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The Citizen, 1993-12-15, Page 4Cool, clear waters Photo by Janice Becker Paul's Perspective Tax to remedy inequities C The North Huron itizen eNA P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, RUTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont NOM 1H0 NOG 1H0 Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Sales Representatives, Jeannette McNeil and Julie Mitchell 0 The Citizen Is published weekly In Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable In advance at a rate of $20.50/year ($19.16 plus $1.34 G.S.T.) for local; $31.03/year ($29.00 plus $2.03 G.S.T.) for local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Listowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $60.00/year for U.S.A. and Foreign. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1993. Saying Uncle (Sam) For nearly a decade Canadians were given an implicit message by the government of Brian Mulroney: you're nobodies in the big wide world and will have to live with rules set by others, particularly your cousins south of the border. Canadians may have thought they had put that kind of thinking behind them but the message of the new Liberal government under Jean Chretien in its first month in office seems to be more of the same kind of talking big but carrying a wet noodle kind of diplomacy. Canada's farm community, for instance, has a right to expect their government to have put up more of a fight for supply management than the easy capitulation of Agriculture Minister Ralph Goodale and Trade Minister Roy MacLaren at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade talks. The Liberals, for instance, had run a campaign on a platform of being ready to fight for supply management. They were rewarded by the voters of nearly every rural riding in Ontario. Then the first time their trade negotiators go to Europe they return saying the fight is lost. It was exactly this kind of lack of determination that had made many in the rural community distrust the intentions of the former Conservative government. There was the feeling that the politicians said the right things, but didn't believe in the principle of orderly marketing enough to really defend it deep down. Perhaps the battle was lost. Perhaps this unique system that Canada has developed, that even our urban media and consumer groups can't understand, let alone foreign governments, couldn't be saved in the larger GATT deal, but at least the government could have fought harder. This is an issue that goes much farther than just those dairy and poultry farmers who will suffer as a result of the demise of supply management marketing boards. With its high emphasis on animal farming, Ontario has a huge stake in the negotiations. Through the tough times of the past decade the supply managed sectors were the one area of farming that maintained a decent income. These were the farmers who continued to build new barns, to buy the trucks and the tractors, that kept the rest of the rural economy going. The system had its problems, but it worked. The message that the government seems to be sending out, and that urban media, consumer groups and academics seem to reinforce, is that farmers don't have a right to a decent living. Farmers are supposed to live at a subsistence level so that others can have cheap food and more CDs and camcorders. Rural Ontario has been betrayed by the GATT cave-in. The Liberals performance in this instance is similar to the wimpish response to the Americans over the NAFTA discussions. Mr. Chretien talked big until U.S. President Bill Clinton said no, then he quickly snuck home and declared he had everything he wanted ... which was virtually nothing. Some of the clarifications he said he was after were important, even NAFTA supporters agreed. They were worth fighting for but in his first battle the Prime Minister turned tail and ran. It's sad that the message being sent out by the second government in a row is that we can't control our own country, that others will set the rules for us. How can the people of any country be proud if they are constantly told they are weak. — KR Clean up the mess When people talk about the evils of bureaucracy in Ontario there is no greater illustration than the mess that is the Workers Compensation Board (WCB). The board was set up with a noble mandate, to help rehabilitate workers hurt on the job, to pay their medical costs and if they are unable to work for lengthy periods of time because of injury, to compensate them for their losses. The board also protects employers, by providing a province-wide system that helps workers for companies, no matter how small, that couldn't afford their own disability plans. But something has gone. The board has been known for years as a bureaucratic hell to be avoided by employers and workers alike at any cost. The bureaucracy becomes more expensive to support all the time. A new increase in WCB deductions is set to go into effect with the new year. Last week both employers protested the increased costs, while workers demonstrated in the streets against the lack of decent payouts. Adding insult to injury, so to speak, this weekend was the word that the new WCB headquarters in downtown Toronto, already a hideously outrageous $177 million in cost, will be an additional $40 million because the original price was for an empty shell of a building. Enough is enough. The government must clean up this mess. — KR In January, Ontario will have a