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Page 4, The Herald, Thursday, December 7, 1978

TERRACE/KITIMAT

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an election move

What does Premier Bill Bennett’s cabinet
shuffle mean? Let us look at a few of the moves
and see if we can divine what is in the provincial
leader's mind.

Grace McCarthy, said by some to be the power
behind the Bennett throne, moves from her right
hand of the-king position as provincial secretary
to human resources. Bill Vander Zalm moves
from minister of resources to municipal affairs.

McCarthy is one of the trusted, one of the
power brokers. She’ isn’t being demoted but
rather put into a problem area to clean it up. The
Bame of wélfare recipient bashing, which
worked so well for so long for Phil Gagiardi and
appealled to the redder necks in the province,
doesn’t sit as well today. Bennett doesn't care to
come across as the brightest of the bright, but he
doesn’t like to look as stupid and clownish as
Vander Zalm makes the government look. —

McCarthy is being moved in to try and change
the hard-line approach that Vander Zalm has
stressed. The popular, high-profile McCarthy is
also taking over the Insurance Corporation of
B.C. Once again she is being brought in to take
control of something that needs a better public
image. No more “let them leave their cars at
home’’ McGeer.

Vander Zalm does have a following though. He
made marks with the municipal governments
‘with his anti-welfare, ‘put them back to work
approach’. He is a businessman, like most of the

“er council members, and pro development, a

<08g8 free enterpriser. Giving him municipal
=ifigire leaves him in the cabinet but out of the

ve
4 14

ditelight.

: a lot of flack, gets an expanded education
istry with science and technology. One of the
S university graduates and intellectuals on the
‘QeBennett team, and one who jumped party

#4668 and so has to be Kept in the cabinet to keep

‘his”"bupport, McGeer is out of the pan without

=being too far from the fire. ©

: In switching Jim Nielson and Rafe Mair,
- Bennett moves the more radical Socred Mair

= away from the area where he can upset the big

a .

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‘ on “se,
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4 wa? 8

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Free flights,

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- -
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“Q1 TAWA OFFBEAT

another perk

ah

no

THIS WEEK

from Ottawa
lona Campagnolo, M.P.

by Richard Jackson

OTTAWA - They'll never
learn because it seems they
don’t care any more.

So members of the federal
cabinet, caught time and
time again freeloading on
Armed Forces jets and the
Governer General’s train,
earry on cadging.

And cadging is the kindly

“word for it. ©

The Opposition in
Parliament .— and the
taxpayers who pick up the
bills — have other words for
it.

Like chiselling.

And worse.

You remember how
Transport Minister Lang
flew his family’s “nanny”
home to Scotland at public
expense aboard an Armed
Forces 707 jet.

And how Pierre Trudeau
from time to time flipped
about the Caribbean by
Defence Jet Star on skin-
diving vacations.

And this minister and that
cabinet member
“borrowed” the Governor
General's private rail cars to
haul friends and family as
well as aides around the
country on mixed business-
and-pleasure trips.

When caught on these little
fun trips, they invariably
bristle with indignation that
anyone should question the.
cost, much less their in-
tegrily. ;

Reeking with rectitude,
usually they’re outraged that
anyone — even a Member of
Parliament, much less a
mere taxpayer — dare so
much as wonder about it,

And what a change of face
this.is. .

Used to be that the
Liberals stationed spies at
Oltawa airport to track
members of the last Con-
servative cabinet when they
flew on government aircraft

sand prepare an accounting of

the cost.
But now!
Perhaps it’s the arrogance

of being too long in office, or -

maybe realization that the
public is mad as hell and not
going to take it any more,
that the Liberals, fearing
defeat, have gone sloppy in
not giving a.damn.

Because there went Fit-
ness and Amateur Sport
Minister Iona Campagnolo,
“The Iron Butterfly,” flitting
around Europe last yearona
22-day adyssey through West
and East Germany, Poland,
Hungary, Switzerland,

Austria and Italy aboard a
defence jet, despatched
there for her personal use,

She flew the ocean aboard
a defence 706 — which is
fairly normal travel
procedure for those in High
Places federally — while the
smaller, personal-size
defence Faleon did the
Atlantic empty both ways for

_ her convenience in Europe,

at a cost of $751.an hour. -
. Ms. Iona said total cost to
her department —.to you;:the
taxpayer, that is — was a
mere $8,000.

