AG - Sunday News, N ovember B,.1981

stitutional accord. "reached “Thursday ‘bet-
ween Prime Minister Trudeau ‘and nine of
Canada’s s'premiers has not yet arrived. For
‘those who yearn for a united Catiada from
sea to sea it may never arrive.

The eleventh-hour consensus achieved
between the federal government. and all of
the English Canadian provinces would
normally be a cause for rejoicing. As it is,
the agreement virtually. guarantees early
patriation of the constitution after more
than half a century of. bickering .and
frustration:. As Mr. Trudeau ‘observed,
Canada will finally be an ' independent
nation, technically and legally.

But the bitter rejection of the agreement
by Quebec Premier Rene Levesque could yet
reduce Mr. Trudeau’s apparent triumph to
ashes. Mr. Levesque has vowed to fight the
agreement tooth and nail. The prospect of
resurgent independence sentiment looms in
La: Belle: pt anan together with the distinct

ssibill

could. “conceivably have a percentage of
Quebec: Liberals as his allies. Such a com-
bination might not only ensure a separatist
victory in-a renewed referendum but could -
also devastate the federal Liberal majority in
Parliament. .

wet

| <n effect; we are back where we were

r. immediately after Mr. Trudeau's 1980
election victory, when he set out to create a
constitution. which would save Quebec for

- Confederation. Now, after 20 months of
searing controversy, we at last have the
constitution -- but in the process we appear
to have lost Quebec after all.

In terms of Canadian unity we are back at ~

Square One.

Youth's day, too

Remembrance Day is much more than
nostalgic parades by aging war veterans. Its
solemn ceremonies are a re-dedication to the
goals of freedom and lasting peace which, in
this nuclear age, concern every younger
person just as vitally as the old soldiers who
fought and died for them. November 11 is a
celebration of youth’s ideals, too. At the
cenotaph there is no generation gap.

nanday”

fhews

narth thore

1139 Lonsdale Ave.
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VERIFIED CIRCULATION 53,349 Wednesday, 52,646 Sunday

THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE

‘By WALTER BLOCK

(... Senior Economist of the
Vancouver-based Fraser
Institute) ©

Now that the summer
respite is over, we are once
again faced with the awful
spectre of the urban- rush
hour:

Cars lined up on the
highway bumper-to-bumper,
stretching for endless miles.
Or doodling aiong, at an
agonizing five. miles per
hour. Clogged city streets,
where traffic moves oh-so-
slowly, and then, the light
turns red, just as we reach it.

-This is an economic and

social tragedy, and a
paradox.
Economically, we as a

saciety waste countless and
valuable person hours of
productivity, sitting behind
the wheel, contemplating
the rear end of the auto in
front, instead of warking on

‘the job.

Socially, we artive§ at
work, or at home, with
nerves frayed to breaking
point. We cannot scien-
tifically correlate traffic
congestion with the  in-
creased divorce rate, and
with the upsurge in road
accidents, but that there is a
connection no one doubts.

In basic economic terms,
what we have here is a
classical example of demand
in excess of supply. At
certain times in the morning
and the evening, the demand
for road service vastly
outstrips the supply. And the
reason for this condition, as
always, is that the price

CONFUSION
candidates is a
hazard

about
normal
of municipal elec-
uons for many voters (life is
so much simpler when you
merely have to choose
between two or three
partes) This year, in North
Van, there’s a new way lo
get all mixed up --
referendums

Distnct and City) are
holding referendums on
Sunday shopping with the
following yes/no questions:
1. Do you approve of home
improvement stores opening
on Sunday. 2. Do you ap-
prove of wide open Sunday
shopping? Missing, however,
is a third obvious question:
Do you wish to retain
present Sunday shopping
regulations without change?
If your answer to this one
would be “yes”, then you
obviously mark both
questions {| and 2 with a
“no” But what about voters
who get the idea that a “no”
for one of the two. alter-
natives must automatically
mean a “yes” for the other?
Then again, of course, if you
mark “yes” to question 2.
you don't logically need to
mark question at all
though failure to do so may
spoil your ballot paper

Meanwhile, the City alone
ts holding aio second
referendum on whether
council should blow thirty to

charged is way below the
market-clearing price.

In this case, the price is
actually zero. That is, it
costs not one whit more to
use the road network during.

‘the morning and evening

rush hours, than it does to

travel by auto at any.. other: »:

time.

The solution is simplicity ‘
itself. All that need be'done |

is to charge for the use of the
central roadway network
during the hours-of peak

load demand. A city. ‘could.
be divided into concentric -

coloured circles, for
metering purposes, with the
most expensive red zone in
the centre of the bullseye,
the. moderately expensive
yellow zone in the middle
ring, and the cheapest green
zone on the _ periphery.
Motorists would be asked to
purchase and display the
appropriately coloured
permits (with heavy fines for
failure to comply) and the
prices charged could be
adjusted so as to ensure
easily moving traffic.

This would accomplish, at
one fell swoop, all that years
of exhortations to be public
spirited have failed to attain.
Commuters would no longer
have to be coaxed into
buses, car-pooling, and
other forms of mass transit.
They would positively
embrace these alternatives,
with alacrity, and out of self-
interest.

Adam Smith tried to show
how, in the market system,
private self-interest could be
reconciled with the public
good. With peak load user

charges fof motorists, the
public good can be attained
not by direct. appeal, but
indirectly through self-

i people pay for

0. that -extent

r. But society.as

time caught in traffic jams.

and more time on the job;

“a

sunday brunch

by Noel Wright

forty grand of the taxpayers’
dollars on a study of the pros
and cons of amalgamating
with the District (which
plans to hold the selfsame
study without bothering to
ask its taxpayers). How
many City electors,
however, will mark = their
ballot’ papers under the
impression they're voting for
or against amalgamation
itself is anyone's guess.

Life is tough = for
referendum-writers. Read
the small print and keep a
clear head November 21...

If you happen to own a
nice big rec room in Hor-
seshoe Bay, Robyn Smith
would love to talk to you.
She needs a mecting placc
four or five times a year for
the 12-15 ladics. who make
up the B.C. exccutive of the
Voice of Women. half of
whom come over from the
Island to discuss their ant:
nuclear business
happy to pay “a very
nominial rent” for said
accommodation and their
next get together 1s
November 18 from 10 30
am to 3 pm Robyn's
number ts 922-4714

Hope Michach Warren,
president of our shining acw
Canada Post) Corporation,
won't be too depressed by
the marketing report: from

They're

Dundarave Stationers where
a sub-post office opened a
couple of months or so ago
to serve that highly literate
community. Its now closed

down -- for lack of
business...
Italy has arrived on

Lonsdale Avenue in a big
way with the opening of the
new Ping Pong Ice Cream
Parlor under the manager
Gianni Meneghin. The
concept was imported direc!
from Milan by the three
Bagnasco brothers
Glancario, Francesco and
Renato -- and the decor, like
that of their original store on
Robsonstrasse, is the work
of prizewinning Vancouver
architect Bruno Freschi. The
Italians treat ice cream with
the same reverence as opera
and sports cars as you can
discover for yourself at (hts
fiest) authents pelaterta
north of the Inlet Yum
yum and welcome.
neighbor!

SCRATCHPAD: Capilano
MP Ron Hantington, in town
this week, ts gucst speaker at
Tucsday's West Van
Chamber of Commerce
lunch, 320 noon in the
Riverside Room of the Park
Royal Hotel (call 926 0614
for = reservations) West
Van Lions president Mike
Phillip is cathumastic about

‘bericher! This is.

“4 b MacCrickon / FINANCE

2) the money collected for
road usage does not
disappear. It can be used to

. defray other expenditures —

or even given back to the
community in the form of

, reduced taxes.

_.A similar scheme is now in

operation in Singapore.
Canadians could do worse
than to consider emulating
this progressive application
of marketplace principles.

9 ®
<2-
wet:

the club's plan to sell
Christmas trees next month
from a vacant lot at 13th and
Marine... Congratulations to
Mike’s vp Don McBrayne
and Jackie on tying the knot
yesterday... U* of Vic
scholarship winners this fall
include North Van's Sandra
Lynme Cressey, Anthony
Price and Wendy Morrow
Donaldson, together with
West Vanners Catherine
Elizabeth Ostler, Sarah
Douglass Munro, Gillian
Sara Boothroyd, Colleen
Joan Cattell, Paul Charlies
Nash and John Craig
Fawcett... South of the
border al Western
Washington University
Thomas Joseph Grant of
North Van has reccived his
Master of Education
degree... Meanwhile healthy
shots in the bank account.
courtesy Super Loto, have
been won by North Van's
Patricia Lee ($100,000) and
Wayne Gilbertson ($10,000)

WRIGHT OR WRONG:
A political optimist is a
candidate who believes onc
good term deserves another

ooe

UNITED
WAY