OPINION

Sy

C tlégar N

PAGE A4, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1990

(MEMBER OF THE B.C PRESS COUNCE

ESTABLISHED AUGUST 7, 1847 TWICE WEEKLY MAY 4, 1880
INCORPONATING THE MID-WEEK 2

LV. CAMPBELL — PUBLISHER, AUGUST 7, 1847-FEBRUARY 15, 1873

EDITORIAL
Choice needed

The essence of a democratic political system is the freedom to
choose from among candidates who represent different parties or who
may have differing views on how to approach the job of a particular
Political office. “

As of late Thursday, voters in the City of Castlegar do not yet have
a choice for mayor since Audrey Moore is the only declared candidate
with just over a week to go before the nomination deadline.

That's too bad, and we hope someone will step forward with a
challenge before nominations close at noon on Oct. 29.

BA
y

While there’s no question Mrs. Moore has been a
mayor for the past 13 years, we’re sure she would be the first to agree
that the exchange of ideas during the thrust and parry of an election
campaign is essential to the health of a political system be it municipal,
Provincial or federal, and would welcome the challenge.

: Who, then might step forward?

The fact that Mrs. Moore is in the race likely rules out Doreen
Smecher who many think the mayor has been grooming as a successor,
having given the rookie alderman the weighty responsibility of chair-
man of council's administration and finance committee.

Ron Ross earned a lot of respect for shepherding the Aquatic Cen-
tre from an idea to reality, winning Citizen of the Year honors for his
efforts, and without doubt would get a lot of votes if he ran.

Rossland-Trail MLA Chris D’Arcy, who will turn the NDP banner
over to Castlegar school trustee Ed Conroy as soon as Premier Vander
Zalm calls a provincial election, would make a most interesting op-
ponent for Mayor Moore. If you'll recall, Mr. D’Arcy, a Castlegar
resident, topped Mrs. Moore in the last provincial election when she ran
as a Socred. However, Mr. D’Arcy told the Castlegar News this week
he isn’t interested in entering civic politics.

Another possibility is Ald. Terry Rogers whose disag with

October 20,1990 CastlegarNews As

PERSPECTIVES

Bad news helps sell bonds

By IAN BAILEY
‘The Canadian Press

Nothing helps sell Canada Savings
Bonds like bad news, and financial

to guarantee healthy
's bonds.
Middle East crisis,

Wostenholme of the Toronto
brokerage firm Burns Fry.

David Carnell, senior vice-
president for Richardson Green-
shields of Canada, pointed to staff
cuts announced recently at some
major firms. ‘*Talk to the guys at Air
Canada or the Canadian National
(Railway). The people still working
have to be concerned they’re not
going to be working in ix months, so
spending goes to saving."”

The bonds went on sale Thursday,
carrying an interest rate of 10.75 per
cent for the first year. That rate also
applies to all outstanding previous
bond issues.

Nov. 1 will be the last day the bon-
ds can be bought at face value. The
sales deadline for companies offering

ANALYSIS

bonds through payroll deductions is
Nov. 15.

There are two types of bonds:

regular interest, which pays interest
each Nov. | until maturity;
Pound interest, which reinvests in-
terest automatically so the savings
continue to grow until the bonds are
cashed,

The new bonds have a 12-year term
to maturity and the interest rate for
each of the next 11 years will be set
annually. Individuals can buy up to
$75,000 in bonds.

In recent years, the government has
raised the rate on CSBs from the one
announced initially. For the 1989
issue, the rate started at 10.5 per cent
but was increased last June | to 11.5
per cent. The year before, it was
bumped to 10.5 per cent from 9.5 per
cent.

Whatever the rate, observers say
the bonds fit nicely into any saving ef-
fort because they can be turned into
cash at any financial institution on
any business day.

“If you like, you can ride it out.
Otherwise you can hop off,’ says Ted
Krug, vice-president of Midland
Walwyn Capital in Kitchener, Ont.

Interest on the bonds is calculeted
at the end of each month, so it’s a
good idea to cash bonds on the first
business day of a month to receive the
maximum interest.

Best of all, the bonds are guaran-
teed by a pretty solid authority — the
government of Canada. ‘‘The last
thing that can happen is the country
reneges on them,”’ said Carnell.

However, for a short-term invest-
ment spin, there are better options
such as federal treasury bills, which
offer the same government backing as
savings bonds but higher interest rates
— up to 11.7 per cent recently on one-
year T-bills at one Toronto-area
brokerage firm.

But the minimum T-bill order is
$5,000, compared with $100 for com-
pound interest CSBs and $300 for
regular interest bonds.