But the Defence Depart-
ment estimates the flying
time alone at $20,652, and
that doesn’t include salaries
of the Falcon’s crew or coat
of thelr hote) — ac:.
commodation, or meals at
stops in those ‘seven coun-
tries. .

Next comes Consumer and
Corporate Affairs Minister
Warren Allmand on the
“freebie airlift, taking
along three staff aides and
three ‘guests’ on an official
visit.

How nice, too, since it was

to Southampton in sunny .

Bermuda for a meeting of
the Patent and Trademark
Institute of Canada.

For more than 20 years it

annually met hereyat hame,
and the cabinety minister
responsible for patentai and
trademarks never attended.

But this time, in Bermuda,
he did, using a) geven-
passenger government Jet
Star, and “bumping” senior
department executives who
should have attended, to
make room for aides and
“guests.”” 2
“guests! -as Soa.
fried” frotf! MOMreA, a
Allmand and his wife having
split a couple of years ago.

(But separations and
divorces, not to mention
other foibles in the cabinet,
are another story for another
day perhaps.) ne

The guests all had receipts
to prove they paid their own
way in Bermuda, as only the
ride on the Jet Star’ was on
the taxpayers. ae

And know what? ‘Warren
Allmand is “ups¢l!') that it

. should be questioned. It

gives him he was quoted as
saying, ‘‘a pain in the ---'”
which is the same place on
the anatomy the prime
minister recently threatened
in the Commons to kick an
Honorable Member of the
‘Opposition.

In the past few weeks
rumours and specujation
concerning construction of
oil pipelines and tanker ports
have resurfaced, despite the
clear statement by the
National Energy Board in
early October that Canada
has no need for a west coast
oil port, ‘

The reason for these
rumours lies in the United.
States. In early November,
President Carter's “energy
package” finally received
the approval of the U.S.
Congress. One of the
elements of this energy

- package is the provision of

new crude oil supplies to the
midwestern U.S. market
area. To actiieve this,
President Carter has issued

a request to all companies

interested in building a
pipeline from the west coast
to Chicago to submit
proposels by Dec. Sth.

As most of us are aware
from the debate during the
last two years over the
Kitimat plpellne proposal,
there are four alternatives
which — on paper at least —
offer routes for the shipment
of crude oil fram the Pacific
Coast to the midwest. These
are Loa Angeles ta Chicago;
Port Angeles to Chicago; ’
Kitimat to Edmonton; and
fram Alaska to Edmonton,
along the route of the Alaska
Highway, with oil port
facilities at Valdez,
Skagway, or Haines.

The rumour this spring
about an oil port at Hyder,
Alaska (near Stewart) is
sheer nonsense; no ail
company has expressed an
interest in it; it is en-
vironmentally worse than
the Kitimat proposal; and
even though the oil port
would be in Alaska,
Canadian . approval would
have to. be -glven — and
would not be given — for the
pipeline.

It is a very high stakes

poker game, and I expect a-

Jot of pipeline talk (some for
real, some just bluffing) for
the next few weeks.
Although this is a. U.S.
proposal — and although the
National Energy Board has
made clear that Canada does
jot need such facilities to

“protect our energy future -
agen will be heavily in-

Sethe game:'Two of
the four possible routes lie
across Canadian territory,
and there are a number of
Canadian companies which

‘may become participants in

the various proposals.

I will be following this
“poker game’’ very closely,
and will continue to report to
you as there are new
developments, As was the
case during the debate over
the Kitimat proposal, my
goal is to obtain the
maximum possible benefits
for our ares, taking into
account the social and en-
vironmental implications as
well ag the economic ones.

On another energy-related
matter, I recently had the
opportunity to research the
taxes ona gallon of gasoline.

