50 FAR WE HAVE NO ACCURATE NUMBERS ON CASUALTIES FROM IRAQS INVASION OF KUWAIT... WWM WY ASK NEWS jaan} rau tgp) Get XN HOWEVER, WE ESTIMATE AT LEAST 63 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN BORED To DEATH BY OUR PANEL OF INTER- NATIONAL EXPERTS. Mill swill HE NEED for independent poliu- tion testing of pulp mills and other operations has underlined by the recent release of dicxin figures from the Woodfibre pulp mill in industrial Howe Sound. Federal environment officials were aghast following the revelation that dioxin levels in the mill’s effluent had jumped dramatically, despite efforts from the mill to reduce those levels over the past year. And while it is disturbing that the levels had increased by almost five times over been employee. justified. those reported by the mill last September — from 7.7 parts per quadrillion to be- tween 30 and 40 parts per quadriilion — what is even more disturbing is that the increase was not reported to the environ- ment ministry, even though mill officials were fully aware of the figures. The situation was only brought to public scrutiny by an environmental group, which itself was told the figures by a mill Any public trust built up by Woodfibre over the past year has surely been seriously damaged by the revelations. Accusations from environmental groups that mills can’t be trusted to test their own pollution levels appear now to be totally Only continual independent testing will provide the kind of accurate figures that will tell both sides what is really being produced: less poison or less information. LETTER OF THE DAY Ree should get priorities straight Dear Editor: It strikes me as both amusing and revealing that MLA Angus Ree should try to convince his constituents that Moe Sihota’s actions in making public the con- tents of the Smith-gate tapes are more dangerous to the democratic Process than Bud Smith’s egregious abuse of his position. What concerns me rather is that B.C. voters have been exposed to such a constant barrage of Socred corruption over the years, and especially during Premier Vander Zaim’s tenure, that even such a gross violation of political decency envelope | Publisher ........... Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor ..... Noel Wright Advertising Director . Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph [It of tne Eacise Tax Aci, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885 Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome bul we cannot accept tesponsibtity tor unsolicited maternal including manuscapts and pictures s which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed as this one will fail to arouse the appropriate revulsion. While it's true that the way in which this knowledge was gathered is disconcerting, and probably indicates the need for legislation regarding the monitor- ing of cellular phone conversa- tions, Sihota, as Noel Wright said in a recent column, merely did what had to be done in the public interest. Mr. Ree says that the tapes should have been turned over to the attorney general’s office, “which would process them in a 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 59,170 (average, Wednesday Friday & Sunday) SDA DIVISION Entire contents © 1990 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. ee a a ee Display Advertising 980-0511 north shore Classified Advertising 986-6222 ee : Newsroom 985-2131 news Distribution 986-1337 fe nf : Subscriptions 986-1337 SUNDAY + WEOMESOAY + ERIDAY Fax 985.3297 North Shore owned and managed proper and lawful manner."’ This, in view of what we have recently learned about Mr. Smith’s notions of propriety! Why in Mr. Ree’s letter to the News is there not one word about the main issue here: that of the breach of public trust by a cabinet minister charged with upholding the law? If Mr. Ree expects to be taken seriously as an elected repre- sentative he should get his priorities straight. R. Sanford West Vancouver MEMBER Huge debt and taxes a mix for lethal Canada IF YOU wonder why your wallet never shakes off that sick feeling these days, the Fraser Institute has an accurate diagnosis — although, alas, no cure. This year’s edition of Tax Facts, an annual survey by the Vancouver-based economic research group, is a chilling tale of what governments — with Ottawa way out front — have been doing to our hard-earned bucks for 29 years. While the Consumer Price In- dex today is nearly four times higher than in 196) and the average family income nine times higher, today’s total family tax burden is ALMOST 14 TIMES HIGHER. So even if your income has kept ahead of inflation, taxes have by now gobbled up the difference. You're left with no more REAL spending power, maybe even less, than three decades ago. The 196} family earned $5,000 and paid $1,675 (33.5 per cent) in total taxes. This year it will earn $49,500 with $24,569 (almost 50 per cent) going to the taxman. And for any small comfort it may be, income tax accounts for only 37 per cent o€ the total. The other 63 per cent ($15,437) is swallowed by endless other government taxes, some hidden, on everything from oil and motor vehicles to amusement and property. All this, moreover, is still without the GST, which is ex- pected to add over $400 to average family taxes next year. While taxes outpaced the CPI and family income in all 29 years, the gap widened dramatically from 1984 onward, when the average family paid around $15,000, compared to today’s $24,569. Over the six years of Tory rule that is an average increase of 11 per cent annually. Yet during the same period — which also saw a prolonged boom — the national debt has doubled from $180 billion to the 1990 forecast of some $360 billion. Ottawa's huge, wasteful, spend- thrift bureaucracy plus billions squandered by the Tories to buy special-interest votes are among the major causes. This week they spurred Premier Bill Vander Zalm to call for the removal from B.C. of *‘thou- sands"’ of federal civil servants who duplicate the functions of provincial departments like agriculture, fisheries, forestry, en- vironment and parks. B.C., he boasted, could do their job for a quarter of the price. Who knows? But at worst it could cost no more and, at long last, might well be a first step along the right path. So ignore cries about destroying Canada by BIRTHDAY PREVIEW ... Mayor Noel Wright Bee HITHER AND YON weakening central government. It’s the lethal mix of soaring taxes and a staggering national debt that threatens to wipe ‘‘Canada’”’ off the Big Seven economic map. At the World Bank its new name would be Argentina North! ake POSTSCRIPTS: B.C. Festival of the Arts will be a highlight of next year’s 00th birthday party for the North Shore’s mother municipali- ty — North Vancouver District which stretched from Deep Cove to Horseshoe Bay until North Van City and West Van walked out on Mom in 1905 and 1912 respective- ly. Unveiled by Mayor Marilyn Baker at last week’s preview reception, the Centennial banner shows the Lions and the famous old tea clipper Thermopylae, which once carried North Van timber all over the world ... The battle for the Socred nomination in West Van-Garibaldi continues to heat up, with lawyer and Lions Bay resident Richard Begin (pro- nounced ‘*Bay-zhang’’) the latest contender in a field of seven ... Congrats, 50 years later, to two more pairs of 1940 newlyweds who today, Aug. 17, join the “Golden Club’? — North Van’s Gordon and Ethel McConnell, and West Van’s Hal and Anne Harrison ... Meanwhile, from the Better Late Dept., anniversary greetings to West Van’s John and Ethel Moore who celebrated their 48th Wednesday, Aug. 15... And many happy returns of yesterday, Aug. 16, to Horseshoe Bay birth- day girl Denese Izzard. weak WRIGHT OR WRONG: A deficit is what you have when you haven’t as much as when you had nothing. Photo submitted Marilyn Baker (left) with Centen- nia! planner Nancy Huot and B.C. Arts Festival's Bill MacDonald. See column item.