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Times Advocate, 1997-12-17, Page 36i Page 4 Times -Advocate, December 24, 1997 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager:. Deb Lord flerljsing; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy News; Heather Mir. *Kate Monk. Craig Bradford, • Chantal) Van Raay: Ross Haugh Producon; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson . 'Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Minor Transoortatipm_Al Flynn, Al Hodgert front Office & Accot,ntjpg; Sue Rollirigs..Carol Windsor Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple, Ruth Slaght. Sheila Corbett cc». The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership It hes so .spetiai about Christmas? Rev. Daniel B. Roushorne, B.A., M.Div. ' Caven Presbyterian Publications Mail Registration Number 07511 SUBSCRIPTION RATES; One year rate for Canada subscribers - $3600 + AST Two year rate for Canada subscribers - $83.00 + G$'r OTHER RATES t.M+o`•~� rll,, Outside Canada - $103.00 1919-19M 0% PgRS ASSO'.,. Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1SO by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519.235.1331 • Fax: 519-235-0766 G.S.T. RR10521083 5 What is it that so special about Christmas? What sets this -day apart from other holy. days? On rio other day of the year do we expe- rience such a deep longing for peace and security: We hear the words of the shepherds, and we want the peace and goodwill they proclaimed in our lives. - At Christmas, our memories -may go back to our own childhood, back to a time when we may have experienced the safety and sectirity of our own family But as -the years passed and our families separated, sometimes by distance, sometimes by choice, sometimes by death, the longing for the togetherness of those earlier year remained strong. That is why at Christmas we try hard to contact those people who are close to us. To take time to tell them _how much we love them, and weask that they -love us too. We need this feeling of security and -comfort, of togetherness and friendship, which Chr'stmas awakens in all of us. Because of this need for intimate commu- . nity, we make a great effort to be avorthy of love. Hence we spend so much money and time preparing our ' presents. But is paradoxical. The more expensive and time-consuming our gifts and the more we desperately attempt to reach our goal of love, the more we fail to grasp the essence of our need. Our deepest ' desire is to be accepted as children should always be accepter, unconditionally and cheerfully by those who matter. What people in every age have,craved is, somebody, somewhere, somehow, who can touch their inner soul and respond to them in a way that few have ever responded. Our secular culture has promised more than it can deliver. We have been taught there are ready made solutions for eliery problem, even ageless human problems; that we must always'be positive and feel good, otherwise something is wrong with us: ' Life isn't always that sim- ple. Qften,life'is difficult and can be rather iti;agic and overwhelming. Real life always contain's the uneir- . pected, the leap, the rever- sal -of fortune', the sudden change of heart, the indiscre- tion and the blunder.;Real life contains the crippling effects of guilt and;shante and it nearly,, always has the baggage of unfin- , , ishedLbusiness.,Real,life is a mystery , for which secular culture has not pro- vlded sufficient solutions. This is where the story of,Christrnas , r I finds a focus, for it offers us the mystery of God in human circumstances; Mary's unexpected teenage pregnancy, the deliv- ery of eliv-ery'of the child in a strange city in the barn of a stranger, and a helpless infant, needing love and milk, yet wrapped in the divinity of God. Those of us who contem- plate this mystery, find our own faith in life enlarged. , At Christmas we see the hopes and dreams and fears of all people focused on one child: This is why Christmas is so important. It awakens the mystery of love, and it is a mystery only love cart teach us to understand. It is love alone that makes our eyes shine, as we watch the shepherds kneel in adoration before the hour old . infant. These are but a few of the. reasons Christmas is special wherever it is cele' brated. It awakens our need for peace and _ security, and if offers us'the love of God. ' God bless you all this Christmas season and always. Rev=Daniel Roushome. 1 , ndr•ca (;lain, (;rade \11. (*army! Schruil A View from Queen's Park TORON'i't ► - Premier Mike Harris has been accused of Iy Ing -- a rate charge against a pre- mier -- when he was merely miserly with the truth. . The allegation Harris lied was made dramati- cally on newspaper front pages and national TV by Mel Lastrnan, who will be mayor of Canada's biggest city, the amalgamated mega - city of Toronto, when it comes into being on January 1.. • , The new mayor, a fellow Progressive Conser- vative and former ally of the premier, who created the, megacity and helped elect Lastman into its top job, felt that Harris misled him with leN plan that swaps responsibility for some ser-' vices between the province and municipalities. Lastman said Harris assured it would be rev- enue -neutral in that municipalities would not have to spend more on services they took over, than those they transferred to the province. On the strength of Harris's