A6 - Sunday, November 7, 1982 - North Shore News The bottom line ' Last week’s Alberta election and the mid- term elections in the U.S. tell much about the instincts of the average North American in ahis worst recession/depression since the In Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed’s “Conservatives who care” swept back to power with an even greater majority than last time -- 75 of the 79 legislature seats. Below the border the Democrats made marginal gains, but not enough to seriously deflect President Reagan’s economic policies. ’ In both cases the message seems clear. Basically, the welfare state is here to stay. There is wide acceptance of the need for governments to redistribute wealth so that every-e like health and education; that senior citizens have some degree of security; and that the jobless, underprivileged and han- dicapped will not be left without food and shelter. ~ Butin.amodem state the costs.are enor- mous and the current economic slump has brought into sharp focus society's ability to pay for all the services desirable. Also in question is the efficiency of government bureaucracies at the task of translating tax revenues into benefits. It doesn’t rate highly. That's why “conservatism that cares” appears to be the mood of the moment. A civilized society must do what has to be done for all its members-- but cannot, in the process, blithely ignore the bottom line. The news that Russia has discovered 1 ways to clandestinely plug its computers into U.S. systems and steal the West's technological secrets may be more reassuring than it at first appears. Thought, said Hamlet, “sicklies o’er the native hue of resolution”. With all that extra food for thought to digest, maybe there'll eventually be nobody among the Russian boss men left with sufficient resolution to press The Button -- even by accident. VRE VOCE OF ETT AND WHET VANCOUVER sunday news| north shore news 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 ' Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Circulation 980-0511 966-6222 985-2131 986-1337 Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Robert Graham Editor-in-chief Noel Wright Advertising Director Tim Francis Personnel Director Mrs. Berni Hilliard Circulation Director Brian A. Ellis Office Manager Photography Manager Donna Grandy Terry Peters North Shore News, founded in 1968 as an independent community Newspaper and qualified under Schedule tll, Part ti Paragraph th of the Excise Tax Act is published each Wednesday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd and distributed to every door on the North Shore Second Class Maii Registration Number 3885 Entire contents - 9982 North Shore Free Preas Ltd. All rights reserved. > Subscriptions. North and West Vancouver $26 per year Mailing rates available on request No responsibility accepted tor unsolicited matonal including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope VERIFIED CIRCULATION 84,843 Wednesday; 54,003 Sunday peer r=. go yy SN THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE itizen-has-access_to-essential_services_- By ROGER WORTH Once again, Canadians have very real evidence that our farmers are among the finest in the world. The recent Russian purchase of $1.5 billion worth of Canadian grain should drive home the point that we're extremely lucky to have farmers who are so productive. In fact, they're the unsung heroes of the so- called war against inflation. Consider what's hap- pening. The Russians have a Mainstream Canada available, prices. While it may be difficult for the Canadian housewife (or househusband) to _un- derstand what a great deal he or she is getting when they line up at the check-out counter, at least the products are available. Complaints about the high costs of various products are debated, yet we all tend to miss the point. and at realistic In Britain, families spend . about 30 percent of disposable income on food. great deal of land that is similar to the acreage far- med by the Canadians. The weather and climate in the _ growing areas. is about the same. Yet continually, the Russians are forced to buy our wheat because they can’t produce enough themselves, even for the home market. Effectively, if the Russians didn’t import grain, they'd be in desperate straits, or at least have their already low standard of food intake pruned. It’s not a matter of whether or not the product is available. In Canada, wheat is POSTSCRIPT to all the rude things people say about Canada Post arrived on our desk last week -- only three days after being mailed -- from ai e gentleman who knows whereof he writes. His boss, Michael Warren, president of Canada Post Corp., should be proud of him. North Van postic Gerard Leach was so incensed by News columnist Roger Worth's recent diatribe “Postal Service Is Third Class”:on this page that he took pen in hand to give the other side of the picture. He tells of the headathes caused by the many letters mailed without proper addresses, with barely legible