HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-06-07, Page 84.1_11 106111111 MAMMIES
Two
debate
issues
at Madill
Continued from front page
that the Tories have targeted as vi-
tal and will not cut funding. How-
ever, they will not control the in-
crease in tuition fees, but• instead
will provide greater access to loan
programs for post -secondary school
students.
Currently, students pay approxi-
mately 19 per cent of the total cost
of one year's study in annual tui-
tion.
Duncan Mowbray, a student at
the high school, drew a large roar
from the audience 'when he asked
the candidates why any of the first
time voters should trust the politi-
cians.
Cornish said that Was a fair ques-
tion. In his response to Mowbray,
he said the biggest problem with
politicians today is. that they are
"promise makers" not "promise
keepers".
"You have to recognize that per-
sonal integrity.,.I governed myself
by not carrying a personal debt and
fought, in my .profession, for the
principles of justice," he said.
"You can't trust politicians be-
cause policies. change. That is why
we need a government that governs
by principle."
Johns said Ontario needs politi-
cians with a sense of accountabili-
ty. She said that was exactly the
reason behind her deciding to run,
A first time politician, Johns said
trust has become a very big issue.
"It was a very big issue in Mani-
toba with Premier Gary Philrnon. In
• Ontario, Harris is the only leader
who has said 'If I don't do, this, I
• will quit in two years'."
In terms of student welfare,
Johns said people in Ontario need a
program that 1avill provide them
with a "hand -up, not a hand-out."
She touched on the matter of Al-
berta giving „their own welfare re-
cipients bus tickets to anywhere in
Canada to relieve their own welfare
rolls. Most often, this means a trip
to Ontario, which pays the highest
welfare rate of any Ncirth American
province, state or territory.
She said under the Tory work-
share program, people would be
asked to spend some time volun-
teering in the community to be eli-
gible to receive payments. Students
would have to attend school, or be
enrolled in a training program.
Cornish said there needs to be a
system for retraining and education
connected to welfare. Short term
solutions, such as the NDP's job-
sOntario program, are not working,
he told the students.
WEDNESDAY, 40f 1885
loves come off at Armouries
By CAMERON J. WOOD
The Advance -Times
In the final of three local de-
bates, the candidates for Huron cast
aside the gloves and went toe to toe
bare -knuckled on several ` is-
sues...including the confusion sur-
rounding the F.E. Madill senior stu-
dents all -candidates meeting at
which three hopefuls chose not to
attend.
The June 1 debate, hosted by the
Advance -Times, came on the heels
of several polls that revealed' the
Liberal campaign had slipped into
second place and was at risk of
dropping dangerously low behind a
surging Progressive Conservative
;Party. The polls also revealed a
bouyed NDP campaign, leaving the
heat for the Tories alone.
The biggest bone of contention
was levelled at the local PCs and
the involvement in organizing the
Madill debate (see additional story,
front page). Both Liberal candidate
John Jewitt and NDP candidate
Paul Klopp opened their address to
the some 150 people in attendance
with an explanation for the absence
at that debate. Family Coalition
Party candidate Phil Cornish, one
of the two who did attend the stu-
dents' debate, pointed out that he
was able to leave court in Goderich
to attend, which added fuel to the
fire among several public members
•following the June 1 session.
In his opening address at the Ar-
mouries meeting, Cornish spoke on
the sentiment' that small business'
proprietors in Ontario 'are feeling
over -run by ' government regula-
tions.
"In Ontario, we have a sick econ-
omy...and we're heading towards a
sick society. The problem is there
are many people who have recog-
nized the ,symptoms of what is •go-
ing wrong — the symptoms are
clear: since 1990, Ontario' has lost
over .67,000 net jobs, youth unem-
ployment is up 58 per cent, ,we
have 1.3 million people on welfare•
one in nine adultsin Ontario. The
problem is: Have we made the right
diagnosis?"•
Cornish said the FCP has recog-
nized the problems and their root
causes. Previous government, he
said, has operated under a sy?tem
of management by crisis. "That is
not the way to get good leadership
in this province." Ontario needs to
form a government based on moral
principle, not policy. Included in
this is calling for a return to core
values; frugality,,,family unity, in-
tegrity, resourcefulness, reliability
and accountability.
"Without principles, policies are
fleeting.. They change when cir-
Despiteproposed cuts,
agricultureis a`priority
The five candidates for the Hu-
ron riding in the provincial election
June 8 did their best last week to
assure farmers that even though
government must cut back, agricul-
ture will be a prio"r"ity for their par-"
ties.
Speaking to about 250 people tin
Holmesville at an all -candidates
meeting sponsored by the Huron
County Federation of Agriculture,
each of the candidates outlined
how things would be better for
farmers under a government run by
their party.
