6 - Sunday, February 2, 1992 - North Shore News WAT 1 EPI & FET GF LOGGING TRUCKS HAVE PARKED ON THE LAWN, A GROUP OF , Ms NEWS VIEWPOINT Bus stops posal that B.C. Transit drivers stop buses on demand for women travel- ling iste at night in the municipality sounds good in thecry but raises a number of serious issues. Council also made a motion to improve lighting within the city. Both actions are aimed at making the ci- ty sefer. And there could be little argu- ment with increasing resident safety. But while improving city lighting should be relatively straightforward, convincing B.C. Transit to have its drivers stop ran- domly along bus routes to pick up or drop off passengers will not be so simple. Apart from disrupting scheduled service, the plan raises a host of liability questions. Bus stops are built in specific places for Ness" VANCOUVER City’s pro- specific reasons, such as lighting, sidewalks and proximity to transit routes. Who would be held liable, for example, if a passenger is dropped at her request on a dimly-lit sidestreet, then falls in a ditch and is injured? Who would be held liable if a bus makes an unscheduled stop ir the middle of a street fate at night to drop a passenger and is itself hit by another vehicle? Having a bus stop nearer to someone’s home would also make it easier for would-be attackers, who might also be riding on the sarne bus, to follow that per- son home. . The concept of stopping buses on de- mand deserves investigation, but the nega- tives of such a program might weil outweigh the positives. NEWS QUOTES OF THE WEEK “*There’s really not much secret about ‘it. We don’t ride goats or anything like that.’’ Bill Sterling, grand secretary of the B.C. Grand Lodge of masons, on the mystique surrounding freemasons. “But people always worry about - themselves, and people don’t take the time to listen. Who really are the deaf and blind people? Who is really handicapped?”’ A handicapped adult, on the perceptions of the non-handicas.- “Sure, so I could look down on Publisher Peter Speck everybody.”’ Peter Siddoo, of Vancouver, to the News inquiring Reporter ques- tion, ‘‘Would you want to fly the shuttle in space?”” “We should not be interfering in the marketplace for housing. Not everybody is going to be able to afford to live in the District of North Vancouver.” North Vancouver District Ald. Joan Gadsby, on the district’s new housing policy. “I don’t believe people should be grinding their axes with our taxes.” Display Advertising 980-0511 Oistribution North Vancouver District Ald. Rick Buchols, on establishing a district citizens’ task force on multiculturalism. “Just because someone dies from a motor vehicle accident doesn’t mean they should go to jail. But the bay hounds who want blood, led by the press and MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), don’t seem to understand that.”’ Lawyer Russ Chamberlain, ap- pealing to B.C. Supreme Court Mr. Justice Randall Wong to ad- journ the sentencing of the driver of a truck that crashed into a pas-_ senger van, killing two. . 986-1337 Gau North Shore Interest rates _ on credit cards perfectly just CANADA IS a smail country that cannot afford to follow major economic policies independently of the U.S. How- ever, the recent initiative by the American Congyess to limit the interest rate on credit cards to 14% is not werth imitating. The limit appears to be a politi- cal ploy to curry flavor with voters. Nearly half of all credit card holders do not pay their full bill on time and as a result feel the sting of 19% interest. Arguments from Congress and Parliament that card rates should drop with the prime rate are wrong and show as poor an understanding of the functions of credit as did mediaeval edicts against money breeding money. As with many simple -minded government interventions, this one may hurt those it was intended to protect. TRANSFERRING WEALTH An interest limit on credit cards would transfer wealth from the shareholders of credit card com- panies to their customers. In other words, debtors would benefit at the expense of creditors. The accumulated outstanding balance owed by Canadians on credit cards at the end of 1990 was $13 billion. A legistated 5% drop in credit card rates would cost the companies $650 million in the first year. Because the in- terest rate reflects the cost of len- ding, a limit on the rate would also restrict the supply of credit. Shorter lines of credit would make it harder to plan budgets and costlier to conduct personal business. The prospect of future interest rates limits would further restrict credit because such limits transfer wealth from creditors to debtors. WHY NO UNDERCUTTING To justify intervention, politi- cians such as Corporate Affairs Minister Pierte Blais must resort to the awkward argument that the credit card companies do not compete, Blais has the support of By Filip Palda Contributing Writer the Consumers Association of Canada which accuses the com- panies of hypocrisy and of pretending that bad debts are what keep the interest rates high. Though competition is hard to measure, there are indications that it thrives when firms can contest each other's actions. There is io reason to believe that Visa would not undercut Amex to gain a larger share of the market if it had a cost advantage which allowed it to do so. The rate of interest companies charge has not changed because it depends on delinquency and fraud in the use of credit, and, as Joanne De Laureatis of the Ca- nadian Bankers Association argues, these growing problems “,,.counteract in a major way our ability to decrease rates.”” MARKETING BOARDS WORSE It is touching to see our politi- cians worry that prices are too high and that consumers are suf- fering. However, it is confusing to watch thein argue against high in- terest rates at the same time as they affirm their support for agri- cultural marketing boards. _ Marketing boards exact a heavy toll on Canadian consumers by ‘causing artificial shortages of food, which inflate food prices. Politicians could indulge their concern for consumers by dismantling obvious monopolies such as the marketing boards, in- stead of regulating the competitive credit card industry. | ; Dr. Filip Palda is a senior economist of the Fraser Institute, a right-wing economic 'think tank _ based in Vancouver. NEWS photo Paul McGrath THE NORTH Shore News Classitied Department (represented by Caroline Sutherland, left, and Laurie Hunter, right) recently contributed one-third of the proceeds from its annual Christmas greetings feature to West Vancouver Santa Ciaus Fund representative Ruth Stout (left, centre) and Peter MacKay of the North Vancouver Christmas Bureau. Managing Editor . . . Timothy Renshaw 986-1337 managed Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director .. Linda Stewart Comptrolier Doug Foot North Share News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schecule 111, Paragraph Ill of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday North Shore Free Press Ltd. and disttibuted to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registation Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per Mailing rates available on request. Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax 988-3227 Newsroom 985-2131 Administration 985-2134 MEMBER acs 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) THe WORCH OF YE AMES WEE WACOUVER north shore SUNDAY ¢ WEDRESDAY + FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 Entire contents © 1992 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. year. Submissions ate welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts atd pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. Noel Wright on vacation |