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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-10-20, Page 44 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, October 20, 2004 =CNA TIMES ADVOCATE PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing casts. Jim Beckett Publisher and Editor Deb Lord Production Manager &Published by Metroland Printing, rt Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Metroland 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIALS Tax cuts needed The recent announcement that Canada's $9.1 billion budget surplus was nearly five times what Finance Minister Ralph Goodale pre- dicted earlier in the year is almost farcical. If it wasn't obvious before, it is now — since Paul Martin was finance minister under Jean Chretien, the federal government has consistently and pur- posely made low surplus predictions so these bigger - than -expected surpluses look like good news near the end of the year. It's no wonder Canadians are so cynical about politics these days. As is policy, the surplus will go towards the coun- try's approximately $510 billion debt, which means our debt will now be a little more than $500 billion. How the average Canadian is supposed to get excited about this is something the government hasn't answered. No matter what the government does, it's going to take decades to see the country's debt shrink signifi- cantly. And while it's responsible in a Canadian kind of way to want to pay off the debt, the government should be doing more to help its citizens — like cut- ting taxes. The price of everything is going up these days and that $9.1 billion surplus would have been a nice way for the government to help relieve some of the over- whelming tax burdens Canadians feel. Reports Monday suggested Goodale is in fact con- templating personal and business tax cuts in the next budget. This is something Canadians need. While it's great news the country showed such a large budget surplus this year, the government needs to share some of the wealth with its own citizens. The Greatest Canadian debate So it's down to 10 names. CBC presented the top 50 in its Greatest Canadian program Sunday night, with several surprises. The top 10, in alphabetical order, were: Frederick Banting, Alexander Graham Bell, Don Cherry, Tommy Douglas, Terry Fox, Wayne Gretzky, Sir John A. Macdonald, Lester B. Pearson, David Suzuki and Pierre Trudeau. The winner will be announced after CBC airs 10 one-hour documentaries on the finalists. Some interesting tidbits: there were no women in the top 15 and, at number 18, Shania Twain has been determined the greatest Canadian woman of all time. An interesting decision. A number of people didn't belong in the top 50, namely Jim Carrey, Bret Hart, Avril Lavigne and Michael J. Fox. Carrey and Fox, it needs to be pointed out, now have dual Canadian -U.S. citizen- ship and, while Fox's battle with Parkinson's dis- ease is admirable, it's questionable what Carrey has ever done for Canada. Fame doesn't equal greatness. Certainly more deserving Canadians, like writers Margaret Atwood and Farley Mowat, both of whom didn't make the top 50, could have replaced the aforementioned people. Editorial Opinion ° MIZiM What's next? Video cameras in homes? It's time to finally admit it — this whole anti- smoking movement is starting to go too far. It was with bemusement last week I read of a report that the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) wants a smoking ban in cars carrying children, claiming cars are up to 23 times more toxic than smokers' homes. I've never smoked and I fully support recent bylaws banning smoking from all public buildings and workplaces, but this recommendation borders on the Orwellian. Telling people they can't smoke in their own cars? The next logi- cal step is telling smokers they can't smoke in their own homes. The obvious problem with the OMA's suggested smoking ban in cars is how to enforce it. The answer is you can't. Police officers simply aren't going to drive around peering into car windows to see if the driver is smoking. Besides, even if they did, smokers would simply all go out and buy tinted windows for their cars. Then what? The government puts tiny video cameras in everyone's cars to see what they're doing while they drive? I think not. Or maybe we should all have video cameras in every room of our homes to ensure we're always on our best behaviour. Parents proba- bly shouldn't drink or swear around their chil- dren, either — maybe those activities should also be banned. It would be nice if parents didn't smoke around their children, but they do. Smoking is one of the dumbest things you can do to yourself (and your chil- dren), but if the government really wants to protect the safety of children, it can SCOTT start by passing tougher laws on drink- NIXON ing and driving and child abuse. AND ANOTHER There are much bigger problems in THING this country than whether or not people smoke in their cars. Instead of telling people what they can and can not do in their own cars, maybe the OMA should really be protecting the health of Ontarians by doing something about the fact much of this province is medically underser- viced and finding a family doctor is becoming tantamount to the search for the Holy Grail. 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The classified ad deadline is Monday at 10 a.m. Display Advertising To place a display ad, (519) 235-1331 weekdays 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. or evenings (519) 235-1336 (leave mes- sage) or toll-free at 1-888-270-1602. Deadline: Fri. 4 m. -mail Us Web site: www.southhuron.com TA e-mail addresses consist of the person's first initial and last name followed by @southhuron.com. For example, Jim Beckett's e-mail address is <jbeck- ett@southhuron.com> Our general e-mail address is ads@southhuron.com. The Times -Advocate Team Publisher/Editor Jim Beckett ext. 109 ADVERTISING Michelle Sereda ext. 110 Deborah Schillemore ext. 112 REPORTERS Scott Nixon ext. 105 Pat Bolen ext. 113 Mary Simmons ext. 107 CUSTOMER SERVICE Sue Rollings ext. 101 Carol Powe ext 102 COMPOSITION DEPARTMENT Manager Deb Lord ext. 114/103 Sharlene Young, Diana Hardy ext. 103 ACCOUNTING STAFF Anita McDonald ext. 104 Ruth Slaght ext. 106 Christina Scott ext. 108 Marg Pertschy ext. 208