Almost three milliog Canadians
bought savings bonds last year, either
with cash or through payroll deduc-
tion plans. The government raised

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Attractions popular
The Castlegar and District Heritage Society

will be closing the Castlegar Rail Station on Nov. |

and the Chapel House on Zuckerberg Island on

Nov. 11 for the winter.

As these are the only two tourist attractions in
north Castlegar, we thought that the general public
might be interested in the number of visitors that we

had from April 1-Oct. 17

Bearing in mind that due to lack of grants for
staff, we ran the Chapel House. weekends only
through April and May with volunteer help, there
was still a total of 9,501 visitors to the park. They

Mayor Moore, although restrained publicly at council meetings, have
nevertheless surfaced and led many to speculate he would challenge her
in November. But Ald. Rogers is now into his second year as district
Principal of special services in the Castlegar school district and it’s ob-
vious his commitment and dedication to his career is holding him back
from jumping into the fray. But he hasn’t yet ruled it out.

These are just some of the people who have devoted their time to
the city who would make good candidates. There are others, and we
hope at least one of them will step forward in the next week so that the
people of Castlegar will have a choice Nov. 17

VIEWPOINT
NDP would scrap GST

By LYLE KRISTIANSEN
Kootenay West-Reveistoke MP

The interests of small business in
Canada. during the Oct. 21-27 week
of recognition, makes me think of the

$100,000 lifetime capital gains exec-
mption. (Proceeds from the sale of
Principal residences remain un-
taxable.)

© Raising the inclusion rate for

vast impact the now-infamous goods
and services tax will have on retailers
and other small business in this
region
Unfortunately
the GST will

the complexity of
make it an ad
ministrative nightmare for many
small business operators, requiring
detailed new accounting procedures.
While Canadian small business had
thought the Conservative government
would be a low-tax administration,
that’s turned out not to be the case —
and the burdens it is levying will likely
hit hardest at small businesses.

Simplicity is what small business
needs. Coupled with the guiding light
of fairness to companies and to in-
dividuals, and making everyone pay
their fair share in proportion to their
ability to pay, a simple, fair system is
possible — and would not include the
GST. Simply put, the New Democrat
alternative would scrap the GST

Small business will be interested to
Jearn that practical alternatives to the
Conservative government's present
course are available. Here are six steps
that New Democrats propose:

1. Bring down imterest rates, which
Michae! Wilson himself says will
reduce the deficit by $3.2 billion an
nually for every two-point reduction
in the prime rates

2. Strike a royal commission to
redesign the national tax system so
that it is based on the ability to pay

3. On an interim basis, roll back the
manufacturer's sales tax to nine per
cent, which it was in 1984.

4. Establish a refundable sales tax
credit to compensate the poor for the
regressive tax burden of comsumption
taxes, and index the tax credit to in
flation

5. Enact new excise tax measures tc
retain revenue from taxing alcohol
cigarettes and gasoline, and to raise
revenue from the sale of luxury goods

capital gains income to 100 per cent.

© Converting the RRSP tax deduc-
tion to a credit, and freezing the
amount of money that can be saved
tax-free at $7,500 annually

© Eliminating excesses in business
meals and entertainment deductions,
and reducing the often-abused luxury
travel and hotel accommodation
deductions.

© Introduce withholding taxes of
10 per cent at source for income
derived from capital (such as capital
gains, terest and dividend income)
primarily to reduce tax evasion

© Adding two rates to the current
income tax schedule — one at 40 per
cent for incomes between $75,000 and
$100,000, and a top rate of 43 per cent
for incomes over $100,000.

Continuing our list of steps to
reform the tax system, making it fair
and easy for small business, the
following moves would broaden the
tax base, primarily targeting large
companies

© phase out the

when grants are

for these two attractions.

‘We would like to thank the Castlegar News for

every province, most of the United
States and a large number of foreign countries.
‘Vhe rail station, which is always undergoing
il and will
eventually with time and patience become a local
history/C.P. Rail museum, had 2,257 visitors.
The combined total of 11,758 represents
People who would probably not have bothered to
drive to the north end of the city at all were it not

turned on and off quickly but have higher
Production costs and often must use more
expensive fuels. For these utilities there is a need to
reduce the peak as much as possible and convert it
to base load. It is in everyone's interest to spend
money to get people to shift their consumption
patterns during the day.

With a hydroelectric system, the peak and
base loads are part and parcel of the same plant.
The fuel — water — is the same and it is simply a
matter of running more generators at a given time.
Since the generators are in place anyway to ensure
that all water can be used as stream flows vary
throughout the year, there is basically no
difference, beyond some small transmission
savings, in peak and off-peak power.