corporate minimum tax. It addresses a point raised during the Fair Tax Hearings and attempts to remedy an inequity in our tax system. Many large profitable corporations avoided paying their share by reducing or deferring their income tax through combining tax preferences. The tax corrects some of the unfairness in the system by ensuring that all sectors of the business community pay income tax based on their ability to pay. The Minister of Finance, Floyd Laughren said that in order to cushion the impact on firms returning to profitability after the Through the Years 37 YEARS AGO Dec. 12, 1956 The local Lions entertained the Brussels 4-H Swine Club which they sponsored. President Gordon Knight was among the guests. The W.E. Collins Insurance office was relocated to the house formerly occupied by C. Krauter. My Sister Eileen with Jack Lem- mon and Janet Leigh was playing at the Capitol Theatre in Listowel. Green Giant Niblet, 14 oz. cans sold for 33 cents at Rutledge Gro- cery. Two 8 oz. packages of Corn Flakes cost 25 cents at Grewar's. Members of the United Church YOU were entertained by Melville Church YPS at a Christmas party. The Henderson Orchestra played at the Christmas Formal in Cran- brook Community Centre. Admission was $1. The Reeve of Grey Twp. received a salary of $400. 17 YEARS AGO Dec. 15,1976 Mrs. Edith Pipe was the winner of the Brussels PS fundraiser for the new arena. Mrs. Pipe received a permanent donated by George of Brussels. Miss Bonnie McKay of RR2, Brussels received Honourable Mention in the 1976 Huron County 4-H Gate Sign Competition. A colour TV could be purchased at M.C. Smith for $329. recession, the tax would include transitional relief for firms that had losses in 1991 through 1993. Additional relief will be provided by a three-year phase-in period for the tax. For 1994, the first year it is in effect, the rate of the CMT will be two per cent. It will rise to three per cent in 1995 and finally, in 1996, to four per cent — or one- quarter the general corporate income tax rate in Ontario. When fully phased in, the tax collected is expected to amount to $100 million a year. As with most new measures taken by this government, consultations with the business community were held in 1993. As During the week of Dec. 6-12 Wingham OPP officers conducted 22 investigations. Winners at the Legion Bingo were Mrs. Jim McNeil, Mrs. George Langlois, Linda Storey and Glenda Moran. The Junior Girls basketball at Madill finished in the semi finals. The boys finished in a toy for first place in the Huron Division. On the team was Anton Passchier. Madill revived the school choir, with a membership of 160. Eldon Cook, RR1, Belgrave was a big winner in the Brown Swiss competition at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. Ken Mewhinney of RR1, Luc- know was the new president of the Perth-Huron Shorthorn Club, replacing Ross Procter of RR5, Brussels. Gerald Smith, RR2, Brussels, the Black's Back By Linda Turk Arthur Black's new book, "Black by Popular Demand", is funny, irreverent, and right on the money. He carries a curmudgeon's banner proudly, saying, "When you get to be 50, you're entitled to be a curmudgeon, and the rest of you are just curmudgeons in training." His book's cover is a saucy bare- shouldered parody of a recent controversial photo involving Kim Campbell and her legal robes. It exposes an anchor tattoo on Black's own shoulder, and he chuckles when he agrees this is a great photo. "Kim Campbell's going to be jealous, I think." But then what can you expect of a man who dedicates his book this way: "This book is reverentially well the Fair Tax Commission Working group which was made up of representatives from business, unions, educators, academics and environmentalists as well as the public reviewed the tax and set down the principles on which it is based. This tax will not stall the economy since it only targets large profitable companies. Ninety per cent of Ontario businesses will not have to file the tax. Small business is exempt. Large firms with assets of more than $5 million and annual revenue of $10 million will pay the tax. This is about 10 per cent of Ontario's corporations. secretary/treasurer for eight years resigned. He was named club direc- tor to the Ontario Shorthorn Club. 12 YEARS AGO Dec. 16, 1981 Jack Black and Jack Caldwell took a petition of 11 names to Blyth council requesting a crossing guard for the corner of Queen and King St. A refugee family from Laos arrived in Blyth. Boua-Vone Oun- samone, his wife, Thong Khank and their sons Chieng Kai and Sack Davonne as well as Boua-Vone's mother Pun were sponsored by the Christian Reformed Church. The winners of the Lite Up Blyth contest were Grace Castle, Clinton and Fran Cook, Blyth. Township employees of East Wawanosh were given a sizable increase in pay. dedicated to Canada's 18th Prime Minister, Martin Brian Mulroney, for giving 27 million Canucks what they need most from him: a wave goodbye." Black works out of Toronto three days a week, preparing his popular Saturday morning CBC radio show, Basic Black, heard by over 500,000 listeners each week coast to coast. The 50-year-old Black now lives in his hometown of Fergus, Ontario, with his family and their pets: a dog named Rufus and a cat named Lassie. He says he likes everything about Fergus, except the 7 a.m. bagpipe practices — "a terrible caterwauling" he calls it, but an inevitable part of living in the town that hosts The Continued on page 5 E ditorial Writer talks to columnist