Firemen n Dear Editor: Re: the recent sniping going on in the media between the firemen’s union and the ambulance para- medics. In North Vancouver City as well as in West Vancouver, in the Ambleside area, the fire halls are located virtually next door to the ambulance sta- tions. When the ambulance is in . the station and available for a call, why are the fire depart- ments insisting on being sent to the same medical emer- gency: as well? a in these areas an ambu- lance’‘is available for a call at _ the station, it makes no sense whatsoever for the fire depart- ments. to respond, unless provincial taxes are already providing? The idea behind the first responder program was to send the fire department when: @ the local ambulance was delayed (tied up on a previous call); Mi the fire department could reasonably be expected to arrive at the scene prior to the ambulance (the fire hall is closer). For some reason fire departments don’t seem to be satisfied with this and are under the impression that they should be sent to all medical calls. Municipal council mem- bers need to send the message to the fire departments that bers should consider that if a fire department vehicle is involved in a motor vehicle accident while responding unnecessarily to a medical call, the municipality could find itself with a huge liability problem. The public needs to be aware that if there is a fire or prior medical emergency in their neighborhood when they call 9-1-1, there will be no first-responders to attend, or at the very feast their response will be delayed. This was evidenced in West Vancouver last year wher. the whole fire department was required for a fire at Park Royal Towers. Let’s face it, having fire department first-responders is = there are sxtenuating circum- why s- be spent duplicating something that answering medical calls so that their call volumes will be more should ressive when budget time rolls around, is not acceptable. In addition, council mem- great and they are requited. However, they are in no way a substitute for ambulances staffed by paramedics. North Shore — citizens ‘MYTHS versus REALITY |. wae Federal Budget Day, but jonat. “four ‘days - prior ‘to t ‘would be at least” next fay, before 1 could publish any ion,’ elimination’ of the ‘capital . reduction in the RRSP over: increased. CPP premiums. announced last Friday, have all had the same effects as tax . The ‘Finance Minister probably” decided to announce. the new CP? premium “ inereases ahead of the budget so that he could once again. try to perpetuate the myth that his . | budgets have contained no tax increases. The | reality is, in 1993 the average Canadian worker ‘had an. average . disposable income, -ofter ‘taxes of $37, 787. Last year, after adjusting for inflation, that figure had dropped by $1,108 to $36,679. “MYTH - Defenders of medicare - The claim by the present Government that it is the great defender of medicare is absolute hogwash. In reality, transfers to the provinces in support of medicare have been slashed by 40% since the Liberals . came to power in 1993. Like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, they have continued the programmed funding cuts introduced by the PCs. (It is interesting to note that Reform's 1993 "Zero in Three" plan to balance the budget contained NO reductions in medicare funding, and would also have cut less from the CBC than has occurred under a_ Liberal Government.) MYTH — Child poverty Recent claims by the Government that the elimination of child poverty is a top priority are just rhetoric. in reality, the newly announced $600 million chitd benefit is chicken feed compared to the $7 billi cut from health, education. and social spending since 1993. Balancing the budget more quickly would have avoided such large cuts, because it is actually the ever increasing interest payments on the debt which are now eating away at the available funding tor social programs. MYTH - Jobs, jobs, jobs The Prime Minister continually claims in Parliament that he has created more jobs in the last three years than France, England and: Germany put together. He conveniently chooses to ignore the fact that Canada has had 76 straight months of unemployment rates higher: than..9%, and that our youth unemployment is at record levels approaching 20%. The reality is, Canada’s high taxes discourage business investment and growth, and with the newly announced increases in CPP premiums, payroll taxes will soon be close to 20% of payroll costs, This is NOT the way to create meaningful, long term jobs, because it encourages employers to pay overtime rather than bring on new employees. The only way to create meaningful, long term jobs, is to quickly balance the budget and begin lowering taxes. This will, as has already happened in Alberta, restore business confidence, give consumers more money to spend, and encourage the private sector investment which creates those jobs. REALITY A week or two ago, while dialing Into the Internet via BC Tei’s Sympatico service, | noticed a survey asking whether the Liberal Government should relax its spending now that the deficit is down to an EXCELLENT $18 billion? incredible — since when is it EXCELLENT to have an $18 billion deficit? An $18 billion SURPLUS would be excellent - an $18 billion DEFICIT is far from excellent! Even so, Mr. Martin's budget yesterday probably confirmed that we will pass the $600 billion mark in federal debt within the next month, and that our interest payments on that debt will increase by another $6 billion to $8 billion over the next year. The reality is, the debt is now feeding on itself as we borrow to make our interest payments. The reality is, until we begin running surpluses, further - erosion of social programs is inevitable. The reality is, if interest rates rise a few points during the next year, everything gained so far will be lost in rapidly escalating debt service costs. The reality is, until taxes can be lowered, investment will be sluggish, and unemployment rates will remain unacceptably high. jt paramedics should contact their MLAs and express their support for more funding to provide more ambulances and should also contact their council members regarding the use of fire department first respon- ders on unnecessary medical responses. It should be common sense that the fewer unneces- sary medical calls they respond to the more they will be available for calls where they can actually make a dif- ference. R Whiting North Vancouver Canada is now the last true socialist super power Dear Editor: No one should be sur- prised that Canada supports Cuba, or rather Fide! Castro and his fight against the Helms-Burton Law. Since the collapse of Russia and East Germany, Canada is the iast remaining, truly socialist super power. Where else can a government extort 60% tax from the citizens with-. out so much as a whim Jean Chretien probably views Castro’s dictatorship with admiration because the Liberal government spends like it expects to gouge still more tax revenue from us. The United States of America should be getting our support and should be our role model, not Cuba. Likewise, Cuba should be looking to the U.S. and not Canada. The U.S. has free enterprise, excellent roads, minimum govern- ment interference and fairly reasonable tax rates. The lack of any of these qualities in Canada brings serious doubt to the rank of number one that the United Nations has once again bestowed upon us. Joe Robozo West Vancouver Investor’s Guide to the “Top RRSP Picks” # Where to invest this year’s RRSP contribution Chris Carter Financial Advisor Order your copy now. 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