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VIA Internet: tenshaw @ direct.ca COMPUTER BBS - 980-8027 _Usar {D:maitbox Passw letters Noett Stora Have, faunal in 1969 us an inka Subutan newspaper and quilifia! under Schedule 111, Paragraph 11 of the Excbe Tax Act, is published each ‘Wednesday, Fridy and Surety by North Shire Froe Pras Lad. and distributed to every dewv‘on the North Shore, Canada ist + Canaadign Publications Mail Saks Product Agreement No. 0087238. Maing rates avaiable on eure 2th hk} . Entire contents GO © 1996 North Shore & @ Free Press Ltd, one All rights reserved, rates Cr gee B “We don’t provide as much entertainment as other councils, but that’s not what we were elected to do.” West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager, on West Vancouver council and how it works together. (From an Oct. 30 North Shore News story.) O00 “Every time we get the word twinning we get off the damned track.” North Vancouver District Mayor Murray Dykeman, on economic twinning proposals between the dis- trict and other communities across the nation and around the globe. (From an Oct. 30 North Shore News story.) poa “If David is so interested in Harmony, why did he go into politics in the first place? It is like volunteer- ing for a war party ™& and not liking DAVID blood, or watching SCHRECK American TV and hating violence. “And why did he not practise harmony in Victoria where he served for five.years? After all, comparing local politics to rovincial or federal politics is ike comparing a convent to a boxing ring.” North Vancouver District Coun. Ernie Crist, on former North SEV WIE ey peep ieee Vancouver- Lonsdale MLA David Schreck and his run for a seat on North Yancouver District council. (From an Oct. 30 Doug Collins col- umn.) Q00Q “I remember the first bite and it was brutaily painful. I remem- ber hearing myself scream. 1 felt like she was cracking an egg. “T thought for sure she had penetrated my skull. I felt, this is it. This is how I’m going to die.” Marcel Gregori, on being attacked by a Grizzly bear, (From an Oct. 27 North Shore News story.) Q00 “Less government is always more efficient, or should be.” Joanne Lovette, who works ar: Lonsdale Quay, on North : Vancouver amalgamation. (Fram aa Oct. 27 North Shure News story.) 000 “It’s the same thing as CFL: football or NHL hockey: it’s the weaker teams you have to pay for.” North Vancouver City resident Rollie Hall, on the amalgamation issue — characterizing North Vancouver District as the weaker team in a North Vancouver amalga- mation. (From an Oct. 27 North Shore News story.) Lobbyists and poachers have TIGER poaching and lobby- ing have something in com- mon. They are examples of harmful competition. By Filip Paida Contributing Writer Competition goes wrong when it is not clear who owns a disputed property. To preserve namire and dis- courage special interests we need clear property rights and an agency to enforce them. It sounds simple and reasonable, but too few people have a feel for how powerful and important such preservation is. Two examples can bring home the point. Tiger Poaching. As the price of dger parts in Asian markets has risen, so has illegal killing of tigers — ¢ wiping out several species. The ger lives mostly in poor countries whose govern- ments do not have the resources to protect the ani- mals in their national parks. Several years ago Zimbabwe faced this problem with its elephants. Instead of spend- ing more money ‘on national parks, the government came up with a scheme allowing villagers to own and sell the elephants. Soon it was the poachers who became the endangered species. Once it was clear who owned the * elephants, the owners took the long view. Farmers know it doesn’t make sense 10 kill all their livestock because livestock can breed and bring profits for years. When it is not clear who owns the livestock, there is no point in preserv- ing it. The poacher sees no reason to spare an elephant because the chance of profit trom its offspring is very small. Another poacher may get the offspring, another the parent. {n this climate of uncertainty the best strate- gy is to take what you can get on the spot, Perhaps the only way to protect the tiger is to let people own and cull it in the same way farmers cull tradi- “Taxpayers suffer by having no firm contract with government that spells out how much they will be taxed over, say, the next 20 years. Government leaves things vague.” tional livestock. Lobbying: Taxpayer dollars are - endangered in the same way as the tiger. Our government allows interest groups to compete for resources that * don’t belong to them. When a busi- ° ness lobbies government for subsidies, : it is asking for somebody else’s money. - The government can get this money by raising taxes or draining money away from other interest groups. Taxpayers sufler by having no firm contract with government that spells out how much they will be taxed over, say, the next 20 years. Government leaves things vague.. — This encourages interest groups to lobby government for more spending. : Interest groups also lobby hard to” take resources away from other inter= est groups. Competition for these resources pro- duces nothing of ~ value. If govern-" ment could make its intentions." clear, much of this = harmful competi- tion would die. down. Perhaps the greatest cost of | unclear pro rights is. per ; less public debates over how govern- ment should act — as in the case: of tree-cutting in B.C. With forest. : in private hands, Canadians could ‘ short-circuit this debate. They could copy the Sierra Club in the US. and buy endangered.’ forests. Until then tigers will keep dis- appearing and i iteterest groups wi keep lobbying. g, — Dr. Palda is Senior Economist fo the Fraser Institute, a Vancouver- “based © right-wing cconomuc think tank. OQ A DIAMOND SALUTE Tuesday, oye Now 5, to North Van's John and Maxine Vasseur who tied the knot” an that day in 1936. WORTH A THOUGHT: ‘Don’ os count the days, Make the days count. — ‘The Nort Sure News believes: °° in freedom of speech and the yight of i Haid ‘ie oi Jxard. a. : colteennists palished in the News present differing points of vier, but thuse views are. not necesavily those of the newspaper itself. << NOEL WRIGHT ON VACATION Ls aaahsdiianeendenceeteb toma Leetiecesiedamsane ca thaneniaadicaaetel aaah tacemtee dite naa tnenomanenieiantnaaniabiehaaeeneaiemaameaminamdstatcandemmtanmeamitaaamandtemsenmmeratemeamianariertomtaaman ed , "S trick or treat time in NDP land. Unfortunately, the tricks once again ar outnumber the treats, The most expensive trick was Premier Glen Clark’s $150,000 pre-Halloween address to the province. British Columbians gathered en masse around television sets everywhere to take in the words of their leader. Most had hoped for something a little deeper than faux earnestness and political two-steps. Some naive types had even banked on an apology from Mr. Clark over the issue of his party’s blatant debt deception charade. A backdrop of learned tomes and a suit of sober colors worn by the premier gave initial hope that the address would be honest and forthright. But that old Halioween spirit kicked in before viewers could get comfortable in their chairs. The premicr, in a moment of gripping candor, conceded that his government had failed to deliver the goods on the budget, which both he and deposed finance minister Elizabeth Cull promised before the 1996 election was balanced and would be balanced for 1996-97. That treat turned into the year’s most dis- appointing trick when British Colum- bians were asked instead to swallow a. $235-million deficit and now face a 1996-97 deficit of $1 billion. Sadly, no apology was forthcoming for such: hijinks. Premier Clark did announce ‘an | 8% cut in the government workforce, which translates to about 3,500 jobs in - the 44,000-person civil service. But most of those cuts will likely come through ° early retirement packages which could: end up costing B.C. taxpayers up to $375:; million, Other tricks included threatened”: cuts in provincial grants to municipalities. A spooky week, indeed, with much. government horror for all. Really scary.