6 - Susday, September 24, 1989 - North Shore News Vander Zalm did not live up to economic liberalism THE PREMIER OF BRITISH COLUMBIA raised the spectre of socialism a short while back, vowing that he would never see the takeover of the province by the New Democratic Party. “} pledge that, as a believer in the free enterprise system, | will never allow the prospect of a so- cialist government in B.C.”’ As his audience, the Victoria Chamber of Commerce, applauded enthusiastically, he told them that his passion is driven by a deep desire for this province and all its people to capitalize on the enor- mous opportunities that lie ahead. EY CC ‘*.. the tried and true free enterprise technique of helping those less fortunate than ourselves is through private. charity. In the free enterprise system, government welfare is used only as a last resort, after all other options have failed.”’ PE RT “1 will not see those opportunities taken from British Columbians. I believe in the free enterprise system, just like you.”’ And, in an allusion to the NDP, he went on to state: ‘‘We must never let the flame of prosperity, the vision of growth and security and the spirit of individualism be darkened by socialism — once is enough.’’ As the free enterprisers in the local Chamber of Commerce con- tinued clapping toward the end of the speech, Vander Zalm an- ioxin nounced a total of $695,000 in grants to a Victoria art gallery, a senior citizen’s activity centre, and a home for the mentally ill. See anything wrong in this pic- ture? The businessmen evidently did not, for there was no booing or outraged indignation. There were no cries of ‘‘Resign!’’ However, the juxtaposition of all the free enterprise rhetoric, coupled with announcements of government largesse, is profoundly disturbing. For the two go together like oil and water. [n a word, they are contradictory. What else is meant by socialism, after all, than that the government supplants the market? And what -are we to call it, apart from social- ism, when the government takes money from the citizens, in the form of taxes, and turns it over to art galleries and the like? How is this different, in principle, from what they have long been doing on the other side of the Iron Curtain? How does Mr. Vander Zalm square his fervent desire that ‘‘op- portunities (not be} taken from British Columbians,” with his pol- icy of taxing and spending? The point is, the citizenry of B.C. did not wish its hard earned money to be frittered away on an art gallery. Had they wished this activity to be carried out, they could have done it on their own, in the form of voluntary purchases of paintings, and/or contributions to this cause. As for seniors and the mentally handicapped, the tried and true free enterprise technique of helping those less fortunate than ourselves doubts Jast heeded the outcry from concerned Howe NEWS photo Terry Peters THREE GENERATIONS of barbers work at the Ambleside Barbershop, in West Vancouver. Karl Thuer- inger has been a barber for 50 years. He is 25 years older than his daughter Elfie Biro (left) and Elfie is 25 years older than her daughter Sharon (right). That keeps barbering all in the family, is through private charity. In the free enterprise system, government welfare is used only as a last resort, after all other options have failed. Nor were these additional funds required because charitable con- tributions were not forthcoming; on the contrary, governments, even those which attempt to cloak themselves in a veneer of free enterprise, have taken over so much of this function that the charitable instincts of the people have atrophied. Apart from this unfortunate jinkage of a new government giveaway, coupled with a clarion call for economic freedom, how has the Social Credit government acquitted itself as regards free enterprise? Not too well at all, unfortu- nately. Mr. Vander Zalm instead raised it, thus dashing the employment hopes for teenagers, school dropouts, native peoples, and others with minimal job skills. This was a betrayal of the princi- ples of economic liberalism that will long remain a blot on his copybook. Nothing at all has been done with regard to privatizing the In- surance Corporation of British Columbia, or the ferry service. Another untouched NDP program, vintage 1972-75, is the Agricultural Land Reserve. By these inactions, the citizenry of B.C. has been con- signed to higher insurance rates, a poorer and more expensive ferry service, and higher housing prices than they would have otherwise obtained. : True, there have been some re- cent amendments to the labor code. But these steps have been so small and insignificant, compared to the job that needs to be done, that the Socreds can hardly be credited as staunch defenders of the market on that count. Dr. Walter Block is Senior Research Fellow of the Van- couver-based Fraser Institute, 2 free enterprise think tank. ROEL WRIGHT ON VACATION I T APPEARS that Western Pulp Inc. has at long Sound area residents and dramatically reduced the amount of dioxins in the effluent from its Woodfibre pulp mill. But does the company deserve applause? If results from the study conducted at the mill by the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association are truly refiec- tive of average overall pollution levels, then the com- pany’s announcement that it has cut dioxin levels by 90 per cent is a positive step towards cleaning up Howe Sound — which has already suffered a dramatic shock to its ecosystem, at least in the short term, as was reflected in the recent commercial crab fishing ban in the waterway. But Western Pulp Inc.’s actions are hardly heroic — after all, it has only done what the provincial govern- ment has finally ordered it to do — and has taken its time in complying with those orders. The company currently faces 12 charges of failing to comply with provincial and federal pollution stand- ards, and recently applied for a one-year extension to the provincial organochlorine reduction deadline for B.C kraft pulp mills. Rather than applaud the mill’s reduction we should be shocked at just how high dioxin levels once were. And we can only hope that this apparent about-face is in time to offset possible long-term and irreversible environmental damage io Howe Sound. The company should continue to reduce dioxin levels until they are eliminated from our waters and be forc- ed to undergo regular, random, independent testing to make sure dioxins stay out of Howe Sound. NEWS photo Mike Wakelle!d THIS OVERTURNED Mustang met an unhappy ending at Forbes and Keith Road in North Vancouver last Tuesday when the driver ran into trouble and flipped the car onto the side of the road. The driver escaped uninjured. 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions Publisher Peter Speck Managing Editor... . Barrett Fisher Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director . Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualitied under Schedule 111, Patagraph It ot the Excise Tax Act, 1s published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free fress Lg and gistributed to every Soot on the North lore. Secon lass Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. 59,179 (average, Wednesday Mailing tates available on request. 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