6 - Friday, February 9, 1990 - North Shore News GST protest ignored by INSIGHTS four-year dictatorship THOUGH THE polls show that three out of four Cana- dians still flatly oppose the Gouge & Screw Tax — even with the rate lowered to seven per cent — their protest is getting nowhere. Nothing new about that ina Canada that is normally ruled, as now, by a four-year dictatorship. Any government with a solid Commons majority can, for all practical purposes, do whatever it wishes until the next election —- in the present case, still a comfortable two and a half years or so away. A more specific reason why GST Opponents are arrogantly ignored by the Mulroney gang is their dif- ficulty in answering the govern- ment’s favorite challenge: ‘‘What’s your alternative?’’ The question is actually nothing but 2 bluff — in the same category as ‘‘When did you stop beating your wife?” NEITHER the GST in its pres- ent form NOR any similar alter- native tax measure can be justified in terms of helping Canada out of the red. Certainly, the old built-in 13.5 per cent Manufacturers Sales Tax, which puts our exports at a price disadvantage in foreign markets, needs to be replaced by a GST-type “value added”’ tax. It would relieve the manufacturer of the MST cost item, yet provide the same revenue from the end- customer in Canada (who already pays the presently hidden MST). This simple and painless ad- justment would, of course, still leave Finance Minister Michael Wilson short of that portion of the MST he now collects on exported goods — probably no more than $3 billion at very most. Which br- ings us to the nub of the whole argument. Any relatively modest tax short- fall in the name of buosting ex- ports should be met by an equivalent cut in Ottawa’s spend- ing — NOT by forcing all tax- payers, in effect, to pay tax on goods shipped out of the country to foreign buyers. (After all, more exports mean more jobs and corporate profits, which soon translate into more tax revenue.) As it is, Wilson is INCREAS- ING the spending by hiring 4,000 extra civil servants merely to col- lect the GST. He’s covering the tax shortfall on exports PLUS the cost LIFESAVER...Larry Kosterewa (left) receives plaque from Martin Dick (right), St. John Ambulance provincia! planning officer. With them, young Chad Coleman, saved from bleeding to death by Larry's quick action (see caluma item). Simple survival HE LESSON (to be learned from the most re- cent saga of jost skiers on North Shore moun- tains is simple, but bears constant repetition: Mother Nature should not be taken lightly. It also underlines the worth of local volunteer rescue teams and the need to keep such organizations proper- ly outfitted and trained. Blizzard conditions Sunday resulted in seven skiers becoming fost on Grouse and Seymour mountains. All seven were lucky to come out of their ordea! with little more than chills, minor injuries and what is hoped will be a new respect for the wilderness that resides just beyond local ski runs and hiking trails. And the stories of at least three of those skiers might not have ended so happily without the dedicated work of the dozens of volunteer searchers from the North Shore, Lions Bay and Coquitlam rescue teams. But rescue teams can only do so much. All those who use local mountains for the great outdoor recreation they provide must make themselves fully aware of the darker side of outdoor recreation. All should be aware of simple survival techniques in wilderness conditions; all should study the do’s and don'ts of being lost. None should regard the wilderness with anything but respect, and none should use the existence of a top- class rescue squad as an excuse to neglect his own ce- sponsibility to learn simple survival in the West Coast outdoors. of this army of additional bureau- crats by slapping the GST on more goods than were ever taxed under the MST and on almost afl SER- VICES as well. Finally, if the GST is ‘treve- nue-neutrai,’* as he constantly stresses, it obviously cannot, in itself, reduce the deficit by a single cent. In short, there's no good reason for Wilson’s version of the GST to exist at all. The BAD reason, of course, is that it opens up an endless future source of extra tax dollars for the Mulroneyites to squander. And that’s exactly what will Publisher Associate Editor Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewart happen, unless they can be con- vinced thai the GST will cost them the 1992-93 election. So far the na- tion-wide 74 per cent protest has done a poor job of convincing them. LUCKY for 11-year-old Chad Calemaa, camping near Squamish last July, that North Van's Larry Kosterewa happened to be on hand when Chad fell on broken glass NEWS pholo Paul McGrath “AWE SNUST CONTROL THE DEFICIT AND THE DEBT IF WE ARE 1) UNSHACKLE YOUR HANDS..." — BRIAN MULRONEY. which deeply lacerated his left arm, with severe bleeding. Recall- ing a long-ago first aid course, Larry quickly applied a tourniquet and padding, then commandeered acar and driver to rush them toa nearby softball tournament, where St. John Ambulance was manning a post. There Chad got further first aid before being taken by ambulance to hospital, where he recovered totally. Last week Larry was honored by St. John Am- bulance for his quick action which may well have saved Chad’s life. tee DATEBOOK: Seniors start tossing rocks for charity next Wednesday, Feb. 14, when Kiwanis Club of Capilano holds its annual hospital bonspiel at Hollyburn Country Club. All proceeds to the Club’s good causes and all men curlers aged 60 and older are invited — call Lloyd Goodings, 922-2296 for info ... Big show of 52 paintings — landscapes, seascapes, portraits and still life -— by Alan Reynolds, active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists and current West Van Sketch Club president, is on this month at North Van City Hall. Open Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ... And B.C. Tel’s Barry Bertwell will tell West Van Chamber of Commerce all about “Telecommunications into the 1990s*’ at its Tuesday, Feb. 13, breakfast meeting, 7:30 a.m. sharp in the Ambleside Inn. aae WRIGHT OR WRONG: A com- pany is known by the people it . keeps. Vitaus Tass Gas ‘| ; we) Lit: ie SUNDAY © WIOMESOAY © EHIDAY North Shore News, founded in 1969 a5 an independent 4139 Lonsdale Avenue. An I ob ine Eecise Tar Act, 1s putistied each N _ . orth Vancouver, BC aday, haday and Sunday py Nortn Srore Free . . M ne toe V7M 2H4 Hoan 59,170 (average. Wednesday Friday & Sunday) s SDA Dasa Display Advertising 980-0514 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Orstrioution 986-1337 Subscriptions 986-1337 985-3227 'AEMBER North Shore owned and managed Entre contents « 1990 North Shore Free Press Lid “All ights reserved