—_

4 Terrace Review — Wednesday, October 14, 1987

_ Editorial

WiLL Yo) RENSTATE” f

If R.A.F.T. sinks,
the complaints -
go down with it.

During past summers
there has been a great deal
of public groaning and
breast-beating over the so-
called ‘‘youth problem’? in
this community. Vandal-
ism, drug-dealing and sub-
Stance abuse, runaway
children and the legal
system’s manner of dis-
ciplining young offenders
erupt in the media with
statements and positions
remarkable only for their
regularity and inef-
fectiveness.

Merchants moan over the cost
of vandalism and the rise of in-.
surance premiums, well-to-do
citizens wring their hands and
issue declamations about

dissipation on. their very - |

doorsteps and the decline of
values among their children’s
peers, and the back-to-the-good-

 old-days moralists decry. the

wrist-slapping trend in the police
and. judiciary systems, implying
a

Letters to the editor will be con-
sidered for publication only when
signed. Please include your
‘telephone. number. The editor
reserves the right to condense and
edit letters. Opinions expressed
_are not necessarily those of the
Terrace Review, ;

Go
Terrace

| Review

Established May 1, 1985

The Terrace Review Is published each °
Wednesday by |
, ,Close-Up Business Sarvices Ltd.
Publisher:
Mark Twyford

Editor: .
Michael Kelly

Staff Reporter:
Tod Strachan

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ciiminates againal a person due to age, race,
religion, color, sex, nationality, ancestry or place
of orlgin. Se

4535 Greig Avenue,
Terrace, B.C.
V8G 1M7

Phone: 635-7840

TE*7 10 CT OM
WEAR PAYMENTS ?.

“GOOD LORD NANI
THE PROVNGAL

var apout
INFEASNG HEATH
RN

WHAT WAH? BEANS?”
MONEY DOESNT GROW
| ON TREES YIN. =

that anyone under the age of
majority can be straightened out
by a stay in the cross-bar hotel
and a bit of old-fashioned whip-
cracking slave labor.

Talk is cheap, and complaints
are one commodity in the ethical -

HOW ABOUT NORE
NOE RR ¢
THUROONG?

a,

WOE Ten. |
- WE RINE

__/

marketplace that anyone can
produce and no one wants to
buy. While the talkers were busy
heaping abuse on the officials
and agents of the systems sup-
posedly charged with keeping

AND YOUR 3%
PAY INCREASE?

Gan) FNANGAL SSE!
MONEY WELL SPENT.

ey v
AS SEM a

continued on page 16

OTTAWA GOES ON ANOTHER MONEY |
_GRAB WITH MUNICIPAL SERVICE TAX _

—

2

- Victoria Correspondent

your pockets and take out a few more dollars.
' Municipal services are supposed to become Subject to a seven or
eight percent federal sales tax, according to a scheme dreamed up by
Finance Minister Michael Wilson. The tax would be levied on any
- Service you care to mention —. snow removal, garbage collection,
water and sewage systems maintenance, fixing potholes and
‘sidewalks, in short, anything a municipality does for its residents,
That isn’t all. The new sales tax is to apply to all municipal ser-
vices, regardless of whether these ‘services are provided by the
municipalities themselves or. by private companies under contract to
municipalities. It is to be based on the value-of the service delivered
to the citizens. ~

The nasty plan was aired at a recent three-day meeting of the.

Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Fort McMurray, Alberta,
The proposal has gone largely unnoticed in B.C. because few of
Our mayors attended the conference. Mayors across the country,
however, estimate that municipal taxes could rise by 13 percent if
Ottawa goes through with the scheme. 7
_ Edmonton Mayor Laurence Decor says the federation would
fight Ottawa tooth and nail over the proposal. He says the scheme
would take an estimated $200 million a year out of the pockets of
municipal taxpayers.

Guess what else it would do? Give the Tories the fatal karate

chop, that’s what.

Every poll taken during that past 12 months shows the governing
Tories trailing so badly they couldn’t get their cabinet members
elected to a municipal council. Everything the Tories touch seems to
turn to manure.

