{ 6 - Friday, July 2, 1993 ~ North Shore News VOLT AW SENATOR, HOW NICE To SEE YOU BACK HERE AGAIN o {HE GAG has rightly been applied "to the’ latest federal electoral gag jaw. An outrageous ‘assault on the rights. of ordinary’ Canadians to express ‘themselves: freely during elections, Bill C- “114 had the support of all three national - Political parties. fi : The. big: three conspired to make it a criminal offence for Canadian citizens to “spend over. $1,000,- individually ‘or’ as ‘a “group, to. support or oppose parties. or ‘candidates during elections. ' Awaiting those ‘who. would , violate. the law. by spending ‘money to. advertise their Views: up to five. years in jail. ‘ Arguments for the bill =“ere mired in the eee fog : of | big goveriment’s approach ‘to saving the world from itself. ee Proponents | said special-interest ad- vocacy groups, free to spend what they | 1 wanied to promote or defeat candidates, had an advantage over registered parties and all their candidates, who were limited to spending.$27 million. The arguments were bosh when the bill’s. ., predecessor, Bill C-169, was successfully challenged in court by the National Citi- zens’ Coalition (NCC) in 1984, and they’ - were bosh when the Conservatives, Liber- . als and NDP. pushed it through the House of Commons on Aprii 2, 1993. Fortunately, the NCC again launched a court challenge to the revamped version of ‘national though suppression and last week was again successful in having the law. struck down as unconstitutional. so Canadians cwe the NCC their thanks: ‘all three pulitical parties owe. Canadians an Vv apology. : LETTER OF THE DAY “Ben i image problem an age-old issue Dear Editor: - . ‘I have. read one or two interest- ing but’ rather «plaintive letters from teens ‘lately! complaining of "the “lack of understanding they receive from the adult population. *; i My sympathy is’ with them to a - degree, but they shouid really ac- cept the fact that the problem has. been with us through recorded history: ° mr y 1 experienced it, and no doubt ’ their children will. Perhaps they will accept a few comments from the point of view ‘hair cuts, Baggy clothes, backward hats, team jackets or sweaters, weird etc. are, rightly or wrongly, associated with gangs in the minds of many, and, since gangs to not contribute to the peace and harmony of an area, there will be discrimination. On several occasions I have been unfortunate enough to hear a group of teens having a discussion that rather disgusted me. They appear to know only one expletive. By adding an ap- propriate syllable it is a noun, ad- jective or adverb, and alone it can ‘or four times in one sentence. I realize that this. is not the norm, but it is common enough to put a label on a group, and you cannot blame a storekeeper from trying to keep his store free of it. - Lastly, if you must wear baggy, unsightly clothing, let it be clean, and if you are going to emulate your punk rocker idol’s style’ of dress and manner of speech, be prepared to do as he has done and be . self-employed, because it is doubtful that anyone else will hire you. ; TODAY'S GROWING PANIC over govenment deficits, /menancing public debt and punitive taxes has sparked ‘ numerous proposed remedies. But oddly, none has yet caught fire in terms of broad public support. Reform party leader Preston Manning would eliminate the fed- eral deficit within three years with tough spending cuts. Targeted areas include grants to industry and special-interest groups, UI and old age pensions {to be geared to need) and public-sector employees. While both Tories and Liberals pay lip service to eliminating the deficit, Reform’s ‘‘Zero-In- - Three” promise remains so far the: only one backed by a specific nuts-and-bolts plan of how todo it. Meanwhile, the B.C. Conser- vative Party (yes, still alive under president Peter Macdonald at | 270-4023) has come up with its own interesting variant called “TAXCAP.” It’s based on an analysis over the past 42 years of B.C. govern- © ment spending shown as a per- centage of B.C.’s Gross Provincial Product. In 195}-52 the ratio was 7. 53%. For 1993-94 it has soared to Z1,11%. ‘ In constant doliars this means - British Columbians are now pay- ‘ing government three times as much as they paid it 42 years ago. Under TAXCAP an amendment to the B.C. constitution would re- quire government to limit its taxa- tion to a designated percentage of the GPP — set either by referen- dum or by the victorious political party’s election pledge. The B.C. Tories suggest an absolute max- imum of 15% (the 1976-77 ratio under Premier Bill Bennett). © Deficit financing — considered ’ to be deferred taxation — would : have to be included in the allow- able percentage, which could not be increased except by referen- dum. If the percentage were . nevertheless exceeded, the , legislature would be dissolved and an election calted. If we’re serious about today’s crushing tax burden and returning» t© pay-as-we-go government, TAXCAP and Zero-In-Three mike complete sense. _ £0 why on earth aren’t the pea- sants storming Parliament and the legislature with pitchforks to de- mand they be adopted? . The answer, alas, is that how- ever earnes' tly | we talk about debt - reduction, we're secretly chicken about its effect on us personally. We’re divided nowadays into so many different interest groups — be it UI, welfare, old age pen- sions, handouts to feminists, . HITHER AND YON sports and multicult activities, you ” name it —- that each one of usis ~ scared stiff his own ali-important “ little ox may be gored in the pro- . cess. . Governments know this, of” . course, That's why. they merely’ make soothing noises about debt reduction, while continuing to: ; spend ever more tax dollars to buy |, and keep group-size packages’ of. “votes. Always hoping to be enjoying : their political pensions by the tim Canada’s ship finally hits the In- ternational Monetary Fund reef. “” SIGN-OFF: North Van School _ District officials beli¢ve in driving ». in style.. Tender notice for a © -| Chevrolet Blazer K1500 the... district plans to buy specifies coe among the required options acold ‘ climaté package, automatic ™: climate control air conditioning, | 16-inch aluminum wheels, reclin-... ing bucket seats and six-way . power seat adjusters’. Meals on Wheels needs volunteer lunchtime drivers for all areas of the North ~ Shore — please call 922-3414 if -you can ‘help .. And Carson Graham Class of '83 holds its 10-year reunion Sept. 10-12 —- 0.0. - Cail Caroline, 986-6313, or Shel- ; ly, 984-6420, if you qualify to join the fun. : WRIGHT OR WRONG: The dif- _ ference between a reason and a - good excuse is usually indistin-. : guishable. : David Muir North Vancouver be a verb or an exclamation — and will commonly be used three ’ of one’ at the other’ end of the age scale. 1 i Display Advertising 980-0511 Distribution :, 986-1337 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-1337 Classitied Advertising 986-6222. Fax 1. | 985-3227 Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2131 § MEMBER x cs GRA ompay a 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, ~~~ SDA DIVISION North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 . . Publisher Peter Speck : Managing Editor . . Timothy Renshaw ‘Associate Editor Noel Wright Sates & fAarketing Director .Linda Stewart Comptroller ; . .Doug Foot North Shore Nows, lounded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph II) 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. . Canada Post Canadian Publications Mait Sales Product. Agreement No. 0087238. Mating rates available on request, Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped. addressed envelope. : R24 uP This newspaper contains recycled fibre North Shore managed Mike Wakefield * NORTH SHORE mayors (ett to right) Murray Dyxeman (NVD), Mark Sager (WV) and Jack Loucks (NVC) check out the new Info Centre fine installed in the. lobby of North Vancouver District’s municipal hall. The cystem ‘is available at five focations and Pro- vides residents with direct access to local agencies. ; 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1993 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved.