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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-04-19, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, April 19, 1989 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 ROSS HAUGH Editor PCNA BIM BECKETT Publisher & Adveiising Manager HARRY DEVRIES DON SMITH Composition Manager Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 Where must be sacrifices Whether.we like it or not, all Ca- nadians will have to give a little in sacrifices to straighten out our country's economy. Finance Minister Michael Wilson con- firmed recently that almost all of us are going to have to pay more taxes. He told the Retail Council of Canada that the government of Brian Mulroney will increase revenues and sharply cut spending to try and handle a debt situa- tion which has reachedgigantic and al- most critical proportions. We have heard for a couple of months now that the April 27 budget will hit us with tax increases and spending cuts. Wilson confirmed this by saying, "In this budget we are going to have to have a combination of expenditure actions and tax measures." The federal government has been liv- ing on: borrowed time for a number of years now, allowing the country's deficit to shoot up to almost $29 billion. By the. end of March of this year, Ottawa's total accumulated debt had increased to over $320 billion with interest payments alone costing $33 billion each year. Although Wilson did not give any spe- cific details about the new budget, some of our country's economists are guessing it will contain about $2 billion in govern- ment spending cuts and $3 billion in tax increases. Wilson has blamed the budget deficit each year on increasing interest rates and the government's desire to be and stay popular. Many times, the government has said okay to a particular program when there wasn't enough money to sufficiently fund it. We know some sacrifices must be. made. It's up to the government to see that all in the country except the very needy share in coughing up this extra money. And coughing it will be, unless big business and corporations get hit the same way most of the rest of us do. Many times this doesn't happen. None of us likes paying extra taxes, but a surtax on everyone may be the way to go. Very often the middle-income resi- dent of Canada is asked to pay the most while wealthy Canadians and large cor- porations get off relatively easy. .At the same time, the government should be prepared to reduce spending substantially. Increasing .our taxes with- out a reduction in spending won't do much to improve or cure the economic health of our country, especially in the long run. One way to increase tax revenue which hasn't been mentioned by any politicians would be the taxing of lottery winnings. We would suggest that a federal tax of 10 percent be imposed on any lottery prize in excess of $10 thousand. Taking a conservative look at the three- big hree -big draws held each week, we would guess the big jackpots whether won each week or not would average out to about $2 million a week. Our suggested tax on this would amount to believe it or not $10,400,000 each year. It may not be the answer to our deficit problems, but could be a start in the right direction. Anyone winning a jackpot of $500,000 or more and there are. many of these, could afford to give our government 10 percent. Across the border, Uncle Sam takes a cut right off the top of lottery winnings. In the large casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, any gambling prize over $2,500 is immediately slapped with a withholding tax of 30 percent by the IRS. Maybe, this system should become part of Free Trade. Glasses I have been myopic ever since I From that day on my life be - can remember. We used to go came fairly normal. To my sur - blueberry picking. Everybody prise I discovered that wearing �..... �,..r akbesiEef-full- iOrtrixfvorenFiggstrift no big tfea{: Short of a career as a prizefighter, the world was open to me. Every couple of years I had to have a new, stronger, pair, until a while ago the doctor advised me to switch to bifocals. I stum- bled a few times stepping down me. I couldn't see the bushes, let alone the berries. When I went to school, there were no eye examinations. Chil- dren with glasses were extremely unpopular. Since I didn't com- plain about my short-sightedness and always pretended that I had perfect vision, I never had to wear glasses. And I joined the others in making fun of kids with glasses. I went through public school, sigh school, and agricultural col- "'I—Tele without wearing glasses. How I ever passed anything is beyond me. Half the time I couldn't see the blackboard, let alone thc chalk scribbles on it. When I was about 19, I had to take my young sister to an oph- thalmologist. She was fixed up with a pair of glasses. I had nev- er been to an eye doctor, nor had I ever looked through a pair of glasses. I asked the doctor: "Do you think you could test my vi- sion? I have a feeling that my eyes aren't perfect either". He examined me and pro- claimed: "You're blind as a bat". He prescribed spectacles for me, and for thc first time in my life I was able to see the stars in the sky and recognize people's faces from more than a foot away. PETER'S POINT 0 Ltirtverfrtimbi- By Ross Haugh be, not quite, and almost, brought to my eyes via a 1 -cm strip of polished plastic. It is a constant source of astonishment to mc how'many objects insist on hiding in this Harrow zone. Among thc inhabitants of Mid- dle Earth are my computer key- board and screen, the face of my alarm clock, the dial of my bed- side radio, the pages of tele- phone books in public phone booths, price tags in store win- dows, and the titles of books'on bookstore shelves.------ What helves.- --"What next? Dodecafocal glass- es with twelve tiny stripes for — I<welve grateful to have vision at all, and I am beginning to appreciate my eyesight as one of the most in- credible marvels of creatiki. But thanks to my trifocals, I tend to turn my eyes away from Middle Earth, concentrating instead on the distant universe above, and the near microcosm hidden in the palm of my hand. "Don't worry", my opthalmol- ogist tells me, "you'll get used to it". If I don't, I may be forced to write with pen. and paper again, or with quill and parchment, or to etch my words in stone. Edi- tor, please, note: Peter's Point may soon amve via cargo plane and moving van. On the other hand, 1 might yet learn to force the dwellers of Middle Earth into my pattern of vision. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by I.W. Eedy Publications Limited . It ain't over yet When the immortal Yogi Berra said "It ain't over until it's over", he was apparently referring to a baseball game. In our opinion that term could also apply to the weather and winter in particular. This certainly came to mind last Wednesday when driving back home from Mount Forest after attending a press conferenc re- garding the new Ontario Provin- cial Police communications sys tem. The weather was certainly not what one would expect on April 12 of any year. Driving condi- tions were far from ideal with heavy snow, especially between Palmerston and Mitchell. Hope- fully situations like this are be- hind us for at least eight months. The OPP press conference was called to alert everyone within the confines of District 6 of the new communications s 'stem and particularly the new number to call for police assistance. District 6 covers all detach- ments in the counties of Bruce, Grey, Huron, Perth and Well- ington and the regional munici-. pality of Waterloo. OPP area wishing to report an emergency or needing as'sistancc before .8.15 a:m. or after 4.30 p.m. should dial a toll free num- ber and it is 1-800-265-2525. It's very important to note that this number is not -to be used for routine administration or infor- mation calls during office hours. The number for this type of call remains at 235-1300. Exeter OPP Staff Sergeant Don McInnes told us Friday that the from a sidewalk, but there wet'e no major problems. One day in a bookstore I wondered, though, at the new small size of pocket books until 1 realized that it was my vision that was playing tricks on mc. Now i have graduated to trifo- cals, and henceforth my world will be neatly divided into three parts. On top is the upper, least problematic zone where the Milky Way and the Big Dipper arc still clearly in focus. At the bottom lies the region of books, letters, postage stamps, watches, and splinters. Wedged between these is Middle Earth, the some- times frustrating world of may - new system is now in operation and working with all patrol cars in his detachment. Included in the new system is a toll-free outside telephone locat- ed near the main entrance of each detachment for emergency use when no one is in the office. It is not necessary to dial a number from this type of phone. Just lift the receiver and you will get the From the editor's disk by Ross HAvfgh district dispatch office and a local patrol car will be notified imme- diately. If you come across a serious accident at any time and can get to a phone it's best to use the new number which will connect you quickly with district dispatch and they will immediately send police, ambulance, fire depart- ments or whatever services arc needed. w num= bcr is 1-800-265-2525. While in in . Mount Forest we talked to Sergeant G.J. Barker, now of the Burlington detach- ment communications system. Barker, better known as Gord was with the Lucan OPP detach- ment for many years and it was great to see him again. He asked us to send greetings -along to his many friends in the Lucan ans. At the same time we ran Thto another communications ser- geant. He is Glenn O'Rourke. Glenn a native of the Mount Car- mel area became well known during the past 10 years in Dis- trict 6 for his valuable work with the Canine Unit. The big part of the Canine Unit was his 12 year-old German Shepherd Trapper who along with O'Rourke was involved in 1,300 police related searches and was successful many times. Trapper recently retired from his police duties and now is spending much deserved rest and relaxation time at the home of Glenn O'Rourke. They have been constant companions since the summer of 1979 when the dog was 20 months old. A story and picture of O'Rourke and Trapper appears elsewhere in this issue. * * * * * While on the subject of polic- ing we should alert every driver in this area of the new flashing pedestrian crosswalk signals which are now operating at the corner of Main and Victoria streets. As this is the main crossing point for studeal .gc„1iug tLn F.�.YSt: _. _et Public School, police chief 'Larry Hardy told us this week, "We will be taking a strict stance -on enforcement at this location. The safety of the kids is fore- most. Anyone not obeying the lights when flashing will be fined $53.75 and licence points will also be lost." Pun of thc Week - Stenogra- pher - A girl you pay to learn to ',:spell while she is looking for a husband. Letters to the Editor Dear Sir: • Concerns about the possibility of electricity supply shortfalls in the '90s have been reinforced by emi- nent speakers, including economist Carl Seigle, at the recent Ontario's Energy Choices Conference. One of the consistent themes at the conference, sponsored by the Ministry of Energy and the Canadi- an Energy Research Institute, was that current supply capacity would not handle Ontario's growing de- mand for electricity for very long. At our annual meeting in February, members of the Municipal Electric Association passed several resolu- tions urging immediate action on the part of Ontario Hydro and the Ontario government. The municipal electric utilities are concerned that they will not be able to buy and supply sufficient electricity for their customers with- in a few years. A reliable and ade- quate supply of electricity is essen- tial to Ontario, both to maintain our standard of living and for con- tinued economic success in the face of free trade. Construction of new generating facilities needs to start immediately. The public consultation and approv- als processes must be expedited. Recent studies have confirmed both the safety and the cost esti- mates of our nuclear plants. The possibility of additional nuclear ca- pacity should not be ignored. Of course, Ontario's citizens must continue to work with Ontario Hy- dro and their local utility to im- prove energy conservation and de- mand management. As well, remaining hydraulic generation and other small alternatives must also be harnessed. However, the best ef- forts in these areas will likely only offset half of the increasing electric Telectric industry is soon hold- ing its own seminar entitled Elec- tricity Supply - Running On Emp- ty. The title indicates our perception of the immediate future. I don't envy Robert Wong, minister of energy, at the wheel. Be it con- servation or the use of gas, coal, water or nuclear, there arc critics ready to take the minister to task. Will the public believe in the prob- lem before the lights go out? D. Carl Anderson Chairman Municipal Electric Association Toronto