o A6 - Wednesday, January 18, 1984 - North Shore News EE editorial page MAINSTREAM CANADA Harmless dreams| Dyed-in-the-wool gov't waste Last weekend’s $14 million top prize in the 6/49 lottery has brought much tut-tutting about the ‘‘morality’”’ of lotteries in general and astronomical tax-free. jackpots in par- ticular. Let’s keep the matter in perspective. All gambling consists of risk-taking in the hope of gain. To this extent, the entire free enterprise economy, endorsed by a majority of North Americans, is, in essence, a ‘‘gambl- ing’’ economy — as any business entrepreneur will testify. Without the risk-takers, the living . standards enjoyed today by western nations would never have been achieved. When the likelihood of people being hurt by the process is clearly much greater than the chances that they will benefit, gambling is ob- viously bad. That may happen at Monte Carlo, Las Vegas or Exhibition Park. But we have yet to come across evidence that in- dividuals and families are being ruined wholesale by their weekly dollar (or even five- dollar) flutter on Lotto. Certainly, the lotteries are a form of volun- tary taxation, with about 40% of the ticket revenue going to government. But at least that means the losers get SOMETHING for their money. Last year, B.C. residents profited from an extra $24 million for grants to aid recreation, sport, cultural services and health care research. With 6/49 it’s arguable that the jackpot should be limited to perhaps $3 million in order to alleviate the wear-and-tear experienc- ed by all concerned during the past two weeks. But otherwise, why condemn the harmless dreams that brighten each week for millions at so little risk to any of them? Just a minute...! Debt-laden Canada Post, whose workers are the highest paid in the distribution and communications industry, finds it can’t sur- vive by just selling stamps. So it plans to in- vade other consumer areas like banking, catalogue shopping and lottery tickets. We’re all for keeping down postal rates — but not at the cost of putting private retailers out of business and jobs, using OUR money to do so. TORE VOSCE OF HITTIN AMD WEET VASECOUVER sunday Display Advertising 880-0511 ri @eAsG Classified Advertising 986-6222 north shore Newsroom 985-2131 Circulation Subscriptions 986. 1337 980.7081 news 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, 8 C V7M 2H4 Publisher Peter Speck Editor-in-Chief Noel Wright Associate Publisher Hobe Graham Advertising Director Tim francis Personnel Director Bern beat Classified Director Isabolle Jennings Circulation Director t4etl Mic Cow Production Director Codey Oftice Manager Lhoevevan Cae ase icdy Photography Manago: Joanie: Varesy Pra teers Y North Shore Newa Oasided in Frere sapreag rere ae) Qe lihiendd chert Soe Peeve dater TEC ase) Uhl Pepe emqgeengah TEN cot tive tacine Tan Act VO at ke espe dert CG araly ih pabolistremd arene | Worth nahy amend Ssordaay try Nave ith “etree Fooeses Eocerne sted oaseud iit Raaderd tere vert y dtc cnn. He Neer thy Sob heard we Entire contents North Shore Froe Presse Ltd All rights reserved voce tana Mar Hegint: atin Naar iitpes: 1904 “yealoee rappin Maoeth aod Went Var cee bo pe avaliable on ca dquetl Ne. horn rtrd ebety as cagtad serps dbo these) Habe et! Comer LORY Crean tate Copal, mend Gree Dusters, wetsen 0 abae abed Poe me etapa ene Ley tape ig rere! aGassed avalide Member of the BC Press Council $4 700) ave age Welheschiy & Sunday: sx G&G THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE The auditor general, Kenneth Dye, A goodly man, but not too shy, Checked the books and found them wanting, For our government, the results were haunting. A learned reviewer might call that atrocious verse, but then, | make no pretense of being a poet. In his own way Kenneth Dye, Canada’s Auditor General, is a reviewer. He and his staff review the federal government's books and accounting procedures to ON MY PEACE MISSION AROU WORLD, BUT SINCE THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT OF AIRPORTS INVOLVED ER ensure that all of us can understand that our tax dollars are being reasonably spent. In his latest report to tax- payers, Dye gave the govern- ment’s bookkeepers a “disastrous review. In fact, it was so bad the Auditor General claims the numbers are out by a whopping $20-billion. In real terms, it is a bit like: claiming on a credit applica- tion your expenditures are $20,000 when they’re really much, much more. Bankers doing a credit check would not be amused. . Yet the government of Canada gets away with such inaccurate reporting, and has been for years. How can this be? The country’s Minister says it is a **technical matter’’, and disagrees with the Auditor General’s criticisms. So nothing is done. There can be no disagree- ment, however, on some of the blunders Dye emphasized in his report. How to explain, for example, the $350,000 that Ottawa lost on a New Brunswick motel loan guarantee. The property, which had been appraised at $500,000, was sold at auction for $200 in 1982. The buyer resold the motel a day later for $75,200. A bizarre incident indeed. Then there is the case of the office space. Late in Finance 1983, the federal government started paying rent at the rate