Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 22, 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

Tax shifting

CITY COUNCIL’S plan, in its draft budget, to
lower the business tax rate but make up for it by
increasing the residential rate should have been
preceded by acall for public debate.

For as much as governments set taxes to raise
money, they also use taxes to encourage, discour-
age or otherwise dictate their view of the world.

In this circumstance, council members want to
send a signal to businesses that it recognizes the
recent downswing in the economy. Fair enough.

But in doing so, council’s decision to shift the
burden sends another signal. This time it’s to
homeowners, who are also taxpayers. They’ve
also had to deal with the economic downswing.
But now they are more or less being targeted as a
way of paying for council’s first decision.

(Note to homeowners. Next time there’s a mu-
nicipal election, it might be a good idea to have
candidates submit a draft budget for the next taxa-
tion year. Getting this kind of plan on paper
might stimulate debate when candidates vie for
votes.)

Admittedly, municipal governments are some-
what limited in what they can do when it comes
to taxation. While they can accumulate surpluses
and then parcel them out as they see fit, they can’t
Tun deficits instead of generating more tax reve-
nue to fuel expenditures as do their senior gov-
ernmental cousins.

And unlike Kitimat, where the presence of
three beefy major industries permits its council to
set far lower (some would say too low) residen-
tial rates, Terrace’s council doesn’t have the bene-
fit of a large, industrial base. _

Stull, in ‘this: circumstance, council has to be
more 'forthiconiing as to how it feels tapping the
wallets of homeowners is going to be a substan-
tial gain for businesses.

If this council does want to send a signal, did it
consider altering other areas, particularly various
user fees, which may have accomplished the goal
it now wants?

There’s also a note or irony in this. Barely a
month ago the federal Liberals acted to cut perso-
nal taxes to put more money into the hands of ci-
tizens. Expect the provincial government to try
something similar next week. This council ap-
pears headed in the opposite direction.

Start digging

HERE’S HOPING the school district can quick-
ly figure out the paperwork necessary to clear the
way for a replacement Skeena Junior Secondary
and for a new bench elementary school.

It’s been four years, for instance, since plans
for a new Skeena were announced. And that’s
about four years too long to wait. Starting the two
schools this year ¥ will solidify the city as a livable
place.

PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link -
ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur

NEWS Jeff Nagel » NEWS/SPORTS: Christiana Wiens
NEWS/COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton
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ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS:
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_ JELEMARKETER: Stacy Swetlikoff
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Serving the Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wodnesday of each waek al 3210 Clinton Steel,

Tarrace, British Columbia, V6G 5R2.

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~y RE PUTTING US ON...

- Nagy OWNS A DRY CONDO. ,

Do seniors need these freebies?

VICTORIA — This month, on
March 25 to be exact, I will
turn 65 and become the reci-
pient of a number of freebies.

For starters, I will travel for
free on the ferries. Those
would be ihe same ferries that
have the taxpayers on the
hook for a fortune. Mind you,
the free trips apply to week-
days only and I still have to
pay for my car.

Still, if I were so inclined, I
could joyride between Victoria
and Vancouver on the ferries
Monday to Thursday and nat
pay a dime. Only the ferry
food could prevent me from
taking endless mini-cruises.

Next, | will get free drugs,
the ones doctors prescribe,
that is. Again, I will still have
to pay for the drugstore's fee,
but so do folks under 65,

., And. there, are, the mer: |
chants, af all stripes ‘who try to

cash in-on seniors’ disposable
incomes by offering them a 10
or 15-per-cent discount. Many
pass that discount on to their
kids by shopping for them.
Now, I'm not going to turn
down these generous offers,
but gift horse or not, when 1
look the beast in the mouth I
can see a couple of rotten

eee TAR :

a Hy

FROM. THE CAPITAL:
HUBERT BEYER

teeth.

Where, for instances, does
the notion come from that the
moment you reach the age of
65 you need help? Not all se-
niors are poor. In act, most are
pretty well off.

I'll tell you who needs help.

.It's.young families. struggling.
-+fo* make! enough? money: fo)
'-make’ends met,''so they. can’

raise their kids, clothe them
and feed all those hungry
mouths,

Those young people could
use a free ferry ride once in a
while to get away for a few
days. But then, they won't get
the discount that I will be get-
ting from many hotels.

Generally, the explanation

speak Up and

LAST FALL, when the Ter-
race Health Watch Group for-
med to fight bed and nurse
shortages, the Terrace Com-
munity Health Council (CHC)
invited the public to its regular
monthly meetings.

Judging by the crunch at its
March 9 meeting, either the
CHC didn’t expect anyone to
come, or its socially chal-
lenged.

