north shore news __ MAIL Box __ Eau advertorial Was misleading Dear Editor: Re: Advertisement by Eau Canada Inc. I write in criticism of the “Advertorial” by the above com- - pany on page 14 of your publication dated Sunday, Feb. f. The article is misleading, fear mongering, and poorly writ- ten ~ The name of the Chief Medical Officer for Vancouver is Dr. John Blatherwick (not “Blaterwick”), There are other errors in the text that should have been cor- “rected prior to publication such as — “Even if the GVRD , approves the expenditure needed to improve (not approve) the ~ water F quality, it will be several years before the new system is . (not “are”) operational.” : T called the water quality section of the GVRD this morning "anid although there are occasions that standards may not be moet, I was satisfied that the statements expressed in the adver- tisement were grossly overstated, and were designed to gener- ‘ate undue fear in the community in order to sell their particu- Jar product. gest that this company improves its quality of advertis- sing 5 bakes it claims how much it can improve the quality of ~ water it hopes to deliver! * David Jones - North Vancouver “ADVERTISING CORRECTION. in our Storewide Remarkable Values flyer included in this paper on February 25, Aas. Front Cover - Distinction Exec- utive shit was incorrectly describe Copy hold read: “Distinction Executive Pinpoint oxford cloth. Qur reg. $44.99 to $49.99. We sincerely apologize to our vatued customers and regret any. inconvenience or confu- this may have caused. EATON’S Mailbox policy LETTERS ‘to ‘the -editor ust be legible (preferably Vpewritten) and include. your name, full address and teléphone: number. Duc to'space constraints ¢ North Shore News can- ‘not. publish all -letters. ublished , letters.. may be ited * for brevity, clarity, curacy; legality and taste. sHuge discounts ona great selection of wool, velvet, cotton separates, a transitional suiting, and more! 196 West 3rd Avenue 3 blocks east of Cambie St. corner ot W. 3rd Ave. and. Columbia St. — 708-1586 ted white, m.p. Wednesday, March 4, 1998 — North Shore News — 9 advertorial, March 4/1998 PENSIONS, BUDGETS, AND PAY PROPOSALS One of the tirst acts of new business following each Federal Election is the striking of a Commission to study the pay and benefits of Members of Parliament. The latest Commission released its findings a few weeks ago, with the main recommendations being no over- all increase in salary, significant revamping of the present “gold plated” MP Pension Plan, and doubling of the Ottawa travel and living allowance. Reform Party Blue Book policy has always been that MPs should not receive any increase in pay until the Federal Budget is balanced, an event which has just been announced by the Minister of Finance. However, we have also always insisted that an independent, arm's length, commission should determine MP remuneration, and not a Government appointed Commis- sion as presently happens. This lat- est Commission though, came up with recommendations that repre- sent a major move towards the Reform position on MP remunera- tion, and the report is not sitting well with Liberal MPs. They are blaming the presence on the Commission of retired Reform MP Ray Speaker for the failure of the Commission to rec- ommend a pay increase and for proposing major changes to the MP Pension Plan. | LIBERAL MPS INSULTED Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish, chair of the Ontario Liberal Caucus, told The Hill Times newspaper “screw the report”, and “The whole thing is pretty insulting. To do ali the shenanigans and come back with something that is a break-even point after seven years of no increases, it is like a decrease.” She also indi- cated that she thought the recom- -mendation to allow MPs to opt out of the pension program, along: with the combining of tax-free and taxable income into one taxable amount, “| smacked of Reform tinkering. “That is a Reform attitude and it. means that the Taxpayers Federation can’t accuse them | of sucking at the trough.” She predicted that the widespread '| Liberal dissatisfaction with the report -will cause it to be shelved. National. Liberat Caucus Chair, Joe Fontana, also indicated that Liberals courtry-wide feel “negative” about the report, asking “... why shouldn't a Member of Parliament get the same pay as a director gen- eral in the administration or a school principal? Three previous commis- sions before this one all agreed that MPs should be compensated more ... for most of my caucus colleagues, they will tell you they work 80 hours a week and for $64,400 a year, is that fair?” (Mr. Fontana has appar- ently “forgotten” that there is also a tax free component to MP remuner- ation.) As an MP