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AS CANADA celebrated iis centennial in 1967, there was

an undercurrent of concern within ihe offices of the federal finance deparment. The net national debt had reached $17 billion and the fiscal year to end in March 1968 was ex- pected to add another $750 million to that figure.

Prime Minister Pearson’s gov- ernment, displaying a weary pride in the new flag and the centennial, looked as if it had reached the end of the road. When finance was discussed, Pearson would proclaim that a total debt of $17 billion for a nation carved from wilderness, that had valiantly financed four wars and a crippling Depression, was nothing to be alarmed about.

Even the $750 million deficit was not a record. It had been worse in 1959 ($877 million), 1962 ($948 million), 1963 ($833 million) and a whopping $1.2 billion in 1964.

We were yet to meet the ex- uberance of flower power in the Prime Minister’s Office. Enter Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

His reign as Prime Minister — minus the brief Joe Clark interlude — saw the new federal debt climb from $17 billion to $200 billion. The deficit grew from under $1 billion to $38 billion; twice as much debt incurred ia one year than what had been accumulated during the first century of the country’s history.

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Michael Wilson cited some con- siderable achievements in his budget. When he became finance minister, he explained, the annual shortfall on operating account was greater than the debt servicing costs. Today, operations show a modest surplus. The projected $28.5 billion deficit is less than what it is expected to cost during the next 12 months servicing the national debt of $350 million.

The provinces and the opposi- tion in Ottawa have cried foul, ac- cusing Wilson of merely passing his problems over to them. The radical cut in transfer payments to the provinces ensures 1ax increases, added deficits or reduced spending at the provincial level.

Most of the provinces have been more wasteful than Ottawa in their expenditures. As amateur mathematicians advised us that Canada sinks $28 million more in debt while we have a typical

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night’s sleep, or $7 million while we visit a movie theatre, it was learned that every man, woman and child owes a $13,000 piece of the problem.

What these figures overlook is that the provinces, including their guarantees of municipal and crown corporation borrowing, are also $200 billion into the glue. That means each of us owes $20,000.

The better provincial managers have been penalized by Mr. Wilson. Transfer payment cut- backs are capped to minimize the blow to the provinces in the deepest trouble. British Columbia, by far the best managed provincial treasury, will be rewarded by extra punishment from Ottawa.

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Mike Wilson, currently un- popular for the Goods and Ser- vices Tax (next year’s entertain- ment), will win no friends with this past week's performance. Being 2 popular finance minister is more than Dale Carnegie could handle.

Wilson boasts about how federal spending has been curtailed. He

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cites percentages. Yet we have seen stories of Mulroney’s family nanny and children travelling in luxury; of the former governor general fly- ing limousines to Paris for a social visit; of ministers and their flunkies enjoying hotel suites from coast io coast; and a patronage parade that might even make Trudeau blush.

A case in point is an upcoming dinner to recognize (and presum- ably congratulate) the appointment of Brian Smith as chairman of the Canadian National Railway. The Speaker of the House of Com- mons, John Fraser, has issued the invitations at $75 per head. It's a Tory fundraiser, but you can be confident that perks enjoyed by politicians ensure that a good por- tion of the cost is borne by the taxpayer. John Crosbie is among the speakers, a wise choice before Brian Smith demonstrates that sleep can be achieved without nar- cotics.

What is being recognized is not what it takes to run a railway. The point here is to show that the party displays affection in a material way.

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The idea is that anyone of deep pockets, questionable self respect. and loyal dedication can also ab- sorb the benefits of public waste.

Do you remember the Tories" venom when Bryce Mackassy was made chairman of Air Canada? It took the real aviation executives — Cleude Taylor arid Pierre Jeanniot — a little while to scrape the polit- ical frosting off their creation. At CN, the name is Ron Lawless.

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Almost as an afterthought. we hear that the Polar 8 contract has been scrubbed. Various cabinet ministers over the years have had about a dozen extravaganzas to announce the project. I can recall conducting several radio interviews where ministers proudly implied it was they who got this reward for the West Coast.

How soon do you expect it will be when the ‘‘Honourables’’ Col- tins, Campbell, Siddon and Oberle get around to explaining how they let this massive project so quietly dissolve?

The various groups fighting to keep Versatile Pacific Shipyards alive, and outside engineering firms, have invested huge amounts of money preparing bids to con- struct the ship. Do they not have a right to suggest breach of faith?

The distinguished North Van- couver shipyards, which have seen so much history, have been little different from a desert hiker crawling toward a mirage. Polar 8 was the only breath left.

Mr. Wilson, take a bow®

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