OPINION Do you know how badly you’re being taken? If I stole $1,000 from you, you'd be damn angry, and rightfully so. Yet someone has been slipping $1,000 bills out of your wallet, and from the wallets of all working, middle-class Canadians, but you aren't saying much about it. Per- haps you aren't aware of how badly you're being taken. It’s the myth of Canadian tax fairness that keeps people believing that everyone — like you — pays their fair share. But large corpora- tions don’t, and it's getting much worse, fast. We can thank the friends of big business, Brian Mul- But don't take my word or that of some dubious left-winger for it. Allow the Glove and Mail Report editorial comment’ Decision points community’in positive direction At last, a decision has been made in Victoria that has put the needs of this area first. After having to deal with and adjust to a reduced or completely cut income for about six months, Wes- tar workers must be jubilant with the fact that a deci- sion has been made in their favour. While they do have the most to gain, the 280 plus employees are not the only ones who have been waiting for and will benefit by this positive all of Castlegar has had both eyes scanning the headlines and an gar to the radio, hop- ing to catch the latest information from Victoria. From local business people to day care centres to the community services office downtown, everyone has been waiting. Needléss to say, that was a lot of pressure to put on one pérson—namely our MLA Ed Conroy. But the man came through for us. He said he would—and he did. Some people might say that Conroy is merely doing the job he's paid to do, and he is. But Conroy, let's not forget, was also a Westar employee before accepting the challenging position of MLA, so the issue facing his unemployed working peers could not be taken lightly. Conroy was likely going in with both six-shooters blazing, after the bridge fiasco left him slightly tar- nished. This was his chance to show his supporters just what he can do when given the chance. As the news release from the ministry states, the decision on the sale and transfer of the TFL provides the greatest long-term benefits for the area and ensures a long-term viable sawmilling operating in Castlegar—a community facing economic uncer- tainty, though apparently on a path leading to —S.1. Sun = 1S POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT AND A MEMBER OF THE STERLING NEWS SERVICE Established November 28, 1990 Published by The Sun Waoeiey on Wednesdays 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C. V1N 1G8 on H to speak. “A More Per- sonal Bite” was the headline on April 25, 1991, and the story began, “Governments in Canada are increasing their dependence on per- sonal income and consumption taxes to finance burgeoning budgets while cutting the share they get from corporate and natural resource taxes,” Quoting statistics Canada’s latest report, the Report on Business noted that all governments in Cana- da had increased personal income tax revenues as a share of total income from 31.5 per cent in 1986 to 35.8 per cent in 1991. “While the proportion of taxes coming from personal income tax went up,” The Globe's report con- tinued, “the share of the total taken from corporate income tax dropped to 7.1 per cent in 1990 - 91 from 7.4 per cent in 1985 - 86.” Let's take local and provincial governments out of the equation, look only at the federal scene, and let Maclean's Magazine tell the Rotering story. “Made As Hell Over Taxes” was the headline on June 17, 1991. ‘The story reports that, “Last month, Canada showing that Ottawa's total annual receipts from personal income taxes have risen by 66 per cent since 1984 ... while the take from corporate taxes has dropped by 34 per cent.” Sadly, the story reported that although an average family paid $1,530 more in federal taxes in 1991 than in 1984, few Canadians are effectively protesting. Even worse, the lobby groups that do protest have right-wing agendas, calling for social program cuts to reduce personal taxes, rather than demanding a fair sharing of our national tax burden. Maclean’s magazine also quoted a report by Global Economics Ltd., an Ottawa company specializing in tax issues, which reported that in its opinion the largest portion of the tax burden introduced by the Tories has been borne by the middle class. “The equity of the tax system has deteriorated under the Tories,” said the report, which happened to be written by a former economist with the federal of Finance. So it's bad, but how bad ? And isn’t it necessary to match our cor- porate tax rates to other countries to keep Canada competitive? Well, Japan seems to compete very