To achieve these very minor transmission savings
we would, among other measures, have to install
mew meters to charge different rates with costs in
the $500 million to $1 billion range or a 10-20 per
cent raise in general rates.

In other words we would not achieve any
better efficiency in power use and customer's rates
would go up substantially. It is a lose-lose

its excellent coverage of the island and the station
events over the past year. And to those of you in the
community who have faithfully supported us, our

grateful thanks
Sherrei Koreen

President
(Castlegar and District Heritage Society

Rates explained

Over the last few months there have been
numerous letters to the editor, the British Columbia
Utilities Commission and B.C. Hydro concerning
the possibility of offering different rates depending
on the time of day. The implication is that this
would be a more efficient way of operating the

system and benefiting customers.

While it is true that such measures can be
highly beneficial in certain types of systems it is
not valid in the predominantly water-based system

we have in B.C

Thermal systems using coal, oil, or natural gas
as their fuel tend to operate their base-load plants
on the cheapest available fuel. However, since they
must meet peaks in power demand they construct
other plants which are more flexible and can be

Group worried
The Johnsons Landing Community
. Association has informed Premier Bill Vander
Zalm of our concern, frustration and apprehension
concerning an unacceptable logging operation now
taking place in this community
Our concern is about serious damage to the

particular parcel of land, to the watercourses which

Workers Compensation Board, and the Central
Kootenay regional district.

Representatives have, in each case, inspected
the problem area, offered moral support and
generally indicated tht they could do little or
nothing until significant damage occurs. We feel
strongly that this has already happened, and that
we are unprotected by any legislation.

In short, the membership is outraged that so
little can be done by officialdom to prevent this
egregious exploitation.

We have asked the premier if he is aware of
any aspects of existing legislation which, enforced
to the letter, might persuade independent loggers to
operate in a socially and ecologically responsible
manner. We recognize that the forest industry is
integral to the economy of British Columbia, but
surely we are not obliged to condone the
unconscionable.

Please address all letters to the editor
to: Letters to the Editor, Castiegar
P.O. Box 3007, Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4,
or deliver them to our office at 197
Columbia Ave. in Castlegar.

Letters should be typewritten, double-
spaced and not longer than 300 words.

Letters MUST be signed and include

traverse it, to the adjacent properties, and to the
only public road serving this community. Our
frustration stems from logging practices
unacceptable on public land but countenanced on
Private land. Experts advise us that damage to the
water quality, the adjoining property, the public
road and the environment will occur because of the
greatly increased instability on steep slopes.

As an association and an individuals, we have
contacted such agencies as the RCMP, the Ministry
of Environment's water management branch, the
Ministry of Highways, the Ministry of Forests, the

the writer's first and last names, address
and a telephone number at which the
writer can be reached between 9 a.m. and
5 p.m. The writer's name and city or town
of residence only will be published. Only
in exceptional
Published without
Nevertheless,
telephone number of the writer MUST be
disclosed to the editor

The Castlegar News reserves the right
to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality,
grammar and taste.

cases will letters be
the writer's name.

the name, address and

Home improvements to cost more

OTTAWA (CP) — The kitchen’s
too dark, the bathroom’s too small or

the kids are
bedroom.
All good
renovation

The timing for those considering

sick of sharing a

reasons for home

special tax rate as the manufacturers’
sales tax disappears

° Enact new laws to ensure that
multinationals pay taxes on all profits
earned in Canada.

incentives for un-
Productive mergers and acquisitions,
unless corporations can demonstrate
significant benefit to Canada

© Limit the tax advantages of the
dividend tax credit

© Legisiate that large corporations
may only write off advertising costs
over three years, as opposed to the
current one year, and end advertising
deductions for political advertising.

8. My last point for more fair tax
favoring working people and small
business is to impose a tax on tran-
sfers of wealth beginning at $1
milhon, which you might call a

I tax.

and from envir
products

6 Restore progressive taxation in
the personal income tax system
through the following steps:

© -Retaining the $500,000 lifetime
capital gains tax exemption for shares
sold in’ small businesses and for far-
but eliminating the personal

mers,

Put together, the above New
Democrat platform would yield more
tax for our national treasury from
more of those who can well afford it,
not by imposing more tax and more
Paperwork on working individuals
and on small businesses — the back-
bone of our rural

such hor ip projects —
from simple repairs to expensive
knocking out of walls and adding
rooms or garages — may be greatly
affected by the new goods and ser-
vices tax due Jan. 1

We'll pay slightly higher taxes on
building and decorating materials.
But the real jolt will be on labor. For
the first time, those who are not do-it-
yourselfers will pay seven per cent
federal tax on any hired labor

Even those who want to tackle the
project themselves and escape the
GST on labor will pay the new tax on
rentals of equipment such as floor
sanders or concrete mixers.