ad- dresses, and with wrong strect numbers and codes. He points out the big seasonal variations in traffic - the summer lull, the dramatic surge in volume after Labor Day. And he can't see why anyone should complain about a 30 cent stamp. There's not much clse you can buy for 30 cents, says Mr. Leach, yet people want letters delivered across Canada, from their mailing point to the door at the opposite end of the country for less than half the price of a local bus. ride. “I'd In West Germany, it’s 33 percent. And in Japan, food costs are a whopping 40 percent of disposable in- come. In Canada, on the other hand, we spend little more than 22 percent of disposable income on food. The fact is, Canadian farmers, without much hullabaloo, are generally selling their products at bargain basement prices, which is the major reasoh we don’t really. understand. -what, a deal we’re getting. Beset by... high ‘interest’ |. rates, escalating Costs and -[ our farmers are tops low prices, it’s remarkable that “our agriculture com- munity is able to compete in world markets. Somehow, Canadian consumers have turned to downgrading. farmers the minute they increase prices, no matter how little. PROGRAM sunday brunch by Noel Wright challenge anyone to match the same price and -service the Post Office offers and run without a deficit. Any other company would have gone bankrupt years ago,” he declares. “Compare our increases with beer, cigarettes, milk, bread or anything else and then tell me,” he asks, “how this (next increase of)2 cents is going to bankrupt everyone in Canada and make life miserable.” I like Mr. Leach’s fighting spirit. I have to admit he makes some pretty telling points. In fact, ['m tempted to think that all néxt year’s 32 cent postal service really needs to deliver the goods is more people like Mr. Leach... no @ Sports-loving bachelor Shawn, the “Sunshine Guy” who took over from our page 5 “Sunshine Girl" in The News of Oct. 27 won instant raves from numerous lady readers. Typical was M. Bell of North Van who wrote: “Congratulations! The long overdue ‘Sunshine Guy’ picture is beautiful and greatly appreciated by all your female readers. You have proved that a malice photo can be just as at- tractive and as tasteful as any female photo. Can't wait to see the others.” Well, well. How do you guys feel about it? If you don’t normally link hotels with religion, link again. This month Pastor Arnie Toews moves his West Van-based North Shore Alliance Church into the International Plaza where he'll conduct three family oriented services in the salon area each Sunday at 10 a.m., 1! a.m. and 7 p.m. Everyone welcome -- and you can call Pastor Toews at 984-6422 or 986-2779 for further in- formation. -. @ FOLK TALES: A plug we can't resist for Super Valu operators Bob and Ted Wylie, and George Gallcz, of Park Royal: Norm Harris and Glen Taylor of Queens and Lonsdale; and Alan Belich and family who own the SV stores at 16th and Lonsdale and Edgemont Village -- our North Shore boys walked away with a total of cight awards in last weck's national competition for in-store presentation and customer service sponsored by the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers... Homegrown prima donna temporarily south of the border is Sysan Doman, daughter of North Van's David and Jean Doman, and a 1978 Argyle gradwho sang IN KEEPING WITH OUR G AN V'M_HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE DEFICIT IS G-AND MAYBE JUST 5 BILLION OVER Perhaps it’s time city dwellers understood that, unlike Russian consumers, they are able to buy what they want, and at prices that are among the cheapest in the world. Our farmers deserve credit for keeping things that way. (CFIB Feature Service) DS the female lead role last week in the University of Oklahoma School of Music production of “The King And I”... Art and science don’t mix, you say? Better get along and view the delightful watercolors of marine and rural subjects by Robert Rennie whose exhibit premiers Wednesday, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., at North Van Civic Centre. In his spare time Dr. Rennie is a mathematician and former chairman of natural sciences at Cap College... Recent LGH inmate Olga Shaker of Hanna, Alta., writes: “A thank you to Dra. Creedon, Hamilton, nurses and staff of the Lions Gate Hospital, 3rd floor cast, for the excellent care I received while a patient there.” Nice... Congrats to North Van actress Marlane O’Brien born in London, England, one of 24 winners coast to coast of a $2,000 bursary in the du Maurier “Search For The Stars” national audition program... Sull) with = the performing arts, senior News staffer Mike Goodsell, an accomplished musician himself, has been elected as director of the North Van Youth Band, in which his daughter also plays... And belated Happy Birthday to West Van Legion president John Moore who clocked up another non-stop 12 months last Thursday... of @ WRIGHT OR WRONG: | isn’t what you know that counts. It's what you think of -- in time!