well, and its corporations pay a far larger proportion of that nation’s tax rev- enues than do Canadian corpora- tion. In fact, even American corporations pay more of that nation’s tax burden than do Canadi- an firms. Just who are we trying to under-bid in corporate tax costs? * That's the international corporate side, What about an international arison of what Canadian indi- viduals pay? Surprise; Canadian working people pay between 35.8 and 39 per cent of the nation’s total tax revenues — the highest by far among the G-7 industrialized nations. American individuals carry 34.1 per cent of their country’s bur- den, indicating companies do pretty well thee, too. In Italy individuals carry 30.4 per cent, in U.K. 28.6 per cent, and the slide continues through Germany and Japan down to France, the individual taxpayer's paradise, where paycheques con- tribute only 14.4 per cent. In short, Canadian corporations pay the smallest share of aan burdens among our centration in this country, it isn’: small or medium-sized business that is enjoying the massive unfair tax shift detailed above. In that regard, note this little fact from Statistics Canada: The top one per cent of all enterprises in-‘Canada control 86 per cent of Canadian cor- porate assets, and earn 75 per cent of all profits. It's a heck of a nation- al economic pyramid, with greater wealth concentration and tax shifts business operators dare to imagine. As a matter of fact, what has happened under the Corporate— pardon me again — the Conserva- tive government is not what true blue small -c conservative voters wanted or voted for. Just as in BC the Social Credit Party became a radical right-wing group isolated from its own founders so has the Conservative government forgotten that its party created Ontario Hydro, the CBC, the Bank of Canada and the Canadian Wheat Board. For those voters, Economist Paul Samuelson poses the challenge when he asks, “Are you in favour of big business or free enterprise?” For*those Canadians less inter- ested in politics and more in their already-thin wallets, and concerned while individuals pay by far the largest slice. And that slice contin- ues to grow, since the GST has cre- ated a further so-far-untracked shift to individual tax contributions. It is timely to stress that being opposed to this situation need not mean opposing free enterprise in a wisely mixed y. With the for their d social progr they had best work toward a gov- ernment that distributes the national tax burden fairly, and which will not kill programs that keep us healthy and safe. Gerald Rotering is a former mayor of Nelson and is Constituen- cy Assistant to New Democrat reality of vast corporate wealth con- Member of Parliament Lyle Kris- Slings and arrows igel Hannaford Syndicated Columnist A few months ago, I ventured a guess that just the ordinary doings of daily life had caused my family to pay over $500 in GST last year. We had not made any major hard- ware purchases either. No doubt everybody else is in the same boat, or worse off. Let us then take a look at some of the ways that Ottawa spends our money. For instance, last year, the Cana- dian government spent $600,000 to create the first of what it hopes will become an extensive network of legal-aid clinics for women in the Third World. The announcement Se eee roney, wife Mila, 24 aides and 14 RCMP officers cost $445,365. The cost of another visit to Houston, Texas, for the annual western eco- nomic summit, for Mr Mulroney, his wife, 22 aides and a contingent from External Affairs was $112,819; The two-day trip to New York for the World Summit for Children came during a ” con- ference in Paris, which Mr Mul- roney At the same @ meeting, Mr Mul- roney also announced a $700,000 grant to set up an agency to promote human rights in French-speaking nations. Just the cost of the PM going anywhere staggers the senses. According to the Calgary Herald, December 18 last year, one seven- day trip to Paris and Rome for Mul- ved Mr y and 2% aides; accounts show that it cost $183,233. One ‘must concede that it would not be appropriate for the leader of a country like Canada to travel tourist class. One might also forgive him for not wanting to go Business class, On the other hand, there is a question of what is an appropriate use of the country’s resources and the prime minister's time. The aides and the hangers-on seem excessive. For instance, why all the police pro- tection in Paris or Rome? Maybe in Lloydminster or Fort St John, yes, but that’s a different situation. And what benefit is it to Canadi- ans that Mr Mulroney should be for- ever gallivanting about the globe? I can only fathom the most tenuous connection between promoting