; THERE WAS saa excellent piece in the Vancouver Sun recently, written by Barbara Yaffe, suggesting it's high time we tax-weary citizens took a hard look at the loot we spend on such insanely archaic institutions as the offices of the governor general of Canada and the lieutenant-governor of B.C. _ Lunderstand perfectly that a society needs symbols and rituals to exist as a cohesive whole. But .in an age of egalitarianism — and coming after the Age of Reason, yet! ~— the very notion of obse- quiousness to a crown, any crown, is surely a sign of dotage. Why is anybody paid nowadays “to ride around in a carriage, wearing a top hat and white . - gloves, waving to the tourists, anyway? | . It’s a'circus, of course. No ’ wonder Brian Mulroney felt - comfortable in the arms of Mickey , Mouse. He’d been on Parliament Hill too long. ~The public functions of the of- * fices of governor general and“ licutenant-governors are part of “an ancient style of rule: pomp and: “ceremony... . “2: The church learned the trick Thus we end up p watching little’ /- re-enactments of historical pag- _eants, the goal of which’ was con- “trol of the masses. 1 ~-[’'m certain Walt Disney got his *: inspiration for theme parks from: 7 watching the British Royal Family” = in the old days. ‘ rm sorry, but my ‘feeling i is that -any society with a king or queen as the head of state is the . “equivalent of a half grown-up kid, ’ awkwardly struggling for in- ‘dependence while still clinging to STRICTLY PERSONAL the security of his parents’ home. It places a fundamental con- tradiction at the core of our idea of ourselves as citizens. We are all supposed to be equal, men, women, rich, poor, etc. But there is still a queen bee. Come on, are we insects or- .modern human beings? if you want to buy into the rOy-_ alty myth, go visit the Wet’suwet’en up near Hazleton. They claim an unbroken royal lineage going back almost to the. last Ice Age, utterly swamping any British or even J apanese preten- sions. 1 don't t want to be a ‘Increase not slight for those on fixed incomes especially if’ one has no reason to make use of the extended service. . deem it expedient to reply to -M.e: Amirault’s .jetter. entitled ‘ “Vote i in favor of BC Tel plans.”’ "On. weighing ‘the pros and cons of. the’ suggested increase, one wonders if, those on a fixed in- “come “vould agree the same is ‘‘a “ slight'increase.’’ Annually, it amounts to $65.40. “ for North Shore residents. ‘The implementation | thereof “may result in the loss of a meal or * two for those with limited finan- cial resources, in order to main- tain ’.the .service primarily for _ emergency purposes. ‘In comparison, the annual in- crease .in the OAP for 1993 was approximately $6.50. < The resulting difference between the _two ‘figures is , - Seniticant, The author of the. letter in question refers to Bowen Island. Calls from. that area are toll-free to the North Shore, and Van- couver, | In order to eliminate this par- ticular expenditure, it would be prudent to have the calls originate from there rather than the reverse. - When making a decision as to whether to vote for or against the proposed increase, it should be borne in mind that there will un- doubtedly be future increases in basic premiums incidental to repairs, new equipment, etc. over a very large area. A.C. Rodger West Vancouver & SON CUSTOM DRAPERIES AND VALANCES Labour $8.50 per panel uniined, $9.50 lined. “CUSTOM BEDSPREADS & COVERS ~ Lew, low Prices on blinds & tracks. For FREE Estimates Call 987-2966 Serving the North Shore for 23 years’ deconstructionalist or anything, but I remember Gov. Gen. Ray Hnatyshyn, whom I met briefly. backstage al a literary affair a couple of years ago. It was 9:30 in the morning when a pack of writers from across the country assembled behind the curtains, waiting for our moment of glory. The governor general and } wound up standing shoulder to shoulder beside the bar. There were also at least half a dozen guys with hearing problems hanging out around us. It took a few minutes for me to realize they were security agents. Genial guys. But all packing heat. There to protect the fife‘of Gov. Gen. Ray. ‘ One of them joked and talked with me as though he had read a file and knew every sordid detail of my life. Unnerving! Of course, maybe I was just paranoid... As for Gov. Gen. Ray, nice guy. I liked him. I suspected he wanted a drink as bad as | did. Just a suspicion, you understand. But the bartender was resolutely ignoring us, and nothing was be- ing poured, even when i gave my most it’s-OK-I’m-with-him look. ’ “Why don’t you pull rank?” f asked the G-G, as he’ salso known. He shook his head with a pleas- ant, rueful smile, kind of biushing. Mind you, it was hot in there. “Can't,’’ he said, his eyes rov-' ing over the guys with the hearing Sim CUTHBERT COUNCILLOR District of North Vancouver Study Skills * Time Management * Time Power/ Goal Setting * Listening « Note taking » Outlining * Reading « Study strategies * Test taking strategies 8eginning Reading Program + Word Analysis skills * Oralreading * Fluency * Vocabulary » Comprehension Academic Reading * Higher level/critical thinking skills + Analysis/Synthesis/Evaluation Sylvan Leaming waa Centre Helping kids be their best 4&6 No wonder Brian Mulroney felt comfortable in the arms of Mickey Mouse.9? problems. ‘*They don't let me loose until after eleven.” Hey, this is not to knock Gov. Gen. Ray! I’m only saying come on, we're all just regular folk here in Canada, aren’t we? None above. All together. That sort of thing. Now, I don’t mind a guy like Ray Hnatyshyn showing up and handing out cheques for literary brilliance. You could say that I have, in fact, a vested interest in such an activity, especially since the money for the Governor General’s Liter- ary Awards comes out of a fund, not out of the sweat of the tax- payer. It is the governor general’s other doings that are the problem. It costs roughly $14 million a year to keep Gov. Gen. Ray sup- plied with 131 employees, in- cluding a calligrapher. We blow another $7 million a year across the country on lieutenant-governors. Good old B.C. leads the pro- vincial pack in terms of generosi- ‘ty, spending $2.1 million, com- pared with, say, Ontario’s $662,000 cach year. Sun writer Yaffe points out in her piece: “Has anyone Jooked at what we're spending on this stuff? ‘There is a veritable business — all public sector, of course — © that’s grown up in this country around the monarch. The Queen machine is out of control, a costly web of pomp and fluff that’s grown like Topsy.” Australia is, of course, planning for a referendum on the monar- chy. It’s funny. The Aussies used © to be behind us culturally in everything except movies. ! Suddenly, they’ve moved ahead politically, shedding the vestiges of a past that can be seen now to have been wearing no clothing at all. ~ ESTATE JEWELLERY All 50% off Appraisal 1730 a DR. VAN. ROYAL ra “SOFA BED” out 9349 ee with our best Royal Deluxe Futon cover, pillows and arms not included, BONUS WITH PURCHASE "."For a limited time...purchase a futon and frame nsstoa and f receive a cover, pillows, pillow covers, and arms for enly$39. © FACTORY FUTON 259 E. ist. N. Van. 984~1504 Rear entrance Free parking 27pm 7 daysa week Discover how Sylvan Learning Centre can give your child the educational edge that makes a difference. In our f. stress-free, positive environment, children become exclt- ed about learning. You can see it.on their faces — and on their report cards. Writing Program * Grammart/Mechanics » Paragraph, Essay & Report Writing * Outlining + Editing Skills Math/ Algebra + Computation Skills + Understanding of concepts & their application « Experience with theoretical math Richmond 273-3266 Surrey 596-5451 North Shore 985-6871 Coquitlam 941-9166 “Have you done your homework?” | shouldn‘t be an essay question.