John Jewitt, the Liberal candi-
date, said Huron County farmer's
would be best represented by a
farmer like him. Kimble Ainslie,
leader of the Reform Ontario party,
said he could provide Huron with a
party leader. Helen Johns, Conser-
vative Party candidate, said that a
Mike Harris government would re-
duce costs of government and cut
taxes but wouldn't touch the agri-
culture budget because it had al-
ready been cut more than other
ministries under the NDP govern-
ment.
Paul Klopp, NDP incumbent,
said that Agriculture Minister El-
mer Buchanan now sits beside Pre-
mier Bob Rae in the legislature,
showing the importance agriculture
has taken on under his govern-
ment. Phil Cornish for the Family
Coalition said the family -farm, like
the family, is the building block of
the province but he said the long-
term success of the farm would
have to come through greater com-
petitiveness, not government sup-
port programs.
Each of the parties came under
criticism from their opponents.
Klopp claimed that Mike Harris of
the Conservatives and Lyn McLe-
od of the Liberals only think about
agriculture at election time. Jewitt
said there wasn't even a reference
to agriculture in the original draft
of Harris's "Common Sense Revo-
lution". (Johns countered that an
entire book had been printed out-
lining where the Conservatives
stand •:n rural issues.)
A panel formulated the ques-
tions for .the candidates, based on
written questions submitted from
the audience. The question posed
most often in those questions, said
Steve Thompson, federation presi-
dent, was about the impact on rural
areas of Harris's proposal to re-
duce the ridings by 31 seats. Johns
defended the policy, • saying it
would mean Huron had a riding
about the same size as the Huron -
Bruce federal riding. It costs
$250,000 per riding to operate con-
stituency offices, she said.
Ainslie claimed Harris wants to
reduce rural representation because
he doesn't care about rural Ontario
but` cares only about Toronto and
Bay Street. He promised Reform
Ontario would give more power to
individual MPPs through the com-
mittee system and would use refer-'
enda to let voters directly decide
major issues.
Cornish said the savings in re -
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In the final'10three;
to take place In'
Family Coalition
hopeful Phil Coo islet amid
incumbent NOF* candidal
Paul ICJopp tied for top sprat
foth4iln the lr dexpanbate: Conornon ishffor
esiile
principles platform end ;>
rnsphtfultess and Klapp
for being prepared vlrith
examples of the good
thincgs the NDP have done.
for rural Ontario 0100
past four years.
cumstances require. This is why
leadership in Ontario has not been
evident. The Family Coalition Par-
ty is a real alternative. We are a
credible force in this election," he
said.
Jewitt, as previously mentioned,
explained his absence at the Madill
debate in his opening, speech in ad-
dition to his personal history. He
also spoke on the need for lean
government, fiscal restraint and
wise spending.
"It is time in Ontario to have a
government that does what Ontari-
ans do everyday of their lives: plan
smartly, spend wisely and live
,.within their means."
Jewitt also said the Liberal Party
has addressed the concerns of the
rural community and small busi-
ness in their provincial Red Book
and in their plan to balance the op-
erating budget within four. years.
He said the Liberal promise of a
five per cent tax cut over five years
was more realistic than the PC plan
of a 30 per cent income tax break.
"This (five per cent) will go di-
rectly to small business, with tax
breaks on investment in new tech-
nology. As a result, more jobs will
be created by the private sector in
Ontario: It's time we hada govednni.
ment that knows its job is to ensure
Ontario has an economy that can
create jobs," he said.
Helen Johns, the PC candidate,
said the social structure in Ontario
is stretched to the limit. She told
the audience that the Tories were
committed to making the necessary
adjustments in the province to
"make do with less". Government
spending would have to be cut, she
said, to achieve a balanced budget.
Under the Conservative plan,
some 725,000 private sector jobs
would he created through a pro-
posed 30 per cent income tax cut.
"We have to cut taxes substantial-
ly." Johns said the Harris plan
would put more money hack into
the pockets of Huron County and
Ontario residents to spend locally.
By providing the consumers with
more disposable income, more jobs
would be required to replace items
purchased for use and consump-
tion.
"We have to remove the harriers
to job creation. We can no longer
rely on companies of 1,000 people
or more to locate and provide eco-
nomic stability. Eighty per cent of
the new jobs are created by small
and medium businesses. Jobs have
been driven out of Ontario in the
last 10 years by legislation and
over -regulation. We are committed
to restoring hope."
Under the proposed Conserva-
tive plan, funding to health care,
law enforcement and classroom ed-
ucation would not be cut. but held
at the current funding levels.
Incumbent NDP Klopp ex-
plained the province has just been
through the worst recession since
the 1930s.
"We realized a lot of issues had
to be addressed. For small business,
we took the first initiative with
Clearing the Path. We now can
have an aquaculture industry in this
province thanks to some changes at
the Ministry of Natural Resources
that weren't there years ago.' We
cut small business tax to 9.5 per
cent. We helped industry develop
new technology with a 10 per cent
innovation tax credit."
