26 -— Wednesday, September 18. 1991 - Narth Share Nawe BUSINESS Youth group warns conference tomorrow’s adults will pay for today’s hypocrisy EVEN WHEN our children become adults, we often con- tinue to see them as children shock us into reality. Jason Ford, a 20-year-old uni- versity biology student, was out to shock his audience of people his parents’ age and older. As co- chairman of the second Debt Freedom Conference and spokesman for the Youth Alliance for Debt Freedom, he warned that today’s adults are living beyond their means. Tomorrow's adults — today’s young people — will pay the price, Ford said. And he called parents hypocrites for not practis- ing what they teach their children, “Imagine a country with two distinct classes of citizens,’ he told the 100 people at the con- ference, organized by Tory MP Garth Turner, former business journalist and author. “The first class has the vote and, through the government it controls, has instituted a number of tax-funded social programs and income redistributions — health care, unemployment insurance, welfare — which allow it to have a standard of living envied the world over. “All these programs and the in- evitable bureaucracy which runs them are very expensive — but fortunately for this first class of citizens — today’s adults — they don’t actually have to pay for them.”” The secret? Borrowing — ‘‘they borrow for what they want and then borrow more money to pay the interest on the money they borrowed in the first place,"’ said Ford. The second class of citizens doesn’t have the vote, he con- tinued, and so cannot affect the government’s spending. “However, this second class of citizens — today’s youths — will have to foot the bill for the overspending of the first class,’ he said. “Theis standard of living will suffer so the first class may live lives they could not otherwise af- ford.” The only way government can pay back what it owes is to take that money from its citizens through taxes, Ford said. SS HARE THE DISTRICT IT'S AS EASY. AS PICKING oe “UP YOUR PHONE | ve ’ A number of newcomers to the Seymour area will be contacted’in a telephone survey © — until they do something to Michae! Grenby DOLLARS AND SENSE **My generation will be forced to pay for the fiscal irrespon- sibilities of the generations before us,”" he said. “My generation is like a child who, on reaching the age of ma- jority and deciding to strike out on his own, is suddenly given the bill for his parents’ mortgage. “The youth of this country have more at stake in Canada’s debt crisis than anybody else, for it is we who will suffer the most.’’ Ford said that children are told by parents, “‘you can’t get some- thing for nothing.’’ **When we get our first summer jobs, our elders remind us of the importance of saving, and teach us about the meaning of money,’’ he said. *‘Does it look to you like past generations have practised what they’ve preached? There’s a word for saying one thing and do- ing another: that word is ‘hypoc- risy’.” Ford said his generation could well become the first in modern history whose standard of living will be clearly lower than that of its parents. Ford said the Youth Alliance for Debt Freedom was formed this past summer because ‘‘no one single group has more at stake in our current financial quagmire than young Canadians." Michael Walker, executive OUR VIEWS WITH OF NORTH-VANCOUVER - ¥ , # . between Sept. 16°and Oct. 7,+° The District of North Vancouys . ‘is seeking communi on existing at * service LyOur phone rings, . “: ‘take advantage " 6f.the opportunity; ews. 4 director of the Fraser Institute, held out littl hope for cutbacks in government spending. “We don’t want to do anything about the debt because of all the government benefits we receive,’ he said. Recent research conducted by the Fraser Institute shows that families with incomes under about $45,000 receive more in benefits than they pay in taxes. And even those above $45,000 don’t want spending cut on education, culture, recreation and health care “because they are often the major beneficiaries of those spending programs.*’ Walker said cutting back would be a real challenge ‘tbecause the system of taxing one group to pay another has become so interwoven and complex.”’ Justice Minister Kim Campbell agreed ‘‘it's very difficuls to curn around expectations that we can 50,000 Kin ~ 64 My generation will be forced to pay for the fiscal irresponsibilities of the generations before us. 99 - Jason Ford, Youth Alliance for Debt Freedom spokesman have our cake and eat it, too. Pol- iticians face extraordinary inertia from business and the public’’ on cutting back spending and benefit programs. Finance Minister Don Mazankowski said virtually all of the increased debt since the Tories came to power can be attributed to the compounding interest on the debt inherited from the Liber- al government. By the time the day-long con- ference was over, the Vancouver Board of Trade Debt Clock — \F WE SELL IT... WE GUARANTEE IT! Quality - Selection - Price PLUS Mechanical Services INCLUDING Brakes - Shocks - Alignments 1508 MAIN ST. NORTH VANCOUVER 986-3431 CALL or SEE US FIRST prominently mounted at the front of the room and ticking away $58,000 worth of red ink every minute — had pushed Canada through the $400 billion debt mark. Mike Grenby fs a North Shore-based columnist and in- dependent financial adviser who works with individuals; he will answer your questions as space allows — write to him c/o The North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver V7M 2H4. OUR LOWEST PRICE ALL SEASON RADIAL IS A GOCODSYEAR Sizes Low Price P155/80R13 P185/75R14 P195/75R14 P205/75R14 P205/75R15 P215/75R15 P225/75R15 THESE PRICES INCLUDE OVA NEW TREAD LIFE GUARANTEE