6 ~— Friday, August 27, 1999 — North Shore News hetori HE Prime Minister’s pig- headed response to calls from across the country for tax relief deserves loud public denuncia- tion. Jean Chretien and other fiscally- challenged leaders continue to turn a deaf car to what their constituents are telling them on the issue. Theirs is the political game of selective hearing. Whenever the issue of tax relief is raised — as it repeatedly should be in one of the world’s most heavily taxed countrics — the proponents of taxa- tion forever equate it with calls to ransack social programs. But that is an egregious political red herring. No one is calling for cuts to social programs. Citizens are not demanding spending cuts in health or education. matihox Planning vacuum plagues ‘the Bay’ ~ Allan Williams (Mailbox “Horseshoe Bay can live without ferries” Aug. 13 News) suggests that we should return to a bucolic past and restore Horseshoe Bay to its former status as a. renowned resort and tourist destination by removing the . rt of the local vil- lage: merchants — quaint image — to “clean up the terrific Nanaimo ferry service and enlisting the sup; *. mess the ferries have created.” 1 think before upbreiding those who suggest that the BC Ferry. Corp. gBcrD) might be a valuable economic asset because 1 n’t “know the history and (haven’t) done the « “esearch,” vic: Williams should look at what his council has _-;done = or-not done —.to ensure that our/his community _ interests in the development of “the Bay” have been listened - ..to. Our Official Community Plan docsn’t even acknowledge - Horseshoe Bay as a unique area deserving of its own develop- licies that take into account resident needs, environ- concerns and the larger West Ven community interest. We are, and have been for a-long time, sitting ducks for the +» likes of BCFC; who, upon surveying the regulatory landscape, «find thax the passage is free and clear to do what they want. “Reclaiming history at the Bay is 2 nostalgic notion without because they. “ment men CG rel north shore news VIEWPOINT jef They are demanding fiscal respon- sibility. They want a tax system that allows them to keep more of what they earn; a system that rewards rather than penalizez enterprise and hard work. Tax cuts do not mean ripping holes in Canada’s rich social safety net. They require instead that gov- ernments stop throwing away bil- lions of tax dollars on hare-brained schemes such as millennium projects, flag giveaways, corporate welfare, ¢t al. They require that governments examine how they are spending the money reaped from taxation and eliminate waste and reduce bureau- cracy at every level. Citizens need to note which politi- cians continue to stonewall such actions and remove them from office via the ballot box. Dual demise damaging to | WHAT more is there to say? week in British Columbia. Onc is the “ordinary” British Columbians who have been so deeply betrayed and disillusioned by the very premier and party that claims to champion them. The other is for “extraordinary” people, in B.C. and across Canada, who will suffer most of all from the sorry collapse of Eaton's. . Not the customers, Parade, the old Eaton’s place in will simply find new stores. Feel for them. Just this: there are two groups that I feel sorry for in the wake of a sensational PrerretrrerrtrirettirerreereeyT Sorters who, even though mz ny have a lifelong allegiance to Eaton's (the old Eaton’s catalogue, the old Eaton’s Christmas Canadian cosmology as the comfortable, reliable cenire of the family’s shopping), Not the employees, though many will be distressed financially and emotionally. THOUSANDS OF CUSGTOMERS- MERCHANDISE MOVING — ) THINK WE'VE FOUND THE SECRET TO GuCtESS: _ who put their hearts and often their mortgaged homes into a risky market, people who have no reemurse to (tn)employment insurance, no political heft like fishermen, woodworkers and farmers to get access to taxpayer bailouts (hello, Skeens Cellulose), no crutches like the multimillion- dollar subsidies that Ottawa hands out to big business. Usually in such a bank- ruptcy these unsecured investors get 20% on the dollar, if that much, And they have to pay their employees . . with 100% dollars — and/or lay them off, maybe go bust themselves. , The ripple effect from the collapse of an enterprise as big as Eaton’s is devas- tating. | - : The Eaton famiiv itself will lose hun- dreds of millions of dollars by the time the smoke clears..But its members won't need a tag day. Onc estimate is that their . total assets will fall from more than $1 billion to more than $400 million. ~ any legs. Common sense has it that you work with what you’ve got, but Allan Williams’ vision defies conventional wisdom without any strategic community-based focus. ees ! Gatives over the ae Council’s tip of the hat to funding for serious planning ini- has created a whole'series of problems - that will be hard to rectify, Horseshoe Bay among them. And - Mr. Williams has to bear some of the responsibility for this as a . West Vancouver District Councillor of long standing. : Peter Lambur : plambur@ibigroup.be.ca i “Morte Shore Mowe, founded in 7989 2s an incependent suburhin newspaper and quilified Under Schedule 111. Passgraph 141 of tht Excise Tax Act, is p.nished each Viednesday, Friday and Sunday by HON Publications Company and distrinuted 19 avery door on the But my deepest sorrow is for some of the suppliers — the unsecured creditors —— of Eaton’s. The secured creditors, the banks, some famous-name supplicrs who appar-: ently keep control of the goods on Eaton‘s shelves which therefore won’t be sold at knockdown prices — they’re all _ right, Jack. But the small suppliers will get ham- mered. I cali them “extraordinary” because Most are smaii-to-medium entrepreneurs North Snore. Canadh Post Canadian Pubiications PETER SPEC: Distribution Manager 966-1997 (124) _ 61,562 (average circulation, Weanesday, Friday & Sunday) ° 985-2131 (127) - - Tony Potsrs =. (Nalerie Photography Manager 85-2131 (160) ~ Classified Manager 906-6222 (202) Entire contents © 1999 HCN Publications Company, Alt rights reserved. _ Now back to the first-named object of my sympathy. : No sorrow is easier to bear than someone clse’s. And scrrow Pins most of a $5-bill will buy you one o! super-coffecs. a But I feel deeply for many — not all, but many — New Democratic Party vot- : ers, who put their trust in the worst and the most brazenly unethical government . in B.C. history. ; ; This rogue government did every- Ae those fancy — thing short of armed robbery as it: careencd recklessly and contemptuously through B.C.'s cconomy and common- weal. r Yes, no one has been charged in so- called Casinogate, and all those men- tioned remain innocent unless proven otherwise. But only abject apologists like. the Surrey woman who calied CKNW - Saturday to say that the media should be ashamed of how they treated poor Glen . © — and, by the way, the razor-voiced ; Peter Warren handled CKNW’s coverage svith impressive panache — could read Constable John Taylor's information to obtain a search warrant and have any . doubt that the Police investigation of “~ Clark, was justified. a : But put that aside. . = The NDP let dewn a whole lot of :. : people who looked to it'as the protector. of working people. — oS Ts And let me say this, carly and firmly: 1. admire Gordon Campiiell, who has.” toiled hard in the trenches of the’ +: Opposition and has an honorable record, ' But I’m not sure ifa Premier):<.: Campbeli would have the backbe { to buckle under the pressure from selfish interests dancing contemptuously on the © crushed bones of a defeated NDP (no-> >: - ‘sure thing) in the next election.- If Campbell is not to repeat'the cycle . - Of class and ideological warfare.and. spoils-of-office arrogance, he must ..’~’ remember that its friends, not its cne-: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, .. ~ full address & telephons number. ViA e-malt: trenshaw @ direct.ca . Display Advertising Manager * 980-0511 (347) ; The Korth Shore Hews is published by HCH Pubilcations Company, Publisher Peter Speck, fram 7