@ - Wednesday, June 19, 1985 - North Shore News

E.,ditorial Page
News Viewpoint

Too few rich?

as Canada too few rich people, as
Finance Minister Michael Wilson
claims in defending his 1985 budget?

That claim has brought the wrath of lower
and middle income groups down on his head.
Yet basic income tax statistics, adjusted for in-
flation since 1980, lend weight to his
argument.

In approximate round figures some 49% of
Canadian taxpayers fail into the ‘middle’
group. Their incomes, ranging from $15,000
to $60,000, add up to about 76% of all Cana-
dian incomes, on which they pay about 82%
of all income tax.

‘Another 49-50% of taxpayers with incomes
under $15,000 represent 18% of all incomes
but pay a mere 4% of the total income tax bill.

At the top end of the scale, under 2% of
taxpayers earn more than $60,000. Their com-
bined incomes come to only 6% of Canada’s
total, yet.they pay the taxman 14% of his
overall receipts.

Leaving aside flagrant tax-loophole artists
on whom a clampdown has been promised,
this hardly suggests that the ‘‘rich’’ 2% whe
accept their obligations enjoy an unfair ad-
vantage at tax time over lower and middle in-
come Canadians.

High income earners stimulate the economy
and create jobs — either in direct business
ownership or management roles, or at least by
spending, lending and: investing more than

dower income citizens, And if their tiny 2%
already contributes 14% of all income tax
revenue, consider the relief that doubling or

‘trebling that 2% could bring to less well-

heeled taxpayers.
Mr. Wilson’s enthusiasm for more rich

Canadians may -make better long-term

economic sense. than his critics do.

- Streetcar-wise

Ts. ‘antique Toonerville Trolleys on

rubber, proposed as a North Van Expo

- former alderman Bill Sorenson’s numbers are
. right,’ they could turn a nice little profit during
*. the six months of Expo with a $1 fare from the
' SeaBus to the top of Lonsdale, as well as pro-

viding:'a big boost’ for businesses en route.
Local merchants would be smart to get
: streetcar-wise e right away. ;

: ; Display Advertising 980-0511
ee ‘. Classified Advertising 986-6222
i news Newsroom | . " 985-2131
. es Circulation 986-1337
ve Subscriptions 985-2131
1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4

‘ north. shore *

Publisher Peter Speck

General Manager Roge: McAlee
. Operations Manager Berni Hilliard

Marketing Director Advertising Director - Sales

Bob Graham Dave Jenneson
Circulation Director Advertising Director - Admin.
~ Bill McGown Mike Goodselt
Production Director Editor-in-Chief

Chris Johnson Noel Waght

Photography Manager Classified Manager
Terry Peters Val Stephenson

“a. North Shore News, founded in 1969 ais an independent suburban
> newspaper and qualified under Schedule Ul, Part Ht Paragrapin (I of the

: Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday. Friday and Sunday py
.- North Shore Free Press Lid. and distributed to every doot on the North
Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Ni mbet 3885 Entire contents
3.1985 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Subscriptions, North and West Vancouver. $25. per year. Mailing rates
available on request.
No responsibilty ancepted for unsolicited maternal including
manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped.
“ addressed envetove

Member ofthe B.C. Press Council

. 56,245 (average. Wednesday
SDA DIVISION Friday & Sunday)

THIS PAPER iS RECYCLABLE

attraction, sound like a good deal. If ©

PENSIONERS ARE STILL
SOLIDLY BEHIND
(NCHAEL WILSON.

Campus jobmaker on a roll

themselves, goes the old saying — but the

Te LORD HELPS THOSE who help SigSmQI=iGis0Cis teams

message is taking some time to sink in with
B.C.’s student population.

Students needing summer
jobs to earn money for. their
continuing education are an
annual ‘headache in these
days of high overall
unemployment, Last year, in
an effort to alleviate the sit-
uation, the B.C. government
launched its Student Venture
Loan Program. The aim: to
enable students to create
their own iobs.

