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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-05-26, Page 1414 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, May 26, 1999 ONTARIO GOESTOTHE PALLS :.:'`,.' • John Wilkinson LIBERAL CANDIDATE I believe that an M.P.P. is supposed to work for everyone. This is more than just a .campaign slogan; it is my pledge to the people of. Perth - Middlesex., All will be welcome at my door. I will not pick and choose whom in this riding I wish to repre- sent. I will work for everyone. The Liberal party is committed to keeping needed hospitals open. That means that we will ensure our rural hospitals remain open to service our communities. People I have met are very unhappy with Mike Harris's actions and. the threat to local hospi- tals. am committed to ensuring that the hospitals ink our riding remain -.open, and receive the neces- sary funding to provide quality health care for us all. The Liberal party is committed to stable, flexible funding to ensure quality public education. This means that our children, the future of Ontario, will receive the opportunity they need to succeed. There is a real fear in this riding that many of our schools face closure under the Mike Harris education agenda. I will fight to restore funding flexibility so that Perth-Middlesexschools remain open. I will work hard to improve the situation at Oxbow. Elementary, and other over crowded schools. Our party has pledged that there will continue to be a Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Our opponents have.not made this pledge. Our Agricultural platform guarantees increased funding to OMAFRA. Our opponents have not made such a guarantee.. In fact, the Mike Harris government promised to restore OMAFRA funding in the 1995 election, and. onceelected actually. cut . funding by $ 70 million. Agribusiness is the largest industry in Perth -Middlesex. It is a given that our M.P.P. will be a friend of agri- culture. However, I believe that my rural background, coupled with my ability to communicate will allow me to be an effective friend of agricul- ture. I will work to make sure that the rest of Ontario understands, as we do, that food production is a vital industry for our province's prosperi ; y. 1. The Liberal party of Ontario recog- nizes the need for strong economic growth to ensure a prosperous province. We are committed to- a fis- cal plan that makes sense. That means we will stop borrowing money to fund a tax cut. At the door, I ask people, "When is the last time you borrowed money to give yourself a raise?" We have pledged not to raise taxes, balance the budget immediately and offer tax cuts from any budget surplus. Remember that today's deficits are tomorrow's taxes. Debating other candidates has been a positive experience for me. It has allowed me to see that the vot- ers of Perth -Middlesex do have a clear choice on election day. When your house is on fire, firefighters do not get to pick and choose whether to come to your house. They Just come, just as fast as they can. An M.P.P, in my opinion, does not get to pick and choose who they will help in their riding. They are there to work for everyone. That is my pledge to each and every citizen of Perth -Middlesex. WalterVernon NDP CANDIDATE My name is Walter Vernon and I am the NDP candidate for Perth Middlesex. My background includes fourteen years in teaching and ten in commercial banking. I hold a Masters degree in educational poli- cy studies from the University of Western Ontario, and am currently employed as a supply teacher by the Thames Valley District School Board. Four years ago the Harris Conservatives were elected on the promise of -a 30% tax cut -- with no cuts to health care, public educa- tion, or social programs. For four years, Ontarians have suffered because of the Tory: cuts... to health care, education, child care, womens' programs, and to programs . to pro- tect " the environment, the half -a -bil- lion dollars in services that they downloaded to -municipalities, their freezing of the; minimum wage,. and their removal of laws which protect workers and their families. And what did they do with all that money they "saved"? They -used it to pay for a tax cut which mainly benefits the wealthiest six percent, punishes the poor, and squeezes the middle class. The Harris agenda Is wrong for Ontarians because it . vic- timizes the most vulnerable mem- bers of our society, and labels as "special interest" anyone that dis- agrees with their policies. This is not the kind of society Ontarians want for themselves or for their chil- dren. Now the Harris Conservatives are campaigning on the promise of a further 20% tax cut and, once again, they are saying that they won't have to cut programs and services to pay for it. This time, Ontarians