Foreign currency The CANADIAN Dollar continues to strengthen significantly against the U.S. due to offshore bond conversion and the interest rate differential which combine to create heavy commercial demand for the Canadian currency. The JAPANESE Yen, whose inherent strength has been restrained on currenc: markets by Central Ban intervention in recent months, is showing signs of upward movement. It ap- prea pears that Japan's govern- .. ment has decided to let the - Yen find its own market *. jevel, one more in line with - her strong economic. -.: resurgence. “ -.” Although ITALY’s : ts political situation is far -~. from settled, the failure of :+’ the Communist Party ‘to. -!:. achieve a plurality over the -2+, Christian Democrats in the :=° June 20 and 21 elections is: : expected to strengthen the : Lire in the short term. The BRAZILIAN Cruzeiro. 10.80. This marks the 9h ‘7s? downward adjustment of the -** Cruzeiro this year for ‘an vs accumulated devaluation of almost 19 per cent against the «US, Dollar. The IMF will auction _-. another 780,000 ounces of - gold on July 14, 1976. “Environment ' school ‘The Banff Centre will establish a School of the $250,000 grant from the Devonian Grou of Charitable Foundations of Calgary, according to Dr. Director of the Centre. “The long term goal of the new school will be to bring a broad cross-section of in- dividuals and groups together on common ground aimed at developing a better understanding of our natural environment and man’s place in it,” said Tea Mills, an Associate Director of the Centre who will have prime responsibility for the program. Approved in principle by the Alberta Department of Advanced Education and Manpower and by Parks Canada, the program will provide an environmental studies component to The Banff Centre, geared to the teachers and parks per- sonnel. A major thrust will also be to reveal the role of the environment for business people and con- servationists, as well as providing the public with an opportunity to acquire a balanced understanding of nature. John Amatt, a former high school teacher and well-known mountaineer in the Banif area, will asume responsibility for program development as of July 1, 1976, Among Mr. Mills’ and Mr. Amatt’s first tasks will be to meet with a soon-to-be appointed Board of Advisors under the Chairmanship of AE. Pallister (President, Pallister Resource Management Ltd., Calgary), and to confer with people concerned with environmental matters from across North America who will come to Banff in the early autumn to discuss the development of the venture and to take ' recommendations on course ’ structure. . “We hope to see the first courses offered in early 197?" said Mr. Amatt. “Our :" ambition is to develop a new ‘ awareness and _ sensilivity ‘. for the natural environment through the blending of academic learning and practical sessions in the outdoors. Inshort, we intend '. to develop a program that is ' yelevant to our unique | location in the Banff mi National Park,’* It is further planned that a ra ; the School of Environment e ' will become a= major’ ‘ ' clearing house for en- vironmental information and conference activity. The new program is the result of a five-year plan which began in 1872; at that time It was decided that The Banff Centre's mountain setting was an ideal location fer comprehensive en- vironmental education, Environment-with the aid of" ‘David S.R. Leighton,’ - in-service training of. PAGE Aé, THE HERALD. Wednesday. July 14, 17/6 East Indian dancers were popular during the Folkfest held in Terrace July 10. They will also be appearing on television during their per- formance in Montreal at the 1976 Olympics. Stupich views Victoria The first month’s ex- perience’ with sharp reductions in traffic caused by doubled fares clearly indicates that B.C. Ferries would have been better off financially if rates had gone up only 20 percent, Dave Stupich, NDP MLA for Nanaimo said. “Phe government's own figures reveal that this coalition Cabinet has bungled badly again with tragic consequences for thousands of British Columbians, just as it did with Autoplan premiums,” said the -forraer finance minister who is now the Opposition finance: critic. “Resides the direct personal hardship suffered by many coastal residents, the whole provincial business economy has been further weakened without any additional benefit to the ferries or government revenues.” - -If the one-third cut reported for June traffic between Vancouver Island and the mainland con- tinues, projections from the Povernment-commissioned Price, Waterhouse Associates study of the ferries show that a 20 per- cent fare increase would have produced more actual revenue for the ferries than the 100 percent increases imposed by the government. The report estimated that ferry revenues this year would rise from $46 million to $51 million without any increase in rates at all, It also indicated that if rates were doubled and a 30 percent traffic cut resulted, the combined effect would produce revenues of only $65 million, assuming that concession reyenues and vehicle-passenger ratios were not impaired. “The fact is that traffic was reduced significantly more than that; concession revenues have fallen even more