A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 9, 2000 TERRACE STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode. net Pay the bill THE COMING financial crunch in Canada’s pension system looks even worse than most folks thought. Presently every retiree is supported by four working people on average. That ratio is projected to fall to just two work- ers per retiree within a couple of decades, accord- ing to a new report on the country’s pension sys- tem. The federal government has taken some steps to deal with the problem. The Canada Pension Plan will soon be allowed to invest directly in the stock market, presumably increasing the plan’s returns. CPP premiums, which jumped significantly in January, are to be jacked higher yet over the next few years to nearly 10 per cent of a worker’s earnings. Ottawa is also toying with further changes to the Registered Retirement Savings Plan system, likely allowing an increased portion of RRSP portfolios to be held in foreign investments, and possibly upping the maximum contributions per year. Despite all this, the report says, the combined pension and health care system won’t bear the projected weight of many more seniors financed by the CPP contributions and taxes of a propor- tionately shrinking workforce. The answer? Finance minister Paul Martin must scrap his current plan to spend at least half of Ottawa’s growing surplus on new programs and instead make paying down the national debt the number | one priority... woe ; Interest payments ¢ on the debt remain the single aT biggest expense of the federal government. Every dollar that can be thrown against the debt today will reduce those payments and save the country many more in the decades ahead. That amounts to money in the bank that can satisfy the needs of tomorrow’s seniors without robbing a generation of younger workers who didn’t create the problem. There are no shortage of ideas being pitched to Mr: Martin on dealing with the surplus. An emergency infusion of federal dollars to help resuscitate the health care system is among the most worthy. Tax reduction and additional program spending are also extremely tempting — not least for Liberal strategists who see the surplus. as a giant war chest to help the party win the next election. Paying down our national mortgage isn’t the sexiest thing to do with all the extra cash we have _ at the moment. But it is the smartest. Our future seniors don’t want to grow old in fear they’ ll be reduced to eating dog food. And younger workers shouldn’t be called upon to pony up massive tax increases if the system collapses a few decades from now. Over to you, Mr. Martin. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel = NEWS/SPORTS: Christiana Wiens NEWS/COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Carole Kirkaldy ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Sam Bedford, Mark Beaupre & Stacy Swetlikoff '- TELEMARMETER: Stacy Swetlikoff DARKROOM/COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur . AD ASSISTANT: Donna Sullivan, Kulwant Kandola : SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $57.30 per year; Seniors $50.75; Out of Province $64.39 Outside of Canada (6 months) $158.25 (ALL PRICES INCLUDE GST) MEMBER OF B.C, AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION. a CANADIAN CORMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION ( CNA. omer Serving the Terrace and Thamhill area. Published on Wednesday of ach week at 3210 Clinton Streat, Terrace, British Cokimbla, VeG 5R2, Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyies In the Terraca Standard are the property of the copyright halders, Including Cariboo Prass (1869) Ltd, its itustration repre services and advariising agencies. Reproduction in whole or it par, without writien permission, is speciicaly prohibed. : Authorized 8 second-clasa mall pending the Post Office Dapartment, for payment of postage in cash, Special th thanks. to all our contributors and correspondents ‘for thelr tlma and talents: 1998 WINNER CCNA BETTER NEWSPAPERS COMPETITION Serereerres “fesmsb gotnates pad Volos ~— AND B.C, PRESS COUNCIL HRMANNING CANNOT BE REACHED i MAN SA eee St WENT Manning travels a tough road VICTORIA - There's nothing like unity when a new party is born. “If there's one thing Refor- mers have always had in abundance, it's puts, courage and conviction,” Preston Man- ning told delegates to the Uni- ted Alternative meeting in Ot- tawa, urging them to join the fledgling Canadian Conserva- tive Reform Alliance, referred to by detractors as CRAP. It has since been changed to Ca- nadian Reform Conservative Alliance Reminds me of the time Camosun College was estab- lished. Originally, the pre- ferred name was University of Juan de Fuca, but then some- one pointed out that University _ of Victoria was known as UVic, and Camosun College was it, But digress... , pete "Manning's . musings,. were, obviously triggered by a meet- ing the day before of some. old-guard Reformers who, in the spirit of guts, courage and conviction, had mercilessly trashed him. “Manning and. his cronies are ruining the Reform Party," Jake Hoeppner told about 125 disgruntled Reformers in the ballroom of the Chateau Laur- ier, which is right across the street from where 1,100 UA delepates were busy voting to decide on a new name for the Your executor NOBODY WANTS to die, but since we must, the least we ean do is tidy our situation to lighten our executor’s job. To guide us in organizing these details, 45-year-old Myrna Lemky- has. self-pub- lished an estate workbook. A computer operator em- ployed by School District 57 in Prince George, she orga- nized this workbook after her brother was murdered vaca- tioning in South America twenty years ago. Filling in the workbook’s blanks will give your executor the extra guidance he would like to settle your estate ac- cording to your wishes. Lemky has left space for everything an executor could want to know: a list of your bank accounts, stocks, bonds, and where to find them; real estate properties; motor vehi- cles with serial numbers and insurance companies, and any Hens. You Le HERE | ' AND You GET ON HER BACK! FROM THE.CAPITAL | HUBERT BEYER party. “I've had it with Mr. Manning,” Hoeppner said. “He is a leader who has not only disappointed Canadians, hé has betrayed Canadians,” he added. 