AG - Sunday, September 25, 1983 - North Shore News

There’ sa good ‘deal more to the Social
Credit government’s restraint program than
merely saving 1983 dollars. Its opponents are
probably right in asserting that the net cash_
savings this year from the 27-bill package now
being pressed into law will be minimal. -

Much more significant for the long haul is
the underlying Socred goal of ‘‘restraining’’
overall government: operations as such, and
reducing their impact on the livés of individual
citizens. What Premier Bennett and his col-
leagues are really saying is that government
now does too many things we could and
should do for ourselves — ultimately at less
cost and with greater personal satisfaction.

The medicare crisis is just one example of
how social service expenditures funded by
government can mushroom out of control in
direct ratio to.demand, regardless of the tax-
payer’s ability to foot the bill. The same is true

of welfare, education, human rights and many
other forms of. government involvement in
society’s activities.

Socialists believe such involvement — and
therefore the taxes to support it — should be
limitless. Socreds hold that the wealth needed
for essential social services can be generated
only by individual initiative and hard work,
free from excessive interference by the state or
any other power group. This, they maintain,
is the mandate they received in the May 5
election.

Today’s. bitter confrontation isn’t about
details. it’s about fundamental philosophy .
— and, until we change the system, the right
of a democratically ‘elected: government to
govern.

Fair enough

The return of compulsory provincial exams
for grade 12 academic. subjects is to be
welcomed. They will account for.50% of a
student’s final standing, the other 50% being
based on his or her school record.

In- a competitive world that makes sense.
The promise shown by a person remains im-
portant. But in the battle of life it’s
ACHIEVEMENT that ultimately counts.

sunday

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THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE

LOSING A FUR COAT is
bad enough under any cir-
cumstances. But to lose one
- like Diane Upton of West
Van - merely because you’re
half an hour late for a date
can be agonizing.

Diane’s ‘‘date’’ on this oc-
casion was her and hubby
Glen Upton’s first child,
Caroline Elizabeth, born in
Lions Gate Hospital at 5:45
p-m. last Monday and
weighing in at 8 Ib. 14 oz. But
first we must backtrack a lit-
tle - to Diane’s dad-in-law,
Cliffe Upton, likewise of

West Van.
Cliffe’s hobby is collecting
grandchildren. He already

boasted eight out wanted
more. So some time back he
organized a trophy race bet-
ween the younger generation
of mothers and wives in his
family to produce another
one for him.

In the end it turned out to
be a photo-finish. Also last
Monday, Linda Upton of
North Van, wife of Glen’s
brother Rodger, went into
labor. She and Diane slugged
it out neck-and-neck at LGH
until supper time. Finally, it
was Linda who flashed across
the finish line first by deliver-
ing her own ‘‘number one’’,
8 Ib Tor Jessica Laura, at

precisely 5:15 p.m.

And that’s how a trifling
matter of 30 minutes lost
Diane - technically, at any
rate - the coveted prize. You
guessed: a fur coat.

But there may still be a
happy ending all round. Con-
gratulating Cliffe on his dou-
ble win in the grandchildren
stakes, we asked him what
was going to happen about
the mink (or whatever).

Cautious pause. Then,
“‘Oh well, I guess I'll have to

be fair to both of them...’”
; ‘eee
North: Van Kiwanis’ Ernie
Earnshaw is rattling his col-
lecting -can:for funds to erect
a statue. of ‘Set. Henry Larsen
at Lonsdale Quay, a project
Officially blessed by the City.
The RCMP hero, you’ll
recall, was Captain of the
fabled ‘‘St. Roch’’, which
between 1940 and 1942
became the first ship ever to
sail from the Pacific to the
Atlantic via’ th

them (1 to'r): instructor Hilary

cident.two years ago.

Passage.- Why a ‘statue at
Lonsdale Quay? Because the
“St. Roch”’ was built at Bur-
rard Dry dock in 1928 and set
forth on its epic voyage from
a North Van wharf. Allin all,
the Kiwanis need $60,000 for
their tribute to the man who
demonstrated Canada’s
sovereignty in the Artic.
And, as the bee said to the
bluebell, every little helps...

GOVERNMENTS sooner or later will have to bite
the bullet and restrain welfare expenditures which

represent both the largest and most rapidly growing
component of their outlays.

By HERBERT G..GRUBEL

Between 1965 and 1977
alone welfare spending in
Canada rose from 4.5 to 10.5
per cent of GNP. In Sweden

it has reached over SO per
cent.
The BC. government's

1983 budget was hailed by
some as a courageous symbol
of restraint and condemned
by others as an attack against
humanitarianism. Thos
budget raised welfare expen
ditures by 9 per cent.

