The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday October M 1989 the HERALD OUTLOOK is published each Saturday by the HILLS HERALD Home Newspaper of Hills A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limitedat Street Georgetown Ontario PUBLISHER David A Beattie EDITOR Brian MacLeod AD MANAGER Dan Taylor Second Class Mail Registered Number STAKE WRITERS Donna Kell Hen SPORTS EDITOR Colin Gibson ACCOUNTING Diane Smith CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Joan ADVERTISING SALES Jeannine Valois Craig Teeter Stacie Roberts PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Dave Hastings Supt Annie Susanne Wilsun CIRCULATION Marie Shadbolt Mutuals investment wave of the future SNAFU by Bruce Beattie Diane Mutual funds are the investment wave of the future as more and more investors choose to have their money managed profes sionally New funds are sprouting up like mushrooms tailormade to investors specifications With the growing concern for the environment green funds part of that branch of the fund business known as ethical funds can be ex pected to expand their market share Environmental funds are a welcome addition But from an investment point of view it is good to remember that they are new their managers perhaps untested in the rigors of a bear market Like other ethical funds people who set strict limits on investment may have to give up some profits in the process True there is more to life than profits But there are also other ways to express your social con sciousness Nevertheless ethical funds can be good investments provided they are well managed Besides putting your money to work in ways that fit your beliefs makes sense One of the more unusual of this new genre is the USbased Amana Mutual Funds Amana in vests in companies that prictice Islamic law Among other things limits its holdings to com panies that do not receive or pay interest SOMEJMSADVANTAGES This leaves Amana vulnerable to a market downturn when more flexible funds have the option of switching to bonds and treasury bills When it comes to pension funds the social implications of ethical investing are worth pondering Canadas pension funds are by far the largest investors in the coun try controlling billions of dollars One day perhaps we will have a say in how this money is invested The question is will we be able to reach a consensus on what is ethical and what is not Even then sound management will have to come first A recent story in a Toronto newspaper inadvertently revealed some of the underlying problems with Canadas new crop of ethical funds problems that will diminish in time Four of the five Canadian funds listed have no proven track record One the pioneer Ethical Growth Fund launched by Vancouver City Savings Credit Union in 1986 had a threeyear rate of return of 139 per cent The other four had good one- year rates of return but they have yet to pass the test of time The two environmental funds Environmental Investment All- Canadian Fund with a 25percent return and Environmental Invest- International Fund 299 per cent are managed by Energy Pro be They achieved impressive returns without investing in such destroyers of the environment as mining and oil and gas com panies It is doubtful most Canadians would agree that mining and oil and gas are unethical businesses Berrys World j by Inc Hes gone into shock You didnt give him any idea of what his bill might be did you What to do with the GST Vic Parsons Ottawa Bureau Htm I Oooh Scary costume How to order MPs questions on paper Thanks to the enquiring minds of MPs and the diligent research of bureaucrats Canadians know how much fruit certain government departments buy We also know why theres no Canadian consulate in Kiev and Whats been killing white cedars near Ottawa This wealth of in formation comes to us courtesy of a parliamentary device known as Questions on Order Paper MPs hungry for information on the burning or lukewarm issues of the day can ask fheir questions orally or in writing The latter method is generally used Jar ques tions involving a lengthy detailed or technical response as the House of Commons Precis of Pro cedure puts it The questions are directed to the appropriate minister or depart ment MPs indicate whether they want the response read out in the Commons or are content with a written answer In addition the Member may request not demand a response to the question with days of its filing the Annotated Standing Orders say Order Paper questions have been part of Canadian parliamen tary procedure since In fact the rule governing such questions has remained virtually unchanged since Confederation The Commons Clerk is charged With the unenviable task of ensur ing that coherent and concise questions are asked Commons rules state that both questions and replies must be devoid of argu ment and opinion FOUR QUESTIONS Each member is limited to four questions on the order paper at a time None of this deters a determined MP with a hobby horse to ride As these latest examples show the questions still come fast and furious The NDPs Jack Whittaker was curious to know about fruit pro ducts purchased for veterans hospitals federal prisons and Armed Forces bases His curiosity is understandable s riding includes part of British Col umbias Okanagan Valley The answer took up most of a page learner that the Defence Department spent million last year for the one- million kilograms of fresh fruit and cases of canned fruit eaten by military personnel At the same time inmates and guards at federal prisons were put ting away of fresh and canned fruit and fruit juices Veterans Affairs spent almost 300000 on fruit for two of its hospitals Quebec Liberal Warren wanted to know how much was spent on the Hire a Student cam paign earlier this year especially the launching in Ottawa attended by Youth Minister Jean Charest How about for shirts with the French slogan first and for 6500 shirts with English first Plus for 130000 buttons and another for balloons RUGBY SHIRTS Charests national launch which included MPs from all three parties was arranged by a com munications consultant for 30600 The package included rugby shirts for MPs On the plus side a local restaurant donated 1500 hot dogs for the event Meanwhile the NDPs Ross Harvey of Edmonton asked why Canada has yet to open a consulate in Kiev in Soviet Ukraine Answer no money Quebec Tory Louis Plamondon hopes to go back even farther into the mists of time Since he asks has the government tried to develop energy resources and if so how much has it spent Introduce me to anyone who likes to pay new taxes and Ill br ing along the deeds to some moose pasture in northern Saskatchewan and a bridge in Brooklyn NY which just happen to be for sale Its absolutely no surprise at all that Michael Wilsons proposed Goods and Services Tax GST hasnt gone over big with tax payers Whats interesting is that it might be just about the most wide ly condemned tax proposal ever in Canada Supporters of the GST are few and far between even though there is broad consensus that the manufacturers sales tax which it is supposed to replace should go the way of the dodo While polls estimate that there are roughly four or five Canadians who dislike the ninepercent pro posal for every lonesome citizen who does the opponents hold a wide range of views on what might be done with the finance ministers tax There are those notably opposi tion and provincial politicians who know they dont like the GST but who are bereft of alternatives to help the federal government balance its books Then there are representatives of senior citizens and lowincome groups who legitimately fear the tax will rob them of available spen ding power One of their concerns is hat socalled offsets which Wilson says will protect their disposable income will not be enough ONE TAX WANTED Theres an assortment of business people represented by groups like the Canadian Federa tion of Independent Business and the Retail Council who want a unified national sales tax in cluding both federal and provincial levies Otherwise they complain it will be too complex and costly to collect at the cash register A number of specific interest groups want exemptions Some of these border on the outrageous The wailing by the Canadian Manufacturers Association that business lunches and cars worth more than should be fully exempted is one example Another is the notion expressed by the Canadian Daily Newspaper Publishers Association that a sales tax on circulation income of newspapers would be a violation of constitutional rights Funny that isnt raised when the prices of newspapers go up Theres another group of influen tial critics who would leave the proposed basic structure of the GST intact but would lower the rate and tinker with the offsets Among them are the governments own agency the Economic Council of Canada the Conference Board flf Canada and the investment dealer Wood Gundy Inc All three have argued convinc ingly of late that the tax rate could be dropped to seven per cent and the initial impact on consumers wageearners and the economy generally would be less devastating