Ad - the Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 12, 1999

STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

PUBLISHER: ROD LINK
ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2
TELEPHONE: (250) 6.3%-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432
EMAIL: standard@kermode.net

Fairness

THE REFORM Party of Canada has found the
soft underbelly of a taxation issue which should”
give all of us a jolt.

By examining taxation levels and tax credits,

Reformers have calculated the system favours '
families of two income earners and penalizes the
single-income family.

How’s that? Simple. The tax credit for an in-
come earner is greater than the credit for an in-
come earner claiming a spouse. In other words, it
costs more for a single income earner claiming a
spouse than it would if that spouse was working
and claimed his or her own personal tax credit.

The recent hammering in Parliament by
Reformers on this issue was enough to have fed-

eral finance minister Paul Martin concede that

this is an issue deserving of further examination.
Good for him.

By looking at this as a straight issue of taxation
fairness, it is discriminatory to have a system
whereby a two-income family has tax advantages
over a single income family. Given that citizens
should expect a taxation system which treats
everybody the same, this situation needs to be
corrected.

And there is also a strong case here for social

fairness. A couple that makes a decision to have.

one person work while the other stays at home
should not be unduly punished. The vast majori-
ty of couples who make this decision do so to
raise a family which remains the bedrock of Ca-:
nadian society. To be maltreated when it comes
to taxation works against that premise.

The Alberta government has set out some gen-
eral taxation principies which recognizes the
single income family by increasing the amount
which can be deducted for a stay-at-home

Teekay

spouse. Mr: Martin would “do well to examine’ |

this proposal.

Sure, there is a cost to all of this because the
more tax credits there are overall, the less tax
dollars there are to be collected.

But a taxation system that discriminates will
fall into disrepute and the harm from this will
oulweigh the costs. Besides, making it easier for
families to survive on one income by surrender-

ing one job might just free up work for families

who have no work at all.

Cost crunch

THE MULTIPLEX committee made the only de-

cision it could in carving the project in half to’

make it economically more palatable.

A full bore complex at an estimated $11.4 mil-
lion was simply too expensive for this city at this
time. And even the first phase estimated cost of
$8-8.5 million is enough to take away the breath
of the average taxpayer.

The real sales job challenge won’t be so much
in getting taxpayer approval via referendum to
pay for construction. Rather, it will be convinc-
ing taxpayers to shoulder the ongoing operating
costs.

They say the devil is in the details and it will be
in operating costs where the battle will be
fought.

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

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ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS:
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Serving tha Tertace and Thomhill area, Published on Wednesday of each week al 3210 Clinton Street,

Terrace, British Cotumbia, Vad SA2.

Stories, photographs, Mlustrations, designs and typestyles in the Tenace Standard are tho proparty of the

copyright hotders, Including Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd., its illustration repra services and advertising
jencias.

Foproducion in whole orn par, without writlen parmission, Is Specifically prohibiad.

Authorized as second-class mall pending ihe Post Office Depariment, for payment of postage incash,

Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents
tor their tlme and talents

_ JIMMY CANNOT
~ (£01 NON DY.

—-HEHASLOST HIS
BULLETPROOF VEST.

Bombing won’t defeat Serbs

VICTORIA — Times have
changed, I'll tell you that.

When I was a kid in Ger-
many, I was exposed to a kind
of war, Slobodan Milosevic
couldn’t imagine in his worst
nightmares, at least not as it
applies to the NATO bombing
of his country.

In the brave new world of
politically correct warfare,
you have NATO officials
falling all over themselves
trying to explain how they
inadvertently hit a bus or Slo-
bodan’s villa.

NATO even issued a wam-
ing that a government-run TV
station was a target, because it
was used for propaganda, and
that journalists working there
ought to consider getting the
hell out of the building. If the

‘Serbs could attack the US by

air, I Suppose | ihat would also

|--..go-for CNN. -

The war started by Ger-
many and visited upon her in
hundred-fald terror, was a bit
different.

I don’t remember anyone
telling us that the house we
lived in, along with just about
every other building in Dus-
seldorf would be bombed to
smithereens. And I can’t
imagine that the Allies
phoned Josef Goebbels,
kindly advising him to evacu-
ate his propaganda facilities
masquerading as radio sta-
tions.

I am also unaware of any

Weightl

COFFEE MUGS have
reached maximum propor-
tions, J] hope. Already
they’re big enough to substi-
tute as weapons against
home invaders,

Saturday | donated $4
towards breast cancer
research. In return I received
a four-inch high made-in-
China mug. By far, this 13.5
ounce anchor is the clunkiest
drinking vessel ever to be
lugged into my home.

Before introducing it to
our kitchen I should have
had the load bearing ratio of
our foundation concrete ana-
lyzed,

By actual measurement,
this mug has a diameter of
3.25 inches all the way
through, and a hefty handle
with ample space for any
man’s three fingers. Filled
to a normal level, it holds
one and a half cups.

If it were balanced like a
fondue pot over a lighted

WM WeEtL THE NORTH
ME WILL BACK THE
me SOREALIS PARTY

me HIS TIME !

