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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-05-06, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 6,1992. Working pays? While one can have sympathy with the plight of Ontario treasurer Floyd Laughren in preparing the Ontario budget in tough times, the budget he presented last week sends a disturbing message to Ontario residents: working doesn't pay. The decision of Mr. Laughren to raise taxes while also introducing gambling casinos will cause some people in the province to think the way to wealth is through gambling, not hard work. Premier Bob Rae acknowledged as much himself before he came to office when he opposed widening gambling. Hit now with trying to keep from cutting services and at the same time keep the deficit from ballooning out of sight, the NDP government has now turned to gambling casinos as a way of raising extra revenue. It's a pattern started by the Progressive Conservatives 20 years ago when they brought in lotteries. Lotteries, in their mind-numbing advertising campaigns, have always held out the lure of the good life just around the comer if you pick the right number. You too can have the big house, the car that will make your neighbours drool, the vacations in exotic places whenever you want: all you have to do is play the game. Lottery winnings in Canada are tax free, about the only thing left that is. While the lottery jackpots have gotten bigger and bigger to lure jaded gamblers into buying new tickets, the taxes have gotten heavier and heavier on ordinary wages and salaries. Statistics show that in the last 10 years the buying power of your salary probably hasn't increased. It may even have decreased as governments, attempting to get budgets closer to balancing, have hiked taxes, and hiked them again. Working to get what one wants in life is a fool's game, the message goes out to people. The odds in the lottery may not be good, but they're about as good as making money the old fashioned way. Spend a few dollars each week and maybe you'll beat the odds and really strike it rich. To lottery madness has now been added casinos where people can get more involved in "playing" the game, and forgetting for a few hours how much they must pay in taxes on the money they earn elsewhere. So much for the old values of hard work.—KR - Pointing fingers is easy Men who risked their lives to protest freedoms such as freedom of speech will next week ask the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to ban three controversial television shows on Canada's Second World War effort. Or rather two of the three shows. Protesting veterans led by Cliff Chadderton, head of the War Amputations of Canada and chairman of the National Council of Veteran's Associations were pleased with the first of the three-part series The Valour and the Horror produced by the National Film Board and telecast on CBC in January. The first of the three shows dealt with the horrors suffered by Canadian prisoners of war at the hands of the Japanese after the fall of Hong Kong. The show rightly pointed out the hardships these men suffered, how the Japanese used them as slave labour and treated them as less than human because Japanese code of honour was that you were not worthy of life if you surrendered to the enemy. It was shocking, too, to see Japanese veterans interviewed, and see how they resisted knowing the truth about what happened in their prison camps. But the second and third parts of the series showed the two sides of the Canadian efforts by bomber command and the Normandy invasion. The makers of the series questioned the decision to bomb civilian targets in Germany and suggested Canadian troops in Normandy sometimes shot prisoners. To deny that some Canadians did despicable things in the name of freedom and democracy is to be naive. We aren't angels. Under the terrible conditions of war some of our people will react badly. History, it has been said, is written by the victors. The first reaction after victory is to record the terrible things the other guys did and to glorify our heroes. To tell the truth about the misdeeds of some of our people is not to demean the valour of the many more who were heroes. To try to suppress a version of history that they do not agree with is, however, demeaning of the great victory of our army, air force and navy veterans. Perhaps the documentary makers went too far in giving the dark side of our victory but surely we know well enough the horrors of the Nazis after 45 years of hearing about it that we can criticize ourselves without "giving the Germans the moral high ground" as the critics protest. Freedom means letting other people say things even when we don't agree with what they say.—KR A dirty shame Looking Back Through the Years ONE YEAR AGO May 8,1991 A Brussels man was charged by the Ministry of Environment for failing to comply with a Director's Order. He had failed to cover PCB- contaminated soil with clean clay soil and failed to register the PCB waste on the title to the property. Bob Richmond and Eric Ross of branch 218 Brussels finished first in the Provincial Legion dart dou­ bles held in Toronto. The two men won the privilege to represent Ontario at the Dominion Legion dart finals in Vernon, British Columbia. George Collins, Auburn and Jack Lee of Londesboro were honoured for their volunteer services in Hul- let township with certificates from the Ontario Municipal Recreation Association. THREE YEARS AGO May 3,1989 One man was charged following a break, enter and theft at the Old Mill south of Blyth. Witnesses reported seeing two thieves fleeing the scene with $2,000 worth of goods. Gary Courtney of Blyth cap­ tured one of the men after they tried stealing his van for their escape. A morning fire destroyed the barn of Bob Ahren on Lot 31, Cone. 18 of Grey Township. Some pigs and most of the remaining livestock perished in the blaze. Ben Barnes of RR 5, Brussels and Lisa (Bosman) Elliott formerly of Londesboro received excellence in education awards from the Huron County Board of Education, during a ceremony in Holmesville. FIVE YEARS AGO May 6, 1987 Raymond International Ltd. and Shatalow Productions Inc., produc­ ers of Blue City Stammers held auditions at the Blyth Inn for 10 minor parts in the movie which was shot in Blyth at the month's end. Father and son partners Bruce and Ross McCall of Brussels Stockyard sold the facility to Klaus Henschell of Stratford. The busi­ ness had been built by the Brussels family into a thriving enterprise during their 17 years of ownership. 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