Ken Avram Canadian Taxpayers Federation Jason Ford is a 19 year old univer- sity student, studying biology, and he is also the president of an organiza- _tion called the Youth Alliance on Debt Freedom. Speaking at a Vancouver conference. recently, Jason didn’t mince any words as he talked about the condition of the nation, and what the youth of Canada have to look for- ward to. Here in part is what he had tosay: - “Lam going to be blunt. It’s time for the citizens of this country to wake up to reality. Over a third of every dollar the federal government col- lects in taxes goes to service the na- tional debt. A debt which has topped $400 billion dollars. This amounts to $15,000 for every man, woman and child in this country, and if we in- clude municipal and provincial debts, '| a family of four owes over $100,000. How did things get so bad? The an- Swer is very simple — Canadians don’t like taxes . . . however, Canadi- ans do like government services. We are rightfully proud of our social sup- port networks and government pro- grams, but thus far, we have been en- tirely unwilling to pay for what we've received. As children we’re told by our ‘par- ents that “you can’t get something for nothing.” When we get our first sum- mer jobs, our elders remind us of the importance of savings, and teach us about the meaning of money . . . Take a half-second glance at the state of this nation’s finances. Have past gen- erations practiced what they’ve preached? There’s a word for weigh- ing one thing and doing another — the word is hypocrisy. It’s not surprising that our parents generation desires to have a high standard of living. However, it‘is ap- palling that instead of paying for that standard themselves, they are allow- ing my generation to suffer immea- Canada’s youth being called upon to wake up Our sleeping nation - den”. Deficit spending is clearly de- . surably. We are perhaps the first gen- eration in modern history whose standard of living will be clearly low- er than our parents. Once you step back and look at the situation, the barefaced dishonesty of it all is frankly disgusting. “I am not an economist, ” Ford says, “I am a biology student. But you don”t have to be an economist to be absolutely dumfounded by the fiscal immorality of deficit fmancing. If any one of us consistently spent thou- sands more than he or she made, we would probably we thrown in jail . . . simple common sense dictates that spending beyond our means, year af- ter year, is nothing more than a guar- anteed tax on the future, and by tax- ing the future, Canada is destroying it’s future. The word tax can mean. more than just government revenue. As a verb, it can mean “to put strain on“, as a noun, it means “a heavy bur- ferred taxation which is a strain and a burden that is destroying the pro- ductivity of future generations. Remember, an honest politician said, “a government that’s. big enough to give you everything you want, is a government that is big enough to take away everything you’ve got.” i Financially, we have been poison- ing ourselves for years, by borrowing when we should have been balanc- ing, by spending when we should have been cutting back. This is not |* just a request for balanced budgets . . . this is a plea for fiscal honesty and responsibility. We have to tell the truth about the crisis we're in, and take the necessary steps to clean up our financial act. What I have just said probably won’t be popular, but I’m not here to get re- elected. We've all been spending above our-means for years — Now it’s time to make this country solvent again.” Legion Auxiliary wraps up - year with annual elections The Ladies Auxiliary to the Royal Canadian Legion No. 170 held its De- cember meeting for nominations and elections for 1992. The new executive is: President, Justine Buffet; 1st Vice Pres. Muriel Heagy; 2nd Vice Pres. Joyce Turner; Secretary, Marg Rafter; Treasurer, Pearl Mott. Executive members — Joan Blais, Leena Urbani, Hilda Salmon and Al- ey eee nena donations to Command Hospitals were given the following: ‘George Derby $100, Shaughnessy = Vet’s $100; Women’s Health Centre $200,Bursary $500, Branch #170 $1,000, Xmas Hampers $60 plus $240 in Food Vouchers. Hobbit Hill Day Care $50. . The Dec. 18 Christmas lunch at noon at the Scotsman with $4 gift ex- change was held with everyorie enjoy- The ladies will be busy catering in. January for the following events: Li- brary Dinner Jan. 20, Robbie Burns night Jan. 25, naturalist Jan. 3land Feb. 12 for the West Kootenay