6 — Sunday, August 2, 1998 — North Shore News

Vancouver council wants more control over applica- tions for drinking establish-

ments. And last week it got it.

Now, in addition to the blurry hoops an applicant must jump through to appease sober-minded provincial government regulators, they must now spend time, money and resources doing the same for the municipality.

The new West Van policy is another example of encroaching red-tape barri- ets for otherwise sound ideas. So much for less government interference in the lives of B.C. citizens and the businesses

| they operate.

The new “neighborhood house”

rules and regulations established by .

‘ West Van council are designed, accord- ing to. the. three-person. task’ force

assigned to study the issue, to take the

- , decision-making process out of the —

north shore news

VIEWPOINT Out of control?

hands of Victoria and give control to the local level. But provincial regula- tions still apply for ali liquor applica- tions, so the municipal rules are anoth- er layer a pub applicant must deal with.

The new policy comes on the heels of a pub application in West Van’s Dundarave area, and those opposed to the establishment no doubt credit their own vocal NIMBY-motivated outrage as the driving force behind the new

tions. West Van council recently backed down from its plan for a com- munity centre on Gleneagles golf . course after a large contingent of golfers cried foul.

From these two examples, one could draw a conclusion that council is more interested in appeasing the knee-jerk minority than the sober-minded, and silent, majority.

And to no one’s benefit.

_ you said it

ghetti. (From a story.)

here ever since.”.

iBies, who has worked at the North Vancouver

ision Of Westburne Electric for 18 years, on his career : conipany. (From a July 29 North Shore News

ake a:T-shirt in the laundry.”

Theresa Tavernier, after her attempt to legalize her secondary. suite was turned down because her driveway was deemed too small. (From a July 26 North Shore

ews story.)

900

“They saved me, but I am living in hell.”

Dalia Gelineau, the last victim of murder and serial - rapist David Snow, on her life in the aftermath of being “attacked and almost killed by Snow. (From a July 29

WITH the loonie sinking steadily towards 65 cents US, Chicken Littles everywhere have been shricking “National emergency.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien has refused to join the doom-and- gloom squad, offering us instead his trademark answer to all problems:

“Don’t worry ... be

’appy” — a sentiment

echoed last week in

rather more elaborate

English by his wannabe successor, Finance Minister Paul Martin.

First, let’s be <icar on one point: your scribe is definite]y rot a member of Jean’s or Paul’s fan clu’. 2ut I must confess I’m with them all the way cn our nosediving currency. Primarily because it’s already too late to do anything about it except make soothing noises.

If those 28-year-old whiz kids in red suspenders, glued to their computers worldwide, want to keep the currency speculation game going, Ottawa now simply doesn’t have enough U.S. dollar reserves to rescue Canada’s currency by buying up multi-millions of loonies daily, The only alternative — raising interest rates — has also missed the boat. At the loonie’s current value an interest hike of 2-3% could well be needed to stabilize our buck and start it rising again. The cost to Canadians of that “solution”

*_” North Shore News feature on David Snow.)

north shore

would be a stiff rise in inflation, econom-

a ES aw 2 es: "ac Sore es founded 196025 an

suburban newspaper

and quakted

independent

under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the

‘Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday,

Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press

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ic slowdown and increased unemploy- ment.

So what's there to be "appy about,

Jean? Quite a bit, actually.

Canadian exports to the U.S. are booming as never before — flooding bil- lions of lovely U.S. dol- lars into Canada. Ditto tourism, fast becoming a bellwether Canadian industry. Between the two, Canada today is actually swimming in an unprecedented. sea of greenbacks. Admittedly, much of, the loot is going direct- ly to fede and :

provincial treasuries in the form of increased taxes from the export and

- tourism sectors. But so what, given we.

Canadians (unlike our U.S. cousins) demand open-ended medicare, education and social services from our debt-laden governments? : ;

The downside, of course, is that 2 65- cent U.S. loonie hits all of us who enjoy California fruit, veggies and wine, other American foodstuffs, U.S.-manufactured electronics and gizmos, and holidays in Hawaii, San Diego or Florida. But on average — depending on your tastes in food, hard goods and vacations — that probably amounts at most to the equiva- lent of a roughly 5% income cut for the time being, and for many people quite a bit less. Inconvenient for some but hardly a disaster for anyone. .

Is there any solution in sighz? On the distant horizon — maybe, say, 2020 to 2020 if we smarten up. A currency’s

AW CMON! HAVE A HEART! ALL I'M ASKING

FOR IS IMMUNITY FROM HILARY

— Loonie tells how world sees u

value is set by the safety and:

return a country offers domestic ‘an

cign investors, and by the’ prodtictivi

its workforce which determines w

its exports can compete.on world m

kets, even with a strong currency. So go .

figure for yourself why the Canadian

lar was last equal to the U.S. greenback "

in 1976 and why it’s been downhill all en... ws

» + your cool, Canada’s in’ least temporarily halted — which suggests th

QaaQ-:: HAPPY 93RD birthday wish

row to veteran North Shore Winter Club

curler Harold Fromme’:... Many returns of that same day to North Ernie Earnshaw ... Wish the sam Tuesday, Aug. 4, to. West Van Kiwani birthday boy Rod Vor re i

WRIGHT OR WRONG: Carrots alwa' beat sticks --- you have no worry about

being hit_back..:

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