sharply and the ferries June traffic report shows that the vehicle-passenger ratio has been affected detrimentally from a revenue point of view," said Mr. Stupich. ~ “The result is that the actual experience of June points towards annual ferry revenues of no more than $60 million to $61 million 8 that’s an increase of barely $10 million from a 100 percent price increase. “But experience on other ferry systems show that a 20 percent rate increase would not have cut traffic so it would have produced, on the government's own figures, annual revenues of $61.2 million.” ' (A 20 percent increase would have boosted car fares from $5 to $6 instead of the present $10. Passenger rates would have gone up only 40 cents per trip instead of $2.) “The inescapable con- clusion is that B.C. Ferries would haye made about $1 million more annually if the Cabinet bad raised the rates by only 20 20 percent,” said Mr. Stupich. “The bungling away of a million-dollar income for the ferries by this Cabinet is ironic but it is only the tip of the ‘iceberg. The tragic, more important fact is that people and business have been seriously hurt,” said Mr. Stupich. “You have only to read the daily headlines to begin grasping the enormous boondoggle committed by this coalition government. ‘Tourist firms are facing bankruptcy. Hundreds of students and others have lost desperately needed summer employment. “Business in general has suffered and of course consumers on Vancouver Island and along the mainland coast are bepinning to feel the extra inflationary impact of massive increases on commercial transport fares. “We should not forget the thousands of British Columbians who will pass up a vacation trip or family reunion this summer nor the others who will use the alternative ferry systems, to the enrichment of U.S. firms instead of our own.” “The blame for all these horrendots social and economic costs lies squarely on the coalition Cabinet, which so prides itself on being able to read the Bank loans in B.C. In the first six months of operation of the Federal Business Development Bank ended March 4ist last, the fiseal year-end of the. bank, FBDB authorized 1,344 loans for $61,839,000 to business in British Columbia. In the same period a year ago, the In- dustrial Development Bank, which FBDB succeeded on October 2nd last, approved. 1,384 loans for a total amount of $54,723,000. At March 3ist, FBDB had 9,529 customers on its books in British Columbia with a total amount outstanding of. $430,162,000. In his report for the period, the president, JR. Murray, said that the bank approved 4,776 loans totalling $216,559,000 in the six months to businesses in Canada, up by 15 percent in number and 32 percent in amount compared with the same period a year ago. The bank also undertook new initiatives in providing equity type financing and in- the six months authorized 13 offers of equity financing for a total amount of $2,500,000. Under the CASE coun- selling service of the bank, 502 counselling assignments were undertaken and as part of the FBDB Management training program, over ten seminars a week were conducted in the six months in smaller centres when topics of in- terest, to owners and operators of small businesses were discussed. The bank also handled over, 2,700 enquiries for In- formation concerning programs of assistance to smaller businesses available from the federal government and other sources. ‘bottom line’ of a cash statement, But it’s ideological and partisan blinkers prevent it from seeing the big picture — the total balance sheet of pros and cons in any government action,’ said Mr. Stupich. “It's mightly convenient for the Premier and his colleagues to ignore all the ramifications and impacts of their narrow-minded approach to government. But it’s more than just a little inconvenient for those who lose & business, a job or a chance to see aging grandparents, “For the citizens of this province, and for business too, deliberate government refusal to look at the total provincial balance sheet and concentration on the ‘bottom line’ of specific operations is nothing short of tragic. “This government — as with so many other decisions it has made — had a choice of options in seeking necessary revenue increases for the ferries. “Tt could have had those increases without hurting business and people, That it chose to punish the citizens of this province — so sharply contrasted with its rewarding of foreign multi- national firms during the session — is a characteristic of all its decisions. “The only other logical explanation for its per- formance is that the Cabinet is filled with governmental bunglers. “T suppose which ex- Janation is the correct one is academic to the British Columbians who have lost - income, opportunity and standard of living through a succession of policies to overprice and cut back services,” said Mr. Stupich. “It's past time for this government ito start reversing its decisions and it should start today with an announcement to roll back ferry increases im- mediately to a moderate 20 percent.” , " aes Have you seen some of those silly ads lately suggesting that you. should pay more than $10.66 for a gallon of Top of the Line paint. 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