6 ~ Wednesday, December 18, 1991 — North Shore News INSIGHTS ‘i Budget crystal pClear - but only ‘to bureaucrats! 1 DON’T want to seem un-Christmasy to West Van council but it really should teach its staff how te prepare a budget - SSS Sj \SS NEWS VIEWPOINT Empty billboards E LIVE in an age where everybody must champion their beliefs on T-shirts and on but- tons for the viewing pleasure of everybody else. - So it did not come as a surprise that men were urged to wear white arm bands to commemorate the women killed by Marc Lepine. Fine. If it’s an individual’s choice in his private time. But somehkisw. the “ribbon thing’’ robb- ed men of their freedom to express their feelings in a way appropriate to them. When CBC-TV did not take kindly to the idea of their air staff wearing the. rib- bons the knee-jerk liberalists cried foul. Because knee-jerk liberalists believe you must embrace every human cause (simply | because it is one) and proclaim it to the masses. They are under the misguided im- pression that if one is not willing to “‘billboard’’ oneself, one must be some kind of hypocrite. But not everybody agreed that the isolated Lepine killing was representative of domestic violence against women in general. And not everybody approved of how it attained a sort of cult status when there are hundreds of other types of killing throughout the world that merit as much of our sorrow. (Why not white ribbons for victims of otherwise ‘‘sane’’ an- ti-democratic governments?) The CBC was right to disallow the rib- bons on these very grounds and on the grounds that no seemingly impartial organization needs champien its opinions to the public. ~ LETTER OF THE DAY Narrow philosophies corrupt concept Dear Editor: Canada and cne that | struggle Regarding the protest against the editorials of Doug Collins, I only wish that the organizers had been able to advertise this event at 1 would have gladly changed my plans in order to join their pro- test. . Many times | have read his col- umn in disgust and amazement at his fears, prejudices and lack of Publisher .... Associate Editor... Advertising Director . . Comptroller . . an ....Pater Speck Managing Editor... Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Linda Stewart . .Doug Foot sensitivity. There are also times I've wondered and hoped that he was printing such intolerant views in’ order to inspire an under- standing of the many difficulties that such views inflict on the targets of his comments. Freedom of speech always seems to be the ready defence ‘or such narrow «philosophies being paraded before the general public. h is a formidable defence in Display Advertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6952 Classified Advertising $86-6222 Newsrcom 985-2131 Distribution Subscriptions Fax Administration with for all of the obvious abuses corrupting the values of the con- cept. f think the term ‘freedom of expression”’ is being used by some as a vehicle to move toward the eventual elimination of freedom and equality for some sclected peoples. Ed Marks North Vancouver 966-1337 au North Shore summary that makes sense to its sharcholders, the long- suffering taxpayers. The one-page outline of the 1992 provisional budget issued at the inaugural council meeting on Dec. 9 is a masterpiece of ob- fuscation. Any business boss an- swerable tc those who foot the bill would have thrown the thing back to its authors for an under- standable rewrite. The $93 million bottom line misteads right away. It includes an in-out $21 million collected for, and paid to, unspecified “Other Agencies’? — the major one pre- sumably the school board. Col- lecting taxes for others and han- ding them the money is neither true revenue nor true expenditure as far as the tax collector's own budget goes. In round figures the REAL municipal budget suggested for 1992 is thus $71.7 million —- $55.5 million {or day-to-day operating expenses and $16.2 mil- lion labelled ‘‘Capital Program, Non-Operating.’’ Operating expenses are clear to the extent that they are at feast itemized as ‘‘protection,’’ ‘‘en- vironment,” “‘transit,’’ ‘‘recre- ation and culture,”* etc., though without comment. But references to capital expenditures remain an unsolvable word puzzie. In addition to the $16.2 million “Capital Program, Non- Operating’* the OPERATING ex- penses also include a ‘‘Capital Program, Current’’ item of $5.4 inillion. This, says a footnote, is part of $17 (sic) million in “‘total capital requests,’ and adds — just to make it all crystal clear: “*Funds have not been allocated to specific projects.”’ Crystal clear, maybe, to the bu- reaucrats who wrote this bafflegab but clear as mud to the average taxpayer. Meanwhile, he DOES note an ominous $5 million a year debt charge — nearly 10% of the operating budget — presumably to finance capital projects past and present. , Far and away the summary’s biggest weakness, however, is the lack of comparative figures from the past year’s budget. How on earth can anyone form any useful opinions at all without first know- ing whether spending on this and that item is up or down, and by how much? From January the numbers will be kicked around until the final budget emerges next spring, with an expected tax hike anywhere Noel s oO HITHER AND YON from 5.8% to 8.7%. So these in- terim proposals are of keen inter- est to all West Van residents pay-- ing taxes either directly or via their rents. True, a detailed version is at the library if you've time to study it there. But to the majority wha haven't, the summary offers no guide whatsoever to the questions they should be asking council. Surely that couldn't be the in- tention, could it? Or COULD it eoe0 SIGN-OFF: At it again are the Deep Cove Stage players with that ever popular pantomine Aladdin. Evening shows at Presentation House run from tomorrow, Dec. 19, to Dec, 23 and again Dec. 27 to 30, with mativiees Dec. 21, 22, 26 (Boxing Day}, 28, and 29... For the kids across the Capilane, Theatre West Van stages More Tales From Pooh Corner in the Rec Centre at ! p.m. and 3 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21-22, and again Dec. 28-29 ... In the meantime, happy birthday, today, Dec. 18, to West Van's John Grubbe ... And many happy returns of tomorrow, Dec. 19, to two more Tiddleycovians — Reg Meek and John Millard. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Write down everything you want to remember. Then you’!l only have to remember where you put the piece of paper. north shore’ ee 1139 Lonsdate Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 MEMBER SN" C—O North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and quahfied under Schedule 111, Paragraph Ill of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and distributed to evety door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver. $25 per year. Mailing tates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept tesponsibitity for unsolicited materiat inctuding manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. eS NEWS photo Mike Wake: STOP, DROP, ROLL... Montroyal primary students fearn fire safety at the ‘Mr. Doo Bee show"' put on by North Vancouver District firefighters at every elementary school in the district. SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved.