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Times Advocate, 1995-11-15, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, November 15, 1995 Publications Mali Registration Number 0388 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: CANAaA Within 40 miles (Bb km.) addr.seed to non latter WNW addresses 533.00 pus 32.31 0.6.T. Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy News Heather Mir, Chris Skalkos, Ross Haugh, Brenda Burke tip=; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hem, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner Transportation. Al Flynn, Al Hodgert Front Office & Accounting; Elaine Pinder, Sue Rollings, Ruthanne NegriJn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple The efeter Times -Advocate Is a member of a family of community newspapers cam.. providing news, advertising and information leadership (rr j • • inion 6Ceig Outside 40 smiles (83 km.) or any I.tt.r carrier address 333.00 plus 530.00 (total 63.00) + 4.310.$.T. Outside Canada $99.00 pus $6.93 OST (Includes $88.40 postage) Published Each Wednesday Mon ng at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 158 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-815.235-1331 • Fax: 515.2350766 Q.S.T. IR]OS210e15 I':I)ITORIAI,S Give policies a chance rotesters against the Harris gov- ernment cutbacks have been successful in attracting media attenfion in many communities throughout the province in the past few weeks. On Friday, November 3 about 50 people showed up at Helen Johns' of- fice in Exeter to demonstrate against the announced funding cuts to Second Stage Housing programs Although Johns was not available the group man- aged to make their point. In fact, the demonstration was the lead news story of the week in this newspaper. We can expect many more demonstra- tions of this type as more and more pro- vincial government cutbacks are an- nounced. So far the Harris government has taken aim at many services and pro- grams that have been relied on for years as providing a measure of com- fort and stability for hundreds of thou- sands of citizens who are on the bottom end of the economic scale. Many believe Harris and his cabinet are rushing to live up to all their elec- tion promises in a bid to get the diffi- cult decisions out of the way as quickly as possible. It seems that every few days we hear another example of how the province has slashed another pro- gram with savings of a few million here and there. Most of the maders of this.newsp:}per have be0i *gated ted frprn a ifirect hit and have managed to maintain their normal lifestyle. Life has continued with little concern for those who are at the bottom end of ou`r materialistic so- ciety. Demonstrators and protesters have been people we see on television and read about in the newspapers. But things could change as more reductions in what the government does for us strike home. Last week it was announced that a fee of two dollars per prescription could be levied on medication for senior citi- zens. Another report stated more than half the snow plowing staff in the Barrie area received layoff notices. And there's more to come. Premier Harris and his band of budget balancers are becoming less popular each day as they continue on their mis- sion to bring financial responsibility back to Ontario where it's been absent during the past 20 years or so. The Conservatives are on a mission sanctioned by the majority of voters in the province. It's not a popularity con- test. It's a dirty job that should have been done gradually and with compas- sion over a tong period of time. Unfortunately the result of big govern- ment and big spending that depended on year after year of booming economies is an economy in need of major surgery. It's going to take a variety of bitter pills to cure the financial ills of Ontario. We elected Mike Harris to do a job. So far he has approached his task with enthu- siasm and dedication and with a plan that will not be swayed by disgruntled demonstrators. Many people are going to have their lifestyles come undtr a great deal of stress as they struggle to live day by day in a much tougher environment. Instead of placing the blame on Harris, perhaps it's time to examine how we ended up in this position in the first place. This newsppiper has been in touch with several people who have seen their lives change as we face the realities of living in a system that was headed for certain bankruptcy. We're going to report next week on how a single person on welfare can live on a food budget of $23.25 per week. We can. understand why people are demonstrating out of frustration but we can also visualize much larger dem- onstrations happening in prosperous On- tario if Harris follows the example of the previous two premiers. VIE cAMIE so CL0SE, MoNEPS TIME HACOME FOR ME TO STEP AWis E PECIION, olD M Speak Out! LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Times Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open discussion of local issues, concerns, complaints and kudos. WE ASK THAT YOU KEEP YOUR LETTERS TO A MAXIMUM OF 300 WORDS. 