A6 - Sunday News, August 16, 1981 EEE editorial page Council cop-out North Shore residents are not getting the leadership and positive action to which they're entitled from their councils on the confusing and controversial issue of Sunday shopping. . Earlier proposals to hold a joint referendum on the matter at this November's municipal: elections have now been rejected by .all three councils -- even though the > referendum terms had been whittled down to the single: question of whether home im- provenient stores should be allowed to open. Under: . the ew Holiday Shopping Regulation” Act” garden supply stores anywhere: in the ‘province are allowed to open'on. Sunday. Why the same permission was not granted to home improvement stores is beyond | the:wit-of man to understand. The weekend:is the only time most wage-earners have to tackle home improvements jobs. To be prevented from working on such projects for lack of certsin hardware or lumber applies -- while ‘heing free to buy seed, fertilizer and plants galore - is an insult to commonsense.. And, in many cases, a genuine hardship. In North Vancouver (the only municipalities: directly involved) a recent survey showed 60% of residents supported even wide-open Sunday shopping. Restricted to home improvement stores alone, the “yes” vote would probably be still higher. Calling feebly for Victoria to amend its act in favor of home improvement stores -- as two North Shore councils now propose -- is a cop-out. They have the power to act on their own this November. They should settle the matter once and for all by local referendum. Others’ money The Globe and Mail quotes a leaked transport department memo suggesting that Finance Minister Allan MacEachen tried to have a Nova Scotia airport runway lengthened by 1,000 ft. so his government Lear Jetstar could land near his Cape Breton Island home. If the story is correct, why not, indeed? When you owe $14 billion, what’s an extra million or so of the taxpayers’ money to help you relax on the weekend? sunday news narth shore 1139 Lonsdate Ave. North Vancouver, B.C V7M 2H4 news (604) 985-2131 ADVERTISING NEWS 980-0511 CLASSIFIED 985-2131 986-6222 CIRCULATION 986-1337 Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Editor-in-Chiet Advertising Director Robert Graham Noel Wright Enc Cardweti Managing Editor News Editor Sports Editor Andy Fraser Chris Uoyd Patrick Rich General Manager Creative Administration Director Bern Hillard Tim Francis Photography thsworth Dickson Production Director Rick Stonehouse Accounting Supervisor Circutation Director Barbara Keen Bnan A Eilts Purchaser Faye McCrae North Shore News founded 1860 as an independonmt oommurntty Dewspape: and qualifted under Schedule Hh Part it! Paragrapty Ml of the tease Can Act ts priblsthed each Woudnesday and Sunday by North Ste bree Press Lid) and stituted fo every door on the Nort: “ah bee Second (lass Mad Registration Number j685 Subscriptions $20 por yoo: Entire contents 1981 North Shore Free Preas ltd All rights reserved Na ance ee mat ceded ade co argeterdl ta oe 4 y 4 veer tte end PT vata cap caved pone Tear eoe vwtie Poni oeabed pger at erventevs tant teva beac dtr ogy crip er Pry a ca baarrag care! Bes sed) Ore etbg ee VE Hab st lo a tn ATION 83 470 Wednesday $2 /60 Sunday > sxi & con THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE By WALTER BLOCK In days of yore, oriental despots commonly treated the bearers of bad news in a rather extreme manner: they beheaded them! . We have. made _ great strides in modern Canada, at least as far as humaneness of is concerned. We no longer excute messengers. But in the case of at least one type of bearer of bad news - the speculator - our present understanding and appreciation of his task rivals even that of the an- cient oriental despot. In its ignorance. Yes, the delivers bad news: high prices and shortages. Yet. very few people interpret speculation in this manner. Instead, our pundits, editorialists and com- mentators heap abuse upon his head. “Profiteer”, “gouger”, “flogger of paper’, “exploiter”, “despoiler of the poor” are some of the more polite monikers ascribed to the speculator. The others are not fit to print! In order to clearly see the true economic function of speculation, let us consider the present situation of rising land and housing prices in the Vancouver/ Fraser Valley/lower mainland area. Even in the absence of land speculation, there is absolutely no doubt that prices would have risen. In the past year, B.C.’s population has risen by an astounding 70,200 people. This an average of over 1300 people per week! Although geographical breakdowns LOVE THAT BOAT: It has to be the PR scoop of the century. A disposable luxury product costing individual customers anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 apiece; featured weekly for a full hour on prime-time TV al no cost to the merchant; and permanently sold out with waiting lists of up to a year. Mark you, the 20,000-ton product--involving an ongoing payroll of several hundred, a fuel bill that would make a Saudi Arabian oil sheik blanche, plus tens of thousands of dollars worth of trimmings every weck- isn’t exactly cheap to manufacture But) all that aside. one still gasps in awe at the publhemy pentus who dreamt up the idea of creating a lop rating, yar after year JV made two show thats real life liners the best known ships inthe world cruise Moillhoas of viewers are famihar with every nook and cranny of the /slancd Prancess and her identical twin the Pacific Princess on which the Love Boat shows are shot and which make the summer home at Van Carvers whenec Ballantyne Pies they ply on thetr cight day cruises to Alaska Even hardnosed media types succumbed to all the familar speculator — Dr. Walter E. Block. Senior Economist with the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute and a North Van resident. are not available, settlement patterns indicate that most of this has taken place in the Lower Mainland area. Net immigration from other provinces has been running at a white-hot pace, reaching an all-time high in the last three months in 1980 of 14,720 people. All those jokes about 17 people crammed in a Volkswagen heading west to B.C. must have some basis in fact. Why do most prices rise under such conditions? 