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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-12-06, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, December 6,1995 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Managsr: Doll Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord ming; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy Me= Heather MW, Chris Skalkos, Ross Haugh, Brenda Burke gam; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hem, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner Transportation: AI Flynn, AI Hodgert Front Office & Accounting; Elaine Pinder, Sue Rollings, Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple The Exeter Times Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership • • inion Publications Mall Registration Number 0388 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: CANADA Within 40 utiles (65 km.) addressed to ase latter eantsr addresses 93.00 pies 92.31 03.T. Outside 40 mise (SS loo.) or any letter carrier address $33.00 pies $30.00 (total 63.00) + 4.31 O.S.T. • Outside Canada 09.00 phos 96.93 OST (Includes 985.40 postage) Mashed Each Wednesday Mendell' M 424 Mir 1t., Exeter, Ontario, NOM lea by J.W. Eddy Pub! sten Ltd. Telephone 1113235.1331 • Fax: 510235.0780 /Rhea teeie • Ii;I)IT(MIi I S Guide to demonstrating s the belt tightening across Ontario hits closer to home you can expect to see and read about more dem- onstrations outside the offices of Con- servative MPPs. Locally, the Times -Advocate is fortu- nate to be just a few doors down the street from Helen Johns' office which means we should never miss the oppor- tunity to photograph and report on a va- riety of protests. It's handy for us and for any group wishing to spread their point of view throughout our coverage area. Because protests are staged events where a particular interest group has a chance to use the local media to spread their message, we expect to see the ef- forts become better organized as the Mike Harris representatives get a little deeper into their term of office. We believe future demonstrations will go a little beyond the "token" turnout where people jump out of their cars, grab a sign and walk in circles for a few minutes in front of Johns' office. The following suggestions have been prepared as an aid to any group that wishes to hold a successful demonstra- tion. . . Make sure Johns will actually be in her office. So far she appears to be one of the new breed of politicians who ac- tually shows up to participate in parlia- mentary debate. . Most community newspapers are really pressed for time on Mondays be- cause of production deadlines. Stage the demonstration on Thursday or Fri- day when reporters are usually looking for anything even remotely exciting to cover. . Use colorful, hand -made signs. They look better on television. Professionally produced signs take away from the per- sonal message which is the goal of a well-managed demonstration in the first place. . Include children. Their appearance adds more drama to any photographs that may get into the newspaper. . Have the protest in daylight hours. It's almost impossible to get good pho- tographs after dark. . Make a dummy of Johns and hang or burn It. This way the protest could move up to one of the early items on the eve- ning newscast. It would surely make the front page of most newspapers in this area. '. If all else fails, perhaps an attempt could be made at having a serious meet- ing with Johns. Although she is part of a government that is making one unpopu- lar decision after another there is a very good chance she would actually take the time to listen to another point of view as demonstrators are also voters. Politicians are usually very adept at reading the mood of the electorate. So far. the Conservatives are sticking to their mission of cleaning up the finances of Ontario and paying little attention to hundreds of demonstrations by dozens of special interest groups across the province. The Harris government goal is to ac- complish over the next three or four years what millions of voters have been saying elected officials should be doing. They're the cleanup crew faced with re- pairing the damage of the last two finan- cial storms to rip across Onta- rio...typhoon David and tornado Bob. As You LAWyES, wESWSEsT You IIrANcYOuRsELF FRoM "INE IMIFSl1FJ(f1IXV... —'ram A UOLIPAY., UE0H A BE/CN... KkK BAcK• Your Views Letters to the editor Please lock your vehicle .. leaving a car unlocked and the keys inside, is just plain negli- gent! Dear Editor: Why, for pete sake, do people still leave keys in their car while they 'hop' into a store to 'grab' something. I was told recently of a particular black and white photograph that was being delivered to London to have copies made. It must have been a shock when that person delivering the order found the car sto- len! Most black and white photographs are one -of -a - kind and owners treat them as 'prized possessions'. I would assume this person wouldn't leave cash or jewellery on the front seat of their car while it was unlocked and/or running... but then you can't as- sume anything now -a -days. Yes, everyone makes mistakes, but leaving a car unlocked and the keys inside, especially with some- one else's property still in the car, is just plain negli- gent! This is the 90s.... please lock your vehicle. L. Coletta Parkhill. TORONTO -- Progressive Conservative Premier Mike Harris is cutting Ontario's overweight public service and he is really tearing down the house the Tories built. By downsizing public service jobs to reduce debt and taxes, Harris deserves a niche as the first premier to tackle a job that was long overdue (although many will argue he is going too far.) But Hams is kind to his party when he blames the Liber- al and New Democrat governments from 1985 until last June for building up an ex- cessive public service, because Tory gov- ernments in the previous 42 years built it more than anyone. Almost every time a concern was raised in