promise Lastman pledgedlwhen running for mayor he would not increase the megacity's taxes and this helped him win. • By Eric Dowd • • Kate"s takes By Kate Monk Congratulation! We made it. Christmas is finally'here! The "long rice to get everything done iS` complete. , -Working at the w Times -Advocate, I've been at more Christmas events this year 'than I've attended in the past 10 years combined. From - elementary schools to nursing homes,,the Christmas spirit has been evident throughout our coverage area., Now that Christmas is here. here'are my Christmas 'Wishes. First of all, I wish that you will have sortie time to be quiet and still and reflect on the wonder andjoy of Christ s birth and what it means to this world. I hope no one goes hungry. Thanks to our local businesses and the Ranch House, everyone should have enough to eat " tomorrow: - i wish you have the opportunity to see children's We made it! faces when they open a present and that you will be able to chuckle when they play with the box instead of the presents you- . ;gave them. I hoPe. you will be able to see" -or at least speak with your family. I also hope you'll be able -to set aside the differences. you may have had with ' - members of your family through the year. • , When you are travelling to your Christmas dinners. be kind to your fellow drivers. No aggressive driving, turns without signals or unfriendly gestures are allowed. Along the same line, I hope the weather is good for driving so everyone arrives safely and , the road crews can spend Christmas dinner'with their families. I wish for snow in the fields and on the lawns but not on the roads. If the weather is poor.and the roads are treacherous, stay at hone. It'll mean more to Aunt Viola if you're home alive rather than in a car accident. To the people who,must,work on Christmas Day, thank you. May you be rewarded for your • efforts. , Keep your sense of humor ho matter what. Christmas Day throws at you. Don't gettense if your guests . are late or forget .0 brn!l ore of the dishes for Jinni r t .,t -nr the gravy and Christ . < - pudding sauce -nixed•up. Throughout the uay, watch the faces of people rather than the faces of clocks. My last wish is. of course. to receive chocolate and coffee for Christmas, but then again. that wish applies to every day df my year. . Have a great Christmas everyone! But Harris has now released figures which show rnunicipalities with some cuts in grants also factored in will pay M0 million more and the new megacity $160 million more and sug- gested if municipalities want to avoid tax in- creases they should cut their costs as the prov- ince has: Lastman said he cannot keep his election promise and declared slowly, deliberately and in a voice shaking with emotion "Mr. Premier, you lied td me and to the people of Ontario." Harris and his cabinet are at least partly at fault. From the start it seemed obvious Harris would want to transfer more costly responsibili- ties to municipalities -- why else would a gov- ernment so bent on saving money swap? The suspicion was the Tories would wind up saying the exchange would be revenue -neutral provided municipalities also cut their costs. Some ministers,. notably Treasurer Ernie Eves and then Management -Board Chair David John- son, kept insisting municipalities had to reduce spending too. But Harris is on record often as saying the mu - Harris is accused of lying nicipalities would not lose. He said the effect of the swap would be "neutral or in some cases perhaps tax reductions" and ""we would expect property taxes to go down" and "nothing we are doing will put pressure on the municipalities' property tax." Harris told municipal leaders in August "my commitment as premier is that at the end of the day the trades will be revenue -neutral," and added touchingly, "my five-year-old son would say do you pinkie -swear, dad? and I say yes." Harrifi usually refers questions to Municipal Affairs Minister M Leach, whose three most re- cent responses in the legislature were: "The effect of the trades on municipalities will be revenue -neutral. We have committed that it will be revenue -neutral, both myself and the pre- mier. I can assure you the exercise will be reve- nue -neutral for every municipality." "We advised the municipalities the exercise will be revenue -neutral. They know that when this government says it will do something, it does it." "We have said this exercise is going to be rev- enue -neutral and it will be revenue -neutral." Neither Harris nor Leach added any reserva- tion at those times that- it would be revenue - neutral only if municipalities also cut their costs. Lastman was naive in not seeing what the outcome was likely to be, but his provincial Tory friends also never made much effort to show the fine print. Lastman's criticism has attracted huge atten- tion, because it is difficult to recall whet, any- one of substance last called an Ontario premier a liar. Politicians shy from using the word and it is forbidden'in the legislature. Harris is trying to shrug it off as the ranting and raving of a former refrigerator pedlar (Last - man built a chain of appliance stores.) But last month Harris praised Lastman as ideal to head his glorious new megacity, and the mayor is so popular he won more votes than all Harris Tory candidates in Toronto com- bined in the 1995 election, so his charge may not be easy to live down.