Curl- ing. Saturday, January 4, 1992 m Jesus shows path to freedom from past There is an Indian tribe in South Ameri- ca that has (at least to our way of thinking) a rather unique ap- proach to looking at the Past, the Present and the Future. We tend to think of the “past” as being behind us and the “future” as being ahead of us. But this particular tribe pictures the past as being ahead of them and the future as be- ing behind them. At Pastor Rankin McGOUGAN Pulpit & Assembly dangerous. Because change, even change for the good, is a source of stress. Much to my frus- tration I’ve discovered that the familiarity é : and comfort with where we are, is easi- er to take and feels safer than the un- known _ responsibili- ties and costs of where we might be, if true change were to occur. The bottom line seems to be that we Pew ' New Life first glance this may seem a little strange but their reason- ing gives merit to their approach. They feel that because they have al- ready lived through the past that it can be seen and therefore is consid- ered as being ahead of them. The fu- ture on the other hand is unknown .and cannot be seen and therefore is thought of as being behind where it can’t be seen. They add strength to their concept by considering that the experiences of life — the mistakes, the failures, the victories, the triumphs — and the lessons are in front of us to learn from and they are there for our contemplation and our benefit. Whether we look back to the future and ahead to the past or back to the past and ahead to the future doesn’t change the fact that turning the cal- endar compels us to evaluate the past and anticipate the future. If we’re truthful enough in our reflection and determined enough in our resolve then even New Year’s resolutions have the potential of affecting some change. By now most ofus have had time to glory in our temporary triumphs as we've conquered some of those drag- ons we like to call “New Year’s Reso- lutions.” But we’ve also had enough time to taste the agony of defeat as some of our best intentions have crum- bled before our eyes like graphic tech- nicolor reminders of the weakness of our resolve. But whether your resolu- tions have been glorious victories or w Saturday Jariiary 4, Your Forests in focus Biotechnology. It is a leading-edge word, if one to which a certain amount of controversy has already at- tached itself. It is actually a broad term covering countless applica- tions of biological science to agriculture, food processing, forestry, and health. The West Kootenay Na- tional Exhibition Centre’s up- coming exhibit, “The Living Factories.” will explore the subject in relation to each of these areas, as well as those of bio-safety and biotechnology marketing. Housed in the NEC’s main gallery from Jan. 7 through Feb. 25, the walk-through ex- hibit is intended to provide both children and adults with insight into what is going on_ in fields of biological research and applied science that will y ever greater roles in the next century. The exhibit orig- inated with the Semaine des “ Sciences du. Quebec and Ot- tawa’s National Museum of Science and Technology. According to the NEC’s ed- uéational co-ordinator, Mau- reen Stelck, some 1,400 stu- dents 'from regional interme- diate and junior secondary schools are scheduled to ex- plore the exhibit under her in- formative supervision: “Biotechnology isa very current topic,” says Stelck. “It’s something the kids need * to learn about these days.” The exhibit will be of no less interest to adults. Stelck feels the uses of biotechnolo- gy for the reduction of pollu- tion will be of interest to envi- ronmentalists. Starting with an illustrated explanation of the structure and function of the cell, the building block of living things, the exhibit ranges through the use of fermentation and other processes in food manu- facture, the use of antibodies in the treatment of diseases, the utilization of bacteria and genetic engineering in agri- culture and forestry, and the employment of bacteria in the task of reducing environmen- : tal pollution. : Area residents are invited to visit the NEC and see “The Living Factories.” The National Exhibition Centre is located across from the Castlegar Airport on Highway 3A. The NEC’s hours are 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon-4:30 p.m. on Satur- day and Sunday. AGCTION ; BOARDWALK USSELL OPEN MON-saT. Rcction He - TERPRIg iy 399-4769 FAX 399-4760 -Brian L. Brown. 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