“Hubert 7 Beyer Terrace Review: Victoria Correspondent’ y . — Nobody is more’ thin- skinned than reporters, or so the saying goes. They can dish it out but they can’t take it. me Like most popular con- ceptions, this ‘one, t00, - has a kernel of truth init, . a big, fat kernel at times. - Add to: this the fact that the media don’t go out of their way to get across the -message of their. fallabili- ty, concentrating instead- on the shortcomings of others, and you have a prime example of the oc- casional heaving of ‘rocks from within the confines - of a glass house. This column then will attempt to balance the pic- ture a bit. It is the chroni- cle of.a folly that had the 7 Legislative Press Gallery in a bit. of an uproar . recently, : Take courage, politicians, reporters are [ every bit as prone to. the. : * Letters to the aditor wit be considered for publication only. when signed. Please include your phone number. The editor reserves the right to condense and edit letters. Opinions expressed: are not necessarily those of the ‘Terrace Review. - - Terrace Review each’ Wadnesday by Close-Up . Business Services Lid. ~~" publisher: * "Mark Twyford 7 : Editor: - Maureen Barbour “Staff Reporter: :: Michael Kelly x fertising Salas: r .,-, Second-class mail registration No, 6896. Reproduction of this paper or any portion thereof Is prohibited without Bermiasio® of the publisher. and omlesions. Advertising Is accepted on the conditlon that in the event of typographical error, that por- tlon of the advertising space oc- cupled by the erroneous Item will not be charged for, butthe bafanceofthe — advertisement will be pald for at the - applicable rate. Advertisers must assume respon- albility for errors In any classified ad which ls suppHed to the Terrace Review In handwritten form. in compilanee wilh the 8.6. Human Rights Act, no advertisement will be published which discriminates against a person due to age, race, réligion, color, sex, nationatity, ancestry or place of orlgin. 4535 Greig Avenue, Terrace, B.C. _V8G IM? Phone: 635-7840 _ Clerk’s office. | occasional attack of dolt-- ishness as you are. It’s just that we are better at hiding our imprudencies from the public scrutiny. Unless, of . course, someone like me ‘decides to fink. - It all. began with In- tergovernmental Relations Minister Stephen Rogers’ poor-white-trash gaffe. Rogers, not - especially known. for his diplomatic. - skills, committed the faux: pas during a scrum in the » Speaker’s Corridor. The location is germane to the unfolding story because according - toa rule. by the previous Speaker, no made in the Speaker's Corridor. One reporter. — Sandy Bell of Selkirk News — decided to use the poor- white-trash remark in her | ME ir notes are to be taken and | no ‘recordings are to be - social functions, the ap- plication of an off-the- record policy should be confirmed. | Strange as it may seem, ‘the press gallery appeared to have told the Speaker © that it will set the rules and -: regulations for his dining room and his own office: - The problem for the dissenters was that the let- ter implied unanimity of decision. Had the on-the- record crowd sent a letter with their individual sig- natures, that would have. been the end of it. That - ‘not being the case, the dissenters struck back the next day. .an. interview is’ record, unless otherwise. stated.. -Everything said during .a conversation is . ‘off the .record,. otherwise stated. Every- ~ thing said during a social . In a second letter. to all MLAs, eight reporters over their signatures, dis- associated themselves from the position taken in _ the first letter, setting out -for the benefit.of the poli- ticians Some time-honored principles of journalism. -Briefly, they are these: '. Everything said during unless event is off the record. _ The two. letters. prompt- - ed a lot of verbal. re- on the’ sponses ani one. letter. Confessing to some confu- sion over the two distinct- ly different factions in the press gallery, former ‘Speaker Walter Davidson, Socred MLA . for Delta, — offered these. helpful sug-. . gestions::. ' “Bach: of “the entities .could be. issued. different identity © colored . press” badges. For example, one could be in red, white and. ‘blue and issued to the , dissident group, . ating ‘ their “colors -with ‘tradition, . honor. and . in- - aSsOci- tegrity. “The other" color, for those in the first group, could be in yellow, $75. reflecting their particilar . brand of journalism which is less in Keeping with the © traditions: of - the . Legis. lature.’’