DOING business in
British Columbia is a
battle.

It means trading amidst a
punitive labour code, inter-
-minable industrial ac tion, one
of the steepest tax regimes in
North America and realms of
red tape. When the BC
Business Summit convened
~ November, my sympathies,
however, gave way to suspi-
cion.

Interspersed with the
Summit's statement of objec-
tives were too many allusions
to the public interest func-
tion of business and to the
importance of collaborating
with government.

The common good piety
should raise as muich suspi-
cion as Hillary Clinton's ref-
erence to “our children”
ought to. What is paraded by
government and its lapdogs
as the common good very
often conceals ‘an intention to
override individual rights and
interests. Beware of business

“io When it claims to represent
the public interest. ‘
Most B.C. businessmen

and women weather the vicis-
situdes of making 4 living in
this province without ai
jot all, though: Over the
: past 18 years, B.C. business
as cost the taxpayer $377
million in lost opportunities.
This is how the Canadian -
Taxpayers Federation ..
described the costs to B.C:

taxpayers of corporate § subsi- ‘

dies that went “belly up,”
When it turns to government.

liana
ercer

fair

comtncnt

to capture wealth on its
behalf, the interests of busi-
ness become inimical to the
interests of the paying public.
The market is one place
where every vote does actual-
ly count. And T don't mean
count towards a tyranny of
the majority. In contrast to
the political agora, the mar-
ket unhindered will find a
way to satisfy most needs and
niches, however marginal, A
cash vote directly determines
what products should be
manufactured and by whom.

- When governments interfere

in the market, among other
effects, the signals that sover-
ciga consumers send to ©

entrepreneurs about what to. |

produce become jumbled.
With its perennial subsi-
dies for industries that are

~~ often unprofitable because

the consumer has rejected
them, government replaces
the consumer’s vote with its

- own parochial political con-

siderations. Corporate subsi-

dies are really nothing but

profligate, vote procuring |:

‘.. $chemes that transfer wealth
. directly out of the pockets of .
7 taxpayers and other sclf-sus-/

rights undermined

taining, industries.

Less known is how the
unholy alliance bemcen
industries and government
has eroded the right to be
free of trespass and nuisance
on one’s own Property.

Consider pollution.
Whether you dump garbage
on your acighbour’s lawn, or
incinerate it and use his lungs
and bloodstream as dumping
sites, vou have committed
acts of trespass. Under the
common law, passed on by

England to her colonies, peo-.

ple enjoy very strong protec-

tion against such invasions.
The emasculation of the

common law as a tool to pro-

tect person and property is

the doing of governments.
Over the last two centuries,
and in the public interest, of.
course, parliaments have.”

- allowed industry to operate

with impunity under the pro-
tection of statutory authority.
This, governments have
achieved by usurping the
common law with statutes
and regulations. Attached to

overnment regulations is a .
for lower environmental stan-
dard as well as a limited lia-
bility compared to the com-
mon law standards.

Statutes, for instance, will
often compel the courts to
replace injunctions with dam-
age awards, Damages allow
the polluter to continue his
acts of aggression, and need-
m'tcompel him to cease and
desist the harmful activity.

See Environment page ®

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