NHL Game a tax smokescreen FEDEKAL Industry Minister John Manley took one for the team on Friday when he was cross-checked in the back by Canadian tax- payers fed up with a government so incredi- bly out of touch with the people who pay their freight. {n doing so, Manley also euthanized his own political career. The Ortawa-area MP might as well kiss any chance of re-election goodbye once the ramifications of his failed NHL aid package result in the Senators (the hockey “team not the failed politicians with their snouts in the pub- lic trough) packing up their pucks and heading for the more friendly environs of the Excited States of America. Barely 72 hours after _ announcing his government's ill-conceived subsidy plan for “the Canadian-based NHL ~ teams, Manley flipped faster than Gordon Wilson looking for a new political party. “Canadians have made their views known on taxpay- .. 8’ assistance to professional . <. hockey,” said the grim-faced minister. ~~ - “My caucus colleagues have echoed their con- stitueats’ opinions. The prime minister and I want them to know Friday that this . government listens and takes their views, very seriously,” Mauley said as he tried to rescue his tattered carcer. Asif. ~~ The next: time Chretien a and his Bained seals listen fo ublic’s viewpoints an tually take them seriously wil be the first time. 4 Mulroney government’s GST and promised. to cradicate it when given. power, What about a refugee sys- tein reaking like a: sieve? Tax A failing j justice sys- tem? Victim’s rights? ©: Hospital waiting lists? Welfare ud? : ‘What yas teuly amazing in the rather pid-" ling amount offered by the Liberals In. the great scheme | things it was only $20 mil- alior External Affairs spills crime and punishment Manley also had the unmitigated gall to point at provincial ministers of finance in anempting to allocate blame for thc disaster. One of his targets was Alberta treasurer Stockwell Day, whose inherent philoso- phy is probably what really galls the Chretien crowd. The day after Manley’s public humiliation, Day was quoted in the Calgary ‘Sun as saying such blasphemous things as: “The feds should lower their taxes now. Canadians are more suphisti- cated. They can’t be fooled anymore. “People know we can lower taxes by getting out of things government shouldn’t be doing, by delivering essen- tial services in the most effi- cient way an a down the debr.” a Paving He went on, “It used to be politicians held the citi- zens of this country together by saying: You want to lower taxes, you'll be paying through the nose for services. Decade after decade, the politicians paralysed she Canadian peopie with fears that if taxes were lowered we “would all die naked, unedu- cated and starving on unpaved streets, They were wrong.” Day ought to be careful when he speaks in those terms. Chretien’s boys might try to charge him with trea- “$on. In the same week, news “emanated from Ottawa exposing the crass misman- agement of Human Resources Development Canada, rather clumsily run by Minister Jane Stewart. HRDC has evidently, . according to the aews brief- ing given by Stewart, frittered “away over §3 billion on so- called job creation grants. An internal audit deter- : ‘mined that 87% of the money given away was never moni-: . tored. Twenty five percent of the files didn’t state what ~ kinds of ‘jobs were being ol, . 21 pt aed check, 15 minutes - FAST! Includes up to 5 litres of 1Ow30 Quakerstate j302 Marine Drive 980-9115. - Expires Feb, 2/2000 tate nee our Seniors Discount)” Estimate call - SEEAONS or 987-2966 + Drapery Labaur $13.50 per panel fined. tow Low Prices 1-9 Gumboots © Vals Ferry Ellis * Grain'de Lune * Robeez * Frou Frou * Baby Bjorn © Caillou * Mexx ® Marese © Bebe Coccoli funded. Fifteen per cent didn’t even have an application form on file. And, in the majority of cases, more Moncy was given out than was asked for. Stewart's response to this insanity: the pudlic expects better of government, she told the press conference. Thanks for sharing that particular insight minister. Good Lord! Three billion dollars wasted and that’s it? Not a rolling head i: sight. Even to the Liberals $3 bil- lion must seem like a lot of money. And there’s been barely a peep thanks moszty to Manley and the NHL thing. Hey, wait a minute. You don’r suppose there’s a connection do you? A substantial bit of that $3 billion: was given to vari- ous projects in Shawinigan, ¢ prime minister’s riding. Some of it to a hotel that Chretien himself used to own, Hmmmmm. The Liberal spin doctors were conspicuous with their silence in the wake of Manley's announcement. Equally, it's unlike Chretien mailbox to make a major announce- ment without lining up his own backbenchers and crack- ing the whip to