S\ 6 - Friday, March 23, 1991 - North Shore News . a iy, High-tech trap HILE USE of Multanova camera-radar the new on weeks previous. The Multanova appears to provide a the Upper Levels Highway and other Lower Mainland roadways will surely fill provincial coffers with instant payoffs from $75 speeding tickets, the $80,000 device will just as surely fill pro- vincial court rooms with complaints about its subversion of citizens’ rights. The Swiss-made Multanova is a sophisticated radar trap that takes pic- tures of cars exceeding designated speed limits. The owners of the offending vehicles are then mailed $75 speeding tickets. While most right-thinking folk would support any police attempts to control the carnage on B.C. roads wrought by bad drivers and scoffiaws, those same folk will have second thoughts about a system that bills drivers through the mail for offences alleged to have occurred high-tech trap for errant speeders, but it could also provide a high-tech nightmare for those who might have some legiti- mate excuse for momentarily exceeding speed limits or for those whose vehicles might have been borrowed or even stolen. And the accuracy of the Multanova, if it malfunctions, will be virtually im- possible to determine and zven less likely to be open to question. An over-reliance on the Multanova will place the policing of our streets in electronic hands and further remove the humanity from local police forces. The baitle then will not be police forces against lawbreakers, but the public against technology — a public- relations battle that neither the govern- ment nor the police can hope to win. Dear Editor: In response to Kathy Rysiew's letter of Feb. 23, there is indeed very good reason why the police are checking cars as well as drivers. Unfortunately, since the vehicle inspection program was cut out some years ago, the road wor- thiness of cars in B.C. has decreased dramatically. Of par- ticular concern to me are the vehi- cles which travel the — streets without either brake light working. As you are no doubt aware, a driver who rear-ends another vehi- Publisher Associate Editor at te ETTER OF" Para Police spot Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewart cle is held at fault for the accident. But what if you rear-end a vehicte with no brake lights? You may be innocent under these extenuating circumstances. But try and prove that the front car had no brake lights if the acci- dent has been severe enough to damage the first car’s bumper, trunk and tail lights. 1 tried to address this problem recently by writing to both the North Vancouver RCMP detach- ment and ICBC, giving them specific details and licence numbers of offending vehicles. Trt SOIL OF MOM Coe geld WI ST FANCOUVEH Cla pray ntope: . THE DAY... : checks defended Orsptay Advert Newsroom 1990 North Shore Free Press Lid- Atl rights reserved The response? ICBC said that they were not in the business of law enforcement; the RCMP assured me that ‘‘eventually these defective vehicles will be stopped’’ in the vehicle checks Ms. Rysiew deplores. I agree with Ms. Rysiew that the police should not be wasting their valuable time checking cars for road worthiness. But someone has to do it. The drivers of these un- sound cars sure aren't. Kristin McCahon North Vancouver ssited Agvertising i) : . HeCmntigns oe “ a y ‘ 1449 Lonsdale Avenue, ' North Vancouver BC VIM GH4 fasts §9,170 (average Weanescay Fre SN 4 Friday & Surday) naas Saver meestanet @ ance a SDA DIL HONG North Shore owned and managed Why no Mounties in TV ads for the GST? ONE THING you have to admit about the Mulroney gov- ernment — it sticks to its guns. In a quite literal sense, it seems, according to a recent news break. The news report in question ex- posed a confidential government memo marked ‘“‘read and destroy’ which — happily, nevertheless — was leaked to the media. It reveal- ed plans by Revenue Canada for recruiting a special RCMP squad to crack down on taxpayers trying to cheat when the Gouge & Screw Tax comes into force on Jan. 1, 1991. The document put it in diplo- matic bureaucratese, of course. “With the introduction of this new tax,”’ it said, ‘‘as with any far- reaching program, the oppor- tunities for fraudulent activities are of concern to us." Subsequently, RevCan conceded that it was, indeed, looking to “borrow’’ RCMP officers who would ‘‘identify’® schemes for GST tax evasion — a task which the department's own resident gumshoes ate apparently consid- ered not quite up to. Two distinctly worrisome ques- tions about this scenario of tax sleuths with six-shooters remain unanswered. The first being that, if the GST is as fair and beneficial to everyone as Michael Wilson in- sists, why are taxpayers now to be open to the criminal investigative techniques used for murderers, bank robbers and drug dealers? Secondly, suspected ir- regularities in tax returns are of three kinds: honest error, tax AVOIDANCE — usually devised by smart tax consultants within the letter of the law — and illegal eva- sion. Up to now, all three have routinely been probed by RevCan's own staff. So why do they sud- denly need reinforcements from the national police force to doa job at which the department’s auditors are presumably far more expert than hired help in yellow- striped pants? Only one answer comes to mind. The GST burden on individuals and businesses — worsened by its innumerable and sometimes unintelligible regulations — is adamantly opposed by four out of five Canadians. So the + Mulroneyites are bracing themselves for a virtual tax rebellion. For errors, avoidance claims and outright flouting on a scale hitherto unknown. Their solution: call in the cops before things get out of hand. This RCMP ‘‘crimebuster’’ squad behind the scenes is some- thing to remember as you watch those sugary, soothing TV com- mercials they’re spending vast sums of our money on to tell us how pleasant and easy the GST will be. Not one of them, so far, featuring a Mountie. “Our guys won’t have guns,”’ a RevCan spokesperson quipped recently, ‘‘but they will have sharp pencils.’’ In the TV studio that would be the cue for the producer to hold up the audience prompt card marked ‘‘Laugh!’’ How's YOUR sense of humor holding up? eek TAILPIECES: Next month adds yet another special ‘‘week’’ to the year — marking the 60th birthday of the organization whose people are among the first helpful visitors to newcomers in the community. The upcoming anniversary recently brought North Van’s Beverley Graham and colleagues to District Hall to receive the civic proclama- tion of April 9-13 as *‘Welcome Wagon Week”’ ... Want to know more about fish farming? West Van’s state-of-the-art fisheries laboratory at 4160 Marine is now offering free tours — call Donna Price, 666-7934, to arrange ... And the West End’s venerable King George High invites all former students, spouses, teachers and staff to join the fun at its 75th re- union bash May 18-20. Dial the 24-hour info line, 684-6467, for details. kak WRIGHT OR WRONG: To train your dog to obey you, you have to be smarter than the dog. Ditto with computers, NEWS photo Terry Peters COMMUNITY GREETERS ...Mayor Marilyn Bakee (right) presents Welcome Wagon Week proclamation to WW reps (left to right) Margareth Dolmage, Norma Neill and Beverley Graham (see column item).