“FROM THE:CAPITAL

HUBERT BEYER

apologetic explanations after
Dresden was wiped off the
map in one terrible night of
destruction in which any-
where from 100,000 to
175,000 civilians were killed

in what nowadays is called _.
“collateral: damage... 4° feaos

- The truth is .that civilians

- wete considered legitimate

targets. It was believed, on
both sides, that air raids
would undermine morale and
the regime’s resolve, It was
about as classic a miscalcula-
tion as NATO’s belief that it
can win the war in Yugoslavia
without ground troops.

Not that we weren't
scared. We were terrified.
And so, I’m sure, were the
British whose cities were tar-
geted by the Luftwaffe, Did it
make us question Hitler’s
leadership? Did the Brits urge
Churchill to start negotiating?
No, it didn't.

THROUGH: BIFOCALS:
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

Hold CAN YOU BRONG!
BE So SURE?
&

candle it could provide a
day’s supply of hot coffee
for even a caffeine addict.

For anyone my age, it’s a
health hazard, particularly
for someone with asthma — a
condition worsened by com-
pressing the lungs as hap-
pens during heavy lifting —
or for someone with arthritic
wrist, elbow, or shoulder
joints.

If I were on crutches or if

WE HAVE A

WHO'S NEVER

OKAY. at 7 HE Junk Tion

When night after night,
and later in broad daylight,
planes unload their deadly
cargo, when people get stuck
in the asphalt set to boiling by
raging firestorms, aflame like
torches, screaming until they
die, who do think gets blamed
by the survivors? You got it,
the enemy.

I didn’t hate Hitler for
what was being done to my
town. I blamed the enemy.

In fact, [ hated the Ameri-
cans and the English (I'd not
heard about Canada back
then), until I met the first
American. and British sol-
diers. It was then that I found
out they weren't the devils
incarnate the Nazi propa-
ganda machine had told me
they were,

And it wasn’t thé. bombing. .-.
“Hat brought Germany’ ‘to ‘its
“knees. It was the American’ ’

and Canadian troops crossing
the Rhine. It was the Russians
fighting their way, street for
street, towards Hitler's
bunker in Berlin that finally
ended the war.

Don’t expect the Serbs to
turn on Milosevic because we
are bombing their country
back into the 17th century.
And don’t expect Milosevic
to quit because we’ve taken
out just about every bridge in
his country

I have no idea where the
notion comes from that you
can win a war with planes.

my bathroom trips were in
any way impeded, I’d make
a point to serve myself a
mug only one-third full.

Andre the Giant, seated at
a slab picnic table, his wrist
strengthened by a leather
support, would look right at
home hoisting this mug. But
shelved in a mobile home
cupboard, the mug threatens
to wrench the cupboard off
the wall, or at least sag the
shelf. No one should risk
owning a six-piece collec-
tion,

Because this mug is
unlikely to fill its traditional
role in my house, I’ve
looked for alternative uses.
It would make a fine, untip-
pable pencil holder, or |
could call it a crock and pack
it with pickles. In case I need
physio exercises, it could
substitute for weights.

Ithas other potential uses:
wielded: vigorously and
brought down squarely on its

Patton, McArthur and Mont-
gomery would have a laugh-
ing fits.

What about the critics who
say never get involved in the
Balkans? These people, they
say, have been at each others’
throats for so long, you can’t
change their attitudes, Poppy-
cock.

Germans had been taught
for centuries that France was
their arch enemy, beneath
contempt. It didn’t take long
after 1945 for those attitudes
to change dramatically. You
tell a young German io day he
ought to hate the French and
he'll laugh you all the way to
the Maginot Line.

What it did take to change -
those attitudes was Ger- —
many’s thorough defeat and
the introduction of a concept.

“called! democracy.

In this conflict, the policy
to avoid civilian casualties is
commendable, although |
Milosevic applies a quite dif-
ferent policy in Kosovo, but
planes alone will not bring
about a permanent change in
Yugoslavia.

It requires resolve on the
part of NATO to deploy
ground troops, kick the Serbs
out of Kosovo, and the go all
the way to Belgrade to flush
out Mr. Milosevic.

Beyer can be reached at —
Tel: (250) 920-9300; e-mail:

hubert@coolcom.com;
‘web: hitpyAvwwihubertbeyer.com/

fter physique needed

Coke bottle base, it could
function as a pestle to pul-
verize walnuts, smash
bricks, or pound garden fen-
ceposts. At the campsite, it
would devastate marauding
ants.

By comparison, my
made-in-England bone china
mug with Grandmother hand
lettered inside its gold rim
weighs 5.25 ounces and
stands only 3.5 inches high.
Its top diameter is 2 7/8
inches tapering to a smaller
base. Only one finger fits ”
comfortably inside its deli-
cately curved handle. A cup-
Ful of any liquid fills it to the
brim.

If my $4 lends propor-
tionate weight to the search
for a cancer cure, we should:
have good news from
researchers soon. But as an
object of exquisite design,
quality craftsmanship, or
pleasing shape, this mug,
fails mightily.

FOR BOREALIS |

ITS 45 Buller HOLES
FOR PROGRESS, 26
FOR FUTURE AND I2