know better. As for the Liberals, they criticize the Harris tax cuts but they won't do anything about, it. The Liberals refuse to roll back the Harris tax cuts, so they have no idea where the money will come from to pay for the $2.5 billion dollars in new spending that they are promising. They have no idea where they'll get the money, so they cannot guarantee any of the promis- es that they are making. . The NDP willreverse the •Harris tax cut for the wealthy few who benefit -- ONLY those individuals with tax- able incomes greater than $80 thou- sand -- and invest the resulting $1.5 billion annual intake where it will do the most good for the greatest num- ber of people. Tho money will be spent as follows: - $250 million to stop the move to American-style, for-profit, health care and home care; - $375 million to guarantee assessment by trained staff of all emergency cases within 15 minutes of entering the hospital; - $540 million to cut university and college tuition fees by 10%; - $250 million to restore rent control, build afford- able housing, and help the homeless rebuild their lives; - $0 to restore worker protection laws; - $50 mil- lion on programs to protect the environment. Clearly, only Today's NDP has the program and the competent, honest, and compas- sionate leadership required to build a society for all Ontarians, and not one that benefits only the wealthy few. Thank you for your support. Robert Smink FREEDOM PARTY There's an old axiom that says: "A government that is big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take everything you have." . Governments aren`t part of the solution, anymore, they've become the main problem. Governments were initially formed in this country to protect us. It has now gotten to the point where the average taxpayer needs protection from our own ;excessive governments The average Ontarian now pays 54% of their income to various levels of government. This translates into working 6 1/2 months to pay your taxes and only , then . are you able to keep the money you've earned and there is still no -guarantee thatin the future you'll even be able to keep that much. Our "something for nothing" sys-- terof socialism rewards the lazy, unprincipled, slothful unproduction and excuse filled members of our society with free everything, while at the same time it penalizes produc- tive people with a progressive tax system that kills economic incen- tive and productivity, drives the economy underground and makes criminals out of ordinary Ontarians who try to evade this onerous taxation. Only 30 years ago my parents raised nine children on the salary of a life insurance salesman! Nowadays, both par- ents are working to support one or two children and, still its never enough. During this election the other parties will try to buy your votes with your own money with election spending promis- es that will give you. "more" and "improved" and "free" government benefits. Believe me, its an oxymoron. One .should always be cyni- cal whenever . you hear the1 word "free" and "1mproved": coming out of the mouths of politicians as they can'tspend any .r..:.f Wallaceburg money before they take it from you first. Mike Harris' government for the last four years has basically just been re -shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic by increasing our provin- cial debt by another 24 billion dol- lars. Freedom Party believes that bigger governments, more programs, high- er spending and higher taxation to pay for it all is not a solution any- more but a recipe for disaster. you don't even have to believe me. Just ask anyone who lives under a dictatorship or communism where governments have 100% control over them, instead of just 54% con- trol. Ask them of their personal -lives and aspirations aren't a disaster? The Freedom Party believe that various governments should be lim- ited, not the people and that the more money is spent by those who earn it as opposed to those who con it from us, than the closer we come to being a better Ontario. Instead of voting for the lesser of threeevils or against the other party, Freedom Party now offers you to vote for something you can believe .in — smaller governments, lower taxes and a flat -rate tax sys- tem. Freedonn Party believes the private sector can' do ai ost• anything the government can do usually twice as well as well and at half the cost. Freedom Party believes that the "purpose of government is to protect our freedom of choice and not to restrict it." If you agree then "think Smink" on election day. PC,13ert Johnson and Family Coalition Pat Bannon did not submit platforms before press time. El n HURON -BRUCE • Wingham fr Par : • e • Exeter • • Grand Oe Forest • Wyoming • • • • Watford Strathroy Petrolia r.. 111 I 1-:\ 1 1 DDLESFX 1NDIIIVITS 114111 II -N111)1)1