224 Saturday, April 18, 1992 @ Get on the Train for the Canadians in for rude awakening? dustries, and expanded social Kevin Avram welfare programs beyond the CANADIAN TAXPAYERS FEDERATION Chicken Barger Special Includes a choice cut of breast meat, on a sesame seed bun with lettuce, tomato-and our own special sauce. Also includes your choice of golden crispy french fries, our delicious jojo's or our fresh salads. FOR ONLY $3.99 So get on the train and head on down to Chicken Time. For a great meal at an affordable price. In arecent-issue of the Tax- payer, published by the Cana- dian Taxpayers Federation, Dr. Chris Gerrard, the Feder- ation’s Chief Economist sets out a very articulate and frightening comparison be- tween Canada and Argentina. fiscal capacity of the economy to sustain them. Hiding behind high tariff walls, protected from outside competition, Argentina’s man- ufacturing and industrial sec- tor became increasingly ineffi- cient, and was eventually un- able to sustain the oversized 365-5304 2816 Columbia Ave. 60SECONDS te CASTLEGAR , LEGISLATIV PA ‘ ‘Wednesday April 22, 1992 Ei 33 Sar > 75¢ @ OUR PEOPLE ‘Hiding behind high tariff walls, protected from outside competition, Argentina’s manufacturing and industrial sector became increasingly inefficient and was eventually unable to sustain the oversized government bureaucracy’ Acomparison which should cause Canadians to shudder in fear as they realize that our nation has headed down ex- actly the same road which turned Argentina into a bank- rupt third world country. Ger- rard writes: “Today, most people think of Argentina as a bankrupt na- tion in the third world. “This wasn’t always the case. Back in the 1910s and 1920s, Argentina was as eco- nomically developed as Cana- da.” government bureaucracy. Instead of cutting back on spending though, the govern- ment continued running big deficits. First, by racking up a huge foreign debt, and after that source of revenue dried up, they simply began printing money,-eventually driving in- flation up to 5,386 per cent in 1989. Under Argentina’s present government, they’ve been at- tempting to reverse six decades of ruinous economic arts * 2.0 Lt. OHC 4 Cylinder Engine § e Air Conditioning : e Automatic Transmission | e Cassette : e Balance of GM 3 Year Bumper to Bumper Warranty + Both countries had taken advantage of the internation- al wheat boom of the early 1900s to launch their indus- trialization programs. In 1917, Argentina pro- duced more wheat and had a more diverse industrial sector than Canada; and during the 1920s, Argentina’s economy grew faster than ours did. They had an annual growth rate of 1.8 per cent, compared to 1.2 percent for Canada, and real wages there grew twice as fast as real wages in this coun- Why did they veer off ? A recent book by Argenti- na’s Finance Minister Domin- go Cavallo titled What Ar- gentina Could Have Become, gives some sobering insights into the answer. For starters, Argentina didn’t like competitive trade. They responded to interna- tional competition by imple- protectionist trade and like Canada, of dealing with oth- national problems ended up ing nothing but big gov- SS ancl They've cut spending, capped social assistance pay- ments, and laid off 380,000 government employees. After all this painful medi- cine, Argentina is today run- ning deficits of less than three per cent of total spending. Previously, they were run- ning deficits that amounted to 25 per cent of total spending, exactly like the Mulroney gov- ernment is doing in Canada today. Is it possible for Canada to become like Argentina? Can a nation as rich as ours become poor in a relatively short period of time? Obviously, the answer. is yés, and, if Canada doesn’t get it’s fiscal house in order, and fast, that’s exactly where we're heading. _._ Thistragic situation did not _ have to happen in Argentina; it does not have to happen in Canada. It could and did happen in Argentina. It could, and may very well happen in Canada. If Canadians think that we can go on ignoring sound fi- I ial manag tt, and yet perpetually maintain high liv- ing standards and a prosper- ous nation, we're in for a pret- ty rude awakening. The Castlegar News held its First -Annual Easter Egg Scramble Sunday and about 200 kids aged one to 12 showed upt to scour the woods of Kinnaird Park for some extra Easter goodies. (1991 PONTIAC 6000 LE e 3.1 Lt. Fuel Injected V6 Engine & e Automatic Transmission e Air Conditioning 9 e Cassette Stereo System e Balance of GM 3 Year Bumper to Bumper Warranty KALAWSKY PONTIAC BUICK GMC (1989) LTD. ——THE KING OF CARS—— 1700 Columbia Ave.. Castlegar 365-2155 Collect TRAIL, FRUITVALE, ROSSLAND CUSTOMERS CALL 364-0213 = —Action Ads @ LOCAL SPORTS @ WORK PLACE grade its Official Coumminuty Plan. But before the city’s vi- sion of the future is cast in stone, the OCP committee wants your input. The hottest rivalry in Castle-_ gar sports is about to get going again. It'll happen at noon Sun- day at Kiwanis Field when the Amarals meet the Chaves in the battle for soccer suprema- cy. page 15 Scott David Harrison EDITOR The pulp and paper industry is taking one more kick at the negotiating can. The Pulp and Paper Workers of Cana- da and the Pulp and Paper Industrial Relations Bureau have agreed to meet for another round of talks Friday in the hopes of ending a dispute that could bring B.C. pulp mills to a stand still. The talks will come two days after the union announces the results of its strike vote. That vote is to be revealed this evening. “We really don’t expect much to hap- pen,” PPWC Vice President Len Snow said Tuesday. “We have not been given the right to negotiate a consessionary contract from our members and we're not going to,” Snow said. “Unless their is a radical change on (the PPIRB’s) part, I can’t see how a strike can be avoided.” The PPWC, which includes Celgar’s unionized work force, is seeking a new contract that includes better contract EGG-CITING Castlegar is looking to up- page 18 Farside Harrison Beyer Letters Our People Local Sports Work Place TV Listings The First Annual Castlegar News Easter Egg Scramble was a huge hit for young and old alike, including this sharply-dressed ray of sunshine named Lindsay. | News photo by Scott David Harrison Pulp workers brace for strike language, improved pension plans and $2 across-the-board raises. Snow said the industry can afford to meet the ‘unions demands if it really wanted to. 3 “They are claiming they are losing their competitiveness because of tough environment legislation, but should have been thinking about that before now,” he said. “Upgrading to meet new standards is something the industry should have been doing all along instead of waiting until now.” urvey approved @ Castlegar students set to write controversial questionnaire Glen Freeman NEWS REPORTER Castlegar students will soon be asked to answer some controversial questions. According to School District No. 9 Su- Wayling,; kids from Grades 7 to 12 will be responding to a McCreary Centre Society survey “as soon as possible, perhaps a week to 10 days:” The survey, which asks students such questions as “Did you drink alcohol or use drugs before you had sexual inter- course the last time” will be compiled by the McCreary Centre and used to estab- lish a data base on the health status and risk behaviors of adolescents, In a letter to the Castlegar school board, Central Kootenay Health Unit Director Dr. Nelson Ames supported the survey. “It is only by asking the youth what their health issues and concerns are, that the appropriate education pro- grams and health services can be de- signed,” Ames stated. a After a lengthy and often heated de- bate, members of the board voted 5-2 in favor of using the survey locally, with trustees Bonnie Horswill and Joanne Baker dissenting. _|___ Both Baker and Horswill said that_ they were not opposed to the idea of a survey, but objected to the wording used. Parents who do not want their chil- dren to participate in the survey are asked to return a consent form in the negative. CURB CONSIDERS FIELDING SLATE OF CANDIDATES IN NEXT ELECTION, P. 4 ” x