4But-} must confess I.don't . arasp. “the. “whole, aX bat aT thatter how often ‘the wise and. experienced sages ‘of the right- wing media, which comprises all weekly and daily newspa- pers with the possible excep- tion of the Pennysaver, have tried to explain it to me. Here's the closest I can come to understanding the ur- gent need for the new party: Jean Chretien, the prime mini- ster, and his Liberals have ruined this country by balan- cing the budget, paying down some of the debt and promis- THROUGH BIFOCALS. CLAUDETTE SANDECKI She has a section for a full family tree with addresses and phone numbers, a page to re- cord your funeral plans with name of pallbearers and music, and space to draft your obituary. . Divvying up personal items — following a death can lead to years of bitter squabbles. Lemky -allots a page for side? And what about the Conser- vatives, I mean the real Con-: servatives? Even though some: of the Tory movers and shakers were in Ottawa to attend the happy event, Joe Clark won't join in the festivities. Still, sniping from oldtimers and lack of support from Clark notwithstanding, Manning se- cured the leadership of: the Conservative Alliance, Dele- gates voted 75 per cent in fa- » vour of not holding a leadership + review. md Manning said he sees. the : yote of confidence as a sign oft \ clear support for his new con- servative coalition. -. : Manning said he plans to. ing to put a couple of dollars back into the heaith care sys- tem. Her Majesty's Official Op- position, the Reform Party of Canada, hasn't got a hope in hell to unseat the Liberals be- cause they keep running into a brick wall at the Manitoba-On- tario border and because Man- ning's French is Greek to Que- beckers. Therefore, the only alterna- tive is a United Alternative, a potential political home for every Canadian who believes that day care, the Young Of- fenders' Act, gun contral and the Parole Board are leftovers of the evil empire. Fey Which brings us to the Ca- nadian Alliance, as it wiil probably be known. Now, if I understand the reasoning be- hind folding the. Reform Party. in, favour of the ,Canadign,.Al-, -.,,,50 for now, Manning. is the . liance, Ontarians, Quebeckers and Maritimers will develop will not be an official many until it is approved by two-:. thirds of Reform Party mem-;. bers in a referendum in March. © Manning has said he would re- ' an instant love for the new party and send the Liberals packing in the next election. I must have missed some- thing. I mean, a rose is a rose by any other name, whether you call it Reform or whatever. . How the deyil does Man- ning expect ta convince the average voter that his new party isn't anything like the Reform Party, when he can't even get his own people on- travel the country building sup- : port for the new party he wants . to lead and believes is the only ' way, to defeat-the Liberals. leader of. he new. entity, which ; sign as party leader if he loses the vote. You have to hand it to: him. He plays for high stakes. -- Beyer can be reached at: EB - m a i ds: hubert@coolcom.com; Tel & Fax: (250) 381-6900; Web: hitp://www.hubertbeyer.com needs help listing sentimental belongings —- Mom’s engraved silverware, the vellum diary wherein she noted grandchildrens’ birth- days, the cross-stitched table- cloth - and naming who shail inherit them. Because the pages can be replaced, adding or substitu- ling information can be done neatly. There’s also room for supporting documents to be filed alongside. For a working perspective on this $22 workbook, I phoned my brother Ron. He has twice been an executor, ‘Ron applauds the personal pages for recording family ad- dresses and phone numbers sa they can be notified promptly, funeral wishes, who gets which bauble, and the obituary write- up. He - and Lemky — cautions this workbook must be kept current. Ideally, an executor needs a snapshot of all you own and owe on a particular date; from - there he can unravel your fi-. nancial picture. And though this workbook is - not a legal document — only your will carries weight in a court of. law — still it must be | treated like a legal document. Write - and date — every entry by hand, in ink. Make no; photocopies of it or your will to muddy the paper trail. The information in this | workbook is ta be seen by‘your ' executor only. Keep it under — lock and key, if possible.in-a ' fireproof safe. The workbook can be or- | dered from Lemky by phoning * 250-962-9463 or by writing 6218 South Kelly Road, Prince © George, B.C. V2K 2G6. Organizing your. personal: documents and financial papers: - where your executor can find’ everything wili make his job: simpler. It will also save. your - estate from being gobbled up: by legal fees.