6 - Sunday, March 14, 1993 —- North Shore News He oo DET alee Sons REWS 30 BILLY, YOU WANT A JOB ON MY FISHBOAT. ow HOW DOLKNC SOURE QUALIFIED P... Ter, ‘ mn Sinn, ford a SHAY Blazing bleaters — HE BLEATING in West Vancouver District continues over outdoor . burning, even thouph the rest of the ‘Lower Mainiand: has long since come to grips with the controversy. ‘For most municipalities the {ssue has been a relatively simple one: smoke from the outdoor burning of parden waste pollutes the already badly polluted urban atmosphere, resulting in 2 corresponding increase in the negative environmental im- pact on fiving things, including people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory ailments. m - But.a lot of people in West Vancouver don’t see it that way. _ They continue to maintain that West Vancouver is different. ‘On the surface they mean it is different topographically. But benesth the surface SSL NEE NECRESTOR EN ELD ET AS BN NEWS QUOTES “Now from about noon to 7 p.m. “If it’s possible to put a’sign on they really mean that West Vancouver is different period. Meaning that the affluent municipality does not have to abide by the same set of rules as do other municipalities when it chooses noi to. . True, West Vancouver has many lots that are steep and many properties from which the removal of garden waste is dif- ficult, But residents in other municipalities surely face similar obstacles and have, for the betterment of local air quality, manag-. ed to carry on without having to burn garder material. West Vancouver Council should quit dithering ‘on ‘ihe issue once and for all. Smoke is bad for the air. Bad air is bad for these who breath it. Burning garden waste is unnecessary. Even in West Vancouver District. “How do you tell children that there is nothing Canadian on the CBC, It borders on the obscene.” . West Vancouver actor Jackson Davies, on the dearth of Canadian content on CBC. “It is frightening to think that we're at the forefront in afford-. able housing. Because if we're in front then who's behind us?”’ North Vancouver City. Coun. Rod Clark, on local affordable housing. his back saying ‘Beat me, 1 have done this crime,’ that’s what I want... “He should be kept track of. if he manages to come out of this and becomes a person who puts more into society than. he takes out, I will forgive him.”’ The 32-year-old father of a six-year-old boy who was sexually assaulted by a . 12-year-old babysitter, on how the assaulter should repay his debt to society. the bogey man is real without frightening them?”’ West Vancouver Coun. Andy Danyliu, questioning parents hop- ing to initiate a neighborhood Childwatch program. “We the human race.”’ West Vancouver District Coun. Don Griffiths, opposing the per- sistent lobby in West Vancouver to continue the practice of out- door burning in the municipality. should join Publisher Peter Speck Managing Editor... Timothy Renshaw’ Associate Editor Noet Wright Sales & Marketing Director Linda Stewart Comptroller Doug Foot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and quatitied under Schedule 1141, Paragraph I of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North. Shore Free Press Lid. and a & distributed to every door on the North Shore. candi Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0087228. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. Newsroom VIM 2H4 Display Advertising Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-1337 Classified Advertising 986-6222 A kDa BUMGAY > WEDNESOAY + FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. @ Printed on O% recycied newsprint North Shore managed 980-0511 Distribution 986-1337 Fax 985-3227 ¥ Administration 985-2131 § MEMBER 1 985-2131 s di SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) ‘Entire contents © 1993 North Store Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. y A BOOK published last year triggered a vigorous — even acrimonious — national debat “‘poverty.”’ The book, entitled Poverty in Canada, was written by Prof. Christopher Sarlo and published by the Fraser Institute, a Van- couver based think-tank. In his study, Prof. Sarlo boldy declares that the amount of poverty in Canada has been vastly exaggerated through the misuse of statistics. He goes so far as to state that poverty — as he defines it — is not a major problem in Canada. Of course, this view challenges the conventional wisdom of Canada’s socia! welfare activists who have been claiming for years that poverty is a major and grow- ing problem. : For example, the Canadian Council for Social Development (CCSD) maintains that five mil- lion Canadians now live below the poverty line. Sarlo, however, argues that the CCSD poverty line measures not poverty but income inequality. e on what it means to live in By David Somerville Contributing Writer principles but few persist in prac- tising them like Miniato does. For instance, when he found he did not have sufficient funds io coni- plete university, he left school and sought work rather than applying for a student Joan fzom the gov- ernment. Later, when he and his wife were house-hunting he rejected applying for first-time homeowner grants. Then, when his wife left the workforce to have children, it did not even occur to Miniato to seek unemployment insurance, ~.." Indeed, when he found out his ~~. wife was eligible for UI he was disgusted, Moreover, when his » && The CCSD The CCSD defines a family as impoverished when the family’s income is less than 50% of the Canadian average. Such a family, says Sarlo, may be less well off compared with other Canadian families but is still able to afford the basic necessitics of life. In fact, government statistics from 1989 indicate that of all the families living under the CCSD *‘noverty line,’’ 60% own color TVs, 50% own at least one car and 34% own VCRs. Sarlo correctly points out that this type of relative ‘‘poverty’’ will never be eradicated. Even if every Canadian’s iricome were to be doubled, the poverty rate ‘ would remain unchanged, because everyone would still be in the same relative position. Accordingly, Sarlo suggests a new definition of poverty. He says we should define someone as poor when they cannot afford such basic necessities as food, shelter, clothing and personal hygiene needs. Using this yardstick, Sarlo says with certainty that less than 2% of Canadians live in poverty. There would be even fewer if one sub- tracted from that total university students, pensioners with paid-off mortgages and those living in sub- sidized housing. Predictably, Sarlo’s ground- breaking study has earned him the scorn of welfare activists, who have a self-interest in inflating Canada’s poverty figures. That does not detract, however, from the value of Sarlo’s work. He has provided a long overdue, common-sense approach to the difficult task of defining poverty. BY WAY of contrast, B.C. resi- dent Paul Miniato is an excep- tional Canadian. | No, he is not a hockey superstar or a high-profile general. He is just a regular guy who works hard for a living like millions of other Canadians. What makes Paul Miniato special is his extraordinary dedica- tion to individual freedom and re- sponsibility. The corollary of this is his opposition to government handouts, which he calls ‘wealth plundered from our neighbors.’” Many Canadians share these maintains that five _ million Canadians — now live below the poverty line. 99 children were born he refused to apply for Family Allowance benefits. At his workplace Miniato argued against every overnment grant that his employers sought. Indeed, on more than one ccca- sion he changed jobs when his -. company joined what he calls the — ranks of the ‘corporate welfare bums.” ob Paul Miniato is a man of prin- .. ciple. Yet he says he feels virtually... alone in his opposition to gov- ernment handouts. His friends think he is strange. To government bureaucrats, who rarely deal with people who do not want grants, he’s like an alien. from another planct. a Miniato says he just does not need assistance. He is not rich but :: he is not impoverished either. He ° works hard, saves his money and consequently enjoys a good standard of living. Why then should the government offer him |‘: tax dollars taken from other Ca- . nadians? Why, he asks, should he ~ take them? . _ That's a good question. The answer, unfortunately, is that governments of alt pclitical stripes like to bribe us with our own money. To win favor, politicians spend billions of tax doilars sup- porting tens of thousands of special interest groups and mil- lions of individuals. Meanwhile, : this short-sighted policy is bankrupting the country. * Just think: if there were enough Paul Miniatos in our country, Canadians might be saved in spite of the politicians — and themselves. ' David Somerville is president of - - ¥ the 40,000-1ember National Citi- zens’ Coalition, a politically in- dependent non-profit organization ‘dedicated to ‘‘more freedom through less government.’’