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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2006-01-18, Page 15A Wednesday, January 18, 2006 Exeter Times—Advocate 15 What the federal election means for Ontario Tasha Kheiriddin CTF ONTARIO DIRECTOR As the federal campaign enters its final phase, we at the Ontario division of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation thought it would be useful to see what the parties' various promises mean for our province. Considered the main battle- ground in the campaign, all parties have been trolling ferociously for votes here, and many of their policies deal directly with issues of concern to Ontario taxpayers. Leading the pack: the infamous fiscal imbalance. The alleged imbalance represents the discrepancy between what Ontario takes in and what it pays out in terms of transfer payments. According to Is election reform needed in Canada? By Scott Nixon TIMES—ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — With the federal election coming up Monday, not all Canadians are happy with Canada's voting sys- tem. Exeter's Al and Eno De Haan are part of a national group called Fair Vote Canada, which seeks voting reform and a change to proportional representation. According to Fair Vote Canada, under a propor- tional system, "a party getting 40 per cent of the votes will get 40 per cent of the seats — not 50 per cent or 60 per cent of the seats and complete con- trol of the Parliamentary agenda." Fair Vote believes polit- ical parties should have only the number of seats warranted by how many votes they receive. It also believes Canada's cur- rent system doesn't give fair representation for women, minorities and Aboriginals. A proportional voting system, according to Fair Vote, means "no more skewed election results, no more phony majority governments." Fair Vote states that in recent decades, Canadians have only experienced one legitimate majority gov- ernment, Brian Mulroney's in 1984. Jean Chretien's 1997 majority was elected by only 38.5 per cent of the popular vote. Those in favour of pro- portional representation say it means every vote counts and it would result in a government more representative of the country. Al De Haan said he's been skeptical of Canada's "first past the post" riding system for a long time. Born and raised in Holland, which uses proportional repre- sentation, De Haan said Canada's current system results in votes being wasted and inaccurate election results. "The system can be changed to reflect more accurately the voters' wishes," he says. Most European nations use a form of proportion- al representation. On its web site fairvote- canada.org, Fair Vote uses the Green Party as an example of the inade- quacy of Canada's voting system. In the 2004 election, the Green Party received more than 500,000 votes in Canada, but elected nobody and received no Green repre- sentation. Conversely, "fewer than a half -mil- lion Liberal voters in Atlantic Canada alone elected 22 MPs. Saskatchewan voters elected 13 Conservative MPs and Quebec elected none, even though almost twice as many voted Conservative in Quebec." Under a proportional system, a minority party receiving five per cent of the popular vote would receive five per cent of the seats in Parliament. "It's an important issue," De Haan says, adding he thinks support for a proportional voting system is growing. Huron County business owners beware HURON — Huron OPP have received several reports over the last couple of months of a male attending gas stations and obtaining gas with no money. The male is described as being about 36 years old, 5'6 in height, 150 pounds, a thin build and short brown hair. The male's residence is located on Orchard Line in Goderich Township, just north of Bayfield. The male provides some form of collateral after he has obtained gas, such as a cell phone or drivers license. Huron OPP want to warn owners if they accept some form of collateral they are extending credit. If the party fails to attend to settle the account it is not a police matter but a civil issue. Premier Dalton McGuinty, Ottawa is awash in sur- pluses while Ontario suffers from a $23 -billion gap which prevents it from delivering services for which it is responsible, like health care and edu- cation. This logic conveniently ignores the fact that if the province reined in out -of -control spending, this "gap" wouldn't exist in the first place. But the federal parties are nonetheless offering their solutions: under both the federal Liberals' and Tories' tax cut plans, Ottawa would take in less tax, which in theory this would leave the provinces room to take in more. (Not that we rec- ommend this, especially when taxpayers currently fork over almost half their paycheques to various levels of government.) However, the real cause of Ontario's woes isn't a new imbalance, but the old equalization formu- la. The federal government should either reduce the amount of money it takes from "have" provinces like Ontario or transfer tax points. This would allow wealth -generating jurisdictions to keep more of what they produce, which would be more efficient economic policy for all provinces, including Ontario. Another big issue for Ontario is health care. The Tories are promising a "wait times guaran- tee" and would allow Canadians to seek treatment in other provinces; the Liberals promise more money and a "wait times action plan"; the NDP would try to stamp out all private health care, presumably with the same boot they are using in their television campaign ads. (Ironic, considering news reports revealed this week that NDP leader Jack Layton had surgery at a private clinic in the 1990's). More money, tracking wait times, and shipping patients from Toronto to Edmonton aren't the answer to Ontario's health care woes. All of these options miss the point, which is that more, not less private care is the key to bringing down wait times and ensuring better care for all. A mixed delivery system, such as exists in European countries, would be the best option for Canada, but unfortunately federal politicians are so busy wrapping themselves in the Canada Health Act they've blinded themselves to this reality. Finally, education. Premier McGuinty is ramp- ing up education spending, as recommended in the Rae report released last year. Now comes the news that the Liberals would pay part - and in some cases all - of university students' tuition. Would this take the pressure off the province and allow it to scale back its planned spending hikes? Hard to say. The Liberals' policy might well increase the number of student who attend uni- versity, putting more - not less - pressure on the system here, since tuition costs account for an average of 15% of the cost of a student's educa- tion. And with the most universities of any province, Ontario would face more pressure than the rest of the country. In the end, Ontario voters should remember there is only one taxpayer, and politicians can't promise you a thing they don't take from you first. The goal should be to reduce our overall tax burden, not simply shift it around. It should also be to improve efficiencies in delivery of ser- vices, like health care - and that means thinking outside the public monopoly box. It should mean less waste, more accountability and ... well you get the idea. The things the Canadian Taxpayers Federation continues to fight for between elec- tions, after the campaign posters come down and parties' promises are forgotten. 2006 Corolla CE LEASE //��//�� AS 7 FO$ /LO@L■.9 PR $17,725 MSRP PER MONTH FOR 48 MONTHS WITH $2,222 DOWN. FREIGHT AND P.D.E. 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