Page A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 1 0, 1993

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DITORIAL

Risky venture

So, .Orenda Forest Products wants government loan guarantees to help fi- nance its planned pulp and paper mill south: of Lakelse Lake. A loan guarantee isn’t quite the same thing as directly fork- ing over the money. What it does is pro- vide a safety. net for somebody else who will lend the money,

That’s the interesting thing about this kind of high finance. The people who lend the money directly assume no risk but reap all of the benefits. The taxpayer does not get-a return on the guarantee but ends of carrying the can should anything go WIONg.

There are lots of arguments for govern-

ments giving loan guarantees. In doing so.

they. spark economic development. But there are arguments against, not the least of which is that the taxpayer ends up buying his or her job.

The Orenda example is fascinating. Here’s a project which offers an environ- mentally friendly technology and a high recovery rate in terms of what goes in and

Housing

It’s amazing how fast a government can move when the proper motivation kicks in. Consider the city-owned lots on Maroney Ave. The appearance of a modular home lead"io.a' quick’ anid? vocal’ protest by other!" residents. And'in’ short ‘oider council” Sets’ © out'an extensive list of restrictions should anybody want to buy one of those lots.

This is a far cry from efforts by groups to establish measures leading to affordable housing. They receive a polite reception fromthe city and that’s about it, 7

But: council has done a good thing with

all of this, It?s created a. subdivision that- will: appeal only to the certain group” Of:

people who can \ afford it.

. benefit “ Council is fulfilling one obligation by

what goes out. It'll use wood nobody else wants. The product is clean and in demand compared to other kinds of paper.

Yet the company still apparently needs government backing. This should tell us something about the state of risk capital nowadays, There would appear to be a dis- tinct lack of get up and go out there if money lenders need a safety net on such a

project. Then again, it may be-they know

something we don’t.

In the end, if the provincial government wants to provide a loan guarantee, it should do so only if there is some return in revenue and in profits. If the taxpayer is

. being asked to assume some of the risk, it

should be in line for some of the rewards. There could be other tangible items, Put- ting people on the Orenda board of direc-

- tors who live in this area would cement

that monetary relationship. It would help make the project responsive to the area in every facet of its operation, That’s not too much to ask for given what Orenda wants. Business is business.

potential

The question is what should council do with the money its reaping from the sale of the Maroney lots. One possibility is setting that money aside for the development of

hh ‘other: kinds ‘of housing, This isn’t the same _ “"thing’ as° raising | taxes. Those who want to

live on Maroney Ave, can afford to do so

- and will gladly pay whatever is required.

Those who do need housing — working poor, young families, seniors — can thus without imposing themselves.

securing the best deal possible for land it is

. Selling on behalf of the citizens of the city.

Paying attention to other citizens of this

city would only cantinue that obligation.

Debt plan disliked

“AS cyclical as spring breakup on the. Skeena, Shameless

Mountain Ski Corporation. is back renegotiating its regional - district debt.

‘In the the corporatian’s latest Bifocals attempt. to’ duck financial _ responsibilities,- once again DY Claudette Sandecki |

they proposed that their entire ‘debt-.be’ forgiven. After regional . ‘district _ directors

Through

- wiped. away tears of merri- ment and disbelief, the corpo- ‘ration’ unblushing asked for their debt lo be reduced. They claim the ski hill equipment is no. longer. -worth what . they

agreed to pay. for it. News -

flash. Even ski hill equipment

deteriorates . somewhat in six”

years,

In 1990, io acconiumodate the wallowing corporation, the regional district. cancelled nearly :$100,000 in accumu- lated interest, Was the corpo- ration embarrassed? —- No.

-Humlliated? Not a bit. Did they resolve, again. - beg for financial for- giveness?"’ No- way. They shrugged, said ‘“Sorry, folks." Now they retum - for a fifth time - expecting average tax- payers to bankroll their finan- cial fantasies. °

Their 1986 bid appears to be

_ based ‘oan off-the-cuff reply when a: Steve -Podborski was interrupted as he waxed. his skis bya director who asked, "Say,-what do you: think the Kitsumkalum ski: bill | equip:

"We'll never.

But even if their overblown bid was based on unreliable advice, what makes them think district taxpayers are ready to relieve them of their financial burden by taking over their losses?

Funny. how they can come up with big bucks to repay provincial and federal govern- ment loans, but always run short when they’re due to pay taxpayers. In light of their am- bitious business scheme, $35,000 interest is a pittance.

_ Divided among loyal directors who believe in the viability of

Shames, it works out to rough- ly what an -average skier spends during a ski season.

_A two-year survey of B.C, skiers found the average skier spends $164. each of the 14- days a year he skis.

The survey also found a lot of B.C, skiers are older, well- heeled, professional executive- management types’ in the $70,000 income bracket. Sixty per cent of them are men aged

25 to 44, .