Welfare spending is a
sacred cow that no one dare
touch. One cannot speak
about it rationally in public
without attracting hateful
questioning of one's morality
or motives. Only) holy
language about the unfilled
needs and moral mghts of the

wretched of out soctety will
do

But this has to change. We
have to discuss freely and ob-
jectively why there never ap-
pears to be an end to the
hordes of needy that our
social workers and concerned
humanitarians can find. In
recent years, Canadian
governments have increased
thetr spending on welfare to
keep pace with the growth in
population, the elderly, infla-
tion and real output. Then
they have added 50 per cent.

Where is all this moncy go-
ing? It goes for good causes
There is no denying this. Our
social workers work con-
scientiously and hard to help
only the needy.

But this correct and
popularly held view requires
amendment. The concept of
necd 15 ill-defined. It cannot
be measured like temperature
and given a unique reference
point like sero degrees
Celsius when water turns to
lce. The degree of need is in
the cyes of the beholder,

by Noel Wright

Those six students who
manned the tourist informa-

popular Dr. Bob Collier,
director of development and
deputy municipal manager
departs permanently on being

‘named administrator of

Delta municipality ... Senior
planner Steve Nicholls moves
up to Colli¢r’ s job -as West

tion centre for the North Vane Van’s watchdog over

Chamber. of Commerce had a
busy summer. From May 30
jabor: Day they helped
37,541’ visitors: (19,693: Cana-
dians, 9;986 Americans and
7,862 from overseas).
Averages gout at over 40 per
hour...- |
oF *s 2
HITHER AND YON: Two
top “West Van mandarins
‘this fall for pastures

program.coordinator:-Eva Hall. The award’ ‘commemorates
the late Miss Yzerman who died tragically in a boating ac-

new. Ed Carlin, schools
superintendent for the past
nine years takes a 12-month
leave of absence to become
the first Resident Fellow in
UBC’s Department of Ad-
ministrative, Adult and
Higher Education ... While
he’s gone, Ron Fenwick will
be looking after the store as
acting superintendent

Over at municipal hall

The social workers on the
battle line in the fight for a
more humane society are
biased to find need by their
temperament and
psychological make-up,
which made them choose
their profession. Some bias
may also stem from the fact
that their income and status
in society depend on assuring
a large flow of funds from
the government to the needy
— through them.

Whether a person should
take a job offered or be
allowed to wait for a better
one is a. subjective decision
which determines uncmploy-
ment insurance spending.
Whether a young woman
may be expected to pay for
birth control measures or
receive them free is up to the
case worker. Whether a
single mother is cxpected to
leave her child with relatives
or friends and work for a liv-
ing or whether she receives
public aid is up to the civil
servants. Social workers
decide whether a needy fami-
ly is eligible for checks for
Christmas gifts and summer
camp for their children.

All social) welfare pro-

developers 1... The hall also
welcomes Greg. Betts, newly
appointed assistant to
municipal clerk Doug Allan
.... Distinguished visitor to
St. Christopher’s, West Van,
this coming Wednesday will
be Archbishop Douglas
Hambidge, whose day-long
tour of hte parish winds up
with a pot-luck supper for-all
parishoners ... Isobel Kelly,
B.C.’s deputy minister of
labor, was on familiar turf
when she addressed the
North’ Van Chamber of Com-
merce Thursday - the attrac-

tive mother of four is a
‘former North Shore resident

... Welcome figure at. the
packed luncheon meeting was
_ Ed Cotton, twice president of
the Chamber, now retired
and enjoyng life in 100 Mile
House ... Congrats to Roy

' , Street, g.m. of North “Van’s
‘Mohawk Lubricants, elected

president of the Canadjan

“Association of Re-Refiners

... The same again to William

' Perrault of North Van, nam-
ed vice-president’ of the Cer-
tified General Accountants
Association of Canada:....
West Van Lion Bill. Thomp-
son is -back home’ after his
stint in hospital and. ap-
preciates visitors ... And
Isobel Colpitts reminds you
of the West Van’ Legion’s
special blood donor clinic, 3
to 8 p.m. next Thursday
(Sept. 29) on the South Mall
of Park Royal, gallery level
near The Bay...

oo &

WRIGHT OR WRONG:
Confucius say those who
shun all fools doomed to lead
very lonely life.

Unholy words on welfare

grams leave their front-line
workers much room for the
establishment of cligibility.
This has to be because no law
can be formulated to cover
all possible conditions. And
it wouldn't be a humane law
if it tried to.

Because of these charac:
teristics of the concept of
need and the subsequent right
to welfare benefits, govern-
ment spending in this field
must be limited deliberately
and courageously. If this is
done, social workers and
their friends in the media will
bombard us with daily stories
about how the restraint fore-
ced misery upon the single
mother with six small
children whose husband died
in an industrial accident and
other extreme cases of need
for public assistance.

We must stecl ourselves
against such techniques. If
social workers are the con-
cerned professionals they
claim to be, they will respond
to the reduced availability of
funds by cutting support for
the least necdy
(Dr. Grubel is professor of
economics at Stmon Fraser
University)