‘4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 19, 1994

TERRACE ,

STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

ADDRESS: 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C. * V8G 188
TELEPHONE: (604) 638-7283 * FAX: (604) 638-8432
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Pension plan | |

ALL THE experts say there is a pension crunch |

coming. The Canada Pension Plan is said to be a
wobbly creature, becoming even more so as the
baby boomer generation nears retirement age.

More and more people will soon be collecting
pensions but fewer and fewer people will be
working to help support those payments. It could
very well mean an end to universal federal pay-
ments or to payments that don’t meet inflation.
And since the majority of Canadians rely on state
pensions, the prospects aren’t very bright.

This is why drastic action is required. By using
the Registered Retirement Savings Plan concept,
a solid stash of cash can be built up. RRSPs are
now discretionary, but should become mandatory
as the capability of the state to provide for each
and every person diminishes.

Rach new born baby, for instance, should
receive a $1,000 starter RRSP courtesy of the
federal government. Left alone in a cozy, tax free
environment that $1,000 will grow comfortably
through the magic of compound interest. Parents,
through tax law, will be encouraged to add to
this started RRSP. ;

The hook is that the person can’t touch the
money until the age of 60. If he or she does so,
it’s treated as earned income and taxed accord-
ingly. Once a person reaches the age of 60, the
sum can then be invested in an annuity and a
stable retirement can be enjoyed.

The good side of this is that the state. doesn’t
have to worry about maintaining an expensive
pension plan. That beginning investment is a lot
cheaper than what it will cost taxpayers later on
under the current Canada Pension Plan... 2.

-What’s’interesting about -this is-that:the-person;
once an adult, is free to top up the plan. The
more a person can learn about finance and
prepare for retirement, the better off he or she
will be. | .

Another benefit is the creation of a substantial
pool of investment capital. This just might be the
kind of financial encouragement needed as Cana-
da looks for its place in the growing global econ-
omy. Any kind of edge should be pursued.

Hocus pocus

WELL, THE New Democratic Party has done it
again by appearing to pull the rug out from under
its Matsqui by-election candidate. News that the
candidate is a witch may be the best thing to hit
the party since it was elected to government.

Instead of seeming to cut its losses by finding
another candidate, the NDP should be doing
everything it can to have this person elected.

The government is having a tough time con-
vincing anybody that what it is doing is good for
the province. With less than two years before an
election, the presence of a witch not only in the
legislature but in the cabinet is worth a try.

A bit of magic, a couple of spells and presto,
the government may well be on the road to an-

other electoral victory. Trying times call for a

new approach. Over to you, Mr. Harcourt.

GChA __PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link cened
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Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents
for thelr time and talents: -

r

bank and egg

mom,.we're going to have
A baby, .a5 500n a5 we ‘ve
decided onthe right Sperm
Conor...

we also would like
to borrow Your womb
for 4 few Months. ..

Plea for provincial Reform |

VICTORIA — Reform chief
Presion Manning wants to be
prime minister so badly he can
taste it, which is why he gets ex-
iremely agitated every time
there’s talk of fielding Reformers
in provincial elections.

The latest confrontation be-
tween Manning and those who
would make the Reform Party a
provinclal force came last week
when Ronald Gamble announced
his intention to run as a Reform
candidate in one of the upcoming
provincial by-elections.
~ Enter Manning. Prompted by
fear that any provincial activity
by Reform might dilute the ener-
‘gy tint He hopes. will, eventually
‘calapult him into the prime minis-
ter's job, Manning wrote a private
letter to remind Reformers of his
determination to prevent the
Reform Party name from being
hijacked or used for provincial
political purposes.

What Manning is convenicotly
forgetting is that if anyone
hijacked the name of the party, it

, was him. The Reform Party of

British Columbia, which has no
links !o the federal party, was
formed before the Reform Party
of Canada. That means Gamble
can legally use the name.

FROM THE CAPITAL.
HUBERT BEYER

in the riding of Matsqui, and Lib-
eral leader Gordon Campbell,
who will try to capture the
Vancouver-Quilchena seat.“  *

Meanwhile, former Liberal
leader Gordon Wilson has an-
nounced that his new Progressive
Democratic Alllance will also
field candidates in both by-
elections.

And waiting in the wings is
none other than former premier
Bill Vander Zalm, who is hedging
his bets. If he’s true to form, he
will wait until the Iast minute be-
fore he announces whether he’ll
Tun or not.

To sum it up, the by-elections

will provide fascinating enteriain-°

ment as itis. And if the provincial
Reform Party gets into the act,
anything could happen, including
the defeat of McCarthy.