One wonders whether Prime Minister Mulroney is so uncomfor-
table with his job that he doesn’t want to get elected for a second
term. How else could his government even entertain the idea of im-
posing a sales tax on essential services that will affect every voter?

_ Only a death wish could explain such an aberration.

Of all governments, municipalities are hardest-pressed for a share
of the collective tax dollar. Aside from the slim pickin’s of permits
and services, municipalities have only one tax base — property.
Residential, commercial and industrial property taxes are all that
keep municipalities afloat. That and, of course, federal and provin-
cial contributions to certain cost-sharing programs.

in return, municipalities must provide ‘all the services and
amenities modern city and town dwellers have become accustomed
to. At no level of government do citizens react more furiously to a
cut in services than at the municipal level. |

No sooner does a municipal council suggest that collecting gar-
bage twice a month instead of weekly, than the troops are out in
force. Just let the citizens get wind of the impending sale of a vacant
‘piece of city-owned property, and you can wait for the parks lobby

. to come out.

And if a city or town wants to rezone some land to accommodate
‘a commercial enterprise that would enhance the tax base, council
has to baitle all sorts of pressure groups. The city of Victoria tried

for 20 years to get a convention centre before its attempts finally. -
. Met with success. ne

Rs |

* Hubert Beyer|

. Property taxes...

Municipalities are creatures of their respective provincial govern- —

ments. Their role is narrowly defined in provincial statutes, When
municipalities face additional costs, their only recourse is to raise

“A 13 percent increase in property taxes. would hit homeowners

hard. The effects might even be greater on commercial and in-

dustrial taxpayers, many of whom have not yet recovered from the

' recession and operate on a very narrow profit.margin,
Take note, taxpayers, Ottawa wants lo put its sticky fingers into -

| _vices could very well send numerous businesses to the bankruptcy
trustee, which would, in turn, place an even heavier tax burden on. .

The proposed seven percent federal sales ‘tax on’ municipal ser-

residential property owners,

That prospect is going to get a whole lot of people upset at Mr, ~

Mulroney and his merry band of tax collectors. Not only will the
public at large be offended by the scheme, but the business com-

ment which was supposed to represent its interests.: ;

Not that Ottawa can’t be convinced to drop the idea of squeezing
more money out of municipal taxpayers. If the senior citizens of
this country managed to hang on.to their indexed pensions, the
combined force of all municipal councils should ‘be able to get the
message through to Mulroney: keep your hands out of our coffers,

munity wilt, once again, be forced to take a hard look at the'govern-

Any municipality still unaware of the proposal would be well ad-~ .

vised to get in touch with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities

to hammer out a strategy that will make Ottawa think twice before

putting the touch on us.

Erosion of democracy

Letter

To the Editor,

Decentralization or consolida-
tion of power — that is the ques-
tion!

I’m speaking of Premier
Vander Zalm’s announcement
of the creation of eight
“development regions’ which,
as I understand .it, are to be plac-
ed under the jurisdiction of eight
Cabinet Ministers and eight
Parliamentary Secretaries.

My question at this point is,
why? All regions are now

represented by 67 members of:

the legislature. Why the need for
a ‘super board’, which can only
mean the consolidation of
decision-making into the hand

Of fewer people.

Let’s look at the record:
@ Premier’s office staff increas-
ed from 13 under Bill Bennett to
the present 88.

‘@ All contracts which exceed

$500 from all ministries must
receive approval from the

Premier’s office.

_@ Deputy Ministers now repor-.

ting directly to David Poole, the

-Premier’s Principal Secretary, .

rather than to their own
Ministers.

_ Inview of this record, chalked
up in a very short 11 months, I
can hardly accept this new move
as ‘‘decentralization’’. ot
. I would agree with the moving

“Of government (civil servants)
“Out into the countryside. No

problem. But what is wrong with
the representation we now have
in the form of 67 duly elected
regional representatives? What
will happen now with the voices
of the people’s elected represen-
tatives, backbenchers, and op-
position. members?. I'll tell you

what will happen: under the pro-’

posed system they will have even
less clout than they now have,
with the real power, the com-
plete decision making process,
consolidated in the Premier’s of-
fice — in the hands of David
Poole and company, who are

continued on page 5

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