‘} The Morth Shore Mews ts published by North Store Free Press Ltd., Publisher Peter Speck, from 1129 Loasdate Avenue Worth Vancouver, B.C., V7M 214 PETER SPECK Publisher 985-2131 (101) Dee Dhaliwal Human Resources Manayjer 985-2139 (177) “Doug Foot Comptrotier 985-213t (133) ee 885-2131 (218) Distribution Manager 986-1337 Beckas-News 985-2131 (114) 985-2131 (147) beh nthe La No Letters must include your nama, full . address & telephone number. VIA Internet: trenshaw @ direct.ca COMPUTER BBS - 280-9027 Usar ID:maitbox * Password:letters 8 I ba tee airmen watet Rorts Shore Mews, founded in 1963 25 an ictependent and ouatied . Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. SLEDS Teg EE OIE TET ESTE CHRBTIENS IDEAL LIBERAL CAUCUS BREAKDOWN: iostumeon Wein DESKS aN HolLeR “G00 “GINEANIENT!” NewS Viewpoint FZE impending closure of the West Vancouver courthouse is yet another prime example of heavy-handed bureaucracy in action. Attorney Gencral Ujjal Dosanjh is look- ing to save some moncy. It’s an honorable ir:pulse on the surface. Amalgamating court- house facilities in well-serviced communities makes sense. What really makes no sense at all is the sit- uation on the North Shore. As matters stand we have two provincial courthouses to serve our needs, There is one in North Vancouver, and there is one in West Vancouver. The North Vancouver courthouse sits rel- atively close to the North Vancouver RCMP headquarters. The West Vancouver court- house is adjacent to the West Vancouver Police headquarters. Police officers who must attend court can 12% GST ~~ APOLGISTS 6% Sheila _— COPPS Lookalikes JONEF) Caul HbiA See ahr eter hamartoma by IR dl ny te Stee marten already make the trip casily in both jurisdictions. One result of this situation is that taxpayers don’t have to pick up much of a tab for extra policing costs due to police court duty. West Vancouver bean counters anticipate that shutting down the West Vancouver facility will cost the municipality $250,000 to $550,000 annually. Most cf the cost will be police payroll. The province really doesn’t save much — $303,843 between July 31, 1997, and March 31, 1999, for example. ' West Vancouver has offered to compen- sate the province for the costs that the province anticipates it will save by closing the court. West Vancouver is a glutton for punishment. Perhaps the time has come for a bit of civic disobedience. Withhold some of the tax money West Vancouver residents fork over to Victoria. Enough is enough. Thanks for supporting iil student Dear Editor: On_ behalf of B.C. Homestay Services, we would like to extend our appreciation for the story you ran regarding Yukari Yoshioka. (March 9 News.) As the homestay company that originally arranged her accommoda- tion, you can imag- ine that we (and the host family) are extremely interest- ed and supportive of any eftorts to raise funds for Yukari’s = medical bills. STUDENT If you publish Yukari any further follow- Yoshioka - up to this story recovering would it be possible from severe to extend an appeal pneumonia specifically directed . to the homestay community regard- less of their school or homestay agency affiliation? This situation is a host family’s worst nightmare and I sincerely believe that che host family commu- nity must be both shocked and empathetic to this young. lady’s situ- ation, and would welcome an opportunity to contribute. Thank you, again, for publicizing this situation. Alison J. Bell-Irving Director B.C. Homestay Services abi@bc-homestay.com MAILBOX POLICY LETTERS to the editor must be legible (preferably typewritten) and include your name, full address and telephone number. Due to space constraints the North Shore News cannot publish ~ all letters. Published letters may be edited for brevity, clarity, accuracy, legality and taste. Submissions ‘can be faxed to 985-2104 bur still must be signed and fully addressed. How to salvage free enterprise? HOW long can any free-enterprise society afford today’s ever-growing numbers of poor peoplc? The question is far from theoretical. But first the up-to-date facts — beginning with the current defini- tion of poverty: Statistics Canada’s “low income cut- off” (LICO) where families spend 55% or more of gross income on food, shelter and cloth- ing. This LICO ranges from $10,700 for a single person in a rural area to $40,000 for a city family of seven. Today in most western industrialized coun- tries it’s not so much that “the poor get poorer,” but rather that there are more and more of them. In Canada their 1995 coral hit 5.1 million (17.4% of all Canadians) — up by some 1.5 mil- lion from the 13.4% just five years cartier. Top culprit is high unemployment, much of it due to firms ruthlessly “downsizing” by replacing employees with technology. Add to that high union-driven wages — which not only make computers and robots more cost-efficient than humans but also severely limit entry-levei employment openings for the 18-24 age group whose jobless rate now nudges 20%. Deepening the long-term gloom is futurist Jeremy Rifkin’s forecast in The End Of Work. The acclaimed U.S. economic guru predicts that within 25 years a mere 20% of today’s work force will provide all of society’s needs. That will leave the other 80% mostly jobless — only a lucky few scraging by in low-paid temporary work in tomorrow’s Brave New World. Quite aside from the resultant social chaos — which would make heavy-handed government intervention inevitable — the free enterprise sys- tem itself could not possibly survive such pover- ty. Even with a 40% (let alone 80%) jobless rate, who could afford to buy anything approaching all the goodies being spewed forth by the robots and compvters? That means that if free enterprise as we know it today continues to surge on uncontrolled, and with no self-control, it can only be headed for its own ultimate demise. So what are the options? In the short term they include job creation by reducing the work weck for the same pay; cap- ping bloated executive salaries; and cutting com- pany payroll levies — with government compen- sated ‘by an increased tax take from more peeple working. But these are only band-aid solutions. The only lasting answer for both social peace and free enterprise is a National Income Policy. It would provide all citizens below the poverty level through no fault of their own with enough supplementary income to put them abore the poverty level. The able but jobless would, in return, do some of the endless work now done by unpaid volunteers. . Yes, of course it would mean tax hikes for the corporate sector and the well-off. But by rolling present programs like welfare, employment insur- ance, child allowances, GST rebates, etc. into one streamlined package, a single National Income Policy could hold tax hikes to an accept- able level by eliminating today’s huge overlap- ping bureaucracies. Free enterprise is a dynamo giving us unparal- leled living standards. We shouldn’t risk a burn- out by failing to regulate it sensibly. Or have you any better ideas about how to keep it humming for us? o00 ; “ADVENTURES IN MUSIC” by North Van Youth Band takes place 7 p.m. Sunday, April 13, in Centennial Theatre — tickets $6/$4 at the theatre (984-4484) ... And happy birthdays today, April 9, to West Van's Mildred Hughes and Joanna Disher. 000 WRIGHT OR WRONG: Leadership is action, not position. — The North 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 not necessarily those of the newspaper itself.