And IJ fervently hope Gamble
and another Reformer will contest
the by-elections and tell Manning
where to get off.

In his letter to Reformers, Man-
ning not only reminded followers
to stay firmly behind the national
party’s expansion plan, but ke
went as far as to urge Reformers
to endorse existing or new parties
at the provincial level.

‘‘As most of you are aware,
many of our Reform Party mem-
bers carry two cards. They are

Reformers . federally, byt. are,

members -of three or four dif-
ferent parties provincially,’’ he
said in his letter,

“IF we were to organize provin-
cia] Reform parties, this creates a
dilemma for these members and
voters, and could weaken rather
than strengthen their commitment
fo the reform Party of Canada at
ihe very time we need their con-
tinued support and participation,”
he said.

But Gamble isn't about to be in-
timidated. He believes the
presence of the Reform Party of
British Columbia will eventually

force the federal party to start
provincial branches across the
country.

**Preston didn’t want us fo use
the Reform name,” the 55-year
old businessman from Vancouver
said. “But we have many of the
same members, and they want a
provincial party,’’ Gamble said.

There will be a Reform Party
of Alberta, 2 Reform Party of
Manitoba and a Reform Party of
Ontario, he added.

The Reform Party of British
Columbia was established in
1983, years before most Cana-
dians had ever heard of Manning.
And when Manning helped create
the Reform Party, of Canada in
1987, he found that the name was
already taken and had to ask the
Reform Party of British Columbia
for permission to use the name,
which he now would deny them.

T hope that Gamble will stick to
his guns and mun in one of the by-
elections Premier Harcourt will
have to call in the near future. It
would make the contests that
much more interesting,

So far, the big names seeking
election are Socred leader Grace
McCarthy, who will seek election

Can challenging fate work?

When I reach retirement, I’m
gonna be prudent and quit one
day ahead. Because I’ve
noticed many workers don’t
survive their final job shift.
Something untoward occurs;
they end up in a pine box in-
stead of in Hawaii.

Too many last days are
marred by the unexpected
presence of ambulance at-
fendants, police, or firefighters
plying rescue equipment, when
they should be hailed by co-
workers balancing wedges of
layer cake on paper plates,
making tipsy toasts with drinks
in styrofoam cups.

There was the longshoreman
who complained — again —
on his final morning that winch
lines were frayed and should
be replaced, Before the day
was oul, one cable flew to bits.
So did he.

And the signmaker installing
his last storefront sign from a

THROUGH BIFOCALS
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

cherry-picker. Metal touched a
high tension wire, ending his
employment with a sizzle,

Or the bank icller, proud of a
lengthy but quiet career count-
ing greenbacks and Initialling
deposit slips. She was mowed
down before lunch by a novice
robber’s 357,

Then there was the cab driver

(OME BACK FROM

HUNTING YOU

2.| HAVE HAIR ON
“| YOUR FACE

cl EVERYTIME You |

stabbed in the neck 18 times
by his last fare and left oozing
into the upholstery in a Van-
couver park,

Why are so many last work
days deadly? Is it because
workers are preoccupied by
thoughts of punching the clock
on last time? Considering what

theyll do Monday moming

while everyone else is rehash-
ing Sunday’s hockey game?
Worrying about surviving
comfortably on pension,
savings, and RRSPs, -

Perhaps it’s fate.

I can’t imagine what could
befall and upholsterer on her
last day. Bleed to death from a
wrist artery accidentally
Slashed with an Olfa knife?
Fall off a cabin cruiser head-
first on to a yard rock? Slip on
driveway ice and be squished
by a furniture delivery truck?

T’m more likely to rupture a
blood vessel conversing with

AH BUT ZIS MME TL Ave |

ZEE MOUSTACHE OF A
LATIN LUYAIRSL/

’ the B.C assessor, I could hard-

ly be killed on my way home
unless an earthquake collapses
our house.

Farewells, especially the
mandatory fuss over leaving a
job, have never entranced me.
Although I might have felt
more inclined to party had “I
been transferred by limousine’
like | Thornhill Junior -
Secondary School’s secretary |
who recently switched ta a
desk at the school board office.

' Since I’m self-employed,

there won’t be any staff party
for me to avoid. Nor will there
be going-away gifts from man-
agement, co-workers, or union. °

T have neither a desk nor'a

locker to clear out. I don’t even-
have to give two weeks notice,

or tender a resiguation.

I could retire today — right
now — without the world
noticing. .

The question is, would fate?

OKAY YOU CAN
KEEP IT... UTIL
TOMMORROW!!
‘

o

Ol. uenainey-