HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-03-11, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, March 11, 1998
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Government finally "cuts up the plastic"
ravo to the federal govern-
ment for bringing in the first balanced
budget in 30 years'.
The provinces are not happy be- -.
catlsc,they expected more money in
transfer lrtynlents,.thc rich people are
-annoyed because they were pretty
nine!) excluded in tax 'concessions, stu-
dents presently in debt up to their eye-
Mills are furious hecatise none of the
announced 'education assistance clauses
will help.them, and people in midwest=
ern Ontario are miffed at being consid-
cre<d a ''reiliote location". for purposes
.ol bu ittass lunches. But no ,
one is criticizing Finance Minister Paul
Martin.
.Sonic people have hoted,the reason
the giovernment has been able .to hring
in a balanced buds et,this round has
•more lo do with a favorable economy
and WIN 10,W illts;resl,rales than -with,
anv government action. in -other words,
Nl rtiii ltick,ed otlt:, But still, no ope is,
'critical.
The reason is simple,. People like
hearing good dews. and no doubt about,
it, this is a good news budget. Martin
, told the, taxpayer exactly what,he -ant-
ed to hear. • . •
For quite some time now, there has'
been a growing concern about govern-
ments our owns and foreign - spend-
ing tomorrow's tax dollars today.
As the"happy days are here -again
mentality of the post' war baby boom
faded into the reality of downsizing,
layoffs and restructuring which charac-
terize the past decade, people became.
suspicious of individual and family -
deht. But debt on a much larger scale
remained acceptable.
Governments kept borrowing so they,
could pas around goodies'- a hospital
here. a school there, and let's build a
fabulous new super highway while
�1e're at it. This mentalitymade'perfect
sense when newlyweds with no sayings
,could go out and buy.a huge, new home"
"and a couple of cars on credit. It fit the
optimism of a time when plastic had re-
placed cash, and .no one worried about
debt because. there were plenty of jobs,
lots of money and unlimited potential -
- the American dream come true.
The dream meint the average family
was a single paycheque away from fi-
nancial disaster, and.disaster hit when
those high paying, industrial jobs dried,
up, to he replaced by lower paid service.
sector jobs. People started cutting up the
plastic, and making do with less. Even
those who had not suffered job loss, suf-
fered a different sort of loss - loss of
cont idence.• Deht once again become
something most.pcople feared.
Governments were slow to, get the
-,message, but finally, the voter spoke
loudly enough to he "heard. Paul Mar-
tin's budget is the correct response for
the tittles.
This isa budget people may not like a
iot, but they feel comfortable with it. It
does not offer pie -in -the -sky solutions. it
does riot offer.huge concessions. It does
not offer substantial "goodies" to any-
one. More to the point; it is an acknowl-
edgement the government is "cutting up
. the credit cards" and taking control of its
spending. It is very much in keeping
. with how people feel.
The average taxpayer does not believe
for a moment that happy days will once
. 'again return.if the government can only
come up with the right eGonomic formu-
la. He suspects things could be better if
.government would approach its budget •
with the same caution that he uses as an .
individual
That.is why -this budget sounds so posi-
tive. It is not a good news•hudget despite
the 'lack of big promises and'inajor con-
cessions: it is a good news budget he -
cause of it.
reprinted fano Saugeen C'ir► New.%
What's on your mind?.
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A View from Queen's Park
TORONTO -- Premier Mike Harris and his
Progressive Conservatives are a party unsure of
themselves as they are off and stumbling to-
ward an election.
The Tories have lost poise after a series of in-
dications that they are vulnerable. The most de-
flating is that despite appearing on track to
keep key promises to cut income •tax and bal-
ance the budget, they still have fallen in polls to
33 pelt cent. the lowest level since winning the
1995 election.
Barris. has responded with musings about pos-
sible new policies. -among them that he will run
on stamping out a mythical crime wave, prom-
ising
romising to `'let Ontarians take back the streets"
and assuring "the right of all Ontarians to feel
physically safe in their homes and on the
streets."
One problem with this is while there is justi-
fied concern about crime, it is not a dominating
issue except in a few limited areas, and there
are no signs the Tories could use it with great
sticcess•in an election.
By Eric Dowd
According to G.I. Ncvcrcry, an
internationally acclaimed millenni-
um child rearing psychiatrist. eve-
ryone has the potential, to he the
perfect parent. •
All it takes, he explains in his
hest -seller, 'Perfect Parenting' (re-
tailing for a low $169.95) is the pa-
tience of a snail. the stamina of a
race horse and the. organizational
skills of a world-class ant colony. ,
Being a new mom •and having,
spent the past nine months on an
extended maternity leave. 1 was dy-
ing to see what this expert had to
say.
Drawing.from his vast life experi-
ence as a 'long-time baby ferret
farmer and relying 'on superb skills
picked qp while observing his rcla-.
tive's children through binoculars.
Ncvcrcry promises a moncy-hack
guarantee' if you enroll in his fa-
tuous two-hour seminar and end up
raising Icss than perfect kids.