Gasoline in most .Skeena
communities sells for close
to $1.00 per gallon; in
southern B.C. it is ten to
fifteen cents cheaper. Of the
$1.00 per gallon, 42.8¢ is paid
in four different taxes. These
are federal sales tax (4.9€);
federal excise tax (7,0);
provincial royalties (14.0);
‘and the Province of B.C,
gasoline tax (17.0c).

These taxes are applied for
two reasons. The first is to
provide revenues for
governments, which In
return provide required
services. This is ane of the
major reasons why the
provincial taxes are so high;
it ig the policy of the
provincial government thal
the users of transportation
services (highways, bridges,
etc.) should absorb a major
portion of the cost of building
and maintaining these
services.

The federal excise tax,
which was reduced in August
from 10 cents per gallon to
seven cents has two pur-

poses. One is to encourage .

energy conservation by
inereasing the price of
gasoline and discouraging its
wasteful use. The other
purpose is to raise revenue
which is used to subsidize the
cost of gasoline in those
areas which are dependent
on imported oil.

The eastern parts of our
country are totally depen.
dent on imported oil, which
is much more costly than our
domestic supplies. The
excise tax has been used to
soften the impact of the
mideast oil price increases,
and to allow the Atlantic
economy to restabllize and
develop. other energy
sources. LoRvpad §

For more information on
this subject, please write te
me care of the House of
Commons, Ottawa, Ontario
KiA 0X2, No postage is
required.

THINK

BY JIM SMITH

SMALL

Two lines best taken with
a grain of salt:

“Your cheque is in the
mail,”

“I'm from the govern-
ment. I'm here to help you,"

Canada’s small business-
men may buy the first story.

ernment — work with only
another 1 per cent.

In other words, taxpayers”
money used for bureaucratic
programs doesn’t contribute
to a better small business en-
vironment. Small business

= business backers of the Socreds. It would seem to men don’t like bureaucracy

-
:
a

=his mandate’

PORTERS TT Ee
vey

; Us that Mair accepted the environment ministry
, because it is a challenge and a vital job but he
: could still be a problem for those Socred backers
:in the forest industry. , ,

Fy

Jim Chabot moves from mines and resources
“to the new lands and parks and housing. Part of
involves making Crown land

z. available to the people. He did a good job of
making it available for development, so that
=: Seems only fair.

te

= Alex Fraser’s responsibilities expand in the

“extended highways ministry which includes
;,communications and transportation. It just goes
*to show that if you doa good job you will be asked

a4
at

ryhit

ote

eriteter

-to do more of it.

Recreation and conservation is out and

= deregulation is in. Both seem to be a little bit of

bumf. Perhaps the first thing the deregulation

‘ministry should do is make sure it doesn’t

‘> become a bureaucracy itself.

ure

atts

- Qur own Cyril Shelford was moved back into
~ the cabinet, into the portfolio held under W.A.C.

:: Bennett. Now at least we know the price the

«

+Socreds will pay to keep from handing a ri
:over to the NDP. ga nané

t~

What does all this mean. It is hardly a new

:” eabinet, with only two new faces. It is definitely a
;, Shuffle of the deck, and a fast shuffle at that.

= ‘The changes are mostly cosmetic. It is a face-

i gaving change. A move intended to take the
: vulnerable out of places where they could be
successfully attacked in an election. There is no
: question but that this is a pre-election shuffle.

= But do beware of the shuffle, like a magician will

: shift his feet to make you take your eyes off his

‘Shands, Bennett has riffled the pack, but not

.

“fifeved the cards very much.

Check before you buy it

Your neighbour is proudly showing off her new
sofa. Not only is she fond of the pattern and
colour (yellow canaries on a purple
background), but the fabric actually glows in ihe
dark!

As if this weren't enough, Friendly
Furniture Store threw in a combination
magazine rack or floortamp or ashtray for free.
Mind you, some of the canaries are already
fraying at the edges and the floorlamp switch
doesn’t work, but as Friendly points aut
whenever someone complains, you can’t expect
much at these prices.

You agree politley that the sofa is indeed
lovely, but you can’t help wondering to yourself
why anyone would buy something of such ob-
viausly shoddy quality.