of $12 million per year on an Ottawa office tower that won’t be used until 1984. At the same time, the govern- ment Owns or rents space worth $7.7 million per year in the same city that isn’t be- ing used. Still, Ottawa isn’t the only culprit when it comes to wasting money. In Ontario, the provincial auditor says the government’s Waste Management Corporation spent $16,722 on 22 chairs, or an average of $761 per seat. But when it comes to poor bookkeeping, it is hard to outdo the bureaucrats in one Ontario department and two municipalities. The department mistaken- ly paid $264,500 for a sewage project to the wrong municipality. The municipality that should have received the money didn’t complain. Nor did the municipality that received the windfall. And the government department involved simply didn’t under- stand there was an etror, un- ul the auditor pointed it out. All this helps explain, perhaps, why we need in- dependent government auditors, even if they are expensive. What we really require, though, are governments that will act on their advice. (GFIB Feature Service) Nemo to the Press Council DEAR PRESS COUNCIL MEMBERS: Letters to the Editor are, you’ll agree, among the most important contents of any self-respecting newspaper. For most citizens they are the only public forum available for airing, and seeking sup- port for, concerns about every imaginable subject. We're a litthe apprehensive, therefore, that you may unin tentionally be creating a threat to this vital ingredient ot grassroots democracy Your Council, as we know, was established last year by the BC newspaper industry to act as outs watchdog Your mandate, ino stmnple terms, as to function as the B ¢ papers, to consider plaints about alleged imac curaces of ubfairness in ous reports and comments, and, uo we're found to have trans gressed, to slap ous publicly on the wrist self regulatory conscience oof news COU Pan chough tno principle But the best of tegulatory in tentions sometimes lead down uncaplored dangerous paths and Last fall you deals with oa casein which a regional level polikaian complained her Comamunaly had) among published a that Newspapers other things leticr to the editor about her whieh con tained false and inaccuraic matenal even afier the lettc: weiter had asked that at) be withdrawn You found thar charge proven and duly cap ped the paper over the knuckles bor present purposes ony neither here nor there that che editor claims he simply didn’t learn about the inaccuracies soon enough a subord nate handling the letter hav ing failed to alert him in time to stop ul from being printed ALLEGED FACTS What docs worry us is the clear imphecation that an editor is responsible tor accuracy of the otherwise of. all statements in ceaders) letters buther that. or your culing os meaningless Naturally. ing here detamation Those sins are handled by the Courts. not by your good selves Any editor who retains his yob is keenly alive to such hazards and can be trusted to promptly kill any letter which could con ceivably land himsctt and the writer in front of a pudgpe We're talking merely about statements of fact which dompg one damage to anyone . personal Macacter or talk label oor we're not about alleped while Pe pulatlron as defined by the law may nevertheless be totally Aeorted Ih we stand to tee thaaled before you for censure cvery thine we poblish such matcriual. a gical thhapnny tcaders an future wre never KOmMp to get ther beefs printed at all views and and the by Noel Wright publko gencrally is going to be the loses Herne news people perfectly writers of letters to the cditoe are busy rds idhuals youtsebves (hat you 6¢ aw ac HV st with neaithes the time for PONOUELES for precise, detailed cescatch Typically they want ta pet Somme Strong offen con troversial opinion off thete chest Supporting oof wath whatever facts and tigures they can prat qurckty feo a combination of memory and imagination REBLTEAES We wroeg with this soc rrthieenp tease ally Quite often wo oshines light into dark cor- ners and sparks stimulating discussion. Above all, it enables readers to talk to thousands of fellow-readers and spread ideas, which ts the whole object of the ‘Let ters’’ pages But no community newspaper has the resources to check every non-lbeilous, non-defamatory statement a reader.makes Even if ut had, the correctional footnotes would frequently take up as much space as the letters themselves to say nothing of the delay while authors were interrogated In the Manlboxw columns of The News will always draw attention brichly to any mayor and glaring ina curacy Aside trom that. and keeping a sharp cye on tegah ty, we leave tt to readers to fight we things out among themsclyes, by printing theur own rebuttals and Counter ce buttals in that secttonm of the paper that belongs bo ther, not to ous We love them all, including those wha attrac hk The News! Pven at the risk of being called on ta the Carpet before you good Folk (whom un cidentally we support oun your efforts to umprove us all), we wall not muszle our tcaders right to sound off within the Jaw howesvet thoch they may sometimes serewoup thei facts Phere are always plenary of others teady to set othem tight Phat's what we unders tand by a tree press