Believing parenting was `a skill
•that could he taught. especially by
an expert. I readily signed up. wip-
ing the %pit -up off my shoulders
and standing up straight to counter-
act the effect of baby oogling pos-
ture.
The most important rule. the man
Simple Cruelties
By Brenda Burke
Perfect Parenting
claimed. while snacking • on animal
Crackers' at the front of a packed.
Southwestern Ontario auditorium,
is never, .e►'er, ever, ever let your
Children- hclieve they are the boss.
Even infants quickly learn to ma-
niptilate adults. he warned, adding
parents .who give into their. chil-
dren's wishes'will forever regret it.
Such a mistake,, could inevitably.
lead 'to the shakes or even trauma to
the outer layer of.thc brain.
Ncvcrcry also had tips for dress-
ing and feeding infants.
"Buy 40 identical neon -colored, •
snap -bottom sleepers in various siz-
es," he calmly suggested to a room
full of awestruck . parents. •"This
way," he nearly whispered, you
minimize worries .about expensive
fashion - trends they quickly grow
out of. and ata glance.. you can
identify your kid anywhere on the:
face of the earth." - • ' -
As for feedirg. he advised giving
children only what, they like, such
as honey -covered wieners- .and
ketchup on spignetti. •
"Besides. w hat's more impor-
tant." he mused. "small nutritional
gains from yucky greens or a hap-'
py, foul -smeared kid!"
He also informed the group of
upcoming'seminars • including
Breastfeeding Basics: how ,to ap-
pear confident • in' public places;
Normal Nap Times: how to induce
your young one into,a 36 -hour cat-
nap. (Such sleeping patterns, he ex-
plained, are better'than wee naps ort
a daily basis since frantic parents
with no time on their hands can get
more done in a 36 -hour stretch than
in little 15 -minute intervals.).
Although 1. silently wonder about
this man's -credentials, one piece of
his advice may hold , true. ,On a
green sheet of paper titled 'Back to
Work Wonders', he figures out how
mother's can case themselves back
into the workforce and their chip=,
dren into some sort of child care.
,"Jot down the number 24 and
multiply that by seven. if you come
up with the nuinher 168. congratula-
tions! You've taken the first step to
realizing there aren't enough hours
in a day or days in a week to be a
parent and live your own life."
"But," he concluded in his au-
thoritative,. voice. "by simplifying
your existence, it can he achieved.
All one has to do is eliminate day- '
to -day unessential tasks such as eat=
ipg, sleeping and taking the time to
cut your toenails,"
•
•
Other Tories are tossing around the idea of
strengthening consumer protection, particularly
in car collision repairs, but the trouble here is
they have developed a reputation for disman-
tling consumer protection and allowing business
owners, mostly Tories, to clean up their own
acts.
Harris, so jumpy he cannot sit still, has set off
on a tour of what he calls community roundta-
bles around the province to collect views, but
packed them so only his own supporters can ask
questions, suggesting he is nervous about meet-
ing the public.
The premier has conceded several times that
he needs to change his image, which has been
one of slashing services and jobs to save mon-
ey, and look more humane.
But he blew his first major opportunity by of-
fering meagre compensation to the three surviv-
ing Dionne quintuplets, saying it was final, then
quickly retreated when criticized, admitting
"this hasn't been our finest hour."
One obstacle for Harris is that he does not fit
Turnaround from the last edition
naturally in the role of gracious benefactor and
knows it. When reporters asked whether he will
change his image for the election, he could not
resist replying sarcastically: "Yep. ' The real
kind, gentle, concerned Mike Harris, the one
you've grown to know and love, will be there
before the'pcople."
Harris will try to recoup by bringing in a law,
not mentioned in his 1995 Common Sense Rev-
olution platform, requiring government to hold
a referendum before it can increase a tax, which
will appeal to the many concerned with finan-
cial prudence,'but his bigger need is to show
that he has heart.
The premier in the latest poll lost support par-
ticularly among senior citizens, yet. he has since
cut the number of visits doctors can make to
nursing homes and chronic -care hospitals,
which cater to the elderly.
Harris and leading Tories keep leaving end-
less strategy sessions, repeating that their prob-
lem is merely a failure to communicate, but
while they insist that their policies arc blame-
less, they miss chances to remedy defects.
The Tories have said they will put more prior-
ity on criticizing Liberal leader Dalton
McGuinty, who soared to 46 per cent in the lat-
est poll, but they should appreciate that
McGuinty is high in polls not because of any-
thing he has done, which is negligible, but be-
cause their own actions have been found want-
ing. -
Harris also is now saying that, although gov-
ernments traditionally call elections every four
years, he may hold off until the year 2000.
The premier seems worried that he will be un-
able to fulfil all his election promises in four
years, and he has said many times he will re-
sign if he fails to keep any, or if he keeps them
he will still be too low in polls to risk an elec-
tion.
All this is a turnaround from the last election,
when Harris won not only because he had poli-
cies that appealed, but also because he exuded
confidence about them. Now he has less to be
confident about.