Page 4, The Herald, Thursday, December 28, 1978 TERRACE/KITIMAT daily herald General Office - 635-6357 Published by Cirevlation - 635-6357 Sterling Publishers PUBLISHER - Laurie Mallett GEN. MANAGER - Knox Coupland + EDITOR - Greg Middleton : CIRCULATION - TERRACE - Andy Wightman 635-6357 KITIMAT - Pat Zelinski 632-2747 KITIMAT OFFICE - 632-2747 Published every weekday at 3212 Kalum Street, Terrace, B.C. A member of Varified Circulation. Authorized as second class mall, Registratiun number 1201. Postage paid in cash, return postage guaranteed, NOTE OF COPYRIGHT The Herald retains full, complete and sole copyright in any adverilsement produced and-or any editorial or photographic centent published in the Herald. Reproduction is nat permitted without the written permission of the Publisher, . Canadians are continually complaining about the cost of putting meat on the table. Those of us who live in the more remote parts of the country complain even more than the others because the costs are a little higher. While there is no argument with the fact that meat has gone up in price, how many of us take a look at why it has increased in cost. In 1950 Canadians ate on the average about 51 pounds of meat a year per person. Over the next 25 years this has doubled. North Americans eat more meat than any one else in the world. We are a fat, self indulgent people. We con- sume most of the world’s animal protein. We scorn many types of meat and fish because it isn’t fine enough for our delicate palates. We feed our cattle good grain because we don’t like. the stronger and tougher texture of the range fed beet. Meanwhile, many parts of the world starve. While we are gorging on our meat, fish and poultry, and only the best cuts remember, we complain about the high cost of medical care. With our mouths full of junk food, our lungs full of cigarette smoke and our livers and kidneys awash with liquor, we have the gall to complain about the cost of things that most people will never get to have. There are dogs and cats here in Terrace that eat better than do many of the people in the third world, We panicked when supplies of bread and milk became limited during the recent flooding here and in many parts of the world famine is as jmuch a fact of life as snow and rainare here. Think about some of these things the next time you are tempted to grumble about the choice iece of sirloin. Consider that the best way to Oring down the cost of meat would be to use less it, CHILDREN'S CENTRE Needs support TheTerrace Child Minding Centre is a unique service. There are very few of this type of facility in British Columbia. We cannot stand by and let it go under. The centre is licenced by CCFB. It functions as an aid to parents who need, for one reason or another, a place to feave their children for a short time. Children from the ages of one to five years of age may come to the centre twice a week for a maximum of three hours per visit. The charge for this is $1.50 per hour for one child or $2 per hour for a family. Parents are also requested to purchase a membership in the association at a minimum of $5, The staff at the centre have completed courses in early childhood education and are fully qualified pre- school teachers. The parents are also asked to come and volunteer three hours of their time approximately aace every two months. The students from Nor- thwest Community College who are taking courses in ECE also use the centre as an in-the-field training Bround. The child care students from Caledonia Senior Secondary School also spend time working with and learning about children. The organization itself is set up in centres, focusing on various areas in the child's development, The materials provided include paint, paste, playdough, dress-up clothes and blocks to name a few, The main goal ia te provide a safe, secure atmosphere for children when they are away [rom their parents. For many children the centre is their first contact with their peer group before entering the school system, Terrace has a transient populalion, few people have any close relations in the immediate vicinity with whom to leave their children when they have to meet appointments or simply need a break. The pressures of the 24-hour vigil parents must keep over their children can build up only too easily, It is being recognized that with today's breakdown of the extended family, rising inflation and the em- ployment tensions of today’s world, all too often children are on the receiving end of their parents’ frustrations. The centre provides a ‘release valve’ for those under stress, Parents use the centre for a variety of reasons — taking a break, meeting ap- paintments or shopping are some of these main reasons, There is no other facility in Terrace for the one-to-three age