human rights in French-speaking _ Africa and some benefit to Mr and ~ for fear that he might some businessmen who could not be restrained from offering some com- mon-sense advice on such matters as the ridiculous grants mentioned above. Mrs or the Smiths in Sault Ste Marie. One is reminded of the story about the man who didn’t report the loss of his wife’s credit card because the thief spent less than she did. We can only hope that keeping Mr Mulroney abroad in style for a week is less costly to the taxpayers than having him spend money in his office. All in all, one can’t help the feel- ing that he and the rest of them - whatever their political stamp - live the life of O'Reilly, have a wonder- ful time and stick the bill to us. All of which brings me back to me and my extra little donation to the government last year. It looks like what I paid extra in GST and which I hoped, foolishly, would be usetto pay down the national debt along with everybody else’s, actual- ly ended up as a round of drinks for the PM and some cronies in some plush bar. Do you wonder what they did with yours? There is no season for laziness No matter what age you may be, it is never too,soon to begin to plan just what you will do in your later yeats. You may note I did not use the word “retirement” because | personally do not believe in it. Retirement is something you should do to your car when its tires need replacing. Retirement has come to be viewed as synonymous with old age and since a lifespan can now be 113 years, you are hardly old at 65! This is just another example of where our language has not kept pace with our social reality. If your idea of retirement is that time when you cease work, no longer have worries about clocks and the pressures of deadlines, and your entire life will finally come together, let me assure you, when you reach that, you may well be dead! What will cease to work will be your body, since the average body was designed to last for about a mere forty years! It is no surprise to most physicians that many of us have back problems, as we are liv- ing much more sedentary lives than even our parents, mostly sitting in the relative comfort of our automo- biles. Now please do not misunder- stand me. There are people out there who are actually retired. There are several who live near me on my street. But, my goodness, are they busy! These are not people who have stopped working, nor have their bodies. No deadlines nor pres- sures? Not likely! Why, these are among some of the busiest people I know. Some of them were so anx- ious to begin cutting their grass, they actually shovelled the winter snows Off their lawns, thereby plac- ing extra pressure on me to do like- wise. I did! The point I wish to make is that I do not believe you should ever retire from activity. No one that I knew, who had given up exercise, survived for very long. In my expe- rience, everyone I knew who lived happy and long lives were busy right up to their final breath. If your idea of exercise is what you do while propelling your body from the television to the refrigerator and back, be quick to see your lawyer about your estate. When I was a child and went to the Saturday afternoon matinee with my friends, the cowboy movies always ended with the hero riding off into the sunset. I imagines then } that the bad guys were lurking just over that hill, because the hero always returned the next week to slay more dragons. We should all have St. George's gleam in our eye, looking for dragons to slay, for it keeps us active and involved. If you look about you, you will discover many people busily trying to change things for the better. You have only to look at our own community to see the dragon slayers at work. They are the ones who are often tar- gets for the unimaginative and sometimes noisy crowd of feckless followers who sometimes get more press than is warranted. As a child, I was encouraged to be feisty, to struggle and strive to make things happen. Our grandpar- ents and our parents admired those who tackled problems with energy and enthusiasm. At no time in life Should you simply give up. There is No season for laziness. Wednesday, April 1, 1992 The Castlegar Sun Letters to the Editor The good, the bad and the ugly! Dear Editor: A few weeks ago, I watched the last half of TSN's show on Minor Hockey across this land and the recurring thought in my mind was how can adults keep messing up the lives of these young people. I did not know that our family was about to become enmeshed with the same insensi- vity of a few adults. \ Our 16-year-old son has many things going for him — honor roll $tudent, provincial junior golf champion (9-18 hcp) at age. 14, but he lives