myself, | can certainly testify to the fact that an MP’s job involves fong hours of work. Travelling on Sundays and at night is the norm, and 60 to 80 hour weeks are not uncommon, but it goes with the territory, and no one is forced to become an MP. Yes, theoretically the pay needs to be high enough to ensure that compe- tent people stand for election, but until MPs can escape from the con- trol of their party whips, and begin voting freely in Parliament according to the will of their constituents, there is not really a desperate need for highly intelligent and well qualified people to run as MPs. When 151 Liberals stand in the House to vote according to the instructions of the Prime Minister, often without even knowing what they are voting for or against, it makes a mockery of their claims to be making decisions in the best interests of their constituents. They may make a great public show of having studied the Bill and deter- mined that it is legislatively perfect, but in reality they vote the way the party whip tells them to vote. Very lit- tle brain power or marketable skills are required for that activity. REFORM REACTION Reform’s House Leader, Randy White MP, reacted to the Liberal crit- icism of the Commission’s recom- mendations by saying, “If it means that. MPs are finally accountable, and their pay package is transparent - and that is what we (Reformers) | have been calling for - if that’s Reform driven, then I'm proud of it.” The pension recommenda- tions are indeed something for Reformers to be proud of, because - for the first time a commission on MP remuneration has suggested restructuring of the MP Pension Plan into something similar to those found in the private.«ector. This is. some- thing Reform hs been fighting for since 1987. In the unlikely event that the Liberals agree to adopt the Commission’s recommendations, MPs will have the choice to opt out of the plan. in addition, the present plan would confer benefits signifi- cantly less generous than in the past, and fastly, for those who have already opted out of the “Gold Plated Plan” and have no pension entitie- ment, like me, an alternative plan similar to an RRSP and matched dollar for dollar like the private sector would be made _ available. Implementation of these recom- mendations would put an end to the lucrative MP Pension Plan which has irked taxpayers for decades, and would place MP pensions on a similar footing to those of other Canadian workers. in due course we will learn the intentions of the Liberal Government in this regard. Let's hope they do what is right. em Capilano. Ca College AT CAP # College lecture addresses sexual abuse by healih professionals Shame and Blame: Obstacles to Recovery from Sexual Abuse by Health Professionals is the subject of eminent poychuatrist and feminist Dr. Susan Penfold on Thursday, March 3 ar the 10th annual Mary Catherine Paterson Memorial Lecture. Dr. Penfol’s tecture, being held at 7:30 p.m. in the Cedar building, room 148, at Capilano College, ts a highlight of Capilano College's annual International Women’s Day program. It is free and the facility is wheelchair accessible. %» College celebrates International Women’s Day with free lectures On Thursday, March 5, Capilano College celebrates International Women’s Day with free events, including lectures, guest speakers and entertainment. Activities include opening a number of classes to che public, starting at 3:30a.m. and continuing uncil 9:30 p.m. A complete schedule of events will be available at community centres, public libraries, at the main campus teception desk in the Birch building, or by calling 984-4953. Be Textile arts on exhibit Capilano College Textile.” Ants students will be- holding their annual - . student exhibition at the . Canadian Craft Museum, 639 Hornby Street in Vancouver, from Friday, March 13 to Wednesday, ~~ April 1. There will also be two information sessions for people interested. in the two-year diploma program or one-year. . advanced certificate * Frogram in Textile Arts,” They will be held on Thursday, March 12 at. - 6:30 p.m. at the Canadian Cratt Museum, and ons © Thursday, April 16 at - 6:30 p.m. in the Arbutus * building, room 124 at Capilano College. For more infermation, call : 984-491 1. > Sixth annual Capilano College China summer school Travel to Beijing, China from May 16 to June 8 for an all-inclusive fee of $2,800. The program inchides more than 60 hours of language instruction in Chinese Mandarin, round trip airfare, tuition, accommuadation and meals, transportation and sightseeing. Applicants accepted on a first-come first-served basis until March (5. Call 986-1911, local 2423 for information. CAPILANO COLLEGE 2055 Purcell Way — North Vancouver British Columbia 986-1911"