ensure every- one is onside. That doesn’t seem like it was done in the case of the NHL subsidy. Surely Chretien’s storied polling machine would have et them know the people were against subsidizing, multi-millionaire hockey owners with any taxpayer dollars. So how could the groundswell of public our- rage have caught them by surprise a3 Manley would have us believe? Is it possible the whole thing was created as a politi- cal smokescreen to ensure the focus was on the rather paltry NHL subsidy and not on the HRDC debacle? Surely aot. Even the federal Liberals aren't that diabolical. Or are they? Could it be that this was all very carefully coordinated to head off taxpayer’s revolt. Just asking. Vin ighri@direct ca cn anreraennmmmnrerins nscrraterete ateneCtteheere ene ANE North Van diversity project applauded Dear Editor: We were very pleased to see the story in the North Shore News on Jan. 9, announcing the provincial millennium grant for the “Multicultural Then and Now” project, which will doc- ument the historical and cur- rent cultural diversity of North Vancouver — City, through both a major display at the North Vancouver Museum and Archives and a book, which will be a lasting record. The provincial grant was awarded to match the $20,000 which had been ear- lier designated by the mayor and council of North Vancouver City for this pro- ject. With the invaluable and Benerous support of the staff of the museum and archives, we are certain that this project will be informative and fasci- nating for the entire commu- nity. Margaret Third Executive Director North Shore Multicultural Society © Mexx © Marese © Bebe Coccoli * Kenzo © Fadders © Timmy Tom tom 1463 Bellevue Ave., , West Vancouver 926-8737 Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10-5:30pm Sun. 8¢ Holidays 12-4pm ( ANGELS ~ ON BELLEVUE * Children's Boutique Sizes newborn to 12 OSE 0 XXII} « NOW) & wala Aug's NOsy N04 22940y « UN] Op WIEIC) « SIg AuUuad « SICA e SIOOGWTD « JANIS 191 « Wednesday, January 26, 2000 - North Shore News - 7 Canadian Baha’l Community Mourns Death of Prominent Baha’! Madame Rubbyih | Rabbani (Mary Maxwell) (1916-2000) “TLE NE This is a Faith To walk where there is no path To breathe where there is no air To see where there is no light This is Faith. To cry out in the silence, The since of the night, _ And hearing no echo believe And believe again and again This is Faith, To hold pebbles and see jewels To raise sticks and see forests To smile with weeping eyes This is Faith, To say: “God, I believe” when others deny, “I hear” when there is no answer, “T see” though naught is seen This is Faith. And the fierce love.in the heart, The savage love that cries Hidden Thou art yet there! . Veil Thy face and mute Thy tongue — Yet I see and hear Thee, love, Beat me down to the bare earth, . Yet I rise-and love Thee, Love!” This is Faith. : Toronto (20 January 2000) - The 25, 000 member Baha'i com munity of Canada begins holding hundreds of ‘local and regional memorial services across Canada after learning of the _ death of the preeminent worldwide Baha'i and Canadian, 7 Madame Ruhiyyih Rabbani. Madame Rabbani died in her 90th year on nthe 19th of January. in Haifa, Israel where the Baha'i World Centre is located. She.’ had resided there since her marriage in.1937 to the world head of the Baha'i Faith, Shoghi Effendi’ Madame. Rabbani. held senior positions in. the Baha'i community.and played a ~ major role in the development of the Baha‘ community to its current membership of more than five million with nationa communities in over 180 countries. Originally from Montreal, where she was called Mary Maxwell, : she was the single child of well:known. Canadian architec * William Sutherland Maxwell and May. Bolles. Madame Rabbani took great pride in her Canadian roots, visiting ’ Montreal fre quently in the course of her travels to.185 countries over he years of service to the Baha'i < ae 5's loved so much, world peace, the environment and the elimi nation of prejudice of all kinds. Madame Rabbani was also a writer, publishing several books including “The Priceless Pearl” and “Prescription for Living and producing. two. documentary films, one: on the Baha’i World Centre’in Haifa, the other on her travels in 1 South - » America and along the Amazon River. © The Baha’i community of Canada celebrated its one, hun dredth anniversary in Canada two years ago. it is'a commu: ty devoted to the Baha’i ideals of world citizenship, the: hi mony of science and religion, equality of women and men, ani the elimination of prejudice. The Baha'i National Centre is in”, Thornhill, on the northern edge of Toronto, with nation offices in Ottawa and Quebec City, in addition to a number o : regional and lecal facilities.’ 4