Pubdate: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2010 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Racquel Foran ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS Despite what all levels of government feed us there are easy solutions to our economic woes. Not enough money for the school system? Easy fix, eliminate school boards. The provincial government funds education, the municipal governments should manage it. Why do we pay exorbitant salaries to another management body who ultimately offer no added value to the system? Not enough money for health care? Another easy fix, legalize and tax marijuana. Since there isn't a single study anywhere in the world that proves marijuana is a dangerous, addictive substance, it's unclear why our governments insist on bringing their moral judgment into the argument, at the expense of the rest of us. And finally, not enough money for infrastructure? Start charging public places of worship (churches) property tax. Why should the 50 per cent of our population who don't belong to an organized religion bankroll tax breaks so believers have a place to worship? If our governments were brave enough to instigate these three measures, billions of extra dollars would flow into government coffers without having to take a single dime from anyone else's pocket. Racquel Foran, Coquitlam - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart