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VIA Intemet: trenshaw @ direct.ca COMPUTER BBS - 980-6027 With Sa0re Maw, und in 190) as an independ suburten newspaper and quiified under Schedule 111, Paragaph 1H of de Excse Tax Act, & published each " Wodhesciry, Friday anit Sunday by Newth Shore Froe Presi Lid. ! and deeributod to every dour on the North Shure, Canada [ut ‘Canada Pubticstions Mail Sales Product Agroanere No. 0UK7238. Mailing rates available an request. 61.582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Surday) - ‘Entire coniants © 4996 North Shore ‘Free Press Lid. All rights reserved PRUs WES Vere LAD Om beg aA OR | Fane Net aA ET NA me tan LRG A I HAMAR CATT PNM aA A Financial EBT. deception has become de rigueur in Victoria. In the most recent exam- ple/of blatant NDP. bullfudgery, the ‘But now we find that revenue projections. | were inflated by $769 million; spending pro- : jections were understated by $358 million. y nity Photography; Manager Vancouver Sun has revealed that bureaucrats repeatedly warned the government before the ‘fast provincial election that it was headed for a budget deficit, not the bogus balanced bud- get it ended up promising the gullible elec- ; torate. . But who cares? This is politics. The name. of the game is getting elected and clinging to ‘ power no matter the consequences. Put on a happy face..Or as the socialist spin doctors would have it: get revenue optimistic. ment debt of $99 million.” THANK heaven Mr. Makin is now happily ensconced in the Great Classroom in the Sky. He’d never have survived some of today’s news flashes. Like last week’s headline: BRITISH BOY SET TO OUTLAW SPANKING. The 12-year- old has asked the a nnnsnn European Union's ssegsagaesereeegs Human Rights Noel Commission (where did we hear that title before?) to overturn British laws that allow par- ents to spank their wayward offspring. For some reason . I haven’t yet quite fathomed — Britain still being a sovereign nation when fast [ looked — it seems the European do-gooders are empowered to do just that. Apparently all the other EU countries forbid parents to lay as much as a fin- ger on their little darlings. So what, precisely, is this British little dar- ling’s problem? Just that, at age nine, he tried to stab his younger brother with a kitchen knife and was duly caned by his stepfather. A U.K. court acquitted the latter of assault charges under British laws permitting “reasonable chas- tisemenc” of children. Moreover, his mother — who also defends her right to punish little dar- ! maximum vote generation... f ling — describes him as being “totally out of contro!” and says he has “run ciot” since the age of two. The young monster, backed by his natural father, now has his own lawyers in Strasbourg arguing before the commission that the British government failed to protect his “human rights”, i.e., his temporarily bruised sit-upon. Which takes us back to Mr. Makin. He was my math teacher centuries ago in my British grammar school equivalent of Grade 7, where I was the cheeky, know-it-all class enter- tainer. Now, I remember gratefully the day I “went too far” with muscular, red-haired Mr. Makin who doubled on weekends as a Rugby coach. Back home that afternoon, [ lowered my pants before a mirror and, twisting my head, examined the damage: six admirably parallel blue-black stripes imprinted on my posterior. From that moment I began to develop into the gentle, respectful character I'm known as today. T not only saw Mr. Makin’s viewpoint, | fede it whenever I sat down, Today, Mr. Makin would doubtless be lan- guishing in a maximum-security pen, handcuffed and in leg-irons. But if that’s progress, it’s oddly out of syne with some of today’s other statistics, like the more than eight violent crimes a day in B.C. by kids in their mid-teens. Such crimes by youngsters soared by a stag- gering 130% from 1986 to 1994 according to Documents acquired by the. Sen through the Freedom of Information Act show rev- enue forecasts from forestry and_ personal ‘income taxes were shamelessly fudged.to ~ achieve maximum revenue optimism and | Petter is now peddling a new government line: spending to be slashed, 3,000 jobs, chopped over the next two years to head off the . latest runaway deficit, which in the first quar- . ter of this year'is $463 million, almost three... ” Finance Minister Andrew Petter blithely times the first quarter deficit in 1995-96." © ushered in the budget on June.26 with the statement that.it accomplished “a surplus of $87 million and a total reduction in govern- ‘ : good buy on the Brooklyn Bridge,’ Is there anyone left in British Coltmbia: a | who actually believes anything coming out of Victoria? If there is, tell him he can get a CMO RE Sinhee (nears On rights, | wrongs and referenda — Dear Editor: ad I have to disagree with the views expressed in your recent editorial, “Indecisive Action,” in which you criticize North ~ Vancouver District Council, for its decision to put a number of capital spending options before the voters in a referendum. : ultimately pay the bills. As voters we are often some- what inconsistent in that we are vocally concerned about. being overtaxed while’ demanding ‘an. increasing array of services: and’ public ‘facilities. Accountability, | starts with each of us becoming » more aware of the fiscal realities of local government." 2 One way to do this is by. becoming © more direct involved, through referenda the decision-making process .. The editorial view that delegate all of ‘these- decisio making ‘duties to: politicians once each three years is simplis- tic.'As members of the commu-" we cannot and should not: abdicate “all responsibility’ fo significant decisions on the basis of an election, particularly given 5 the relatively superficial: natu _ of the proc ' Your. editcrialist is probably; correct’ in’ saying «that: some: worthwhile projects will be shiot: ‘down ‘by. voters who ‘see ‘no: immediate ' benefit) to: them-: f «selves. This is'one of the costs of + democracy. Te is 2° cost! worth paying. '- Democratic :- proc means having the right to the wrong. decision. Wh et that, we invite * John Surridge’ * North Vancouver. - 1 fo: B.C. Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh. They. include armed robbery up by 222%, minor. assaults up by 163% and assaults causing bodil harm up by.93% — all of it by at.most 15% of. : the teen population, the other 85% being decently behaved, law-zbiding young people. For the record, | abhor-and will fight cruelty, to any child by its parent or guardian, But ifthe » 15% of baddies could have benefited in their" younger years from the disciplined and. restrained Makin therapy (remember, my bot- tom bore only séx artistic weals!), I suspect the °. attorney general’s sad figures might be very .- much lower. ee No gain without a little pain, they say. And. when you're young, a little pain in the right”: place gets your attention fast. oes ago0 MANY HAPPY RETURNS of Friday, Sept: 20, to North Van's Joan LeBlonde ... And also in North Van, the same again that day to Pam - Weseen. : o0a WRIGHT OR WRONG: If we listened more. carefully, history wouldn’t have to repeat, itself; ~ The North Shore News believes strongly in free- : dom of speech and the right of all sides in a debate to be beard. The colteranists published in the News . present differing points of view, but those views are not necessarily those of the newspaper itself...