6 — Friday, April 10, 1992 ~ North Shore News ‘pal, Dr.) + __ 7 ere ; Sy | FS JEN NEWS VIEWPOINT Off the cuff %, ORTH VANCOUVER District deserves credit for initiating a study 4. of the effectiveness of council! and municipal hall, but the key to improving the working success of both remains the same as it was before the study was under- taken: the quality and compatibility of the people working within council and district hall. The recent study, known as the Cuff Report, has underlined what perhaps many district employees and many district resi- dents already know: the district needs more leadership and less council squabb!- ing over politics and personalities. The $45,000 report outlined over 90 recommendations aimed st improving the operation, structure and management practices of the district and its council. White the report’s author had some pos- itive things to say about district hall operations — good staff morale and good upper level management talent — he said that council suffered from a lack of direc- tion and that district employees knew a change in district operations was needed. Much of the blame for that lack of di- rection can be placed on the shoulders of Mayor Murray Dykeman, whose leadership and ability to chair council meetings has come under attack from fellow council members. But a good portion of that blame should also be borne by other council members who too often have shunted aside district business to use council meetings as a forum to mount political soap boxes and avenge personal vendettas. No amount of study and restructuring will help any organization if its members don’t want it to work. ‘LETTER OF THE DAY _ WV ought to promote cycle commuting Dear Editor: Mr. Stallard of the West Van- couver District planning depart- ment is wrong when he says that bicycle commuting is difficult in this community. i moved to the Bayridge area last summer and use my bike to get to work in downtown Van- couver on a regular basis. After having been a full-time bicycle commuter in Vancouver for some eight years and having done the same thing in Ottawa, Edmonton, Prague, Munich, Lyons and Tsukuba, | find my present West Vancouver route the safest and most pleasant of all. It follows quiet residential streets down to the waterfront, a short segment of Marine Drive, then a delightful ride along Bellevue Avenue to Ambleside Park. The bridge is a bit noisy but scenic and takes only five minutes. A pleasant spin along quiet paths in Stanley Park finishes the trip. During good weather | actually look forward now to Monday mornings because of the spec- tacular ride. it is to be noted, however, that the local municipalities have done almost nothing for us cyclists so ‘ar. My specific complaint is the lack of pavement, pedestrian separation and lights on the shost path segment connecting the Ambleside Park access road with Park Royal. Also, in Stanley Park there is no provision for cyclists to get off the exhaust and noise- ridden causeway. ! do it by fol- lowing unpaved paths — at the cost of frequent tire repairs. Vancouver is a great place for cycle commuting. I do not under- stand why more people do not do it. It is even harder to understand why our municipalities do not put more real effort into promoting it. Gidrich Hunge West Vancouver Publisher Peter Speck Managing Editor . . . Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director .. Linda Stewart Comptroller Doug Foot North Shore News, foundes in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified undar Schedule 111, Paragrapn Uli of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mait Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility tor unsoticited material inctuding manuscripis and pictures which should be accompanied by a staniped, addressed envelope. Newsroom V7M 2H4 Display Advertising Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax fhhorth'shore 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. 986-1337 Ga 986-1337 985-3227 Administration 985-2134 MEMBER 980-0511 Nurtn Shore ym managed Distribution Subscriptions 985-2131 SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Why should you pay $152 just to pay Ottawa? INCOME TAX days are here again for us 11th-hour filers due to pay out instead of being refunded — and with a new reminder of the scandalous price we suffer for Canada’s ludicrously complex systera. A depth study six years ago by the Canadian Tax Foundation put the largely hidden DIRECT costs of collecting the tax at $5.5 billion. With inflation added, this year’s figure would be around $7.2 billion, equivalent to nearly one-quarter of the current $30.5 billion budget deficit. The figures that follow have also been con- verted to 1992 dollars. The study calculated the value of the time spent by individual taxpayers doing their returns and the dollar cost to those handing the job over to tax firms. The overall average per taxpayer works out at $152 — for a total of $2.54 billion. For business and industry — saddled with collecting and remit- ting payroll taxes, UIC and CPP contributions — the total comes to $3.61 billion. Meanwhile, Rev- enue Minister Otto Jelinek spends another $1 billion on administer- ing the collection system. But these DIRECT costs are on- ly the tip of the iceberg. The true price of our archaic income tax structure is many times greater. First, it fuels the ‘‘underground economy” which grows with every tax hike. At least 95% of these cash cr barter deals go undetected — adding to everyone clse’s tax bill. And enforcement machinery able to catch greater numbers of them would cost untold millions more. Secondly, there’s the immeasur- able loss to the economy of many thousands of its brightest minds — the lawyers, accountants and tax return preparers wha prosper solely from figuring out tax avoidance tricks to protect their clients from hefty fines or jail. Were all those brains busy, in- stead, on productive work to enrich the country, we'd «quickly wipe out the deficit AND pay lower taxes. The only solution — as many well qualified tax experts agree — is a radically simplified FLAT TAX system, needing perhaps as few as five or six entries on the tax return form. Sample models show it could be just as fair to ALL incomes, while eliminating the many loopholes now enjoyed by high rollers with smart tax consultants. But alas, why expect Ottawa ever to give up its power tool for making us toe the line — or its tax bureaucrats ever to risk swap- ping life tenure and fat pensions our power tool. OTTO JELINEK... no giving up HITHER AND YON for job-seeking on a weekly UI cheque? TAILPIECES: Protocol forbids the name to appear on invitations to Monday’s (April 13) ceremony at West Van municipal hall to reg- ister the municipal coat of arms with the Canadian Heraldic Authority — but honoring Tid- dlycove with its presence there will be the Queen of Canada’s repre- sentative, Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn ... West Van Chamber of Commerce will learn all about “The New Consumer"’ from top Canadian retailing expert Peter Hume at its 7:30 a.m. breakfast meeting Tuesday, April 14, in the Anibleside Inn — call 926-6614 to reserve ... From the Better Late Dept. many happy returns of yesterday, April 9, to North Van birthday girl Joanna Disher ... Centennial congrats to longtime North Van resident Margaret MacMillan — now living in Mississauga, Ont. — who celz- brates today, April 10, the big One-Oh-Oh (her late husband Edgar was North Van postmaster) ... And also today wish happy | birthday to North Van's Frank Decker. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Charity begins at home; justice begins next ~ door (right on, Charles Dickens!). RAY HNATYSHIYN... Governor, Generali drops by.