Page 4, The Herald, Thursday, November 9, 1978 TERRACE/KITIMAT daily herald General Office - 635-6357 Circulation - 635-6357 Published by Sterling Publishers PUBLISHER - Lauria Mallett GEN. MANAGER - Knox Coupland EDITOR - Greg Middleton ’ CIRCULATION - TERRACE - Andy Wightman 635-6357 KITIMAT - Pat Zelinski 632-2747 KITIMAT OF FICE - 632-2747 Published every weekday af 3212 Kalum Street, Terrace, &.C. A member of Varified Circulation. Authorized as second class mail. Registration number 1201. Postage paid in cash, return postage guaranteed. NOTE OF COPYRIGHT The Herald retalns full, comptete and sale copyright in any advertisement produced and-or any editorlal or photographic content published In the Herald. Reproduction is not permitted without the written permission of the Publisher. Our stupidity proves costly CALGARY (CPi — Spineless _ politicians, narrow-minded planners and unthinking citizens are imposing costly economic handicaps on themselves and the trucking industry, a conference on urban goods movement was told Wednesday. Bob Drinnan, executive secretary of the Alberta Trucking Association, said costs for businesses and consumers increase when truckers are bur- dened with excessively restricted routes and hours, congested traffic routes and inadequate loading-unloading facilities. “Municipal politicians and administrators give in to citizen complaints too often because of pressure,” he com- plained. Drinnan urged politicians to show more backbone and awareness of the importance of delivery vehicles: “Government must realize that if you remove the trucks from one city street.-in: response to citizen, requests, you do. not reduce the number of trucks ... This action only moves or increases the problem for those who live along the other truck routes,” The demand for urban goods delivery is doubling every five years and trucks are essential, he stressed: ''There are few alternatives to trucks for the delivery of urban goods. How many years has it been since there were railway tracks into the Calgary Herald for delivery of newsprint? Or Eaton’s or The Bay?” Earlier, Calgary Mayor Ross Alger used his welcoming remarks to stress the importance of urban transportation. Transport, he said, takes up half of the city's capital budget and a third of its operating budget. John Morrall of the civil engineering deparlment of the University of Calgary noted that Canada spends 25 per cent of its gross national product on transport and a quarter of that goes for urban goods movement. Yet, Morrall said, *‘the consumer is generally unaware of the significance of urban goods movement.” Join Finn, senior consultant for Trimac Conaulting Services Lid., said one example of ‘the problems confronting truckers is the closure of former truck routes. Cities do not post maps of truck routes and “intuition or luck is often an out-of-town driver's only guide.” Finn noted that con- sumers suffer from restrictions on trucks, Hf restrictions add a half hour each way to a truck's delivery time, he said, then eight trucks will be needed to do the same work as seven trucks, based on an eight- hour operating day. That, Finn noted, means a 14-per-cent in: crease in costs. He also estimated that the capacity of a road car. be reduced by a third if slow-stopping, slow- accelerating trucks have to cope with a series of traffic lights instead of grade separations, such as overpasses and un- derpasses. hae YP” VAtRL STRNG ot (FoR PAE HONEY and \3 : - SUONTEA flowin, : y mal wt ~ +a “You told mother they were almost here and that wy ~ Tuktoyaktuk was the safest place?” COMMENT CONSUMER - Discipline is needed VANCOUVER (CP) — Businees, labor and governmentsmust all exercise financial dis- cipline if the country is to meet its goals of high employment and rising living standards, Gerald Bovey, the governor of the Bank of Canada, said Wednesday. Bouey, in a speech lo the Men's Canadian Club of Vancouver, said there is a real risk that heavy demands on the economy will set off renewed in- flationary pressures despite recent progress. He spoke from a text released in Ottawa prior to delivery. - Bouey told the group, mostly businessmen and professionals, that if there is an accelerationin wage and price increases, the central bank still will continue to pursue restrictionist economic policies so the country does nol lose its com- petitive position. The bank would con- tinue to try to reduce growth in the money supply in an effort to avoid inflation, he added. That would mean the main participants in the economy would have lo observe financial dis- cipline. “Financial discipline is not an end in itself, but is rather a means to other ends that are of greal social importance, namely sustainable high employment and rising living standards,’* he added. “No free society has found a way to achieve these goals without continuing financial dis- cipline.” Houey defended the bank’s recent action in raising its lending rate to the chartered banks to a record 10.75 per cent, The Bank of Canada rate usually signals changes in interest on business and consumer loans. He said the increase was to maintain the gap in interest rates between Canada and the U.S. to keep a flow of capital coming into this country. Canadian rates are usually higher than those in the U.S, A disappearance of the gap would have caused Canada much trouble af a “more permanent" nature because it would put further pressure on the doliar, resulting in more inflation. A WASHINGTON (CP) — There will be a more conservative U.S. government lacking some faces familiar to Canadian __legiskators when the Congress elected Tuesday night takes power in January. In several states along the Canada-U.S. border, voters chose new faces to send to Washington and to deal with the range of environmental, trade and energy issues thal regu- larly occupy the two countries. In a key upsel, Maine voters booted out Democrat William Hathaway in favor of RepubicanWilliam Cohen, who campaigned against what he termed Hathaway's liberal at- litudes., . Hathaway was chairman of the U.S. Senate delegation to the Canada-US. inter- parliamentary group. {t met regularly to look at issues like boundary negotiations after Canad ana dhe United States each declared 200-mile off-shore fishing limits. This group also dealt regularly with prickly matters, like Canada's efforts to restrict cross- border television ad- vertising and U.S. tax laws limiting exemptions te. %. look at the election tor foreign convention aetpisiness. 