again.” it was futurists, naturally, who invented the Edsel and built Mirabel Airport and sold Premier Bennett on the idea of B.C. Resources Investment tion. Locally, it was futurists who planned Granville Mall as a “pcople place” but forgot to specify what kind of people. And who reduced Vancouver's vencrable Devonshire Hotel to a pile of rubble in scconds, then found they had no moncy ta erect anything in its place. Their biggest achievement of all, of course, waa the post-war invention of the have-now-pay-later society — the ultimate exercise in futurism — which = has Pp Ae nation in the hands of the federal government. That’s what the National paces -Program was all about. . “The. bureaucrats and ‘politicians were convinced | they could manage the trick, in ‘spite of an ‘indicated | coming Western recession. | _ ‘They banked on the pricé of ‘oil continuing to’; climb, which they knew ‘would create some unemployment, but would also, they predicted, increase federal ‘ revenue. ji pay back the: ‘oil Radusty : could safely encourage “money to. leave the country as foreign. companies were bought up. In 18 months, we spent. more than $16 billion ig back eight _~ percent of the industry. But. the price of oi] went the pipeline weré postpon Instead of the forecast 7.8 _ percent unemployment, we suffered through 10-per cept ~and more. Instead of 2.2 per cent real growth in the GNP, we got minus 2 per cent. There were + added govern- ©: Canadian Comment Higher oil prices would ment expenses; less revenue. also allow Canada to collect a bonanza in construction on things like the Imperial Oil The deficit was pushed to nearly twice what the ex- rts in the bureaucracy heavy oil plant, the Alsands“‘predicted, forcing govern- tar sands plant and the . Alaska natural gas pipeline. Those projects together would have injected’ about $70 billion into the Canadian ‘economy, buoying. ap the: Canadian dollar and em- ploying hundreds of thousands. With so much foreign capital coming into Canada, ment to borrow more, compete with investors and drive the.interest rates still higher. The federal government played roulette with our tax moncy to achieve its own aims, and lost. That's irresponsible i to the point of being criminal focus by Noel Wright Bn] suddenly and painfully become a pa never society. The trouble with futurists is that they really live in the past. Basically, the futurist takes two or more separate experiences from yesterday, fits them neatly together and labels them “tomorrow”. “WHAT IF...7" Small wonder so many futurist brainwaves don't work. What futurists never seem to grasp is the fun- damental difference bet- ween the past which supplies their ideas and the future to which they try to transfer them. That difference being the element of the unexpected, which makes the future nave- week's futurist conference here, to take just one example, was assured by a Toronto University professor that the key to renewed prosperity for Canada was a common market with the U.S. This sounds like simple motherhood in view of the fact that the U.S. has hitherto accounted for 75 per cent of Canada’s trade. A proven idea from yesterday projected into tomorrow. But what if the U.S. goes bankrupt. And = stays bankrupt? Admittedly, it secms an unlikely possiblity. Novertheless, “what if...?- Nine years’ ago’ Britain's out, ing Buropean buddies have simply taken her to the cleaners. Who in their sane senses a year ago would over have forsecn a world oil glut, a 50 per cent slump in real estate prices or BCRIC shares trading at under $3? Curve balls like these are cnough to drive an honest futurist to drink — or cven repentance. Which may be why the conference delegates have already chosen th eme for next year’s mecting\ in Toronto. They Future o nm to discuss Puturism. {