6 - Friday, April 20, 1990 - North Shore News

WESTERN C2NaD@ WILDERNESS COMMITTEE ADOPT- A- TREE IN THE

CARMANAH VALLEY. BEND IN A NANE FOR YOUR TREE.

: & EO By AIL T I Abad bdibdte

CZ Lee

Learn Earth’s worth

EGARDELESS OF where you stand on issues of environment, Sunday’s Earth Day celebrations

should be cause for some earnest reflec- _ tion, if not some concrete action.

Reflection upon how you perceive the Earth; reflection upon how you use or abuse the Earth; reflection upon how you can begin respecting rather than disregarding the laws of nature.

And action, whether it be large or small, to help reduce your impact on the Earth; action to help reverse the years of living beyond the ecological means of ihe planet; action to sell the message that Earth is a finite entity that might not survive the life it naw sapports.

The first Earth Day took place 20 years ago, in the infancy of the en- vironmental movement.

._ LETTER O

Dear Editor: We belong to the land. We always have and always

An estimated 20 million Americans took part. And it helped spawn such valuable ecological offspring as the En- vironmental Protection Agency.

But, on its 20th anniversary, its obser- vance has never been more crucial. And the actions that it originally inspired have never been more vital.

Twenty years ago, ecological problems such as Acid Rain, the Greenhouse Ef- fect and Global Warming were very much on the distant horizon.

Today they arrive daily on our doorsteps.

And while the environmental message has begun to find the public’s ear, the information contained in that message continues to worsen.

We can no longer afford to observe Earth Day once every 20 years, we must get used to observing it every day.

wed

‘We belong to the land’

off to daycares and we force ourselves to work at jobs

which destroy ourselves and our planet.

will. Some would like to continue in their false belief |= We can change all this. It’s possible. In fact, it’s the that the land belongs to us to use as we please only way life will be sure to carry on. We must all

regardless of the effect we are having.

simplify our lives in order to stop living this

As we treat the land and animals so, too, do we nightmare. treat the people in our lives. We ship our elderly Mya Ross parents off to retirement homes, we ship our children North Vancouver

Publisher Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director . Linda Stewart

North Shore News, tounded tn 1969 as an indenencent suburban newspaper and qualiied under Schedule 111. Paragraph II ot the Excise Tax Act. is published vach Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd and distributed to every door on ine Narih Shore. Second Class Mad Regtstration Number I8ah Subscriptions North and Wast Vancouver. $25 pet year Mailing tates availadte an tequest: Submissions ate welcome but we cannot accept responsiddity tor unsoheited matenal including Manuscepts ANd pictures which should de accompameu by a stamped. aduressea envelope

Entire contents =. 1990 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved.

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To Mike anything's better than axing!

THE ABOMINABLE Gouge & Screw Tax has so many things wrong with it that one grows exhausted simply keep- ing count. But one of the worst is the effect the tax will have

on inflation.

Anyone able to make sense of Finance Minister Michael Witson’s doublespeak on that subject is probably a connoisseur of magic mushrooms as well.

Fact: Bank of Canada Governaz John Crow says inflation is still edging upward beyond five per cent and must continue to be fought with ever higher interest rates — the prime now nudging 16 per cent. Fact: Wilson says Crow is doing the right thing.

Fact: Wilson has admitted the GST will boost inflation by be- tween i.5 and two percentage points. Fact: in his February budget Wilson nevertheless predicted inflation will remain at five per cent in 1991 (the first year of the GST) and drop to an average of three per cent from 1992 to 1995 — causing interest rates to decline to 11 per cent next year and seven per cent by 1993.

Fact: Wilson has said the GST will be ‘‘revenue-neutral,”’ produc- ing only the same revenue as the old Manufacturers’ Sales Tax. Fact: his GST Information for Small Business brochure says the

Give us 4 break, Michael! How do you cut the deficit with no more money?

If the GST now survives the Senate, almost everything we buy will cost seven per cent more next year. And forget indefinitely about some things costing less than they do with the current 13.5 per cent MST.

There’s no guarantee the saving will be passed on to customers, especially in the short term. Many manufacturers have to plan and set prices up to a year ahead, and are doing that already. They can’t safely chop 1991 prices when the , GST is not yet law (and STILL may not be, if the Senate hangs tough).

In any case, eventual cost sav- ings on certain goods would be more than wiped out by the entire- ly new tax on virtually all SER- VICES, from haircuts and dry cleaning to meals out and car lubes.

Meanwhile, the unions are al- ready building GST inflation into their future wage demands — and you can bet they’re using big, safe

BRENDA Boozer ...visiting ““Met"’ diva.

MICHAEL Wilson ...fiscal éoublespeak. —

round numbers, not fiddling around with decimal points.

You don’t have to be a math professor to figure how all this can bump GST-fuelled inflation to at ieast eight per cent next year, with interest rates rising in lockstep and making the deficit even harder to control. But there IS a short-term solution, which I suspect has been part of the GST game plan alt along. .

Eventually, 16-19 per cent inter-~ est rates will produce a recession. Inflation will then recede. Rates will drop. And Mr. Wilson will be able to point happily to a universe unfolding just like he said.

Well, almost. His only remain- ing little problem, as businesses fail and unemployment mounts, will be finding the money for soar- ing UI and welfare costs.

But ANYTHING, of course, is better than wielding an axe on government waste and extrava- gance!

wht

BACK AT THE BARN: This season’s final North Shore Com- munity Concert tonight at the Centennial Theatre stars acclaimed Metropolitan Opera mezzo soprano Brenda Boozer ... Unroll the red carpet for Charlene Ray who succeeds Trudy Kloepper at West Van's First City Trust ... Well worth a peek are paintings by West Van artist Forrest Johnson at the North Shore Volunteers for Seniors complex, 275 - 21st St., West Van — 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday ... “Better Late’? anniversary con- grats to longtime North Van resi- dents Jack and Velma Mackay who celebrated their entry into the “Golden 50 Club”’ April 8 with a reception for 100 friends and fami- - ly at Lynn Valley Rec Centre ... And happy birthday tomorrow, April 21, to North Van's Harold King.

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WRIGHT OR WRONG: Then there was the firm that ensured its 50 employees were punctual by providing 45 parking spaces.