45k years in power, ‘Mathaway had an easy familiarity with Canadian concerns that his stc- cessor Cohen may not share. Further west, there are also major changes in Minnesota where Canada and the United States are trying to resolve en-_ vironmental issues. Hepublicans teok both Minnesola Senate seats, and pulled an upset victory in the state's governorship races. Legislators on both sides of the border there are working on tightening up environmental standards, Former Democratic senator Wendell An- derson, defeated Tuesday, had worked out compromise _ legislative proposals with state congressmen and = en- vironmentalists to control snowmobile and motorboat use in the boundary walers canoe area adjoining Ontario's Quetico Park, Air quality standards are also a concern in the area. Minnesota residents are worried about sulphur dioxide emissions trom nuclear power plants along the border like Atikokan in northwestern Ontario and the Poplar River plant: in Sas- IN THE U.S. katchewan. The two countries are discussing an ait quality agreement. Washington state had no Senate or governorship races and remains safely Democratic. But ob- servers in Washington say there likely will be continuing concern over matters like the location of tankerports that might result in pollution, as well as fisheries and border broadcasting issues that may color Canada-U.S. relations in the west. Over-all, the off-year elections did not change the Democrats’ - dominance over Congress or the state governments, but volers gave a clear sign of their discontent over big spending and high taxes. Proposals to restrict taxes or spending were on the ballots in mant sttes. They ‘won approval in 12 states, often by heavy margins and lost in four. This is likely to make the Congress that takes power in January relatively conservative in its policies, possibly in- wardlooking, observers say. If it results in a more protectionist approach in trade and other areas, the implications would be adverse for Canadian businesses interests. The new Congress also is expected to be more independent of party lines and more responsive to special-interst groups. The appeal of both parties is to stress belt-tightening and lower taxes. ‘This may mean lobby groups supporting par- ticular interest groups, which supplied an esti- mated $20 million for selected candidates in the campaign, will have more influence over Congress. The membership of key committees will change in January, after party caucuses meet (9 choose new chairmen and decide on committee members, The line-ups will give an indication about whether or not the candidates who ran on conservative platforms will be In a position to influence policy formation. One key change will be the new chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee. The in- dependent and-influential Frank Church of Idaho is due to take over the committee leadership from John Sparkman of Albama, who resigned. Church is seen by Washington observers as a chairman willing to buck administration policy directions and is determined to put his stamp on government policy directions. ‘ WASHINGTON CAP) -- Despite large oil fields in Mexico, Alaska and possibly off both coasts of South America, experts say most of the world will continue to rely on Middle East oil for the foreseeable future. “We know (the Mideast countries} have a lot of oil—a lot of ail,’ said John Lichtbiau, director of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundalion, an organization supported by the industry. Long believed to have proven reserves— petroleum that can be profitably extracled—of about 20 billion barrels of oil, Mexico now is claiming to have as much petroleum as Saudi Arabia—z00 billion barrels, But most analysis say this is an ex- aggeration. “A cautiously — op- timistic estimale would be 60 billion barrels of oi," said Herman Franssen, director of international market DESPITE OUR SUPPLY Mid-east dominates oil analysis at the depart- ment of energy. Sixty billion barrels would supply the needs of the non-communist world for about three years at current rates of con- sumption. Lut no matter how much oil Mexico has, it won't be available for a tong time because the Mexicans don't have the needed production facilities. Potentially large fields could lie off South America. But experts aren't sure how much is there, although they don't expect anything as large ag any of the major Middle East fields. Another large western oil supply lies in Alaska - and Canada. About 25 billion barrels is known to be [here, but there could be much more. But much of the vil yet to be found in Alaska and Canada is probably too difficult to get to make it practical. Siles are being tested olf the U.S. east coast, and fields in the Gulf of Mexico and off southern California have been producing oil for many years. The total proven reserves in the U.S. are about 30 billion barrels. Despite new major fields In South America, Mexico and northern Alaska and Canada, the start the Middle East has in cil production assures it will continue to dominate the world oil " scene. Like the Mexican situation, that scene is one of great confusion over just how much oil there is—and whether it can be extracted at reasonable cost. During the 1950s and 1960s, finds in the Middle East and at the Alaskan North Slope dramatically increased the amount of proven reserves, The