6 — Wednesday, November 21 , 1990 - North Shore News INSIGHTS VIEWPOINT | Minority rules ORTH SHORE residents are ob- Nice content to let the minority service democracy in their area when in comes to municipal elections. Both North Vancouver municipalities left the job of electing local governments on Saturday up to less than 30 per cent of the voting population: voter turnout was 29.2 per cent in North Vancouver District and a paltry 22 per cent in North Van- couver City, the traditional home of voier apathy. West Vancouverites did a tittle better: 50 per cent of eligible voters in that municipality turned out to vote Saturday. Compared with the North Vancouver numbers, 50 per cent looks pretty good. It almost looks like the democratic process is being exercised somewhere on the North Shore. But it is still only Half of the area’s eligible voters. And this year’s election in West Vancouver included a referendum on the extremely controversial Cypress Ridge golf course proposal to inspire voter inter- est. There were mayoral races in both North and West Vancouver districts. And ali three municipalities were, for the first time, electing representatives to councii and school boards for three-year terms, But to the majority, municipal politics are not a big deal. But it will be that same majority who wiil rage against local politi- cians if a condominium development is approved in their neighborhood or the sewer becks up on their street. In the day-to-day scheme of things, local politics are more than a big deal, they are the only deal. LETTER OF THE DAY GST tax grab ‘horrendous’ Dollars to donuts the manufac- Dear Editor: When is seven per cent more than 13.5 per cent? . When it is a GST tax on normal consumer goods. The average manufacturer’s selling price on most goods selling in the average shopping mall is approximately 40 per cent of the final retail price. There is no 13.5 per cent on the distributor’s or wholesaler’s markup or on distributor's freight costs. There is no 13.5 per cent on the retailer’s markup, therefore Publisher Associate Editor Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright Advertising Director . Linde Stewart the average 13.5 per cent tax con- tent on a $10 item is close to 54 cents. It is the old story — figures never lie but liars do a lot of figuring. The increase from 5.4 per cent of sales prices to seven per cent of sales price will be just under a 30 per cent increase in the effective federal tax rate on the great majority of our day-to-day purchases. Big-ticket items such as home appliances, cars, etc. should show a small net reduction. ‘north shore. SUNDAY - WEONESDAY - FRIDAY North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph Sl of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates availatle on requesi Submissions are but we cannot accept responsibility for welcome unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures a which should be accompanies dy a siamped, adaressed envelope Entire contents © 1990 North Shore Free 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, 8.C. V7M 2H4 59,170 (average, Wednesday Friday & Sunday) <> SDA DIVISION Display Advertising Ciassilied Advertising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions turers will lap up this win in their normal model year price increases. When you also realize that the present 13.5 per cent federal manufacturer’s tax was_histori- cally in the nine to 11 per cent range plus the addition of the GST on labor and services, the ef- fective federal tax grab is horren- dous. Adieu, Tories, adieu. T.F. Roote West Vancouver 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 985-1337 986-1337 985-3227 MEMBER sx if vee North Shore owned and managed Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Wary voters dectined to rock the boat THE UNIVERSE unfolded as planned (though not by everyone!) on Saturday. When the election dust settled, the top winners included youth and a caring pharmacist. After 12 years of senior-citizen mayors West Van gave Mark Sager, 32, a 53 per cent absolute majority and well over twice the votes won by 62-year-old Brice Macdougall, his nearest challenger. But the close of the campaign was muddled by a smear exercise unfair to both. At an all-candidates meeting 72 hours before polling day a sup- porter of Macdougall cited two 1983 property lawsuits in which the judge had criticized the then 25-year-old Sager as ‘‘incredibly naive” and ‘‘negligent’’ — but nevertheless awardcd him the case. The next day a crude,unsigned flyer headed ‘‘Fiscal Responsibili- ty in West Vancouver”’ was cir- culated among voters. [t reprinted the Vancouver Sun report of the judge’s comments about Sager and an additional personal innu- endo against him. Recipients aware of the question put at the candidates’ meeting might be ex- cused for assuming the Mac- dougall boys were resorting to dir- ty tricks. Macdougall campaign officials — among them political pres pre- sumably able to smell voter backlash a mile away — hotly deny the charge, saying they too were horrified by the smear sheet. That’s believable. Forty years of election-watching teaches one that amateurish eleventh-hour mud in- variably blows back on to the mud-slingers, because sensible voters inevitably ask: ‘‘Why only Now?”’ Macdougall wouldn’t have won, but he HAD been shewing sur- prising strength. We'll never know how many last-minute ‘‘sym- pathy” votes Sager snatched from him thanks to the anonymous muck-rakers. Nothing so unsavory sullied the North Van District mayoral race where 58-year-old pharmacist Murray Dykeman romped home 2,600 votes ahead of runner-up Joan Gadsby. Again youth may be the winner. Dykeman — billed as a ‘‘caring mayor’”’ and relating well to the teen generation (he was a MacS- ween soccer director/manager for 11 years) — is hot on new services for youth. He wants a North Shore youth commission to work with the recently formed Youth Council on the very real problems of young people in North and West Vancouver — spotlighted at October's YouthSpeak conference. The council scene — beginning in North Van City, where 13-year Mayor Jack Loucks was again ac- claimed — brought no upsets. All TWO-WAY win for youth? ... and Mark Sager. Noel AED ae a. HITHER AND YO five City incumbents were re- elected, with hospital-booster Barbara Perrault filling the vacant sixth seat. But this time the three left- wingers — John Braithwaite, Bill Bell and Barbara Sharp — headed the poll, bumping long-serving Stella Jo Dean to No. 4 Similarly in North Van District all three incumbents made it back, though once more with some significant change of emphasis. Leftwinger Ernie Crist soared to the top of the poll from a narrow squeak.-in last time as No. 6 and the three newcomers — Jim Cuthbert, Janice Harris and Paul Turner — are all dedicated en- vironmentalists. West Van voters followed North Van by re-electing all three sitting aldermen, adding two former aldermen with proven track re- cords — Don Griffiths and Diana Hutchinson plus respected com- munity leader Ron Wood. No leftwing swing in Tiddlycove, but eco-warriors won the battle of Cypress Ridge with a firm 57 per cent ‘‘no’’ to the proposed golf course. We also seem happy with our school boards, which each had one vacancy. North Van kept all six 1987-90 trustees, adding Patricia Heal. West Van kept three of its four — the newcomers being Peter Bradshaw and David Stevenson. Overall, aside from bringing the crew up to strength, voters declin- ed to rock the city hall boat. Helmsmen they knew seemed safer for the next tricky three years than too many apprentice seamen. eee WRIGHT OR WRONG: The good executive never puts off until tomorrow what he can get some- one else to do today.