THERE is an industry in Canada that goes almost unnoticed. It is the Rules and Regulations industry, which is booming. In Ottawa, in the provinces, and in the munici- palities the Yahoos are hard at work devising new means of keeping the Canadian Gulliver tied to the ground. They believe movement is bad for him. The fellow just can’t be trusted. If he twitches an eye- Nid he will hurt himself. Or someone else. So public ser- vants and the politicians who take their orders from, them are always on the lookout for ways to limit his mobility. The latest example of this was the helmet rule for cyclists. The Yahoos have your safety at heart, you see. And this concern is more than extensive. It’s all-permeating. Sure, we don’t want _ worms turning up in-our but- ter; nor do we want card- board put into automobile tires instead of rubber. But enough is sometimes more mailba x en other hand than enough. The regulations question is the subject of a study by the Fraser Institute, which tells us not only what over- regulation is costing us but also how much harm it is doing. We are groaning under an impossible load. A classic example was the Yahoo attempt to protect us from unpasteurized cheeses like Camembert and Roquefort. How many peo- ple have died from eating them? Worldwide, in the past quarter ofa century, just 57. Against that, reports the Institute, 714 people died in the U.S. alone after being struck by falling objects. Another 21,414 died in car accidents. AAA PET NE AEN RSNA RO SO NA BRIT PRL ~ Highways Minister Boone clarifies bicycle helmet law Dear Editor: I would like to respond to the open letter from Stuart -. Lawson (president of the North Shore Safty Council) about:.a recently announced bike helmet exemption. - The exemption that Mr. Lawson refers to does not exist. What does exist is an exemp- tion that only.applies to chil- dren 12 years cr younger rid- tricycles or other play ve icles, There is no. such exemp- tion for’ children riding bicy- cles, The rationale behind the “exemption: for tricycle and play vehicle riders (usually pre-schoolers) is that such play equipment in not used in on-road transportation but rather in controlled play situa- tions. _. ‘The exemption is a practi- weal measure that does not lirait the safety benefits of the mandatory bike helmer legis- lation while recognizing the ~ fact: that parents and care- givers need some: flexibility when supervising young, chil- You can fost drive the super new Volkswagens for 1997 here on the North Shore:. check them out at Capilane _ Volkswagen 1151 Mavine Drive North Vancouver . AG Tel: 985-0694 dren at play. Also, nothing prevents these adults from putting bike helmets on their tricycle riders if they sc wish. As the legislation now stands, even with a few limit- ed exemptions, I think we can both celebrate it as an im or- tant new law that will:redit serious injuries and fal tes among, B.C. cyclists. * Lois Boone , Minister of ‘Transportation and Highways runing Banning the cheeses would have wiped our a sanall industry that was worth £9.3 million a year, plus the jobs it provided. Did that worry the regulators? Not a bit of it. They're all right, Jack. The Yahoos retreated in the face of protest. But don’t think they’ve given up. They promised to be back. No doubt they have sent out a shock brigade to gather evi- dence for a second manoeu- vre, It wouldn’t be so bad if the regulations did what they are supposed to do, which is to save us from ourselves, But in too many cases the effect is just the opposite. Take housing regulations. It is reported that in Edmonton regulations were introduced with the professed 41) Of improving, housing for the poor and elderly. Squads of inspectors then went looking to see whether units had “windows that face directly to the outside with an unobstructed light-trans- mitting area of not less than 8% of the floor area.” Stuff like that. Sixteen rooming houses comprising 166 units have been closed dawn and anoth- er 48 are cither being upgraded at much cost to the landlord (who of course then has to charge more rent) or are being closed down. Result? “Edmonton’s poor are being thrown out of their homes ... and must now live on the street or find another place to live.” And low- income housing becomes DRAPERIES & BLINDS BY S, LAURSEN & SON CUSTOM DRAPERIES, TRACKS AND BEDSPREADS Labour $9.50 per pane? untined, $10.50 lined. At £ lose, low prices. For FREE Estimates call 987-2966 (Ask about Seniors’ Discounts) Serving the North Shore far 25 gears NO cw PROBLEMS Read Home & Garden and you could have no mow problems! 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Half of the time, of course, not even che authors of all the regulatory mumbo- jumbo can remember what is in their stuff. But it can be dug out when they want it. In Ontario there are dozens of safety rules govern- ing ladders and what people can stand on when reaching for something. “A worker shall not stand upon a chair, a box, or other loose objects while working.” And when a step-ladder is being used “its legs shall be fully spread and the spreadez shall be locked.” Who would ever have guessed it? The statistics provided by the Institute might make you IW GO DEEP! Break your boundaries. The Citizen Aqualand Collection. The first watch with built-in depth - sensor lets you go overboard any time. Aqualand diving watches come fully-equipped with depth meter, depth alarm, elapsed dive- time chronograph, maximum depth recording and dive time alarny functions, calendar and stopwatch. Water-resistant to 200 metres. Priced from $695. dizzy. Suffice it to say that Canada “is choked with old and new regulations.” Their cost to the economy has increased from $58 billion in 1974 to over $88 billion in 1994, And there’s no end in sight. You can bet your boots that, right now, the Yahoos are busy dreaming up new rules, That’s what they are there for. Perhaps we should all go back to the farm. But you can be sure they would tind us there, too. -~ The Nurth Shore News believes strongly in freedom of speech and the right of all sides in a debate to be heard. The columnists published in the’ News present differing points of view, but those views are nut necessarily those of the newspa- per itself. Defieux-Saxelby Insurance Services Inc. t meat Famous Players Theatre) 7 : lnporters of Gemstones, Manufacturers of Fine Jewellery Capilano Mall, North Vancouver 984-2040 Eaton Centre, Metrotown 439-2040 Mayfair Mall, Victoria 382-2040