The beat goes on —

HE RECENT provincial budget
has taken on a life of fis own
thanks to its call for increased taxa-

“ton on homeowners.

Repardless of which side of the fence

..|you find yourself .— revolting or not —

one thing is for sare: the’ tax revolt move:

ment is'a reality.
On the heels of the blue-haired rabble

“fousing came the political damage conitrol
tat always follows a stumble by govern-

 mpemt. :

‘Im this case. the flack is being directed
towards the media, with newspapers and
electronic: forms, according to Vancouver
Lonsdale NDP MLA David Schreck,
“playing up the so-called tax revolt.’
lt-is Mr. Shreck’s contention, and in-
| deed the belicf' of the leadership of. his
“party, that the media has conspired to

champion the tax revolt.
_ Likewise, and perhaps because of the
Victoria spin doctors, reader response to

the News has been peppered with remarks:

and comments berating us for “sticking up
for the rich.’’

if you are of the same mind ‘as Mir.
Shreck, you surely would have. ‘been anaz-

ed at the power of the media last Weiines-:

day night as over 1,000 people — many
over the age of 60 — ventured out into a
rainy night to attend a tex revolt meeting
at Irwin Park elementary iz’ West. Van-
couver. The crowd was one’ of the largest
in recent memory to shew up’ for any kind

of meeting, performance, or game for that |

matter, on the North Shore. /

. The power of the press at work?

‘That is what some would have you
believe.

LETTER OF THE DAY

Can we. afford to ignore childcare needs?

. Dear Editor:

With regard to Michael Becker's

March 7 article ‘‘Sex assault rocks

’ family,” the six-year-old victim’s

mother. stated she “‘was unable to

afford a group childcare arrange-
. ment”?

the Canadian workforce had
children three to’five years of age,
while .76.2% of the women had
children in the six to 15 age
group.

The average Canadian family
paid $1,894 in extra taxes in 1992,
the highest increase amongst seven

Canada is threatened from
within by the many wrong-headed
choices made in Ottawa with tax-
payers’ money.

Researchers iu the U.K. .and

U.S. forewarned their politicians -

that the single most effective

crime prevention policy is nursery .

FLAVOR OF THE MONTH for the professional doom-
sayers is ‘‘old people’? — to be precise, too many old
people, needing more pension money than too few
stressed-out young people can afford to ive them. -

The problem, says a United Na-
tions report issued last month, is
that retirees will soon outnumber
children in North America and
Europe for the first time in histo-
ry. And the problem will continue
to grow until at least the middle
of the next century.

Since 1950 the number of older
people (defined as those over 60)
in North America and Europe has
more, than doubled — to 185 mil-
lion today from 90 million just 43
years ago. Conservative estimates
add at least 125 million more by
2025, for a total then of 310 mil-
lion.

Throughout all of history, the
UN report notes, the under- (5s
have always vastly outnumbered

the over-60s, and still do by about.

one-third. But this will be revers-

* ed in the next 35 years, by which

time ‘baby boom" seniors will
outnumber the teens by one-third.

In other words, only three new
taxpaying wage-earners will then
be entering the labor market for
every four new seniors quitting it
and needing pensions, Put that
way, it sounds quite a problem.
But wait a moment — just where
is the problem, really?

Isn’t the obvious solution sim-
ply to outlaw mandatory retire-
ment and all other age discrimina-
tion in the job market? A propor-
tion of 65-year-olds, it’s true, are
happy to call it a day. But many
more would be even happier to go
on working — and earning — if °
they could.

If one can handle the job, does /

it really matter. whether one is 25”
or 75? Yes, you protest; because”
older workers block younger ones
from advancement in their ca-
reers.

- Pardon me,.t thought the very: i
problem we were discussing was
too few younger workers’ so
wouldn’t more seniors working
jonger and supplying their own
pension needs balance things out
nicely?

Don’t forget, also, today’s

genétic engineers — busily work-

ing on extending heaithy,
disease-free lifespans to 200 years.
If great-grandpa eventually gets to

celebrate his 150th birthday on the |,

tennis court, he won’t need any-
one else to earn his pension for
him. ©

Impossible, you say? Isn’t that
what the folks who not so far |

HITHER AND YON

back died of old age at 40 would”
have said about today’s seniors?
Think finally of all the extra

spending dollars all chose fit, busy “°°

nonagenarians and centenarians ©
would pump into the economy for *-’-
its deplcied number, of thirty- 5?
somethings to enjoy: “

Which might enable the Initert to a
selax and even start procreating -
again to tip the age balance back
to youth!

SCRATCHPAD: Mount Seymour
United Church, 1200 Parkgate,
hosts the Nerth Shore Chorus
Saturday, Apcil 17, with special’
guests, the Powell River Chonis,
in Songs of the Sea — for tickets
call 929-5940 ... Also this Satur-
day from 10 a.m. to noon enjoy
great bargains and refreshments a
the St. Joke's Cannes Hall garage’.
sale, 209.Woest 13th at Chesterfield '
fe ; Reunion time approaching fo
‘Carson Grabiun Class of 1968;
‘grads —- contact P.O. Box 343
‘Yarrow, B.C. VGX'2A0 for details
... Many happy returns of today,
_ April'14, to Mount Scymour Lion
Al Cammings ... And wish happ'
43rd anniversary tomorrow, April
15, to North Van’s Dick and "
Peggy Pitt-Brooke. :

eeo

WRIGHT OR WRONG: Laziness,

is putting time to no useful pur-
pose — not even relaxation. :

education,

Can we afford to’ ignore the
childcare needs of today's
children? 7
M.N. Slykhuis
North Vancouver

major industrialized countries.

The federal government has cut
$4.7 billion from its cash pay--
ments to the provinces for post--
secondary education for the
period 1986 to 1993.

:_. The federal : government is
‘sacrificing the well-being and
.: future of our children by ignoring
. the daycare crisis caused by the
slack of government funding.
“In 1991, °68.2% of women in

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North Shore Naws, founded in 1960 as an
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ENTHUSIASTIC WEST BAY elementary students visit Mayor. Mark
Sager to promote the schceol’s upcoming 40th annivereary cele- "|
‘brations on May 1. They presented _ a commemeratve ms | to:

the mayor. (himself a 1989. ‘West Bay grad). . te

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