to play hockey! He fetumned home at semester break ‘fter playing Junior A hockey for the Surrey Eagles since Septem- ber. He was signed on a Junior B ¢ard with Abbotsford, a gentle- man’s agreement between the Surrey and Abbotsford coaches until the Abbotsford coach decid- éd not to fulfill that agreement and pulled the card just prior to final carding date. As Surrey no longer had any ¢ards left, Cal had no place to jay. He was sake wo play fox tp midget rep team — boys he has played with for the past two years. The coaching staff had asked the President of Minor Hockey, Pat Ricard, to have the registrar bring down a midget acre 10. On February 6, the a card he had in Sgope possession and instructed the coaches that although it was a juvenile slot and he would send a note with the card. (In most orga- nizations, the President is the extension of the main provincial body and should be versed in Proper practices and procedures of that body.) This card was to our son, he read “Midgets”, believed it to be a midget card, and signed the card. During the Provincial play- offs, the opposition lodged a protest over his card and our son was deemed an ineligible player and the games played with him on the roster forfeited. The playoffs were awarded to the opposing team. Upon calling BCAHA in Victo- ria, I spoke with Don Freer, who informed me he registered our son’s card as a juvenile player because it was the colour of a juve- nile player. Sorry — I didn’t know, and obviously our son didn’t know, that they have different colours. If don had read the team name, not just looked at tHe colour, it should have rang some bells when it said MIDGET not juvenile, and should have been questioned before registering it. My under- standing of his position is this is one of the jobs he is being paid to do-maybe not too well. The team lodged an on behalf of our son and the team. BCAHA (who are wholly responsible for regis- tering player cards) passed “the buck” to the Cariboo Hockey In memory ‘Slim’ Jonas Jonasson On Tuesday, March 24, 1992, “Slim” Jonas Jonasson of Casitle- gar passed away at the age of 69 A Service of Remembrance was held Monday, March 30, 1992 at 1 p.m. at the Castlegar Funeral Chapel with Rev. Ann Pollock officiating. Cremation has taken place. Mr. Jonasson was born doing anything mechanical. Mr. Jonasson is survived by his wife, Grace of Castlegar; one son, Arthur of Castlegar; two daugh- ters, Yvonne Jonasson of Castle- gar and Karen Jonasson of loops; one grand daugh' ma one great grand daughter; one stepson, Kevin Resse of Elkford and two step grandchildren; three bothers Fusi Jonasson of Star City, League and they determined that it’s too bad if the adults screw everything up, the player will pay the price - he remains ineligible to play midget hockey. We had to find out their decision by reading the local paper! We called Allan Matthews, President of BCAHA and he took the posi- tion that it’s too bad they all screwed up but he has to follow procedure. I always though we vol- unteered primarily to help the young people and that rules were set Out to make the ‘operations’ run smoother, not to mess up the kids. For all you parents who have elections of officers coming up, don’t sit at home and hope some- one will run your child’s activity. Get out there and make sure that these people are there for the good of the children, not their prestige or ego. I hope Allan Matthews, Pres. of BCAHA, Don Freer, Director of BCAHA, Paul Strader, Pres. of the Cariboo Hockey League and Pat Ricard, Pres. of Prince George Minor Hockey are sleeping well at night. I know our son hasn’t since this whole cesspool began - he wonders if he did wrong: he can’t play hockey. Surprising how a 16-year-old boy is prepared to accept respon- sibility of messing up (when in fact he only trusted the directions of the adults and read Pacific Valve Midget Kings on the card) and none of the adults are pre- pared to admit to their errors Letters Policy Letters to the Editor are wel- come on any topic of local or general interest. Letters should be double-spaced, typewritten, or legibly handwritten, and no more than two pages if possible. Let- ters will be edited in the interests of brevity or taste if necessary. All letters must be signed, with address and telephone number, 4, 1922 at Wy Saskatchewan. He grew yp there and enlisted in the RCAF and served overseas during WW II. After the war he moved to Prince Rupert where he raised his family. He came to Castlegar in 1960 and began working as a millwright for Celgar a position he held until his retirement. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion and the Eagles Lodge of Trail. He enjoyed woodworking, curling, golf, gold panning, reading and Harry of Yorkton, Saskatchewan and Ted Jonasson of Quesnell, BC. He was predeceased by his mother and father, sister, Gudrun Finson and grandson, Darren Kol- man. th names may be witheld from publication for valid reason by the. approval of the editor. Send letters to: The Castlegar Sun, 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C., VIN 1G8, or drop them off at the office. In lieu of flowers, ibuti may be made to the Easter Seal House 3981 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC or the Castlegar Red Cross. Funeral Arrangements were under the direction of the Castle- gar Funeral Chapel. Sell it in the classifieds ‘Lots of in-store surprise specials’ Run, don't walk, to this super savings event... March 30 - April 4, 1992 Men’: COWBOY BOOTS H.H. Brown Boulet Men's HIKING BOOTS H.H. Brown Greb Matterhorn Men's WORK BOOTS Plain & Steel Toe CSA Approved Running Shoes Men Women Children Women’s Naturalizers Joyce Rhoda Romika Selected Styles & Sizes FIRST SIDEWALK SALE OF THE YEAR Thurs., Fri., Sat. EREMENKO’S FIT-RITE SHOES 1224 - 3rd St., Castlegar - April 2, 3, 4 ° Treeplanter BOOTS Nokia Lambert CKQR On Location Thurs. April 2 Fri. April 3 365-7353 made along the way and correct them (everyone makes mistakes ‘tn this life but they aren’t mis- takes unless you don’t fix them.) Gloria Benazic Prince George Daffodil Day support appreciated Dear Editor: On behalf of the Castlegar Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society, we would like to extend our appreciation to all to all of the business's and individuals that supported our Daffodil Day Sale. Daffodil Day had been cele- brated annually across Canada since 1954 and is now the largest single event of the Canadian Cancer Society. Your generosity has been overwhelming. The money raised goes towards medical research, patient services and public education. For those of you in the com- munity we did not reach this year - we hope that this will be an annual event to supplement the yearly April Canadian Cancer Society campaign. One again THANK YOU for making this year's Daffodil Day a huge success. Sincerely, Rosie Llewellyn-Thomas Corinne Postnikoff Volunteers Castlegar Unit Canadian Cancer Society (GAUTHIER - GOULART ENTERPRISES LTD. Linepainting Services of Castlegar We would like to thank you for your cooperation and patience. e We are available to paint parking lots while working in Castlegar. For information call 352-3211 (Answering Service) Castlegar Kiwanis Club Dinner Honouring Citizens Of The Year Pete & Mary Oglow Wednesday April 15, 1992 Fireside Place Banquet Room SOCIAL HOUR 6 P.M. Tickets avaliable: Pharmasave and Carts Drugs, $12.50 p.p. DINNER 7:00 P.M. REGISTER NOW! Boy’s sorTBaLt Ages 12-18 Competitive wala nS April < Regist DEADLINE 1992 ig Fee Registration forms are located in schools and at the Castlegar Recreation Centre. Please register & early. Maximum 12 players per team on first-come-first-serve basis. e | Season Opens April 14, 1992 | his is your invitation to help the Government of British Columbia create fair and balanced labour laws. It’s time for all of us to start working together on strategies to build a stronger economy and maintain our quality of life. A fair and open process Three of the special advisers appointed by the Minister of Labour — John Baigent, Vince Ready and Tom Roper — will be travelling the province to hear your ideas. We'll take your ideas and use them as the basis for British Columbia’s new labour law. Let us know what you think is good or bad about the current labour law. Tell us how we can change the Industrial Relations Act to promote harmony and stability in B.C.’s labour/management climate. or BC. Let’s work together. You’re invited to attend the public meeting in your area Nanaimo Phone 755-2342 Kamloops Phone 828-4516 Kelowna Phone 861-7404 Castlegar Phone 354-6550 Cranbrook Phone 426-1291 Terrace Phone 638-3272 Prince George Phone 565-6120 Fort St. John Phone 784-2390 Abbotsford Phone 852-0976 Victoria Phone 387-3795 Vancouver Phone 775-1262 April 15 April 21 April 22 April 23 April 24 April 27 April 28 April 29 April 30 May 11 May 12, 13, 14 To book a speaking time, call the number listed for the meeting nearest you It's helpful if you prepare a written brief of your ideas in advance for the special advisers. Please send your briefs as soon as possible to: Claude Heywood, Chair Committee of Special Advisers Ministry of Labour and Consumer Services Sixth Floor, 1019 Wharf Street Victoria, B.C V8V IX4 For general information call 387-3795, aol Government of British Columbia Ministry of Labour and Consumer Services Hon. Moe Sihota, Minister S