brackel. Many parents bring their children because of the social interaction, in- tellectual stimulation and specialized care offered, By volunteering, parents have the opportunity to observe their children objectively and carry home ideas to aid their children in learning at homie, The Terrace Child Minding Centre is, presently in desperate need of financial - support from the com- munity. The present fee structure allows the majority of the population to afford the service. However, if fees are raised to meet costs many people will be cut off. Low income familles need the service too, We are asking for help. from people who benefit from the centre. This tn- cludes not only the parents, but also local businesses; from grocery stores to medical clinics. Children who must be dragged through inclement weather Into stores are unhappy children, Those who are at the centre in a child's en- vironment are happy children. Our children are hope for the future. Happy, weil adjusted children make happy well adjusted adults. “After Christmas, I usually switch brokers — from stock to pawn.” Oy. foe a TORONTO (CP) ~ Sam and Mary have the ~ same job, work in the same office and get an- Mal ‘salaries of $15,000" But last year Mary received a tax rebate of $232.16 and Sam sent a cheque for $299.39 to the federal government. The difference is that Mary took advantage of | three tax breaks. She sunk $1,000 into a Registered Home Ownership Plan, $500 into a Registered Retirement Savings Plan and in- vested in a Canadian company. Sam spent more than $500 on lottery tickets and didn’t win a penny, Un- fortunately for Sam and many other Canadians, Jottery tickets are not lax deductible. Tax consultants con- cede there are few tax shelters for single em- ployees such as Mary and where both spouses are working. But they say plans such as the ores Mary purchased last year are good ways to reduce taxable income. Registered Ownership Plans, available from financial institutions, allow per- sons 16 years or more to make tax deductible contributions of up to $1,000 a year to a maximum of $10,000 over 20 years. Neither individuals nor their spouses who awn or Home Time Sam or married couples . TAKE THE BREAKS for thinking taxes have interest in residential property in Canada or elsewhere are allowed to participate in the plan and couples who already have used the . plan to purchase a home are not allowed to con- tribule. On average, an annual contribution of $1,000 can reduce a person's tax bill by about $300 in a year, Under new federal regulations, contributions must be made by Dec, 31 for persons to claim the deduction on their 1978 ‘tax return, The contribu- tion deadline for 1977 relurns was March 1, 1978. The interest or income accumulated over the life of the plan, about 9'2 per cent this year on a’ straight deposit, is tax free. It also is possible to - contribute to the plan and obtain a tax deduction in the same year a home is purchased. When the money is withdrawn, however, it must be used to purchase an owner-occupied home or be put into a tax deferral plan, If the individual does nat take either of those routes, the money will be considered taxable in- come in the year it was withdrawn. Some banking officials and tax consultants even recommend borrowing money for contributions because the tax saving will more than offset interest payments on the bank loan. If Sam, for example, takes a one-year loan of $1,000 to put in a home ‘ pwhership plan, he will pay about 14 per cent in interest or $78. That $78, however, could realize a tax break of about $30. The same holds true for contributions to Registered Retirement Savings Plans, although even the interest an in- dividual pays on funds borrowed is deductible .. for tax purposes. Interest :! on borrowed money to “make contributions to a spouse's plan Is not tax deductible. Under the plan, persons who are employges and do not have a company pension plan can con- tribute up to 20 per cent of earned income or $3,500, _ Whichever is less. If an employee con- tributes ta a company _ plan, the combined contribution to the em- ployer plan and the retirement savings plan can be up to 20 per cent of eamed income to a maximum of $3,500. Should Sam decide to pul $500 in a plan before March 1, 1979, the deadline for contributions to be deductible on 1978 tax returns, he can cut about $120 from his tax ill, . Cash can be withdrawn from the plariat any time, but the money received is considered income and - dividend-of $150, she-also-- taxed accordingly. In the case of con- tributions made to a spouse’s plan, money can be withdrawn -but ‘the - amount., of e. .con- tribution in’ the year of withdrawal and the two preceding years must be included as income of the contributor and not that of the spause. The other