Taxes are

Dear Editor:

North Shore News read-
ers who believe taxes are
“bad” and we are “overtaxed”
probably haven't probed
beyond =the ~~ right-wing
rhetoric of this newspaper.

Those who do will know:

that taxes pay for health care,
education, social programs,
basic services and all the costs
of running a country.

Most Canadians enjoy a
high standard of living pre-
cisely because they pay taxes.
By paying taxes, we provide
millions of Canadians with

oP iedircek. both directly

indirectly.

Taxes have an important
redistributive function
enabling us-to avoid a large

gap between rich and poor, a-

common . affliction in Third
World countries.

Sadly, with government in
Canada and other industrial-
ized countries obsessed with
deficits, we are secing increas-
“ing ‘incongruity benveen the
wealthy and the less well-off,
with greater poverty a result.

the City to discuss nal

Taxes also fund programs
and services that we mas
never use or that we think
wasteful or unnecessary.

Oftentimes, people have
trouble purting their seltish
individualism aside and hence
fail to consider how vital it is
to address the needs of those
less fortunate than themselves.

This indifference toward
our neighbours is but one
consequence of the erosion of
community, thanks at least in
part to libertarianism and
globalization.

Meanwhile, corporations
receive $40 billion to $50 bil-
lion annually in taxpayer-
financed subsidies.

Many Canadians think this
unfair, especially since their
increased personal.tax burden
isa direct result ‘of policies
that favour wealthy individu-
als and corporations.

Why has corporate wealth
grown at such an impressive
rate while the average
Canadian is worse off now
than 20 years ago?

Politicians,

tion = they refiised.

gama’
the ‘actual cost! benefit. of the “shared

+ but the costly.”

00) “study contained not St oabe slanted and |
misleading, information bit also false information. As «|

a part of my proposal to pus the evidence 7
before | the) electorate , and wins “Amalgamation”.

‘cd et oe a to penta the polled tad |
bureaucratic status quo. ‘Those who are responsible :

uf foney coming from the pockets of District Taxpayers :
ontinucs. to’ pay-.for the: City’s lack of facilities,
ding playing | fields. ds, (We pay and they play)

for a duplication of the

District,
administration of jon services. In this, the City

; is adversely affected.
9 ‘The: n

f joint services is, in itself, highly

ineMiclent not: only: because-of duplication. but. also

“2 because. the bureaucracies which run them are

: effectively extside the control of both the City and
the District:

stop. THE DRAIN - - ABALGAMATE OR SEPARATE!

corporations -

north shore news

MAIL BOx

od fe

and the media owe us an
explanation.

While obsessed with lower
taxes in the U.S,, the connec-
tion berween that statistic and
the fact that the U.S. is the
least egalitarian of industrial-
ized nations is rarely made.

Despite its incredible
wealth, the U.S is unable to
provi ide millions of its citizens
with adequate social services
due to a tax system which
favours the wealthy. Crime,
poverty, familial disorder,
poor health, inadequate edu-
cation and necdless suffering
result. Yet this is precisely the
direction the right in Canada
is taking.

It has been able to starve
government of tax revenue
(by supporting “reforrns” that
benefit the wealthy most of
all), reduce government
spending on public services
(bur not on the corporate sec-
tor) and hence undermine all

the programs and services
which make lite in Canada
desirable.

Crics for “competition,”
“choice” and an end to “gov-
emnment monopolics” have
nothing to do with making
Canada a better country in
which to live and everything
to do with making Canada a
better place in which to do
business, a betrer place in
which to make (and amass)
money (for oneself).

It is a simple case of greed
over need. Thanktully, this is
not an aspiration cherished by
most Canadians. We must
demand an end to the “corpo-
ratization” of government and
an end re an economic system
that places the value of money
above all else. This is the mes-
sage our politicians must hear
from cach and every one of
us.

Ken Timewell
North Vancouver

Family Services of the North Shore
Community Family Counsetting Program

_’ Families, Couples. Individuals.
Services Available in Farsi

; We're re Available

help you make the changes i in ye
seek. Confidentiatity i is assured. ©

“T know how difficult it is to take that fine step,

and make a cail to speak to a counsellor. What
will you say? Will the person on the other end
of the phone understand? When you call me I
will provide you with all the support and
information you need and guide you to a coun-
sellor or program that best meets your needs.”

_ Vicki LeCocq
Intake Counsetior

TE wl .

—r

anus

Sunday, Octnder 17, 1999 ~ North Shore News - 9

Patient grateful for
quality hospital care

Dear Editor:

In my litetime, I have
been a patient in quite a
number of hospitals, other
than Lions Gate, which is my
favourite. This conviction
was further strengthened by a
recent hip replacement oper-
ation.

The ambulance attendants
were sympathetically effi-
cient. Iam making an excel-
lent recovery, atter a compar-
atively pain- Free operation, so
obviously, very capable oper-
ating and physiotherapy skills
were involved.

T observed many examples
of what cannot have been
particularly pleasant patient
care, professionally done in

uch cheerfully, matter-of-
fact manner as to cause mini-

mum patient embarrassment.

It appears to be a general
habit everywhere to criticize
hospital meals bur [found
them acceptably appetizing.

My reaction was to double
my annual, modest donation.
Hopefully, other grateful ex-
patients may feel likewise.
William J.S. McKibbin
North Vancouver

Congratulations!

Latta Financial Group Inc.
- congratulates
Jordan Kenna, CFP
on his recent accreditation as ~
Certified Financial Planner
bv the
Financial Planner Standards Council

Sig

at

jM0a WA:

| A

The Financial.’ ‘Planers

: Canadion
CFP, Certification ° marks