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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-05-03, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, May 3, 1995 Publisher & Edits: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lora lighsrfigjai Barb Consia flows; Heather Mir, Chris Scam, Ross Haugh, Ingrid Nielsen Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Robert Nicol, Brenda Hem, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner, Marg Flynn Trananort@tiop: AI Flynn. AI Hodgen Front Office & Accounting; Elaine Pinder, Sue Roflings, Ruthann NegrlJn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple The Exeter T/mes-Advocate Is a member of a family of community newspapers to, IAN Os providing news, advertising and information leadership 484 inion 1..1)11 ORI kl.S Not every spanking means abuse he decision passed by the judge that dismissed all charges against David Peterson for spanking his child, is simply a relief. This case was a perfect example of people jumping to all the wrong conclu- sions before they knew the context of the situation. Peterson was immediately branded as a "bad" parent before anyone knew what the little girl had done to perhaps justify this spanking. And yes, sometimes a little spanking is justified. Taking away "privileges" may work sometimes, by with the high degree of irreverance among today's children, one can't help but wonder whether a little healthy respect of Mom or Dad's heavy hand might bring a little order into some young lives. The key is obviously not constant spankings, but instead the recognition that there is force behind the threat when a child is told "no". It might just save their life one day. What is "bad" is bringing up children without teaching them that for every ac- tion there is a serious reaction. Teaching a child that there are repercussions for their actions is a parent's duty. We realize there has been a horrible in- crease in child abuse, but a light spank- ing for misbehaviour does not constitute abuse. At the same time, we all share the responsibility to watch that children are being treated fairly and lovingly, and not being abused. Parents should not have the final say on how to raise a child, but instead there is a community responsi- bility to protect all children, and all peo- ple, horn harm. The people who called the police in the Peterson case should be commended, for taking action and not just standing by. They acted when they thought some- thing was wrong and that is a comfort- ing thought. However, police should have known better than to persecute only on what was immediately apparent and obvious. Further investigation into what might be obvious at the time, is often the only thing that really does protect us from the "bad" people of the world. NDP seal own fate ob Rae made headlines across Ontario last week as he said Ontario's debt is no big deal. Rae said Ontario's $90 billion debt is just like your mort- gage. "It's perfectly manageable. I don't know how much you pay for your mort- gage and how much your financing costs are on your mortgage, our financ- ing costs...are running at somewhere between 15 and 20 cents on the revenue dollar," Rae stated. Well Bob, comparing Ontario's NDP debt load to a mortgage is unfair. Hun- dreds of thousands of hard-working people across the province have mort- gages and they're making the payments despite some of the moves our provin- cial representatives have been making lately. The only similarity between Rae's de- scription of Ontario's finances as a mort- gage and a real mortgage is that some mortgages run for five year terms and Rae's career as Premier will be about the same time. The differences are another story. On- tario's mortgage (debt) will be about $100 billion by 1996, according to many financial experts. A mortgage in the real world will have declined by a substantial amount over a five-year period while Ontario's so-called mortgage is going in the opposite direction. Ontario voters who, brought the NDP on themselves as their way of punishing the arrogant David Peterson Liberals, have realized this was an extremely expensive. way to show their displeasure. We can be almost certain they won't make the same mistake twice when the decision is made at the polls June 8. A View From Queen's Park' TORONTO - Being far ahead in the polls go- ing into an election is not total bliss - it could even give Ontario's Liberals a few worries. The Liberals in the latest poll have 51 percent support compared to the Progressive Conserva- tives' 25 percent and governing New Demo- crats' 21 percent and another poll put the Liber- als at 48 percent. Either level of support in an election would secure them a huge majority in the legislature. A party naturally wants to be first in polls. But those that were far ahead at the start crashed heavily in two of the last three elec- tions. The Tories under Premier Frank Miller had what many considered an :matchable 50.5 per- cent in a poll just a few days before calling an election in 1985, but eked out only 37 percent in the vote and were quickly on their way out of government. The Liberals under Premier David Peterson By Eric Dowd had 50 percent in a poll going into the 1990 election, but wound up with 32 percent and also were gone. Peterson led handsomely both in polls Snd an election in 1987. But there are indications that a dominating lead that gets talked about and be- comes an issue can be a handicap. Miller's lead began eroding because he re- fused to debate on TV with the opposition lead- ers and his reluctance to risk comparison and seeming impregnability in pools combined to create an image of a premier who felt he was untouchable and did not have to answer to vot- ers. Peterson called the 1990 election after only three years, prompting voters