. In court. In Terrace: Provincial“ . Court on Friday, May 29 © Jenny Wilson was found . - guilty of theft and. fined . $75, - kk On Friday, May 29 in Terrace. Provincial Court _ Joseph Richard was found guilty of theft and fined. Ok kk radio clip. Nothing wrong |. with that. She hadn't re- corded it. She hadn’t jot- ~ ted it into a notebook. She | simply repeated it on the air, attributing it to Rogers. Whether Rogers was relying on the no- taping rule or simply couldn’t remember having made the remark, he. denied in the Legislature having made it. Alas, another reporter had the remark on tape, although he didn’t use it. At any rate, Rogers was caught flat-footed and apologized to the House. And this is where the folly begins. Instead of. letting the matter die right ~ there, Sandy, who ‘is vice- _ president of the press _ gallery, called for a meet- ing of the gallery members to set out rules that would - govern just what was to be on and off the record. Before the meeting even - started, it had become clear that the majority of the members were going to push for something the minority considered not only radical but downright foolish. The motion that was carried by those pre- sent at the meeting con- firmed the worst fears of the minority which had decided to stay away, The substance of the motion, sent on official. press gallery stationary to all Members of the Legis- lative Assembly, told the MLAs that from now on everything said to them at any time, anywhere, was on the record. And that, the letter implied, did not necessarily exclude the members’ dining room, the Speaker’s office, or Even at ‘a A. A cusn ex pobo. yee DYCIORA IS 10) COMER - ONCE OF HEN GLI FERRIS. J : renee cnal oP Tax load will grow heavier QUITE FRANKLY - by Frank Howard ’ What is it that goes up,. _ but gives the appearance | of going down? On June 18 we'll hear the answer. for Federal Finance Min-- ister Wilson will make public, on that day, a gov- ernment plan for taxing Canadians. Think of the carnival shell: game in which. the player watched a pea and three shells being quickly moved about on a board. When the moving stopped the player guessed which shell covered the pea. The ‘player was usually wrong for the pea wasn’t under any shell, it had been paimed by the operator. Michael Wilson is the - operator and you are the player. The game won’t be played with shells and peas, but will still be deceptive for tax dollars are the items which will be ' palmed by government. ' All the prognosticators are saying the Feds will ‘establish a new kind of hidden tax to be. incor- porated into the cost of - ‘everything we buy. It- will be similar to the current federal sales tax and ‘Bro- bably replace it... Our Constitution says that the Feds can levy any tax they want, hidden or otherwise. There is a hid- den federal sales tax of 12 percent right now applied. at the manufacturing level on a limited number of goods. The consumer _ doesn’t see this tax for it is incorporated into the price of the article. By contrast ‘the provincial sales tax is imposed at the retail level and shows up as a separate item at the time of -pur- chase. The - new, hidden tax will be inflationary for it will boost the ‘price of -goods to which it applies. It will also bea high pro- duction cash cow for gov- ‘ernment. Each 1 percent. of this hidden tax applied on all goods will produce some $3 billion a year. for . the government. At 7 per- cent is probable, the an-. nual income will be some. $21 billion. - _Every man, .woman, and: child;. every _pen- sioner; every poor person; every millionaire; - Finance Minister; ‘every every unemployed person; every - —- you name the category .— will pay an additional $840 per year if this new, hidden tax is 7 percent, and the tax can go up. _ “The government plan will probably reduce the number of income tax brackets. The crystal ball says from 10 down to three, but the crystal bail does not tell us what per- centage will apply to each bracket. This percentage figure determines how much income tax you pay. - -It-does seem likely that personal income taxes: will ‘be reduced although the . implementation of such a proposal might be delayed _ until the federal election. If shell-game Wilson can palm great amounts of money via ‘this. hidden sales tax he can reduce the highly visual personal’ in- come tax and thus appear ‘asa good guy. you, but make it look as if taxes are being lowered. This is. where the shell-..- game rules apply. ‘Keep moving the shells (i.e. the type of tax). Tell the player (i.e. you) to keep your eyes on. the shells. As you are watch- — ing the shells, the pea (i.e. your money) is being ‘palmed time and time again. The tax load carried by . our citizens is going to get heavier not lighter. Pre- pare yourself to see some old fashioned carnival tricks on June 18. | The objective on June — * 18 will be'to lay out a plan to collect more taxes from . : mh 7 . sete . . ae Ee Rae ea te a RE AR a ee a wc ge eee a ime Ee ea - a ee : . : ee ee nn a a A .