Budget saps BRITISH Columbia’s despotic Nev Democratic Party has delivered another fiscal chicane to its long-suf- fering population: its ninth deficit spending budget since coming to power in 1991. In this, British Columbia stands in sharp contrast to Aloerta. Seven consecutive budget surpluses under the beit and almost no net debt have made Alberta the Fraser Institute’s winning province for overall fiscal perfor- mance. At the other end, Budget 2000 for pliant British Columbians spells an addi- tional $3 billion in taxpayer- supported debt, raising total debt to $36.5 billion. Thanks to chis promiscuous government, total debt-to- matibox GDF ratio in one of the slowest economies in North America now exceeds 30%. Nathing in the province's budget brought down Monday, or in the discussion preceding it, indicates that B.C. has retired the debate about deficit spending. If to judge by the large spread in the Vancouver Sun \eading up to the budget — then growing government as a strategy for wealth creation is but one amoag many viable options for the province. B.C.’s remaining vi An outline of how to increase government spend- ing, grow social programs, and tax the benighted rich was floated by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and its pointman Seth Klein over che Sten’s editorial pages in the runup to the provincial budget. Granted, Klein’s proposed budget was more glutronous than the NDP's, but it cleaved to the same dubious premise. “If we poo) the money,” he wrote on March 21, “we can purchase some really great stuff — social housing, child care, nurses, teachers,” ad infinitum. “Spending money collec- tively,” maintains Klein, “produces more jobs and provides more economic stimulus.” Such sophistry brings the observations of economist Henry Hazlitt to mind. Demagogue economists, he noted, appeal to the public by addressing only the immediate effects of a pro- posed policy and its impact on a single group. They typi- cally avoid the long compli- cated chain of reasoning in considering the effects of policy on everybody, Zooming in on the con- struction worker erecting social housing, this savant will exclaim, “Look, job cre- ation.” He ignores that “spend- ing money collectively” on public programs like day care stunts the economy because these works are facilitated through taxes. Had the money remained in the pock- ets of taxpayers, the “ner addition to wealth and wel- fare per dollar expended” would have been far greater because taxpayers would be Sonn ena Uncanny VO Or Sun onere rT NannOnD OL nS UU UU tT [Poe eratetattaneniemmatiaen be teeteniemm anaaneurahaanie ae temenatmteatemaemcalaetaonatl Heritage fund hiding tax increases Dear Editor: The propased 2000 North Vancouver District tax increase is not 4.3%, as had been announced, but over 9%. That’s the bottom line. We have robbed Peter to pay Paul and tried to hide the fects but in the end, the real increase is still more than twice as much as they would have you believe. ¢ “reduction” from over 9% to 4.3% has been accom- plished by: & Using up the so-called water and sewerage = “surplus” amounting to $1,400,000. This “surplus”, we were told previously, is a must because the infrastructure is in a sorry Levy is a hidden tax Dear Editor: There have been reports that some vehicle owners may be willing to pay the $75 yearly levy or “tax” that TransLink is proposing to increase its revenue. These reports are absolutely untrue and the so-called “polls” are not accurate as the questions asked are misleading. All the vehicle owners have been heard saying they are against the proposed levy; there is already a transit fevy on all BC Hydro bills; and the cost of vehicle main- tenance is very high as it is. “~The gas prices are going up, repairs and insurance cost alot, and whea the GST and provincial taxes are added, the costs become even higher. . Motorists would rather ae Stellers Jay Our Provincial bird - has taught most. North Shore residents to feed him peanuts in the shell which | he buries in lawns, flower } boxes and hanging baskets. This activity is monitored by squirrels and crows who then go and dig them up. That strange vine you took to the Master Gardener clin (at Pemberton) 988-2121.. pay a yearly fee to the BCAA and at feast get some bene- ts. The BCAA - should become the “champion” of vehicle owners and organize a mass petition and protests against the levy and take the matter before the courts if necessary. Motorists would be will- ing to contribute towards the legal costs. We are taxed enough as it is, and should not accept any more “hidden” taxes. Kabir Ebrahim North Vancouver state and must be replaced. I agreed. W Taking $430,000 for badly needed RCMP equipment from the Heritage Fund even though this is really an operat- ing expense and taking it from the Heritage Fund