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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-05-14, Page 31Page 4 Times -Advocate, May 21, 1997 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: lion 'Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord Advedlsing;.Rarb Consitt, Chad Eedy News; Heather Mir, Chris Skalkos, Ross Haugh, Brenda Burke ,Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hern. Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner Transoortation: Al Flynn, Al Hodgert Front Office & Accounting; Elaine Pinder. Sue Rollings, Ruth Sleight Ruthanne Negriin, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple • The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers ow/kWnMM` r M� r providing news, advertising and information leadership A. 1419- 19S -mkt. Pei f ASSCL EI)ITORIAi.s Taxpayer legislation ax protection laws legisla- . tion that safeguards taxpayers by means of balanced budgets, tax and spending limits. and referendums on tax increas- es - have been central issues in many recent provincial election campaigns. - Mike Harris' victory in 1995:was largely basedon his promise to elimi- • nate Ontario's deficit within five years, to.cut the salaries -of cabinet ministers if they fail to balance the budget, and to make any increase in existing tax rates or the introduction of.any new taxes subject to a binding referendum. Last year's election in British Columbia saw the party leaders in that province sign- ing similar pledges. And, in this spring's campaign. Alberta Premier Ralph Klein promised to extend his province's taxpayer protection legisla-, tion to include the use 'of -referendums for proposals to increase personal or corporate income taxes. All across the country. from Nova Scotia to Yukon,- provinciiil and territorial governments are -responding to the country's titanic tax burden .by passing taxpayer protec- tion laws. But what about Ottawa? Why is the federal government, which is in far worse shape than most of the provinces, ignoring the call for taxpay- . er protection`' Well, it might have something to do with the position of the;cut-ceritgovern- ing party. As with,'most issues, the Liberal ,party has applied its "don't worry..be happy" mantra to taxpayer protection legisla- tion. According to Mr. Chretien, t what really matters is results - having the po- litical will to set target and stick.to them.- not legislation alone." In other words, the Liberals have no intention whatsoever of enacting a taxpayerpro- tection law. They are content to "set targets" (no matter how modest and in- adequate they might be) and count on 1, ,/% Publications Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One year rate for Ontario subscribers - $36.00 + GST Two year rate for Ontario subscribers - $63.00 + OST ouTSIDE oNTARIQ One year subscription - $63.00 + OST Two pear subscription - $119.00 + tiST OTHER RATES Outside Canada - $102.00 Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Mein St., Exeter. Ontario. NOM 1,56 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-S1.3235.1331 • Fax: 519.235.0766 e-mail address: times. advocateeeedy.com O.S.T. M105210835 the.complacency of voters to perrnit massive tax grabs. Alexa McDonough's New Democrats have taken a similar tact for Campaign 1997.: According to NDP HQ, "we would not...support legis- - lation that hinds the government to a ref- erendum on all tax. increases." Instead, the New Democrats would reject direct democracy in favor of an'expanded tax base and thus higher tax revenues) and would "make the tax system more - -fair..." Apparently. NDP officials, rather than the Canadian people, are blessed with the knowledge of what a "fair" tax system would look like: Still, there are voices in the political wilderness (however -faint they may be) that support the introduction of a federal taxpayer protection law. Progressive Conservative leader Jean Charestis ' campaigning on a platform to legislate balanced budgets, with.provisions for fir! nancial penalties for governments that incur deficits. And the Reform Party is also "committed to a balanced budget amendment and, tax payer'prdtection leg- islation." The various federal parties' positions on taxpayer protection might lead voters to believe that the' issue is di- vided by ideology - but it's not. Taxpay- er protection laws have been enacted by a NDP government in Saskatchewan; by a Liberal government in New Brunswick and bX a Tory government in Manitoba. Defending taxpayers from -program- . killing deficits and job -killing taxes is not an ideological crusade - it's just common sense. If Canadians want to ensure balanced budgets and hold the line on•taxes they need. to vote for those parties and candi- 'dates that support taxpayer protection legislation. Two federal parties are al- ready on side. Voters would do well to encourage the hold -outs to amend their platforms and board the taxpayer protec- • tion express. Meaford Express o‘o yC �' What's on your mind? The Times -Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open discussion of local issues, concerns, complaints and kudos. The Times -Advocate reserves the right to edit'letters for brevity.. Please send your letters to P.O. Box 850. Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6. Sign•your letter with both name and address. Antonymous letters will not be published. BETWEEN THE NICE WEATHER AND THE ELECTION, BUSINESS IS BOOMING! Simple Cruelties Brenda' Burke - Driving Miss Patience • For someone'who dies a lot of . driving, you'd think I'd be •' patient and seasoned, ready to take'on the highway. . But it's so aggrav,acing when [ get behind r -e -a -I -1-y s -1 -o -w drivers, the kind who make career turns into driveways and contemplate parking,spets along main streets. Always in a hurry to get somewhere, it's-, frustrating beyond' belief when I'm forced to crawl behind.a gigantic cement truck or -a string of Sunday drivers. ' • • Nearly wors'e than slow' drivers arethose who cut you off, follow so close you swear they're connected to your back .bumper, and pass without using blinker`s; squeezing just in front 'of you and slowing down once they are the leader. What about thosepeople who don't believe in using blinkers at all, or others