1) Many ad- ditional people have been seeking housing. 2) Government has refused to allow for additional bulding space through its agricultural land reserve policy. 3) Zoning laws have precluded increasing the intensity with which the limited amount of available land may be used. And, of course, the supply of land itself ts limited - as Will Rogers so accurately ob housing served, “they ain't making any more of it.” The speculator’s role in all this has been to deliver an ‘economic message - for all those cdpable of interpreting and translating it back to common parlance. By purchasing land, buildings, homes, and other real estate long before the present price rises, and beginning the process of development of redevelopment, the specualtor functions as a Distant Early Warning System. He gives notice that, at least in his opinion, shortages and higher prices are due in the future. If others heed this message, they will act so as to solve the crisis before it even gets off the ground. Additional land in the G.V.R.D cannot, of course, by Noel Wright TV glamor last week when P & O Lines’ courtly PR man- in-Canada, West Van's Dean Miller, cntertained assorted newsfolk, including your scribe, aboard the /sland Princess during a brief ninc- hour stopover. From the clovericaf Lido swimming pool to the elegant Coral dintng room andthe glamorous Carousel dancing lounge it's all for real. Only TV's Captain Stuebing, Doc, Gopher, Isaac and Jalie were missing, presumably on prolonged shore leave in Hollywood But breezy British Captain Philip Jackson looked as tf he'd be just as handy on the bridge And ourrepressible cruise director John Ross making a tng number with columnist Joy Metcalfe as he led the grand) tour would be a natural anyhow for the show whose top star ois the boat stseclf Speaking of which) ship watchers along West Van's Scawalk will soon have a visual aid for chem hobby thanks to retired newsman Les Rimes: an sdentthication board at Navvy Jack Port with color pretures of the Princesses and a dozen other regular couse ships Les suggested the tdea to the port of Vancouver PR types who liked it so much that they're erecting five at various waterfront locations. West Van's will be the first to go up with the blessing of parks chef Heinz Berger. When the cruise season 1s over they ll change to pictures of various types of freighter THE HARD WAY was how B.C 's new hghtweight windsurfing champion made uw 06 The= finals were held during the BC Day weekend So when Thierry Damilano, manager and mattre d’ of West Van's Cafe des Alpes finished tn the restaurant at 2am Saturday morning. he left mpht away for Whuistlers Alta Lake Kaced all day until 6 pm yumped into his truck and drove back to the cafe to work Saturday night finished again about 2 a m Sunday icturned ray mediately to Whistler raced again all Sunday won the champronship and celebrated until \ am Monday After whieh tyou guessed') he slept tar 16 howes Dur tat! Oh okd friend conccened citizen called Thursday oto report lawn sponkicrs gomg full blast at West Van muniwipal hall ehead the messenger! be created but more homes could be built, land taken out of the agricultural land reserve, more ac- commodation units be placed on a given acre, by constructing highrises or by using smaller lot sizes. Yes, the speculator raised housing prices through his intial purchases. But when prices turn upwards (because of immigration) and he begins to sell off his properties, the speculator cause housing prices to fail below the levels which would otherwise have been obtained but for his actions. The speculator, in other words, doesn’t just increase prices, rather, he evens them out. His initial buying raises low prices and his sales reduce high ones. CONTINUED ON PAGE A7 whose even-numbered address is 750-15th Street The odd-numbered date was August [3.... Incensed with interest rates, reader T. Mehta of North Van 1s putting his money where his mouth is. He's offered to deposit part of his savings with any interested credit umion for a return of three per cent on condition that his money ts lent af not more than seven per cent to members in need. With a four per cent spread the credit unton wouldn't lose a cent As we've said before, inflation as all in the head Any takers? usurious eee SCRATCHPAD: = Salute Officer Cadets C.P. Daley o! North Van and A.E. Paulus of West Van who have successfully Completed thetr two years at’ Royal Roads and proceed Chis fall to KRM¢ Kingston to finish thetr cnginecring degree program blected top brass of the 1981 8&2 Keal Pstate Councud of B ¢ ate West Vans Ered Russell (president) and Ted Hen derson (vice president) Park Royals new PR gal Carol (Dusty) Weingarten now assisting othe omalis head image maker Per Danteben And weloome to WRIGHT OR WRONG, Neat to his dog man’s best friend is the wastebasket