Any student with a prac-
tical idea for organizing paid
work, alone or with a part-
ner, can apply to Victoria in
the early spring for a
$2,000-$3,000 start-up loan
and get cracking. The loan is
interest-free if repaid by
September 30,

In one sense fast year’s
program was something less
than a howling success. Only
about half of the available
funds were reportedly utiliz-
ed, despite the very small
proportion of rejected ap-
plications. Horatio Aigers, it
seemed, were few and far
between among the job-
hunting students.

One exception was 22-
year-old Kevin Wright (no

LETTER OF

Bedrooms not for councils

Dear Editor:

What the hell are they up
to? | am appalled that our
city council has the gall to
impose an exorbitant and
punitive trades license on
our local escort services in
amt attempt to regulate citi-
zens’ morals, If | or anyone
else wish to be entertained
privately by a member of the
Opposite sex in my own
home or a motel and can pay
for same, it is no damned
business of city council, the

relation!) of North Van-
couver, a third-year Simon

Fraser business administra-.

tion student and already an
old hand: at the private
enterprise game. Today he’s
ona roll.

Kevin got a summer job as
a house painter six years ago
while still in high school.
Two years later, with a
partner, he struck out on his
own and eventually prog-
ressed to the point of paying
a couple of helpers.

Last summer he got a
Student Venture Loan,
formed :a company called

Westwright Student Paint-.

ing, hired 20 people and

painted 90 North Shore,

homes. His biggest problem
was a Shortage of painters.
This year he’s quite liter-
ally going to town. He quit
SFU last January in order to
organize his project, though
he says he'll go back later to

complete his MBA. But, he-

adds, ‘‘iny education can sit
on the back burner for a
while. What I learn in my
own business far outstrips
what 1 can learn in school.”"

THE DAY

by-law inspector or the
police. Prostituiion, if that is
one’s desire, is not iHegal in
Canada. Attempts to remove
it and the people involved
from the streets have been
moderately successful by us-
ing the call girl system whch
is discreet and inoffensive, is
available in most civilized
cities and has curtailed pim-
ping and youth involvement.
It is also the recommenda-
tion of a Parliamentary
Committee which has

focus

Noel Wright
Pr Pe |

During the current sum-
mer he expects to hire as
many as 180 students. He’s
sent 160,000 flyers to pro-
spects throughout the
Greater Vancouver area,
where his target is 1,000 to
1,500'jobs by September, in-
cluding commercia! and in-

‘dustrial buildings as well as

homes. To supervise this ex-
panded market he has 10

thoroughly investigated the
problem.
It reminds me of the

-Spinster who compalined to ~

the court that a young man
was flaunting himself naked
in a bedroom opposite.
When the judge went to her
room to sce what was upet-
ting her, he said he couldn't
even see the young man, ‘No
you can't,” she replied, ‘but
if you stand on this chair
you can.’

A previous Minister of

experienced managers, main-
ly journeymen and contrac-
tors, operating on a
modified franchise system.
All Westwright customers
get a two-year quality guar-
antee. Kevin claims his rela-
tively low prices don’t mean
student employees are. short-
changed. They earn’ a.base
hourly rate (workers. ' $5,

-foremen $7), he explains,

supplemented by an incen-
tive plan that pays them ex-
tra for fast, efficient work.
If his 1985 operation suc-
ceeds, he plans to expand
year-round to other major
cities in Canada. One
wonders why he’d even
bother to think of returning
to SFU -- except possibly. as

a business administration ©

professor.

Obviously, not ail students
are Kevin Wrights. If they
were, B.C.’s recession might
have ended long ago. But he
points the way, even if ona
more modest scaie, for self-
starters who badly need to
earn their next semester’s
fees. . ;

Meanwhile, for those who
chickened out again this year
at the thought of going it
alone, Kevin's’ number is
689-0666. He might still have
a painting job open.

Justice pronounced ‘‘the
government has no buiness
in the country’s bedrooms.”’
Neither has city council.

' To those sanctimonious,
killjoy prudes, who have
supported these ill advised
restrictions on our escort
services | say “humbug"’—
and | hope every self respec-
ting male will voice a similar
opinion at city hall.

R. Earnshaw
North Vancouver