To dispel both conclusions,
the CHC might try this:

1. Provide everyone with a
chair. At 98.6 square metres,
the education room at Mills
Memorial Hospital is rale for
15 CHC members at tables
and 112 public in non-fixed
sealing. So rustle up 112
chairs.

To watch seniors leaning on
canes, and tired physicians
leaning against a_ wall

_ throughout the 40-minute pub-

lic. portion of the . meeting
mortified me. ] expected sev-
eral of us to collapse from

heat exhaustion, with the ra-

THROUGH BIFOCALS

CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

diators working full blast be-
hind our knees.

I also wondered if the
CHC’s disregard for the com-
fort of its medical specialists
in the room might be expres-
sed in subtler ways throughout
the hospital and contribute to
our community’s loss of -six
doctors this summer.

2. Answer the public’s
questions completely and ac-
curately. If the CHC doesn't
know the answer, promise to

TURN ELECTROMAGN
RADIATION (NTO A SUNNY,
DAY iN OUR HEADS!

ACTUALLY THERE'S \| FOR TREES ITS
Nosuch THING AS A BLACK WORLD
SUNSRINE! OUR EYES || EVERY DAY!

ETIC

for giving seniors a break goes
like this: they deserve socie-
ty's thanks. They built this
country.

Well, I'm not so sure about
this country-building thing. I
wouldn't put up too big an ar-
gument if young people in
their twenties concluded that
we pretty much screwed up
this country.

When my wife and were
raising four young kids, we
were able to buy a house at a
reasonable price ($25,000)
with no down-payment, courte-
sy W.A.C. Bennett, then pre-
mier of British Columbia,
whose government was giving
$5,000 low-interest loans to
first-home buyers, who could
then use that money as a
down-payment.

I can't see a similar pro-

gram ‘helping. young -families

ily i Ler

nto”'their first “home , today.

“Mos can't even afford the’

cheapest condo on the market.

When |] was young, you
could quit your job in the
morning and find a new one by
that afternoon, even in the
newspaper business. Today,
everyone hangs on to their jabs
for dear life.

The fact is the me-gener-

add chairs

dig it up for the next CHC
meeting. Anything less hints
the CHC is either clueless or
evasive, Maybe both,

3. Be open to suggestions
from the public. Ordinary citi-
zens offer sensible advice,
free. For example, one woman
pointed out the incongruity of
preparing meals at Mills,
where there are 25 patients,
and transporting 72 meals to
Terraceview where there’s a
full kitchen with capable
cooks. So much for the thou-
sands spent on studies and
equipment for this.

4, Publish a list of qualifi-
cations sought in CHC mem-
bers. Present a copy of the list
to every CHC applicant. The
present way of choosing coun-
cil members appears arbitrary,
smacking of political palron-
age and government whimsy.

5. Speak up. When the pub-
lic can’t hear, we amuse our-
selves cracking one-liners,
making nasty remarks about
CHC members, or engaging in

before mine, we can't even lay”

eth ae ce

ation has taken it all for itself.-
My generation has mortgaged:
our kids' future by running up a
national debt their kids will
still be trying to repay.

We demanded government |
services our parents wouldn't,
have dreamed of and rarely,
asked where the money was.
coming from. ’

We cheered on the teachers:
who promised that lowering
class sizes would benefit our’
children's education, The cost’
for education went out of hand‘
and we have nothing to show
for it in terms of better educa--
ted children.

My generation polluted the,
planet, then discovered the en-.,
vironment and ever since has.
been trying to assuage its guilt:
by altempting to undo the dam-:
age, often at the expense of:
jobs.

“And uilike the generation’

claim to the nation’s gratitude.
for having fought a just war. :

So just what am I getting
those free ferry passes for?

Beyer can be reached at: E-
mail: Inbert@coolcom.com; Tel.
& Fax: (250) 381-6900; and

on the Web at:
Attp:/ivww.hubertbeyer.com —'

Pe es

Pony

chit chat. This erodes our’
mission and annoys CHC
members.

As a member of the public:
still concerned about the deter-
iorization of health care at
Mills, [ aim to attend every.
CHC meeting until the health’
watch group feels we have en=:
ough nurses and beds to serve
our community. I’m not alones
Until the CHC rebuilds it, wer
will come.

To cope with the sardine
style venue of the CHC’s
meetings, I intend dressing in.
layers like a winter jogger. I
can then peel off to. balance
the room’s temperature. '

If I have no chair, ] may
sprawl on the floor, legs out-
stretched to easy my arthritic’
joints, No way do I plan to lis“
ten from the corridor of go
home prematurely because the
roam is overflowing,

Hosts shouldn't issue insin-
cere invitations. Bul once invi-
ted, hosts have a duty to ae-
commodate their ‘guests,

Y