The differing reactions of you and your friend
suggest that quality, like beauty, is in eye of the
beholder. :

Most of us probably consider appearance,
durability, and workmanship to be part of
quality, but there Is no objective standard
agalnst which to measure these attributes.
(Your friend’s sofa might score zero with you on
alt three counts, but she'd rate it 100 percent
right down the line.)

Price will often enter into our estimation of
quality. What may seem an acceptable level of
quality at a certain price might very well be
unacceptable at a higher. price.

Given the subjective nature of our perception —

of quality, it’s not surprising that no one has been
able to frame legislation establishing quality
standards for most consumer goods.

If quality in consumer goods Is not established,
by statute, how can consumers be sure the
products In their hame are of reasonable

quality? By applying the one set of quality
standards that really matter -- thelr own.

Before you can set a standard for anything,
you must first know something about it. If your
knowledge is not sufficient for you to make a
realistic assessment, you'll need to obtain some
Information before you buy the product.

You can get information on nearly any item by
just asking. Your friends and neighbours, con-
sumer groups, magazines, libraries, store
salesman and Industry groups will all have
opinions on the quality of various products.

Some of the information will be biased -- your
friend jikes Brand X because of their cute
commercials, or the store salesman likes it
because it’s the only brand he sells. It’s up to you
fo sift the wheat from the chaff and make your
own judgement.

What If your judgement is wrong and in spite of
your bestefforis, youcomeupwithalemon?

If the product comes with a warranty or
guarantee, the supplier is legally committed to
abide by it. [tf no guarantee exists, you can
complain to the seller or manufacturer, and
make it clear that you’re not satisfied. You cari
refuse to buy any of that store’s or manufac-
turer’s products again. If you feel the supplier
was grossly at fault for the poor quality of the

concern, you can take him to court.

There’s no way we can be assured of never
making a purchase that is later regretted, any
more than we can be sure of never making
mistakes In other areas of our lives, but by in-
sisting on abserving our awn standards of quality
we can start Increasing our staisfaction wiih the
products we buy.

But they stire don’t fall for
the government aid routine,
According to results of a
membership opinion survey
conducted recently by the
Canadian Federation of In-
dependent Business, small
businesses would generally
prefer no help at all to gov-
ersment “assistance”.

The survey — conducted in
every part of the country —
asked CFIB members to iden-
tify their principal sources of
business advice, The vast ma-
jority tum to their account-
ants and lawyers first, A sec:
ond substantial group relies
on its suppliers. And trade
associations and other small
businesses are also important,
But virtually no small busi-
nessmen use the government-
funded institutions.

Not that there’s a short-
age of government programs
purportedly designed to help
small business. There are so
triany programs that govern-
ments have departments to
do nothing but keep track of
the other programs.

. And none of these pro-
grams is cheap — or particu-
larly effective. Only 3 per
cent of the Federation's

item and he will nof voluntarily satisfy your members have placed pri-

mary reliance on the federal
agencies (including the Fed-
eral Business Development
Bank), The provincial agen-
cies attract only about 1 per
cent of the CFIB’s members,
University and community
college business schools —
also heavily funded by gov-

and they don’t trust civil ser-
vants. Bue that should come
as no-surprise. Why should
the government's track rec:
ord In managing its own af-
fairs inspire confidence in
any reasonable business man-
ager? ;

Interestingly, the most val-
ued sources of assistance do
not cust the taxpayers a nic.
kel. Governments would,
therefore, be well advised to
scrap their current bureau-

cratic horrors and work di- .

rectly with the trade associa-
tions that smaller businesses
already find worthwhile.
Trade associations know
their members’ needs, they
know the potential of thein-
dustry — and they are not
part of the civil service,

Business schools should
be reorganized to truly re-

flect the requirements of —
small business: currently, the ~

‘business schools specialize in
turning out big business-ori-
ented administrators.

The savings could be pass-
ed along in tax cuts for small
business; tax cuts always
work wonders in the business
community. Cut out paper:
work, bureaucracy and waste
— three millstones around
business’ neck. -

Government's heart is in
right place. But actions speak
louder than words, ,

“Think small" is an editorial
message from the Canadian
Federatior. of Independent
Businesse