“It'll be a net increase, there's no
doubt about that,”’ says David
Lawson of the Canadian Home
Builders’ Association.

The tax breakdown is complicated.
The current federal sales tax. —
known as the manufacturers’ tax —

and passed to the consumer hidden in
the retail price.

When GST is applied instead,
however, the buyer pays seven per
cent on that retail price — which
varies but can be significantly higher
than wholesale. That's why fhe net

tax hit on the wallet will usually be
greater.

A few examples: sales tax (not in-
cluding provincial sales tax) paid on
sand and gravel will rise by $.8 per
cent; 2.3 per cent on lumber, 2.5 per
cent on plywood and 4.1 per cent on

nails and bolts. That's according to
the independent Ottawa-based Con-
sumer Information Office, based on
Statistics Canada data.

Tax on plumbing equipment will go
up by 1.6 per cent and by 2.6 per cent
on cement

New banking laws on way

By TERRY O’SHAUGHNESSY

Entrepreneurs are a very com-
petitive lot. They know, perhaps bet-
ter than anyone, that the best product
or service at the best price wins the
customer.

So it's no surprise that small-
business owners are frequently
dismayed by the quality, or lack of it,
of banking service in Canada.

The so-called Big Six banks, loath
to adapt to changing times and
protected by charter for so long, have
conducted the business of banking in
this country with all the savvy of the

on building such
as lumber and bricks is nine per cent.
It’s 13.5 per cent on imterior items
such as paint, wallpaper and light
fixtures.

Those rates are paid by the
level

y

at the

stitut
bringing in tough new rules to prevent

future failures, it took the federal
government five years — and three
ministers — for this legislation to
finally be unveiled.

Minister of State for Finance Gilles
Loiselle said the new policy should
benefit consumers by encouraging
more competition both at home and
abroad. Among other things, the
government is proposing that trust
and loan companies be given full
commercial and consumer lending
powers.

All of which points to a more com-
petitive market im the future. And
that's good news says Catherine
Swift, vice president of research and
chief economist of the Canadian
Federation of Independent Business.

forced to become more competitive —
and that can only be good news for
customers. Many of our members
already tend to prefer non-bank
financial institutions, such as credit
unions or trust companies, for just
that reason.""

In the short run, Swift points out,
small-business owners will also be
happy to note that the banks will be
Prohibited from retailing insurance
through their branch networks or en-
tering the auto leasing business.

“The entry of the banks into in-
surance retailing, for example, could
drive independent insurance brokers
out of business and would be
detrimental to healthly competition
among the smaller players. Needless
to say, healthy competition ensures
lower prices and better service for

lending on the same footing as the
banks, for example, the banks will be

And that, concludes Swift, will be
the best news of all.

REMEMBER WHEN

4 YEARS AGO
From the Oct. 19, 1950
Castle News

Guy Leitner of Kinnaird was elec-
ted President of the Castlegar and
District Kiwanis Club in Tuesday
night’s annual general election. He
will succeed retiring president Al Hor-
swill.

. 8

The regular monthly meeting of the
Castlegar and District Board of Trade
was held last Thursday. ...

The Roads and Bridges Committee,
under the Chairmanship of V. Jenks,
reported on their meeting regarding
the Oil Trucks crossing the Ferry.
Government regulation will not allow
other vehicles on the ferry with a
truck and therefore traffic is often
held up while the ferry makes a
special trip with the vehicle.

* 8 8

A special board of Trade commit-
tee called on the Village Com-
missioners on Monday and took up
the following:

* Notwithstanding the lack of fun-
ds, the Board was of the opinion
every effort should be made to
provide a sidewalk from the elemen-
tary school to Maple Street, or at least
to the Community Hall, to tie in with
the protected walk.

25 YEARS AGO

From the Oct. 21, 1965

Castlegar News

An error of major importance has
been discovered in the district
municipality study carried out for the
twin villages of Castlegar and Kin-
naird by the B.C. Research Council.

The study used the assessed values
provided for school district taxation
purposes instead of those available to
a municipal government and the
possible mill rate to run a district
municipality should be 21 mills and
not the 12 mills reported in the
Research Council study.

. 8 8

Kinnaird-Robson-Castlegar Com-
munity Chest directors this week an-
nounced that Celgar puip division
manager lan A. Cairns has agreed to
be general chairman of the annual
United Appeal Drive for funds in this
area.

