6 - Sunday, March 15, 1987 ~ North Shore News Peler Speck Noel Wright Publisher: Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Barrett Fisher Advertising Director Linda Stewart “A iawted Scbadute U0 Petaghapl Hi ot tte Display Advertising 980-0511 Classified Advartising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution 986-1337 : Subscriptions 986-1337 “ ETRE AEER ene ees North Shore News, bounded ire 194 SUNDAY + WEDONESOAY + FRIDAY 1 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouvor, B.C. V7M 2H4 News Viewpoint — LAR rependent yufsithas Geastaiel ated dial Ma Autonomy trade-off remier Vander Zalm'’s throne speech promise to restore greater wutonomy to local government is good news-—up to a point, The ability of councils and school boards to fully reflect the wishes and circumstances of their communi- ty has long been hobbled by (heiz status as “creatures of the province’, Far too often Victoria has the last word. What's needed is a thorough revision of the Municipal and School Acts. Within a reasonable framework of overall principles why should not coun- cils and school boards be given the freedom to devise their own ‘constitutions’, matching their operating methods to local conditions and voter preferences? Areas over which they were allowed greater or com- plete control, subject only to certain basic general ground rules, might include, among others, school budgets and curricula; hospital administration and other health services; welfare administration; provin- cial highways within municipal boundaries; and liquor distribution and licensing. The downside, however, is that such increased powers would inevitably require bigger, more costly municipal bureaucracies. This raises the question of added taxing powers at the municipal level, including, perhaps, local sales taxes and even the right to a slice of provincial income taxes. And would local taxpayers get a corresponding reduction in the taxes they send to Victoria? Gets a bit more complicated, doesn’t it? But then, - everything in life ultimately boils down to a trade-off! Entire contents ‘