dis- coveries were coming far faster than the oi) could be taken out of the ground. Since then, the amount of proven reserves has not risen nearly as fast, despite the sharp in- crease in price during the 1973-74 Arab ail embargo. There is, however, a wild card in the deck. As uncertain as analysts are about oi supplies in the free world, they know almost nothing about re- serves in China and the Soviet Union. Many: U.S. oil com- panies have expressed interest in getting in- volved in production of what are believed to be huge vil fields off the Chinese coast. What oil China decides to export, however, will probably go to Japan and other southeast Asian coun- trles. The Soviet union keeps information on its petroleum reserves secret, bul enough has slipped out—in ap- plications for loans to pay for production—to in- dicate the U.S.S.R. has the world's largest reserves of natural gas, according io Franssen. Sometimes nothina seems to go right. Last year, after a loi af scrimping and saving, you managed to scrape up a down payment tor 4 home. The interest rate.on the mortgage was around 12 per cent, but it was the best you could find after a lot of shopping around. This year the rate has dropped to 10 per cent, and after a tittle figuring you‘ve come up with the depressing revelation that the difference works aut to $60 ar $70 per month on your peyments, Is there anything you can do fo ease the pain? It all depends on what’s in that bundle of forms you signed when you took out your mortgage. You and the mortgage holder are bound by the terms of that contract. Neither of you can alter its provisions without the consent of the other. Some mortgages (usually with credit unions) permit payout in full, at any time, without - ~ penalty, Most mortgages permit payout only if the borrower pays a penalty of 3 to-6 months’ in- terest. - Some do not allow payout at all until a certain period of time after the mortgage is issued. This type of mortgage (which is fairly common) is said to have a “lock-in-clause”’. If the terms of your mortgage permit payout, you'll have to decide whether the costs of getting anew mortgage, plus the penalty you'll probably have to pay on the old one, make a new mor. tgage feasible. If your mortgage is tocked in, however, you'll only be able to prepay if the mortgage holder agrees to allow you to pay the morigage out early. Don't expect him to be easy to convince. (Would yau rewrite a contract if it would result in a loss of revenue for you?) If you can offer some additional business to offset his loss (term deposits, for example, or retirement savings plans), you may be able to bring him around to your way of thinking. One by-product of the new interest rates has been a realization by many homeowners that they don’t realfy know what’s in their mortgage. This lack of knowledge can have serious con- sequences. One man accepted a job in another province and signed an agreement to sell his house before he discovered frie house could not be sold without the mortgage holder’s per- mission. Fortunately, the mortgage holder and prospective buyer were able to come to terms on a new mortgage, otherwise the seller would have been in an extremely awkward legal position. Although it may appear a forbidding document at first glance, you can learn a lot about your mortgage by just reading through ita few times, Your mortgage company can answer other questions you might have. Learning about your mortgage after you've signed on the dotted line comes under the heading “better tate than never’, The best bet, of course, is to make sure you understand it before you commit yourself. Snowmobiles a srowing concern TORONTO (CP) — For the first time in almost seven years snowmobile manufacturers can see a smooth trail ahead as sales pick up despite price in- creases, Paul Swain, a spokesman for Bombardier Ltd. of Montreal; the only Canadian manufacturers, plus strong manufacturer of public objections to the noise snowmobiles, says eariy- and environmental damage season sales this year have caused by free-wheeling been spectacular. snowmobilers. There was “Dealers are moving sleds also concern about vehicle (as the machine is known in reliability and safety. the industry) at a phenomenal rate at the retail in the Induette ead atte level,” he said, “For the first the cates rise in Canada last time in a long time, demand is exceeding supply on some C2" Was not as pronounced machines.” ae in ine US.,, te Strone is year has brought The problem, says Michael forecasts of at least a 10-per- Manley, is not sales but a : : , , cent increase in Canadian shortage of snowmobiles. sales this year. Manley, president of F.Manley Corp. of Toronto, Swain, also a director of the Ontario Snowmobile distributors of a snowmobile Industry Association, says made by a U.S. company, says another round of price ‘technological advances have improved the safety and increases—following April increases ranging between noise levels of the machines and snowmobile accidents seven and 14-per cent—may v be in the offing. have beeh reduced due to training programs, im- Snowmobile sales in North America peaked in the 1970- 71 season when 425,000 vehicles were sold—but it was downhill from then until last winter. There had been a glut of vehicles on the market, Made by more than 100 Another increase would compensate importing proved trails and safer companies for the machines. devaluation of the Canadian The snowmobile still ts re- dollar since Aprii. garded as a family That Would leave Bom- bardier in an enviable position—enabling it to take advantage of the cheaper dallar to strengthen its hold on the Canadian market through lower prices and to bolster its penetration of the U.S, market. recreational vehicle. But with the growth of trails, it alsois being pushed by many provinces and states as a tourist-oriented machine supplying year-round holiday activity to what were ance solely summer holiday areas.