on budget daingsdciors.

The five per cent ceiling
on municipal budget in-
creases, imposed. last week
by the provincial govern-
. ment, came under strong
~attack ‘Monday. by North
Vancouver City council.

Regular business was put
aside while council members
blasted . Finance | ‘Minister
Evan Wolfe’s. edict:
Alderman Gary Payne

. accused. Victoria of: “making
us look ike bad guys” even
though the City had a history
of fiscal responsibility.

“The provincial ’ govern-
ment has all but accused the
municipalities of burdening
the taxpayer,” he said; “but
most of the pressure on the

taxpayers. is caused by the

province.”

Payne claimed that the

Assessment Act, the
establishment of the Urban
tansit Authority and the
cutback _ in~ provincial

-attitude in

funding for education had °
cost the taxpayers dearly.

“For years,” he declared,
Pkg ‘ve been trying to protect
taxpayers. from the

provinen / and. now the

government wants to protect |

the taxpayers from us.”

“Alderman Jim Warne
-called the move “an insult to
local government -— to us and

the taxpayer”. He resénted

Victoria’s “holier-than-thou”
‘controlling
municipal taxes and insisted

‘that the City could handle its

own affairs.

“Victoria - ‘might as. ‘well
appoint a council if this goes
through,” he. said. “If we
can't set a budget, we can’t
handle a municipality.”

“Alderman Frank Marcino
Pointed out that the budget
restriction would straitjacket
City spending. As an
example he feared the Snow

* Quite ‘aside | from _ per-
centages, however, Vic-

toria’s belated and heavy--

handed attempt to play the
role of the knight in shining
‘armour, rescuing the tax-
payer from the municipal
dragon, has a much more
dangerous aspect.

Councils. and school
boards are elected by the
communities they serve and
should be answerable to
those communities alone.
They are the only remaining

level of government over

which the individual can
exercise some direct per-
sonal control — through
attendance at council and
school board mectings,
through delegations, citizen
task forces, ratepayer groups
and, every November, the
polling both itself.

PRE-ELECTION JITTERS
If our council or school

board is too spendthrift with
our tax dollars, we have

many .means of bringing
immediate pressure on

‘them. And if they fail to

mend their ways, we can fire

ee half of them each year.

‘Ai a stroke of the pen Mr.

’ Wolfe has cancelled these_

basic community rights. He
has told us, in effect; that we
cannot be trusted any longer
to run our own affairs. On
behalf of a premier and

_ cabinet apparently suffering
‘from a bad case of pre-

siecton jitters he has moved

Big Brother into city hall.

for ‘our own good, of
course.

y suggest it’s high time to
let them know that we don't
want Big Brother in city hall.
Whether the bill comes from
Ottawa, Victoria or the
municipal treasurer, there is
still only one taxpayer left to
meet it ~ you and I. And we
are quite capable of working
out for ourselves which level
of government is responsible
for draining our purse the
most. ~

If they don't get the
message in time, the
provincial ballot box may be

the only way of keeping ‘the™

Wolfe from the door.

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Removal Fund would be
severely depleted, leaving
little with which to combat a

heavy snowfall. -“In case of |

an unexpected expenditure
e’d be stuck,” he said,

“because we would not be

able to raise the money.”

Mayor Jack Loucks
warned that Victoria's action
could postpone the purchase
of a bad'y needed fire truck
to replace one 20 years old.
He charged the provincial

government with “playing

Politics’” and ‘‘bad
legislation”.

Alderman Murray |.
Colcleugh echoed the

mayor's sentiments. “The
economy is not moving as
fast as we could want, so
fiscal restraint may be in
order,” he said, “but

“government hyprocrisy is

something else again.”

See.also FOCUS, page 6.

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Pad

Page 7, January 10, 1979 - North Shore News

Noisy drinkers nix.

_late WV pub hours

Complaints about noisy
drinkers leaving Horseshoe
Bays Troller Pub have
caused- West Vancouver
Municipal Manager Terry
“Lester to go slow in con-
sidering. extended hours. for
Ambleside’s Squarerigger
Pub at least for a year.

George Fotiou, president
of the Squarerigger,
requested that his pub,

which now closes at 11 p.m.,
be allowed to stay open until
midnight on weekdays and 1
a.m. Thursday through
Saturday. ,

Lester advised council
that it would be best to wait

a year to. see if residents near
the Squarerigger had any
noise complaints before
considering such a request.

The’ Troller

Horseshoe Bay, incidentally,
was purchased December 18
_ by Round Table Enterprises
Ltd. The company president
is John Mitchell, a Hor-
seshoe Bay resident for 19
years. ©

Pub in