the legislature, Tory premier William Davis and some predecessors would set up a branch of government to cater to it. Through having too many employees, the Tories allowed it to become almost a byword that public servants did not have to work hard (although some did) and more could always be hired and paid for by tax- payers, the bottomless pit. In the Tory governments, managers who often were Tories were allowed to build empires and had the incentive that their salaries in- creased if they had a bigger staff. Provin- cial employees were given more holidays than others; including a day off for Remem- brance Day even when, as recently, it falls on a weekend on which they could visit a cenotaph, which meant even more were The Tories created )obs for relatives and friends when none existed. A press aide to Davis got him to invent a jobof r her hus- band in an area where they wanted to live so she could run for MPP, although there was no work to justify it. Another Davis aide had five of his children on the govern- ment payroll at a time when there were no jobs in the private sector for incoming youth. The Tories set up the system, now to be dismantled, which provides a huge staff to serve the legislature as if it operates What's news? Brenda Burke Now we'll all be `living on less' After being saturated with information about the provincial government's so-called mini -budget last week, it doesn't take much thought to realize we're all in the same boat now. "Cuts will hit where it hurts - everywhere," read a front page headline of the London Free Press last Thursday. With municipalities, hospitals and schools being hit hardest, we're all going to be affected in some way. This will undoubtedly give us a taste of what welfare recipients had to deal with when they were handed income cuts in the fall. It's been tempting for many of us to point a finger at those on social assistance and say, "They deserve it after all those years of using/abusing the system." But what about the rest of us who have taken programs and services supported by the same government for granted? Services we've been using for little cost such as library priviledges, bus rides and garbage pick-ups, will change. Counselling support and financial resources for the handicapped, the elderly, the ill and the young will collapse. Secondary education will become unobtainable for many and still, more jobs will be slashed. Obviously we're all got reason to cry the blues now. During the next five years we'll endure dramatic social and financial transformation and we'll make history as the group who survived the most monstrous spending cuts ever. Since we can't be categorized as the 'yuppies' or the 'baby boomers,' perhaps we'll be named the `slim pockets' or the `leanies.' But something positive will come out of this. As everyone recovers from the shock of the whole deal and grasps a shred of hope with a sacrifice - for -tomorrow outlook, we will change as social beings. Municipalities will amalgamate to reduce duplication of services. Organizations will merge for financial support. School boards and hospitals will make use of basic resources they already have. People will cherish their jobs and appreciate their money and maybe even help out the Tess fortunate a little more. Gone are the days when we can turn up our noses or close our eyes to those 'living on Tess' when we ourselves could easily find ourselves in similar situations. A lay-off here, a cut there...will inevitably lead to more people on government assistance and a bigger reliance on food banks as well as additional homeless individuals. Hopefully many of the budget effects will be temporary and we can all return to our normal lives as soon as possible. Although it may be difficult for some to understand, that appears to be the very goal of many using social assistance. But it's too late now to gripe about those dependent on the welfare system. The cuts have come. Some former system abusers are already out looking for jobs. Meanwhile, we can expect those who really need help to look to the rest of us, even if our own pockets are getting lighter as these cost-cutting years slice by. Downsizing public service jobs year-round, when in effect it sits only a couple of days a week so the rest of the time many do nothing. They offered little resistance to demands by public sector workers with loud voices and, for example, allowed teachers to gouge out pay and pen- sion and other benefits private sector work- ers can only dream of. Although they once brought in a bill to ban teachers from strik- ing to back their lobbying, the Tories re- treated when teachers swarmed the legisla- ture. The Tories rarely noticed all this fat when they were in government, because they wanted to avoid offending the huge public service vote, while the Liberals in opposition had no criticisms for the same reason and the NDP defended workers no matter what the issue. Before Davis left, after concerns about cost, the Tories even boasted that they had cut the public service. But instead they hired consultants and classed workers with as much as five years' service as temporary so they did not show on the list of employees, which enabled them to claim they had reduced the public service while the public wound up paying as much as before. The Liberal government that succeeded the Tories thought good times would last forever and added more programs and jobs, although some merely by properly upgrad- ing the temporary employees to perma- nent.B The NDP government added a few more before accepting that it was in deep financial trouble. And the NDP's Bob Rae, not Harris, then became the first premier in half a century to make deep inroads in pub- lic service costs through his so-called social contract, but this forced public servants to take days off without pay rather than cut jobs. The Tories are comparative Johnnies - come -lately to the idea of cutting the public service and even built it up -- and, ironical- ly, lured many to jobs they will now lose.