who never barn their heads to peer.around before they make a lane change. thinking they are the only ones on the road? And then there are individuals who drive so aggressively. you wonder if they're out there to tick people off on purpose. You know the type. They pass on the right. don't let you into a busy lane; and,honk when you hesitate for a few seconds at a --green light. Not only dq these 'maniac drives make even experienced drivers nervous, they likely drive fear into the hearts of beginners. But driving has its own,scary aspects. even without considering other drivers. Thihk about it. You climb inside,. •crank the tunes. adjust the heat or air conditioner to just the right comfort zone. then. if ' you're driving alone, you begin to drift away, thinking about how work went that day., about what to• sink your teeth into for 'your next .meal. about. the dog's rabies shots, the neighbor's rose bushes.or an upcoming Seinfeld show. Before you know it. you've retched your destination and ' there you sit trying to figure out just how vbu got there. [ remember a university psychology professor who once made a serious confession. She looked the class of 200 in the eyes, closed her book entitled • The We of a Test Tuhe.Rat, and sighed. "I honestly can't remember, how [get from one place to the - next," -she said, a• distant . • expression on her faces. "I climb • in the car and the next•thing [ know. I'M already home. Can't remember a thing between my take -off and destination.". Maybe she picked up this habit from whoever taught her bow to drive.: I think I've .[earned all my bad habits from .driving teachers. Following a • . little too close. hesitating at intersections. ndt signalling soon enough. • The hard thing is, once you've got yourself into.some sort of driving routine, many habits area hard to break. The worst habit is getting upset with other drivers. This may lead to unorthodox behavior - swearing behind the safety of closed•windows, shaking -your fists or screaming. • But there is help: I've heard . about. a little electronic toy you can carry in your car. You push and aim at annoying drivers. I • think some sort of explosion sound follows. • A View From Queen's Park By Eric Dowd TORONTO -- Here is a man who can put real spin on a story. Finance Minister Ernie Eves in- vited news -media to a preview of his budget in a revolving restaurant 1.150 feet up the CN Tower: Eves pointed to construction sites all around. had the restaurant start revolving and explained that this illustrated perfectly the way his Pro- gressive Conservatives are turning the province around. . Eves also invited media to a "pre -budget pho- to opportunity" which consisted of him touring a clothing store in a t -shirt bearing the slogan "Oh, yes! More tax cuts, more jobs." The day after their budget and cuts, Eves and Premier Mike Harris were in a coffee shop tell- ing customers that they could buy more coffee, homes and furniture. Eves also was pictured in shirt -sleeves playing pool with his staff and sending a message here is a humane boss who deserves a break. A year or two ago, a finance minister would have been content merely to invite photogra- phers to his office for a quick snap of his bud- get cover and weak joke about being -unable to .reveal the.contents. But the Tories, after a rough spell and drop in polls, are desperate for favorable publicity. Harris has claimed the Media are like an oppo- sition party since his big -win, although he has, not been attacked more than other recent gov- ernments. The Tories know news media will follow when they go outside the legislature, and TV is particularly eager for more interesting settings than staid offices and the familiar legislature chamber. One result is that residents can barely venture from their homes without being grabbed for photo -ops by Harris•and his minis- ters. The premier, in a week or two around budget - time, was seen helping children whip up pan- cakes at a youth centre, bouncing children on his knee at a home for the disabled, in hospitals cancer, heart and dialysis wards and a cinema complex, mostly discussing funding, loading a truck with supplies for Manitoba flooding vic- tims, handing out carnations to fight multiple Harris puts a spin on story 'sclerosis and with disabled athlete Rick Han- sen. When the Tories made their mega -week an- nouncements shifting costly responsibilities to municipalities, Education Minister John Strobe - len did his in Toronto's oldest public school. Transportation Minister Al Palladini chose a ferryboat and Community and Social Services Minister Janet Ecker used a regional govern- ment office to stress the waste in small munici- palities. Palladini has been on highways filling pot- holes. for which media were advised to wear hard hats. and at inspection stations. garages and quarries vowing a crackdown on unsafe trucks, which made great pictures but never got out of park. The biggest danger on highways may be drivers craning their necks to see what the minister and all those cameras around him are up to. Health Minister Jim Wilson has made so many announcements in hospitals patients may have more chance of bumping into him than booking an operation. The first workfare program was•announced in a park and ministers have made announcements in schools, a cookie -factory. police headquar- ters, courthouse and lawyers' lounge, on a run- ning track and outside a'jail.Ministersused to make almost all announcements in the legisla- ture and opposition parties objected when occa- • sionally they made them outside, but it has be- come so taken for granted that most will now Ibe.made in fast-food restaurants or on.assem- bly lines that no one thinks of complaining. The big danger for the public is that TV fol- lows almost everywhere and puts ministers on when they do nothing of value, rather than- - waste a trip, and in the procesl,makes them them look busier than they are and more hu- man. Ministers also never make announcements against backgrounds that might prove unsym- pathetic. like queues of job -seekers, and report- ers stuck in crowds outside a jail or daycare centre find it more difficult to ask embarrassing questions. As a result, the Harris government gets more mileage from hitting the road.