The Citizen, 2002-04-24, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2002. PAGE 5
Other Views
I'm no good at the wine thin
S o I'm walking past the office door of a
newspaper guy I know when he looks up
and beckons me in. He's holding up a
wine glass. (This guy is a syndicated wine
columnist, so he gets to actually bend the
elbow in his office in full view, unlike the
managing editor who has to sneak sips of gin
from a brown paper bag in his bottom drawer).
"It's a new wine from the Okanagan" my
friend says, holding up a bottle of red, "Have a
taste. See what you think."
What I'm thinking is, Oh, cripes. Now I'm
going to have to try and do the wine thing.
I am no good at the wine thing. I like my
grape as much as the next oenophile, but I just
like to enjoy it. I cannot talk the wine talk.
There is no way I can taste any beverage and
make my mouth say things like "Hmm. Big.
Very big."
Or "My! Exquisite balance - and yet,
somehow, austere - perhaps even astringent."
Other terms I would have difficulty applying
to a beaker full of wine include 'well-rounded',
`firm' and 'soft'.
Breasts maybe, but not grape juice.
Wine jargon gets worse than that, of course.
A serious wine bore can prattle on about a
wine's `resonance' luminosity' and even
'bellicosity' long after the bottle's dead and
gone.
It's all very impressive and intimidating - but
do they actually know what they're talking
about?
One wonders.
No one is more dedicated to wine than the
Taxes
Any article on taxes should, I am
convinced, begin with the famous
statement of Colbert, the finance
minister of the French King Louis XIV, that'
"the art of taxation is the art of plucking the
goose so as to get the largest possible amount
of feathers with the least possible hissing."
I have come to the conclusion that taxpayers
in each of the industrialized countries have the
distinct feeling that they are the most heavily-
taxed people in the western world. Admittedly
that is the dubious honour of some country, but
it is not Canada. We are not even close and any
international tax studies I have seen over the
past decade put us somewhere in the middle.
Mind you, we have a higher proportion of
our payments go out via the income tax route
than does the United States or, for that matter,
most European countries. But what the other
countries don't collect by income taxes they
make up by indirect taxes.
The sum total of the two results sees the
Scandinavian countries heading any list of
heavily taxed countries. At one time the
Swedish government saw fit to levy a marginal
tax of no less than 102.5 per cent.
Since the citizens of these countries have not
been mentioned recently in media reports as
rising up in revolt against such taxation
tyranny, there obviously has to be another side
to the whole question of paying taxes.
There is! It is simply the question of how
much you get in return for the amount of taxes
you pay.
To explain the Scandinavian tolerance for
heavy taxation, it can be mentioned that those
countries have a high level o'f social welfare
services, paid for by this tax money. Citizens
there -may grumble at times, just like
Canadians,- but they obviously feel that w.hat
they get in return is generally worth paying for.
Some trimming and adjusting may be
necessary from time to time but basically the
level of taxation remains relatively constant.
But in spite of this the Scandinavians are also
afflicted by what we all know as tax evasion, or
the art of avoiding taxes on income. While it is
French. They drink .16 gallons of the stuff, per
capita every year.
So it is sobering to reflect that French
researchers have proved that 'wine experts' are
mostly talking through their chapeaux. A chap
by the name of Frederic Brochet has been
conducting a series of heretical studies in the
Bordeaux region of France.
In one experiment, he had ,57 wine experts
taste a bottle clearly marked gran cru — a
premium vintage. The experts sniffed, swirled,
gargled and spat, and then purred words like
'agreeable','complex', 'balanced' and
'rounded'. Forty of the 57 tasters said the wine
from the expensive bottle was good.
Then Monsieur Brochet brought out a bottle
of table wine bearing a cheap, well-known-but-
not-well-thought-of label.
"Faulty," said one critic. "Weak" pronounced
another.
Other words that featured prominently in
their critiques included_ 'short', 'light', 'flat'
and 'flabby'.
The odd thing is, it was the same wine they'd
tasted before. Only the labels were changed.
The 'experts' had unconsciously based all of
still not as high there as in countries bordering
on the Mediterranean where the art of avoiding
taxes has been developed to a high degree; it is
still 20 per cent + of GDP or higher than in
Canada which is coping with a 15 per cent
evasion rate.
Any study done on this reveals generally that
the higher level of taxation, the greater is the
temptation to avoid taxes.
This current rate of tax evasion in Canada is
higher than .it was 10 years ago and this also
mirrors the situation in most other countries.
Part of the reason for this increased level of
evasion is the ability of money to cross borders
with little, if any restrictions. Tax havens exist
all over the world and the jokes about having a
Swiss bank account have lost their validity. All
you have to do is go to the Caymen Islands, for
example, to see just how many banks. there are
set up along the main street.
Many of these banks cater to people who in
one way or another are bent on escaping the
paying of tax or determined to keep secret
some of their income. The banking authorities
have, of late, tried to plug some of the holes but
when you have such a free flow of money
throughout most of the world, it is next to
impossible to track ill-gotten gains.
But when all is said and done, the country
that Canada has to keep in mind when thinking
of tax systems is the United States. The
attractiveness about working south of the
border is not only the higher salaries that are
frequently offered, it is the amount of taxes that
are paid on such incomes.