tax break Mary enjoyed in 1977 resulted from her pur- chase of Bell Canada shares, Although she had to claim as income a taxable could claim it as a deduction. : Mary, however, ended up having $28.12 knocked off her tax bill because the féderal government offered an 18-per-cent dividend tax credit. As a further incentive to invest in Canadian companies this year, the government has _in-. creased the tax credit to 25 per cent, lf Mary received the same dividend this year, her tax cut would be Canadians have other other deductions such as - medical expenses and charitable donations. But most claim the standard deduction of $100 for each which does not require receipts. Claims exceeding those figures can be'mac- as loug as taxpayers enclose allreceipts ©‘ The decision by the United States andChina to establish diplomatic relations on New Year's Day fulfills a prophecy made by the late Chairman Mao Tse-tung almost 14 years ago, Mao told the late American journalist Edgar Snow in January, 1965, that forces of history would eventually bring logether the peoples of the United States and China. Mao did not say when exactly this would materialize but- the chair- man assured the reporter the day would surely come al- though it would not be in Mao's own lifetime because, Snow wrote: ‘He was soon going to see God,” Mao died in 1974 at age 82. It was left to his successor Hua Kuo-feng to fulfil a task which Mao knew he was unable to accomplish in his old age. Mao's conversation with Snow came two years after a “hardship” period when the Russians withdrew — technicians from China and cancelled hundreds of contracts vital to China's in- dustrialization. The Soviet action was the direct result of a heated ideological dispule between IL TOOK TIME — U.S. China move Mao’s wish the two countries that began in the mid-1950s. The dispute widened into a chasm when the late Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reneged on his promise to provide China with a “sample atom bomb,” The unforgivable Soviet act came in July, 1963, when Khrushchev signed with Britain and the United States a nuclear test ban treaty. Official Chinese news media accused the Kremlin of joining an antl-China conspiracy. Perhaps to reduce Soviet sympathy at home Mao launched a major. cultural purge. The Cultural Revolution of 1966-69 toppled then- President Liu Shao-chi and Teng Hsiaoping, an in- fluential member of the Chinese Communist party’s central committee political bureau, Liu and Teng had ad- vocated a moderate line of national construction but Mao felt that in face of sharpening differences with Moscow, it was necessary first to cleanse one’s own house, The new U.S,-China agreg- ment stipulates that neither country ‘‘should seek hegemony in the Asian- Pacific region or inany other region of the world and each is opposed to efforts by any other country or a group of countries to establish such- hegemony.” Peking considers the Soviets “‘social- imperialists,’' pursuing a policy of world hegemony. A similar anti-hegemony clause also appears in a piece treaty China signed with Japan last October, The trealy was denounced by Moscow as a SinoJapanese conspiracy against the Soviet Union. However, Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev has ac- cepted U.S. recognition of China as a contribution to world peace, President Carter says. There fias been some suggestion the ailing Brezhnev may be more concerned about crowning his career with the signing of a stretegic arms pact with the U.S. than with the possibility that the U.S. and China may perhaps one day form an allianee against the Soviet Union. The Sino-American agreement climaxed more than 23 years of off-and-on negollations and diplomatic manoeuvres that involved a. least one other country. The late Chinese Premier Chou En-lai told western reporters’ in 1964 that a Chinese proposal for talks - with Washington was delivered to the Americans through the good offices of Britain early in 1955. The proposal resulted in the Sino- American ambassadorial talks which began in August, 1955. ‘The talks proved in- conclusive and were called off by Peking in 1966 inthe midst of the cultural purge. The purge confirmed Mao’s political authority. A significant move was Mao’s approval of a visit to China by President Richard Nixon as Chou's guest, The visit in 1972 resulted in the Shanghai communique which forms the basis of the new U.S.-China agreement. Mao alse — approved rehabitation of Teng as recommended by Chow whose health had de- teriorated. Chou died in February, 1976, al age 76. Tang was re-admitted te the political bureau. He now ranks one rung below party Chairman Hua. Teng will visit Carter at the White House in January. VICTORIA REPORT BY CYRIL SHELFORD For the information of those interested in the dispute of the schoals and college in the West Kootenay. - This has lasted since Apri! and has been locked-out or strike bound since October, and now has brought government action through Bill 46 (The West Koofenay Schools Collective Bargaining Assistance Act). It is not my intention to place blame on either one side or the other. Both sides will have to take responsibility for the lack of opportunity of a reasonable education for those in the schools in Nelson, Trail, Castlegar, Grand Forks, Selkirk "College. In Castlegar, along with various rural schools. The real issue is this: Should we as the elected members stand by any longer and see all these young people lose their opportunity in the educational system? During this time the in- struction hours should have been 250, and due to the dispute there have been only 52 hours. The two sides have been using the students as pawns in their game of bargaining. No government should stand for such action, and the student must come first, as after all, the student's opportunity for an education is the only reason for the education system in the firs! place. It is interesting to note a few points that had to be considered by the government In reaching a decision to call the Legistafure together to bring an end to the dispute. They are as follows: 1. Parents have to pay school taxes, but get no benetits for thelr children during the dispute. 2. Some of the senior students wanted to clear the picket lines by force. 3. Many students lose their opportunity for bursaries and scholarships, etc., due to lack of instruction and lower marks. 4. This can do permanent damage fo many going into professional careers, as they will have disadvantages with . low marks. 5. Students were so concerned they hired legal council fo find out whom they could sue for damages due to loss of educational op- ‘portunities. 6. Parents can be sent to jail for not sending their children to school, and yet, other can prevent their children from attending without penalty. ' 7. Five thousand people signed a petition in twa. days asking for government action. Summary of the negative impact of the strike. tockout in the West Kootenay: | 1. Selkirk College . 7 ! a. Vocational programs at the. college. no ‘fonger-operating: ‘The Ministry of LabaUr has cancelled ai! apprenticeship and pre. apprenticeship programs. b. The Kootenay School of Arts at Nelson has been closed. Approximately 30 percent of the Student body at .5.A. have left. 70 percent are attempting to continue their program without access to required equipment and resources. c. Approximately 50 percent of continuing education programs at Castelgar and Nelson have been cancelled. d. Programming at the David Thompson University Centre has ceased. . e. Classes held at the Castelgar campus have been very seriously disrupted. This situation has a negative effect on the study and work habits o! Students. 25 percent of the university transter students have dropped out and 75 percent arc considering other alternatives for the spring term. Classes which are being held can only be conducted off campus in make-shift setting. This situation is not only inconvenient for both the - students and faculty, but also detracts from the quality of education delivered. f. Student and faculty morale throughout the college has been gravely affected by the impact of the strike-lockout. 2. School District 7 (Neison) a. The strike-lockout is creating a decline in attendance, especially for rural schools, where distances are great and there is a lack of tran sportation. b, The physical condition of some schools in regard to inadequate heating and lack of cleanliness is gradually deteriorating toa degree where instruction and total operation is no longer possible. ¢. The effect of the sirike-lockout on the morale of students, parents and teachers is critical. 3. School District 9 (Castlegar) a. Due fo forced reduction in the daily hours of instruction in schools, the level of performance particularly in semestered schaols has declined. b. Due to lack of transportation and in creasingly hazardous winter road conditions, attendance in semi-rural areas has fluctuated considerably. 4, School District 11 (Trail) a. Schoo!s operate for only three hours per day on the average, thus affecting student progress. b. Nine of fifteen schools in the district have been without heat for the last five weeks. c. All schools lack sufficient cleaning per- sonnel, thereby affecting the physical condition of the schools. . . 5. School district 12 (Grand Forks) a. Student progress was significantly affected during periods of partial operation of schools in the district. | strongly support the government in their action, as | never want to sit idly by while the opportunity for our students is damaged.