6 - Friday, December 18, 1992 - North Shore News Labor left BE NDP’S seriously flawed new - labor. legislation contained in Bill” 34 is already having a negative impact on local business. And the bill, which was given royal as- sent this week, is sure te inflict much more damage on small business sll over the pro- vince. Grizzly Trucks Ltd., a small North Vancouver truck manufacturer with the potential to become very large, is currentiy Struggling to attract financial investors to keep its operation open im North Van- couver. : But even though Grizzly has orders waiting to be filled, financial backers are hesitant to get involved with the company. Grizly founder Geoff Buck said that hesi- tancy has a lot to do with the new labor code and its union bias. Bill 84 has rolled through the legislature intact even though it removes employees’ rights to vote on union certification, allows secondary picketing, removes education as an essentiaf service, bans the use of seplacement workers. All the aforemen- ticned issues and more were raised in the legislature by the Liberals and Socreds, and despite the woeful impact each will have on starting, operating and preserving small business in this province, the NDP made no significant changes to Bill 84. The NIP preaches open discussion, but does so with ears cocked only to discussion from the left. ic is currently paying its bills to big Jabor. God heip us all when British Col- umbians have to pay the real bills that will be the socialist regime’s legacy to the pro- vince. We need credible, effective opposition Dear Editor: A year ago, along with thou- sands of North Shore residents, | voted Liberal in the provincial election. I couldn’t stomach more of the Socreds, and ! certainly couldn’t support the New Demo- crats. Apparently many others felt the samé way, and 17 Liberal MLAs were elected to sit in the legislature in Victoria. I was elated — we'd kicked out the old gang, yet created what we Publisher Associate’ Editor Comptrotier Peter Speck Managing Editor .. Timothy Renshaw Noei Wright Sales & Marketing Director. Linda Stewart Doug Foot all expected would be a strong opposition to temper the socialist excesses of the new bunch. We were duped. The Liberals have betrayed the trust we so naively placed in therm. There’s been no opposition, no galvanization of public opinion and no counterbalance -in the Tegressive socialist agenda which is pushing this province backwards into economic torpor. The NDP are running wild. The Labour Code is being revised, the Display Advertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2137 Distribution Subscriptions 986-1337 Fax Administration $85-2131 provincial deficit is ballooning out of control, yet all we hear from the Liberals is of their in- tra-caucus squabbles. We're going down the tubes. This simply isn’t good enough. We need a credible, effective and vocal opposition. The question is whether the Liberals can provide it, and whether our votes were wasted. H. Haloun North Vancouver 2. Printed on 10% recycled pre dewsprint forth Shore managed 986-1337 985-3227 MEMBER Worth Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule, 111, Paragraph fl of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Norton Shore Free Press Lid. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept Tasponsibility for unsoticited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. V7M 2H4 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. SDA DIVISION 61,582 {average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1992 North Shove Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Favors to rich pals up cost of drugs for sick WITH CHRISTMAS just a week away the most unpopuler prime minisier in Cauadiau history plans to stick the sick with an extra $406 million bitl a year before sitting down to his turkey dinuer. We're talking about parliamen- tary Bill C 91, which gives the multinational! prescription drug industry patent protection against generic drug copies for 20 years instead of the present [0. This means that, for two de- cades, any new brand-name drug developed will cost Canadians ap- proximately the same as in the US. Industry claims that it needs Canadian protection to recoup its research costs is balderdash, when you consider (a) its huge current profits; and (b) that such costs are recovered on a worldwide basis. New brand-name drugs, of course, are coming onto the mar- ket all the time. Some have al- ready exhausted their present 10- year holiday from generic com- petition, which can then sell a product of the same quality up to 30% cheaper. Others have some years of monopoly left. The additional yearly $400 mil- lion cost of the extra 10-year pro- tection is ne scare story invcnted by a left-wing medicare lobby. The cost analysis comes from — of all places — the New York Times. Brian Meironey and his per- forming Tory seals are determined to ram Bill C $1 through the Commons, bully a reluctant Senate into submission (remember the GST battie?) and have the new law in place before the inaugura- tion of President Bili Clinton. Why the unseemly rush? Sim- ple,.if you just take it step by step. Clinton wants to Do Something at long last about health care in the U.S. — the only industrialized country in the world without some form of universal coverage. He’s said to be looking with in- terest at Canadian medicare, which costs appreciably less per capita than the U.S. system — even though the Latter leaves 30 million Americans with no health insurance at all. One significant cost advantage in Canada is lower-priced generic drugs. So the much higher prescription drug costs in the U.S. are something Clinton will be . looking at hard. Back to Brian. The drug multinationals are major donors to the Tory war chest. So if Canada’s admired medicare can be shown bearing drug cosis rais- ed to U.S. levels, what excuse will President Clinton have for going ON TODAY'S birthday boys’ parade... Noei HITHER AND YON after the brand-name drug in- dustry and its obscene profits below the border? : It’s known as returning favors ~ to friends. If medicare is finally bankrupted, tough luck. But when you’re trailing badly in the polls, funds for the looming election | rank ahead of the votes of the sick. . When the chips are down, a guy's gotta put first things first! TAILPIECES: Birdwatchers’ ; special this Sunday, Dec. 29, when Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre holds its annual Christmas Bird Count — call 987-5922 for | details. ... North Shore Meals on. Wheels needs extra pickup drivers from 10:15 to 10:45 a.m. Mon-.- :.. days, Wednesdays or Fridays — 922-3414 is the number for volun- ° teers. ... For homes in the western half of North Van the place for | Christmas trees is Woolco Garden * Shop in Cap Mall, where the. . Capilano District Boy Scouts tree sale is in full swing daily until ©: | Dec. back when was a busy date for the. moms and dads of .1992 Tiddlyco-. vians, Many happy returns of to-.. day to West Van birthday boys - headed by none other than His Worship Mayor Mark Sager —- - along with Reg Meek, Joka ~ :. Miitlard, Dick Tkorae and Jokzr Grubbe. . eee . f WRIGHT OR WRONG: A closed mouth gathers no foot. 2 West Van Mayor Mark Sager (left) and Kiwanian John Millard.