. 8 8
Displeasure with the amount of
work being carried out on the
Castlegar-Trail highway was ex-
pressed at last week’s meeting of the
Castlegar Chamber of Commerce.

Commented member Sam
Muirhead: ‘‘It’s a cow trail. We are
going to lose our citizens to Trail. It
should be immediately brought up to
a standard secondary road.’

15 YEARS AGO
From the Oct. 23, 1975
Castlegar News

With noon Monday the deadline
for filing papers for the Nov. 15 elec-
tion, a contest is guaranteed for
positions .on the board of trustees for
School District No. 9 while one more
name is yet needed for an aldermanic
race if Ald. Steve Jankola does not
file papers to seek re-election.

Mayor Ed Mosby, aldermen
Audrey Moore ‘and Andy Shutek have
indicated they will seek re-electiGn—

. . 8

Should money be needed next year
for the new community centre and
arena, the necessary borrowing has
been given third reading by Regional
District of Central Kootenay at least
Saturday’s meeting.

. . 8

An attempted armed robbery was
foiled shortly after midnight Saturday
when the desk clerk, when asked to
open the till, told the would-be thief
to ‘go to hell.’”

Police said the attempt was made at
approximately 12:25 a.m. when a
white man entered the lobby of the Hi
Arrow Arms.

5 YEARS AGO
From the Oct. 20, 1985
News

Homeowners in the Central
Kootenay Regional District will have
to pay up to 41 per cent more in
regional taxes if the provincial gover-
nment proceeds with its plans to
eliminate property taxes on equip-
ment.

. 8

To shop on Sunday or not to shop

on Sunday.

ARROW LAKE
ELEVATION

1442.97 ft. on Oct. 19
Forecast of
Elevation
1443.80 ft. by Oct. 26

eal

When you first think about it, it
seems like a great idea. Why don't!
sell my home myself and save the
commission? All | need is a sign on
the lawn, maybe a classified ad or
two and voila — a pockettull of
money saved! Or is it?

Before you risk what is probably
your tomily’s large financial invest

t, it's worth investigating what it
really meons to put a ‘For Sale by
Owner” sign on your lawn.

First, whot is your selling ex
perience? Do you have the
specialized knowledge you need to
get your fomily through the maze of
Negotiations and paper work that
will need to be done, including items
such as mortgage financing details

°Es ta te WITH BARRY BROWN

THE PITFALLS OF SELLING
A HOME PRIVATELY (PART 1)

mortgage discharge
taxes, lot survey an:
any?

Once you scratch the surface, you
soon realize thot getting the top
price for your home in the time frame
you've dllowed does take skill and

penalties
easements, if

the scenario of taking too low an of
they didn't appeal in the
0 the right potential

tainly worthwhile to cons
point betore making the decision to
strike out alone

That’s the issue that Castlegar
voters will be asked to decide in a
referendum included on the ballot in
the Nov. 16 civic election.

o 8 6

The Castlegar Chamber of Com-
merce will finally be going ahead with
its new office.

. 8 .

The British Columbia Liquor
Distribution Branch plans to in-
troduce a program next month that
will allow consumer tasting tables at
selected liquor stores.

But it’s unlikely Castlegar will be
one of the stores.

. 8

British Columbia’s Mobile Pavilion
for Expo 86 is in Castlegar this
weekend promoting the world’s fair
and explaining the role of the host
B.C. Pavilion.

about $9 billion, compared with
about $14 billion from CSBs in 1988.

The bonds are traditionally popular
with ordinary folks, but analysts say
CSBs have some appeal for seasoned
investors.

“The most salient thing about
CSBs is that they’re always cashable
at par,”’ says Carnell.

“There's quite a value on that.
There are very. few instruments you
can buy and cash for 100 cents on the
dollar on the spot.””

The prospect of a Persian Gulf war
may help sell this year’s bonds, but a
different war got them started.

At the end of the Second World
War, the federal government realized
they had a good thing going in Vic-
tory Bonds, which had been used to
raise money for the war effort.

With no war at hand, however, the
bonds were given a name change and
anew mission: raising money to cover
peacetime expenses.

“‘There were Victory Bonds, then
CSBs in 1946, so there’s been a
tradition that has helped them,” says
Brian Cunliffe, vice-president of RBC
Dominion Securities in London, Ont.

“It’s great p.r.,"” Cunliffe says.
“*People are used to buying them."”

ra RT re |

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Mon. to Wed. & Set. Thursday & Friday
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Sunday
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We bring tt all together #