is against the district’s own rules. @ Taking another $660,000 from the Heritage Fund to cover additional operating expenses. This is against the izw and, even though the district has found a hole in the law, I am adding, this amount to the operating budget because thi is where it belongs. The real issue is that the use of Heritage moncy for qua urposes is irresponsible. Wit less than $9 million left, the fund continues to be raided. Over and above the $660,000, an additional $4 million-plus will be si honed off this car r capital expenditures whic could have been id & from accrued interest had the fund been allowed to accumulate as planned. The only way to protect dis- trict taxpayers from future cap- ital expenditure shocks is to build this fund up and pay for capital expenditures from. its generated interest rather than the principal. This was what we were sup- to do and this is what they do in other municipalities. We, in the district, on the other hand, are depleting it. Even so major capital assets, including our recreation facili- ties, are deteriorating for lack of funding for maintenance. To get the district off the hook “temporarily,” one “very responsible and astute” Concerned Citizens Association-endorsed council member proposed that the dis- trict start selling land again. Not to build up the Heritage Fund, however, but to condn- ue the “addiction” and post- pone the inevitable fiasco. With only $128 million left in the land bank, should this be done, the last chance to set the district’s fiscal house in order will be sacrificed. And this is the real state of atfairs in the dis- The North Shore News apolcgizes for any inconvenience this may have caused. Dr. Janis Boyd Family Dentistry from left to right: Clare, Lois, Moira, Dr. ."2nis Boyd, Julie & Giselle Thanks for voting us your tavorite dentist on the North Shore in the Readers’ Choice Awards! Dr. Janis Boyd and staff would iike to thank all of ou loyal patients for showing their .vonderful support and confidence in our practice. Ws welcome new patients. Early morning and evening appointments available. 151% Eastern Ave. North Vancouver 987-9022 Friday, March 31, 2000 — North Shore News ~ 7 spending the money on their needs. and this in turn would be generating real sustainable jobs. The many items not pur- chased and the many homes not built because of the taxes seized are ignored. It was economist Milton Friedman who dealt a death knell to government intervention by demonstrating empirically that it “does more harm than good and that the market is better at allocating resources than government.” Of course, Klein and fel- low NDPers still parrot John Maynard Keynes, an econo- mist whose raison d’etre was government sector growth and spending. Their shrill demand for government control has, however, mutated. No longer do analysts like Klein use central planner locution. Instead, they talk about a widening gap between rich and poor, a “race to the bot- tom” instigated by business, and a lack of social responsi- bility and values. Their remedy for the so- called ills perpetrated by big bad investors is always big benevolent government. With the help of media, The CCPA peddles its bana! sta- tist overreach as a “progres- sive” view. As to Klcin’s recommen- dation to raise B.C.’s already high minimum wages, the upshot of such asininity is always more, not less, unem- ployment. tality “You cannot make a man worth a given amount by making it illegal for anyone to offer him anything else,” explains Henry Hazlitt in “Economics In One Lesson.” “You merely deprive him of the right to earn the amount that his abilities and situation would permit him to carn.” Minimum wage laws for so many British Columbians have acted to substitute low- wage jobs with no wages. Shifting the burden of exces- sive wages onto the con- sumer simply ensures the lat- ter buys less or searches for 2 cheaper alternative. For the worker whose wages have been bid above market value this spells unemployment. Tragically for the province, Klein’s budget wish list has almost been ful- filled. With $600 million in public sector wage increases, 359 bureaucrats and 16 min- istries will be in the money, to say nothing of there being some glut for a burgeoning child care infrastructure. It’s safe to say that British Columbia will remain a mon- ument to the anti-free mar- ket, anti-competition, pro- collectivism credo. Another deficit budget serves only to sap the litle economic vitality left in the province, confirming that Seth Klein’s prescription for deficit explosion has carried the day in B.C. —gnome@attcanada.net Oil, Lisbe & Fitter 21 pt. Safety check, 15 minutes - FAST! Inciudes up to 5 litres of 1Ow30 Quakerstate 1362 Merine Drive 980-915 fLMorSs S00arr 6:00pm, Sun Glucosam! 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