Furthermore, the U.S. offers its residents tax
relief in certain areas that are not available to
their comments on the label, not the contents.
In another test, Brochet asked 54 wine
experts to sample several bottles of vintage red
wine, including one ringer that was actually a
bottle of white, coloured red by a flavourless
dye.
Not a single winegeek noticed that one of
their 'reds' was a 'white'.
Quelle scandale! Do you think this means an
end to annoying and pretentiously flannel-
mouthed corkdorks?
Fat chance. The field is actually expanding.
There's a promoter in the States by the name
of Arthur von Weisenberger who's going
around setting up taste-test competitions in
which people get to rate and comment on
various American brands.
Mister von Weisenberger advises the
contestants to "look, sniff and taste" each
product carefully.
Here are some comments culled from a
recent von Weisenberger taste testing:
"Thick, oily and dull."
"Full and 'voluptuous."
"Rich, good mouth feel and very crystalline."
"It tastes like tap water."
Actually the last comment was right on the
money - it WAS water. Von Weisengerber
contests are sponsored by U.S. companies that
produce and market bottled water.
Thank heavens these guys weren't around
The Holy Land in the Old Testament days.
Jesus could have performed his miracle of
turning water into wine, and they wouldn't
have noticed the difference.
Canadians such as on the mortgage payments
on a house, something that Canadians have
talked about for years but have never
experienced.
Finally, most taxes, no matter where they are
levied, bring about what is called "excess
burden." This means simply that there is a loss
to the economy by implementing the tax. This
negative effect, which can also be called a
"deadweight loss" means that it is all the more
important for governments to spend (dr tax
dollars wisely.
How well they accomplish that could
provide material for many a long discussion.
Letter
THE EDITOR,
The Blyth Festival is in rehearsal for the
Community Players portion of The Outdoor
Donnellys. This production relies on a wide
variety of talents contributed by area
volunteers. Actors, singers, tractor drivers,
ushers and musicians make up• a volunteer
contingent that will reach approximately 120
participants. This thing is contagious.
We are currently seeking some more singers
to help share the load among the choristers
required for one of the community vignettes.
Choristers of any age, with choir experience,
are encouraged to contact Mary Hearn at 519-
482-8123 if they are interested in joining the
Donnelly show this season.
This particular vignette is performed at
approximately 7 p.m. and lasts roughly 35
minutes.
Performances are held Tuesday through
Sunday from June 7 - 29. The more choristers
we have, the more flexibility there will be in
scheduliag around everyone's availability.
Pleasecall Mary Hearn at the above number
or Eric Coates at the Blyth Festival (519-523-
4345) for more information.
Eric Coates
A..uKiate Artistic Director
Blestival
Chances to learn
S o many options to consider, so many
opportunities to follov,,, so many
talents to flourish. Young people today
have a much greater chance of recognizing
their potential than generations before them
did..
Just over a week ago, students had the
chance to learn about the film and television
industry from professionals at the first ever
Imago Film Festival held at Central Huron
Secondary School. Workshops were
conducted in acting, production and design,
film production and writing and promotion.
During an evening panel discussion, one of
the leaders told the young participants they
were years ahead of where he had been at their
age because of the opportunities which existed
and the diversity of programs available to
them.
Next week, drama students at F. E. Madill
Secondary School get their turn presenting
their Performance Showcase. It will highlight
the musical, acting and technical talents of the
students, as well as provide a method for them
to develop these talents, which many
discovered through music and drama classes at
school.
Way, way back, when I went to high school,
the idea of being an actress, singer or artist
lived in the minds of only a few souls, those
people for whom the drummer's march was
just a tad off beat. This is not to say that there
weren't among the rest potential stars, simply
that the suggestion was exotic enough that
only the flamboyant, the brave or the honest
would consider it. In my day, only little ones
had stars in their eyes. Bib girls were going to.
be secretaries, nurses or teachers. Boys would'
be engineers, doctors, lawyers or plumbers
There's little question when one. thil ks
fiscally about a career in the arts, there can he
concerns. Only a few, many no more talented
than the rest, but obviously more fortunate,
gain the type of reputation which garners them
a living. Others struggle, live job to job, drive
winter beaters all year, and dream for that one
thing that will bring them notice.
For parents this can be a frightening
proposition, a true test of your ability to allow
your kid to make their own life choices, as
well as their own mistakes. We all want what's
best for them, or at least what we believe is
best for them, which is generally job security,
a steady income and of course, happiness.
The test comes with the realization that for
some happiness is not about financial stability.
but more about doing what you love. And it'
that means pursuing a dream that may seem
economically unsound to the more 'practical
what better time for that than when you're
young?
At the secondary level, and even on some
occasions at the elementary schools, youths
are introduced to a wonderful diversity of
learning. No longer must the numerically
challenged see a door closing on university.
Girls learn trades, boys study home, ec. There
are ways to learn business, start a business or
in the case of debate, give others the business.
And because of that diversity, young people
can find their passion and follow it first, find a
way to make it work, second.
After all, if all our artists, our musicians, our
thespians had worried about the slim to nil
chance of success, we would never have had
those films that make us sigh, "Ahh.". Or those
songs that can make the sun shine on a lour)
day or put romance into stale marital air.
one of the two inevitables