6 - Friday, July 5, 1991 ~ North Shore News Lt Tbs patrenens td TeTeTlel(” | Nasty truths about your and my $400b debt A ROOKIE Tory MP from Ontario plans to stump the country spreading the message that Canada’s massive $400 billion debt is NOT someone else’s problem — it’s your lll, Vil) Mi 7) NEWS VIEWPOINT Eating crow HAT’S FOR dinner Canada? W cen. crow, crow, with a pinch of Spicer. Fhe Citizens’ Report on Canada’s Future caught jaded Canadians by sur- prise. While we were griping about the sorry state of democracy and the declining trust in our poiiticians someone was aciu- aily listening! The 323 million report paints a picture of a wounded Canada, whose people are no longer content to sit back and let the politicians slap on Band-Aids with no regard for recovery. And the diagnosis does not mince words. in his foreword, Spicer boldly sug- gests that the government ‘‘reconsider its dismissal of some kind of constituent assembly,...allowing citizens to feel directly invoived in constitution making.’’ He po- etically describes us as ‘‘a country dying of REE ignorance,’’ and urges elected politicians to listen to their constituents and for citizens to take cesponsibility for continued dia- logue among Canadians. Bui the real guts of the report are the words of Canadians themselves. ‘hey prove Canucks to be more than chronic complainers or disinterested observers. The words reveal the anger of a nation strangled by a bureaucratic system of gov- ernment; they reveal the tolerance and co- operative spirit for which Canadian society is known; and they reveal our desire for unity. All Canadians owe it to themselves to get a copy of the report and read it. And to wave it in front of the noses of federal and provincial politicians so they get the strong whiff of the collective plea for a renewed Canadian spirit and government. LETTER OF THE DAY Larson should be higher priority Dear Editor: Regarding the recent an- nouncement that $650 miliion be spent by the Ministry of Educa- tion on replacing portable classrooms throughout the pro- vince, we wish to make the fol- towing points. During several years of cor- respondence, the ministry has always stated that upgrading/ replacing portables was not ‘‘in Publisher... . Managing Editor . Associate Editor... Advertising Comptroiler . .Peter Speck .. Timothy Renshaw . Noel Wright Director .. Linda Stewart . .Doug Foot the budget’? — is it now with this Tecent announcement? Shall we have to wait through a leadership convention and an elec- ticn in the hope that someone will honor that promise? At Larson Elementary School children have spent five grades be- ing educated in the cramped con- ditions of portable classrooms — risking their health through tack ef proper ventilation, washroom facilities, lowering the already low Display Advertising 980-0514 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution Subscriptions Fax Administration morale of teachers — need we go on? Our Board of Trustees feels that Larson is a high priority for a share of this funding, but the government docs not. Are the children of the North Shore to suffer yet another year in this en- vironment? Parent/Teacher Portable Committee Larson Elementary School 986-1337 936-1337 985-3227 965-2131 North Shore managec North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph lil of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885 Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mating rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility lor uncedicited matenal inctuding manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied dy a stamped, addressed envelope. SUNDAY + WEDNESDAY V7M 2H4 Entire contents {Teel WACE OF NORTH AD WAST ENCOUVER north shore 1439 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. MEMBER —~, SNi 7 OAY : SDA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) © 1991 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. and my personal problem. Starting this fall in Vancouver, Garth Turner will be preaching the glum old sermon of restraint and belt-tigntening, beginning with spending cuts right at the municipal and school board level. Among the other things he wants are federal government spending frozen, period; subsidies to business ended; transfer pay- ments to provinces reduced; and a lower-rate GST charged on everything — including food, rents, medical supplies, the lot. He also urges everyone to vote for the person or party which promises the LEAST (presumably, next time, the Tories!). Mr. Turner’s sackcloth-and- ashes approach contrasts sharply with that of gung-ho Ontario real- tor Rick Arit, a guest of this col- umn 18 months ago. If we all got together on it, paying down that debt could be a fun thing, said Rick. A kind of ongoing Canada Day celebration. Centrepiece of his ‘‘Save The Country”’ plan was a weekly 6/ 49-type lottery with $10 million jackpots and every dollar of the proceeds used to cut the deficit, But he brimmed over with other ideas too. They included communities challenging each other with fund- raising sports events, walkathons, drama contests, etc. A National Loonie Day (everyone donates their loose change). Nationwide garage sales. Oil companies taking turns weekly to send Ottawa five cents per litre sold. And a top- talent ‘‘Save The Country”? theme song with money from record ‘sales and rock concerts going to the good cause. Fun for sure, but requiring an enormous volunteer effort — which may be why we’ve heard no more of it. However, both Arlt’s upbeat scheme and Turner’s de- mand for disciplined ‘‘doing without”’ at least force us to face the nasty truths about the debt. First, if it continues to mount at the present $58,000 a minute, it will eventually bankrupt Canada and ruin us all. Second, Ottawa hasn't a cent of its own. Its only money is OUR money. Finaily the most uncomfortable truth of all; it’s WE who have run ourselves $400 billion into the glue — by blackmailing vote-hungry politicians into spending for us far more than we can afford. RICK ARLT... climbing out of the glue can be fun! Noel Wright HITHER AND YON The reality is that it’s you, I and some 18 million other voting taxpayers who owe the money. And only we can do anything about it. Have a nice frugal weekend! SIGN-OFF: Sampling the recent renovations and additions at Nan- cy Stibbard’s historic Capilano Suspeaston Bridge, one is left in no doxbt about its contribution to the local economy. After Grouse Mountain it’s the North Shore’s biggest ongoing tourist attraction — with weekend crowds that make the scene inside the theme park reminiscent of Expo 86 ... Celebrating its 20th birthday re- union July 20 at William Griffin gym will be North Van Cruisers Summer Swim Club. Ex-members and coaches are invited to join the fun by calling 980-1160 ... Wheelchair entrepreneur Bilt Oin sells his original and attractive greeting cards by handicapped ar- tists until July 13 at West Van Li- quor Store on 16th ... And West Van lost another of its pioneers with the death, June 20, of retired electrical engineer Thomas Had- win, who from 1918 was raised on a farm at Lith and Mathers. WRIGHT OR WRONG: Nothing is invariably the best thing to do in a hurry. NANCY STIBBARD... pulling tourist bucks into North Van.