HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-05-26, Page 44
Exeter Times–Advocate
Wednesday,May 26, 2004
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Editorial Opinion
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EDITORIALS
Too little,
too late
hat a great week for the federal and
provincial Liberals.
First, on the provincial side of things, Premier Dalton
McGuinty and Finance Minister Gregory Sorbara stuck
it to Ontarians with a budget that will see taxpayers
dig deeper into their pockets. All this, of course comes
after McGuinty repeated several times during last
fall's election campaign he would not raise taxes.
Apparently he changed his mind.
On the heels of the budget, which drew the ire of
many Ontarians, Ottawa continued to tinker with its
disastrous long -gun registry, eliminating the fees for
registering a gun and capping the registry's annual
cost to taxpayers at $25 million.
Just as a reminder, the gun registry was introduced
in 1995 with the promise it would only cost taxpayers
$2 million. One billion dollars later, the gun registry
continues to be a major waste of tax money.
And while the feds scrapped the gun registry fee,
registration remains mandatory.
Instead of half -measures, the government should
simply have scrapped the gun registry altogether. It
isn't working and the money earmarked for the reg-
istry could be better used for programs that deal
head-on with gun crimes. It's been said many times,
but criminals are not going to register their guns,
which makes the idea of a registry pointless. Besides,
criminals are more likely to use handguns rather than
long -guns in a crime; handguns have been registered
in Canada for over 70 years, yet they continued to be
used by criminals
Canada's team
It's time for Canadians to rally around the only thing
that truly brings us together — hockey. Let's all get
behind the Calgary Flames and cheer for them to
bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time
in 11 years.
There probably isn't one person in the world who
predicted at the beginning of this year's NHL season
that the Flames would make it to the Stanley Cup
finals, much less win the cup. But coach and general
manager Darryl Sutter made a couple of great trades,
instilled an intense work ethic in his players and cre-
ated a team of giant killers, knocking off three division
champs so far in the playoffs: Vancouver, Detroit and
San Jose.
Three opponents down, one to go, before the cup
comes home.
Go Flames!
About the Times -Advocate
Eye exam coverage eliminated
in Ontario Budget...
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Keep your wallets open
`If you drive a car, I'll tax the street,
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat,
If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat,
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet."
Taxman, The Beatles
It's time for employers in this province to finally cut
out the middle man — us poor wretched employees
— and send our entire paycheques directly to the
various levels of government. It wouldn't be
much of a change from what's already hap-
pening.
Now that we know Ontario Premier Dalton
McGuinty was lying (big shock) when he
promised not to raise taxes, Ontarians have
the pleasure of once again paying health
premiums, not to mention the usual
increased sin taxes on smokes and booze.
Based on income, Ontarians will pay
between $300 and $900 annually on the
health premiums, something abandoned by
the David Peterson Liberals 14 years ago.
The money will be deducted from our pay-
cheques. Just what we all need! Less money
week! Are you as excited as I am?
Of course, this cash grab, which will raise $9 billion
in revenues for the province over the next four
years, is allegedly all going to improve the province's
health care. Let's see if that proposal comes to
fruition or if, like their federal counterparts, our
provincial Liberals find a way to make hundreds of
millions simply vanish. You thought David
Copperfield and Penn and Teller were good at mak-
ing things disappear? Give a few hundred million to
a government and watch it vaporize in the blink of
an eye.
Ontarians have taken some major hits in the pock-
etbook over the last few months — gas is skyrocket-
ing, hydro has gone up and our governments are
taxing everything except breathing.
Locally, you have South Huron introducing a huge
increase for Exeter water customers. While the
increase is necessary to help pay off the municipali-
ty's cumbersome water system debt, it still translates
into more money out of ratepayers' pockets.
I'm hoping people weren't surprised the
provincial Liberals broke their promise not to
raise taxes. It was a campaign promise, after
all, and since when did governments stay true
to their word? No, it's best to assume that
when our political leaders say one thing, they
mean the opposite.
In the crease
Of course, the federal Liberals have a new
weapon in their arsenal — hockey hall of
famer Ken Dryden left his post with the
Toronto Maple Leafs last week to throw his
hat into the political ring for the Grits.
Dryden, who played his entire career with the
Montreal Canadiens, winning six Stanley Cups in
eight seasons, was never a good fit with the Maple
Leafs, anyway. The last thing that organization
needs or wants is someone who actually knows how
to win a Stanley Cup. Striving for a championship
just distracts the blue and white from meeting its
only real goal — making money and brainwashing its
fans into believing they're actually trying to win.
Good luck, Ken. Who knows, Habs fans might actu-
ally forgive you someday for your Benedict Arnold
act. Probably not, though.
SCOTT
NIXON
AND ANOTHER
THING
every
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