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. Anonymous letters will not be published. A View from Queen's Park By Eric Dowd TORONTO -- Ontario's opposition parties are pulling out the stops to hold up Premier Mike Harris -- but why not, because he did it to them.? The New Democrats and Liberals used pro- cedural manoeuvres for three days in the legis- lature to delay passage of the Progressive Con- servatives' first major legislation, which reduces the powers of unions and gives more to employers. The Tories were in a hurry, as they are on just about everything, first because Hams promised in the June election that he would repeal legis- lation through which the NDP government gave unions more power the moment he be- came premier and it became something of a symbol. The Tories more practically believe that eas- ing restrictions on business will create invest- ment and jobs which they need quickly if they dare to fulfil their main promises to cut income tax and balance the budget, on which they will stand or fall. They also wanted their law passed before op- posing unions could organize, and were reluc- tant to have public hearings across the prov- ince, which normally accompany such important legislation but would provide a for- um for criticism. The opposition's delaying tactics had only minimal success, because the Conservatives in- voked closure to cut off debate, despite having called the NDP dictators for using closure, and the labor law was approved after only five days or about 18 hours of debate. This is probably the shortest debate ever for a bill of such impact and controversy, which takes away not only rights the NDP gave un- ions but -also some given by previous Tory gov- ernments. Veteran Liberal house leader Jim Bradley predicted that the Tories would get away with it almost unnoticed because news media take little interest in procedural disputes, seeing them as complex, in-house and of con- cern only to MPPs, and he has been almost right. • att vers Computer-related stress The computer is becoming an integral part of many workplac- es, improving productivity and efficiency. However, prolonged sitting at a desk or computer ter- minal can cause muscular ten- sion and pain. But by taking a five or 10 minute break to do a series of stretches, you can reduce and control tension and pain. It is also helpful to learn to stretch spontaneously throughout the day, stretching or minute or two any particular area of the body that feels tense Bob and Jean Anderson dis- tribute stretching cards to health care workers and are the authors of the book Stretching. They suggest stretches that help re- duce tension but warn they should be done slowly without bouncing. Hold only stretch tension that feels good; the key to stretching is to be relaxed while you concentrate on the area being stretched. For me, the shoulders seem to be the first place tension from a day of computer work builds up. The shoulder shrug is a simple stretch you can do while sitting at your desk. Raise the top of your shoulders toward your ears until you feel slight tension in your neck and shoulder. Hold this feeling of tension for three to five seconds, then relax your shoulders downward to their normal position. Do this two to three times. This is good to use at the first signs of tightness or tension in the shoulder or neck area. Video display terminals (VDT) can also contribute to eye strain as well as muscle ten- sion but by having regular vi- sion examinations, taking work breaks, maintaining a proper working distance and correcting your viewing angle, this strain can be minimized. It is important to have a flexi- ble work area to prevent neck, back or wrist strain. An adjust- able copy board with documents /i/m/ -C lie to the computer screen height and in comfortable line of sight will reduce neck and eye strain. The screen should be at easy viewing height and ad- justable. Arms should be hori- zontal to the keyboard which should be detachable. An ad- justable backrest for lumbar support and adjustable seat along with an adjustable desk will help prevent back pain. Ergonomics, the study of the relationship between workers and their environment, has lead to the development of suggested positioning of office equipment to prevent strain. The ideal working distance of the screen from you eyes is about 19 inches and any copy document should be placed at a similar distance. The ideal viewing angle is 20 degrees be- low your eye level. It is suggest- ed that employees who work at a VTD take a 15 minute work break during each two-hour pe- riod of intensive terminal use. Pulling out the stops But the Tories have deprived many MPPs of an opportunity to speak Iand the public had no chance. After rejecting requests day after day for province -wide public hearings, the Tories at the last moment made a gesture of offering lim- ited hearings once it was clear that the NDP would reject such a bone. The Tories' view privately is that they did their consulting on electioh day. An unbiased observer would conclude that the scrutiny was 'cursory for such momentous legislation. The Tories also accused the opposition parties of obstructing and wasting time, which they did, but revealed their own short memories. Harris hi opposition, like the other party leaders, used conventional tactics like staying out of the legislature to prevent votes being tak- en, to support his demands. But Hams is remembered particularly for in- venting new ways to hold up government. MPPs are allowed to read the titles of private Lmember's bills they introduce, and Harris brought in one entitled a bill to determine the zebra mussel content of virtually every lake, river, creek, pond and bay in the province and held up the legislature for an entire afternoon while he read all their names. Some of his fellow Tories, who now complain that other parties are obstructing, then encouraged Harris to take even longer by shouting "slow down, Mike -- you're speaking too fast." This playful- ness prevented a discusssion of injured work- ers' problems, which are not high on the Harris agenda. A couple of weeks later Hams introduced a bill to require a study of the effect of the pro- vincial budget on various industries, whose names he read to the legislature to Tory glee for another couple of hours. The Tories still later introduced another bill to inquire into the impact of provincial tax poli- cies on several hundred companies whose names also took hours to read. Hams has done his share of obstructing, even if he considered it all good fun. 1 r 4 1' 1