Klopp also said the NDP reached
out to the rural regions by "un-
shackling" the Credit Unions' and
Farm Mutuals.
On education, he pointed out that
it was the NDP that called for the
Royal Commission on Learning — a
document to reform the way educa-
tion is handled in the province to-
day. Part of this, Klopp said was
the province -wide testing at Grades
3, 6, 9 and 11.
He went on to say that the NDP
has enabled the health profession to
expand its cancer treatment pro-
grams and improve accessibility to
clinics.
"Ethanol — the first time the gov-
ernment made a commitment, the
industry said 'We need a I5 -year
commitment if you are serious'.
The Liberal platform says they are
going to cut that back to 10 years,"
he said.
Kimble Ainslie, the Independent
candidate in Huron, based on the
Reform platform, did not attend the
debate. This marked the third de-
bate in the town he has missed.
Marilyn Vander Woude, a nurse,
challenged the candidates on the is-
sue of health care, and hospitals'
future.
Cornish said he felt health care
was sacred, despite the fact that it is
faltering. -
"There are problems within it. I
feel we must maintain core OHIP
coverage in this province. Beyond
that core level we must have pri-
vate care to supplement .elective
procedures and non -emergency
medical care and procedures that
would provide a safe and secure
health care system."
The other aspect of healthcare
that Cornish said the FCP would
look at is making health care a tax-
able income component; a deducta-
ble-based systerrp for individuals
and families.
Johns said the PCs believe that
health care should not by touched
and are calling for the same fund-
ing as this year towards health care.
Johns said part of their plan
would be to utilize health care pro-
fessionals in the allocation of fund-
ing within the system and to exam-
ine service efficiency to identify
potential duplication of services.
Jewitt used the opportunity to
criticize the Tory platforrn of a 30
per cent tax cut, stating he believed
Your°Choice;
Ainslie, Kimble
'Independent
Cornish, Phil
Family Coalition -
Jewitt, John
Liberal
Johns, Helen •
Progressive Conservative
Klopp, Paul
New Democrat
the cut will affect hospital budgets.
He said it is critical to realize the
impact of hospitals, not just from a
health care service, but in terms of
employment and service. Using
Wescast as an example, Jewitt said
it is vital that rural hospitals be sup-
ported in terms of 24-hour demand
and service."
Klopp said the move towards a
District Health Council in Huron
and Perth will enable the region to
address health care concerns.
"The issue of nurses. The NDP
revived the nurse practitioners and
we have been working very hard on
that issue."
When further challenged on
health care, and specifically abor-
tion, all four candidates said they
endorsed a pro-life stance. Johns
expanded on her answer by calling
for greater accessibility to adoption
services by couples who wish to,
adopt. She also said she would like
to see the "demise" of the free-
standing abortion clinics and the
service directed back into hospitals,
where a patient must meet with a
tribunal of physicians before being
granted an abortion..
of small business, Doris
Inglis, who with her husband owns
Bruce Tile, asked what each of the
parties would do to eliminate the
bureaucracy involved in operating
in Ontario.
Johns said there is a lot of dupli-
cation in conducting business in
Ontario.
"Che Progressive Conservatives
will try to reduce a lot of this paper
work. We find that some people are
unable to do the job they are in be-
cause of the paperwork."
Johns said one thing the PCs are
looking at is the corporate filing tax
and developing a reciprocalagree-
ment with the federal government
on filing of the Goods and Service
Tax and the Provincial Sales Tax.
Jewitt said the Liberal Party is
committed to cutting the red tape
encountered by small business.
"While travelling through the
riding, I have talked with people
who are in the business of hiring
and a lot of them are refusing to
hire people at this time because of
the paperwork and the red tape in-
volved. Bureaucracies are inflexi-
ble and penalties excessive."
Klopp said the level of bureau-
cracy is why the NDP started their
plan, Clearing the Path. One result
of the plan was the single payment
for the employer health tax.
On the decision to leave the PST
separate from the GST, Klopp said
the NDP was committed to keeping
costs down and would not spend
the estimated $500 million annually
to administer the system.
Cornish said he is in the business
of helping people cut through red
tape. He called for greater privati-
zation of government services relat-
ing to business, such as the Work-
ers' Compensation Board.
"I am continually frustrated by
the obstacles we face," he said in
dealing with various government
ministries. He suggested there was
a need to reduce the number of
ministries to simplify the system.
"For example, the employers'
health tax. Surely it is the most in-
efficient means of collecting funds
to finance a program. I think there
are Metter ways of doing that."
fr*P 102
Election '95
"Clue"
Thursday, June 8th
8:00 pm - 1 i:OOpm
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