to question this haste on top of his rushing through of the Meech Lake Accord, his rich -and -famous life- style and the polls' claim they were bound like sheep to re-elect him no :natter what. Appearing unassailable in polls helped both Publications Mall Registration Number 0386 cAMADA Within 40 sales (Si los.) addressed to non tiw canl.r w n *33.00 plus $2.31 G.S.T. Outside 40 albs (Si km.) or say biter male, address $33.00 piss 530.00 (total 63.00) + 4.31 S.S.T. Outside Canada $89.00 paw $6.93 QST (Includes $06.40 postage) Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM lid by J.W. Early Publication Ltd. Telephone 1.611-23$.1.331 • rax: 56.2364766 ILL?. en1Od1101136 Save trees, not cut grants This past week we had the op- portunity to attend an informa- tion meeting in Seaforth spon- sored by the Huron -Perth Chapter of the Ontario Woodlot end Sawmill Operator's Associ- ation. The meeting was intended to create interest in better opera- tion of woodlots by the owners, loggers and sawmill operators and to try and lobby for changes in Ontario's Assessment Act. The guest speaker Bruce Ed- munds of Kawartha pointed out that he and thousands of other Ontario woodlot owners are fac- ing whopping increases in prop- erty taxes since a 1993 govern- mental decision to stop the Managed Forest Tax Rebate Program. The woodlot tax rebate in place for the last 20 years was designed to encourage sustaina- ble forestry practices and help individual land owners keep their rural land forested. Wood - lot owners were reimbursed up to 75 percent of their municipal taxes for land used for forestry purposes. In order to qualify for the dis- continued rebate, woodlot own- ers had to follow good forestry management practices and have forested land that had at least 1,000 trees per hectare. Finance Minister Floyd Laughren cast out a cost-cutting net in 1993 and those farmers with managed woodlots were hauled in. Since then, woodlot owners have had to pay full resi- dential tax levies on their prop- erties. One woodlot owner with 50,000 acres of forested area near Haliburton has watched his realty taxes jump by 300 percent and well beyond the sustainable yield of timber he can harvest each year. Tax assessments for forested land are based on the best avail- able use concept instead of the actual use concept that farmers are used to on their properties. The managed forest tax rebate was not a tax rebate system but a reimbursement of taxes that should not have been paid in the first place because the assess- ment base was wrong. Now that the program is re- moved and the land carries the full tax Load, forest lot owners are forced to abandon sustaina- ble forestry practices and good land management. The meeting in Seaforth was told, "The reality of all this is that your taxes now far exceed the sustainable yield of the land. People have to over harvest, clear-cut or develop or open up gravel pits in order to pay for their realty taxes. This flies in the face of any- thing this government is declar- ing and one of the things they were voted in on was an envi- ronmental agenda and the green- ing up of Ontario." The best policy for woodlot owners is to leave the best tim- ber standing and cut only a small amount each year and this forested land will produce large amounts of high grade lumber in the future. But overcutting to meet the in- creased tax load will mean de- pleted forests all over the prov- ince at a time when some of the managed forests are starting to get regenerated. The response to the call for Huron -Perth woodlot owners to join forces and try and get some of their problems solved was tremendous as abo 40 of the 66 in attendance paid ,member- ship fees of $25 per year and others said they would be send- ing their money in. If anyone is interested in get- ting more information on this organization they should call Huron -Perth president Victur Roland at 335-3944. Roland told us on the weekend that al- though some of our information applies more to eastern and northern Ontario there are more woodlots in Huron and Perth than he thought there were. Being ahead in polls a mixed blessing parties acquire reputations for arrogance that brought their downfall. Voters also are well-known these days for their animosity to politicians of all parties and particularly governments (a reason Ontario elected three different parties to govern in only five years) and the NDP has borne the brunt of these knocks. But the NDP was written off as a government three years ago and the Liberals have been top of the polls for so long and are so entrenched federally that some voters may start soon to think of them as an establishment that needs to be taken down a peg. A party so far ahead becomes more of a tar- get for rivals. Premier Bob Rae and Tory leader Mike Harris already have recognized they can not gain much by belittling each other and are concentrating on tripping Liberal leader Lyn McLeod and the polls will spur theta to gang up more on the Liberals. News media will scrutinize more closely the Liberals' policies, many of which are flimsy, because the polls say they are the next govern- ment. The Liberals will be watched more for any hint of a slip, as they should. Media also will talk of a Liberal 'coronation' and `anointing' and voters will resent this no- tion they are being asekd merely to go through a ritual. Liberal campaign workers may feel encour- aged to relax with victory appearing in the bag. But the biggest danger to the Liberals is that they will look smug. The party when led by Robert Nixon in an earlier election was ahead in the polls when an aide revealed that his job was to 'assist Mr. Nixon in his transition into government' and the conceit helped turn off voters. The less the Liberals talk about being sure of government, the better for them.