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ALLTHIS IN THE
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tan tales

YOU CAN'T turn on the TV
news these days without see-
ing some strident and noisy
political interest group (we
call them PIGs) demanding
bigger government . or
denouncing government
spending cuts — or. both, ©

, Ever wonder who. funds
them? Despite their claims
to represent millions of
Canadians,’ their funding
overwhelmingly comes from
you — the taxpayer.

Every year rnillions of tax
dollars are funnelled to PiGs
that can't get enough volun- ‘
tary support to pay their own-.
way. And why “is: that? >
Politicians. subsidize politi- -
cal interest groups to curry-.
their favor. The PIGs then -
use their handouts ‘to stri-”;
dently push for bigger gov-'°
ernment. All of this, mean=
while, is abetted and sup-
ported by the bureaucracy
because it means. bigger
departments fur them to run.
In 1994, Human Resources - J. ~
Minister Lloyd Axworthy
took this cosy relationship a;
step further when he actually
paid I61 special interest.
groups to appear. before a
parliamentary committee set *
up to examine federal spend- ‘
ing on social programs.:: .- =.

In theory, it was an
opportunity for taxpayers to .’

Dp -C’S FAST ferry program is getting
'D » blown further off course by the pre-
i election political winds being whipped

up across the land. '

Though North Shore shipyards are rightly

. rejoicing after Premier Glen Clark’s April 1

annoencement of $45 million in fast ferry
contracts for Jocai waterfront industries, the
viability of the whole fast ferry plan remsins
in question. The NDP and other proponents
. of the fast ferry project, many of. whom stand

to gain directly from the construction of the.

vessels, claim that the aluminum-hulled cata-

-marans ~will' reduce’ Horseshoe. Bay-to-

Nanaimo ferry lincups by shaving about 30
minutes off the hour and 45 minute run and
eliminate the need for, multi-million-dollar
‘upgrades to ferry terminals. For the catamia-
rans to cut route travel time ‘significantly,

up to 37 knots. And to achieve that speed,
which will likely be prohibitive on the con-
gested Georgia Strait shipping corridor any-
way, the fast ferries will have to burn sub-
stantially more fuel than conventiona! ferries
and create substantially more air pollution.

The spinoff plan to market the vessels else-
where around the world also has a ring as
hollow as the fast ferries’ hulls.

B.C, Ferries’ use of hired expertise from

other shipbuiiders in other countries begs the

simple question:. why would international

ferry builders elsewhere invest in cultivating
competition abroad and how can B.C. expect
to compete with countries already well estab-

lished and far more advanced in the con- *

struction of similar ferry designs?
The fast ferry plan is more short-terra

political thinking that will end up costing

British Columbians long-term money.

get their. voices heard. In’
reality, it was a forum where.

" government-funded “group

could push their propaganda?

Here are just a few of the:
PIGs that attended” the’
Axworthy hearings and-how,
‘much it cost the taxpayer to.
get them there:, oo

‘8 Assembly of First Nations:

~ — $50,000;

@ National Union of. Public.,
and General: Employees —.-
$42,500; *. oe
Bi Canadian. Association of |
the —Non-employed » —:
$24,000. ey,

— From Tales from the.-

© Tax Trough All, a National :

Citizens’ Coalition publica-°
tion. i Soekes

however, they must be able to reach speeds of

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| Chasuified Advetiong
Cutribalion
Maplay & Gand Estate Fan
HevaToos Fox
Gasaiiiod, Accounting
& Malo Often Fax 8
Rect Shere Hows, founded in 1969 as an
i 1 suburban newspaper and qualified
wader Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the
Encise Tex Act, is published cach Wednesday,
Friday and Sunday Sy North Shore Free Press
LL end distributed to every done on the North

Shore. Cansda Post Canadian Publications Mait
Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238.

perzanritarnarares 736, Aes

Nie

6158 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday}
Entire contents, € K

- © 1996 North Shore rk:
Free Press Ltd. oe

A.ght-wing reait

I KEEP having this
nightmare nowadays. I’m
watching the Olympics
prize-giving ceremonies = .
on TV.

A B.C. Federation of Labor
flag unfurls. The band plays
“Solidarity for Ever.” Smiling
Premier Glen Clark on the top
middle pedestal accepts the
gold, flanked on the two lower
pedestals by scowling Gordon
Campbell (silver) and sad-eyed
Jack Weisgerber (bronze). :

“Can't happen,” the right-wing faithful in
their coats of many colors assure me. Maybe
not — but only if a unifying miracle happens
to them within weeks. A right-wing reality
check is long overdue.

So forget the polls showing over 40% of
decided voters backing Gordon Campbell's
Liberals, while the NDP languishes around
35%. What counts are seats, and under our
first-past-the-post system the actual seats won
invariably differ widely from the popular vote
result.

In 1991 the NDP won 51 of the 75 legisla-
ture seats (68%) with only 40.8% of the popu-
lar vate.

In Quebec in 1994 the Parti Quebecois and

Noel

Wright

pu

at 44%, but the PQ took 77
.seats to the Liberals’ 48.

The regional breakdown is
a safer guide. in the Interior,
the NDP and Liberals are
roughly tied. The NDP domi-

nates on Vancouver Island. In.

the Lower Mainland the
Liberals have a modest lead.
Then consider recent

immigration and the “unde-

cided” vote. Since the last

election some 180,000 new-

comers, mostly Asian, have
settled in B.C, — mainly in Metro Vancouver
and southern Vancouver Island, where they
have increased the number of eligible voters
by 8% or better.

Those traditionally strong NDP areas
account for some 30 scats — only eight short
of an absolute majority.

The polls show “undecided” voters running
as high as 30%, which may be partly due to
the new immigrants, While often wary of bar-
ing their political souls, they tend to vote for
the government that looked alter them on
arrival,

Add up all those factors, plus the split
right-wing parties that in numerous cases offer
the NDP a clear path up the middle between
them, and go figure. If new immigrants
cnabled the NDP to take, say, two-thirds of the

ty check nes

30 Metro Vancouver and southern Island seats,
what would be the party's chances of winning
18 of the remaining 45 seats, mostly‘in the
Interior, for a second NDP majority govern-
ment? ° : oe
Pretty fair. I'd say. Especially when — |
regardless of what you think of his politics —-
you throw in Mr. Clark's personal image.
It radiates youth, energy, competence and
caring. He's articulate, quick to grasp points
and a siraight-shooter, © uo,

He's secure enough to say: “Sorry, i boobed .

— won't repeat thar mistake!" He promises to
lay out clearly where he would take us and
bear no grudges if rejected. :

Glen Clark — the supreme tax-and-spend
socialist apparatchik. — has the union vote, -
almost certainly the youth vote and that of
many new immigrants sewn up. ;

Were he a Liberal, Reform or Socred _
leader, I'd be hailing him as a long awaited
political Messiah.

As it is, I fear I'm going to have to suffer _
through more and more of those Olympics-
award nightmares. ‘

ce }
MANY HAPPY RETURNS of Saturday,
April 13, to Mount Seymour Lion Tora Lucas
and veteran broadcaster Jack Webster.

WRIGHT OR WRONG: If you're hell-bent

the Liberals virtually tied in the popular vote

TETETTESSTERUUR ECO ETE REO eeO

on being a failure, try pleasing everyone. —
. ce ee a ee eam deme ee

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