Tn the’ teal world, corporate losses lead to - management

ie Not so on the ski hill.

AML ‘along’ Pye: doubted: the

corporation intended paying

what they bid for Kitsum- kalum ski hill equipment. And just as cach spring crocuses revive, so da my doubts.

A couple of years ago a sum- mer arts school began in Ter- race with modest, solid plans. They sought financial sponsor- ship, rolled up their sleeves, and have worked hard to altain their projected goal. Already they have met or excecded it.

The .. corporation had a grander vision, but consistent- ly fall short in their execution,

The survey concluded the. average B.C. skier sounds like a spoiled, self-absorbed twerp. So. does the Shameless Mountain Ski Corporation,

Bottom OF THE BUNNY, CYCLE 1S A BUMMER!

SETS

eS

NOTIN HERB sacee 1S HE STILL MUST BE ~~ PRIME MINISTER...

Expect the worst — with new budget,

VICTORIA — Someone stopped me on the street the other day, ‘“You hang around politicians,”’ he said. ‘‘Tell me, do Mike Harcourt and his gang really believe they are _NDPers?”’

~-He-had-been-an. NDP. Super "porter all his life, he told me, and as far as he was con-

cered, the NDP government ——

in British Columbia was no- different than Tory or Liberal governments elsewhere.

Now, Gordo would probably bristle at such a suggestion, but aside from a few initiatives such as the new Labor Rela- tions Act, the pin-striped Har- court government does, in- deed, have more in common. with the Conservatives or Lib- erals than with, let’s say, the Dave Barrett government of the early 70s.

It starts with the style of leadership. Whereas Barrett was a populist firebrand politician, who always knew where the enemy’s jugular was, Harcourt looks and acts

more like an accountant than a .

politician.

Times have, of course, changed. When Barrett was in office, he still had some old- line socialists in his cabinet who, given the slightest en- couragement and halfa _ chance, would have gleefully nationalized a big company or two, The modern New Demo- crats would rather not talk about those days,

But the big difference be- tween then and now is money. In the 70s, governments didn’t know what a deficit was. Be- fore the first big oil crunch, governments routinely took in more money than they spent.

When Barrett took office, he was able to give the "un- derdog" the better deal he had

promised. He could afford to -

raise social assistance rates, for instance. Harcourt doesn’t have the luxury. There is no money to doa Jot, if anything.

AND EVEN LYNX.

HEY SAY IN Low RABBIT YEARS Wolf DIETS MAY INCLUDE FOR, BEAVER

From the Capitai | by: Hubert ‘Reyer _

The coffers are empty.

And it’s not the fault of the previous Socred government, as the NDP would have us be-

out to be pretty sloppy fiscal managers, and were a far cry ‘from the economic wizards they fancied themselves, but they neither caused the current. financial problems, nor could

they have prevented them.

~ The economic malaise is world-wide, Even the once in- vincible economic engine of Germany is running in low gear, and the government is having problems with deficits, One wonders whether Japan can be far behind.

So why should anyone be surprised that the next budget will make the NDP look suspi-

. ciously like the restraint- oriented budgets of Bill Ben- nett?

NDP supporters feel a little cheated. They had expected more than they got, so far, - from this government. Every environmentalist thought that the NDP would save every. valley from loggers and ' miners.

Health care workers thought the days of hospital-bed -

- closures would be over. Teachers thought there would

_be no problem getting more

money for education. Well, they were wrong. It didn’t take the NDP very long

_ to figure out that without log-

ging and mining, the province would soon go to hell in a ‘hand basket. Environmental

. initiatives are great, but they cost mqney.

And as for teachers, I woukd like to remind them that the education system has swal- lowed the lion’s share of . budget increases: ~ lieve. True, the Socreds tumed _ According to the latest report

by auditor general George Morfitt, the cost of educating our students bas gone up from $2.7 billion in 1988 to $4.5 billion in 1992, and increase of $1.8 billion or 66.7 percent. By comparison, health care costs, usually cited as the greatest contributor to the deficit, have risen from $4.1 billion in 1988 to $5.6 billion in 1992, an increase of $1.5 billion or 36.6.percent. So, while the total bill for health care is still the biggest budget item, the costs have risen at a significantly lower rate than those for education. How teachers, in the light of this, can keep a straight face. when they accuse the govern- ment of not pulting enough ~ money into the educations sys- tem is beyond me. And ob-— viously, it’s also beyond the

. government, because Clark is

firm on holding the line,

Before bringing down his budget, Clark will hit the road, taking his tough-limes:mes- sage to a number of com- munities and audiences across the province. —

Clark will say the obvious, that there isn’teven enough money for essentials; leave — alone luxuries. So if you voted for the NDP and are still wait- ing for whatever great things you expected, keep waiting — and don’t hold year breath. Like I said, the voupbose are _ bare,

‘wWolF ae