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Times-Advocate, 1982-04-28, Page 4Timis -Advocate, Apra 28, 1984 Imes Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager - BILL BATTEN ROSS HAUGH Editor Assistant Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager A DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second -Class Mall Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $20.00 Per yam': U.S.A. $55.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' Q1I SEE IT 5EE IT . r Budget is realistic The members of Exeter council have finalized the second budget of their current term, and for the second year have come up with a realistic response to the com- munity's needs and economic situation. The lone dissenter to the goalof keeping the mill rate increase in the five percent bracket was Deputy - Reeve Alvin Epp, who suggested through implication, that the rate should be more in keeping with the in- flating factor of 12 to 14 percent. He contends, with some merit, perhaps, that cut- ting services could result in large budget increases in the future or a lowering of standards. However, his suggestion fails to consider the fact that inflation is the root of the current economic woes of many residents in this community, and the; battle to bring it under control must be fought at all.levels. There is considerable encouragement in the fact that members of council have decided to put restraint into practice and not follow the example of other govern- ment levels which appear only to preach restraint without corresponding action. The result may well be a lowering of our stan- dards, but that is something most people are already facing and it naturally follows that public projects must be curtailed in the same relation as private projects. Of course, setting a budget is only half the chore: Meeting the dictates of that budget is equally impor- tant and that is the job that the elected and appointed officials must undertake in the next few months. The current council members have shown strong leader- ship in keeping a close watch and tight control on previous budgets and there is every reason to assume they will do the same with the current document to en- sure that the fiscal year will end on the target they have established. While council members as a whole are responsi- ble for the financial operation of the town, there is lit- tle doubt that finance committee chairman Bill Mickle has spear -headed some innovative measures m budget control and long-range planning that is paying dividends -now and will continue to do so in the future. One such example is the increase in the town's operating capital reserve which, coupled with improv- ed collection practices, has prevented the need for bor- rowings from the •bank and in fact has created in- terest revenue for operating purposes. At a time of high borrowing cost, this measure has been extremely beneficial. • . The time and effort devoted to the task by Mickle is obviously above the call of duty and that fact .has already been noted by his cohorts and he is deserving of their commendation aswell'asthatof thelratepayers. Doctors'. action debatable Ontario's doctors should reconsider their work to rule campaign. Now is not the time to play catch up in salary negotations with the province. While doctors feel their recent salary settlements with the Ontario Health Ministry have been unsatisfac- tory, at a time when many of the patients face,long periods of unemployment or are threatened by bank foreclosures, it is not the time to use their patients as pawns in a squabble with the government. Nor does the current dispute do anything for the doc- tors' professional image. Many_ professionals and in- deed owners of business and industry would gladly take the doctors' settlement in return for guaranteed pay- ment of fees and services. Doctors have come a long Now there There are still only two sure things in life: death and taxes. Both are similar in that one never knows for sure when it will strike. Certainly, when people line up to pay their property taxes or spend long hours pouring through the complicated income tax forms, there is no element of the -unknown involved. You just look at the bottom line. Same thing for a few other taxes, such as sales tax. However, many taxes are hidden in the price of the items purchased or the ser- vices rendered. Few people ever stop to realize just how much tax money they are expending in their budgets. Well, the Fraser Institute recently com- pleted such a calculation, and while it is staggering, it is probably not surprising to those who battle the monthly battle of the budget. The Institute found that we pay a stag- gering 41 percent of average family in- come to governments. A sample family earning $29,000 per year pays $12,000 in taxes. Here's where the money goes. Income tax payments would total $4,000. There's another $1,700 for social security, pen- sions and hospital and medical care. About $1,700 goes to governments for pro- vincial and federal sales taxes. Property taxes cost $1,200. The family pays another $1,800 for its share of corporation and natural resource taxes, which are necessarily included in the cost of the end products we buy. Import duties cost the family $500, there's $400 for auto and fuel taxes and another $300 for other minor items such as the tate on your telephone calls. Final- ly the taxes on liquor, tobacco and amusements pump another $500 into the government coffers. . The amazing thing is that Canadians way since the days when patients, who cald not af- ford to pay for health care, offered baskets of potatoes in return; for adequate care. The Ontario Medical Association's threat to withdraw all services except emergency services in this dispute, is deplorable. Our doctors should be pro- fessional and dedicated and they should be willing to take the good with the bad. These are tough economic times and now is not the time to use their patients to gain financial increases. We all realize our doctors work hard and must carry tremendous responsibility, but this is not the way to voice objection to the govern- ment's overall restraint in healthcare funding. Lucknow Sentinel are three sure things accept this huge tax bite with little more than a shrug of the shoulders, the national stance made popular by our Prime Minister. . The reason for the general apathy is -that many, of the taxes are hidden. Few people understand how much federal and provincial sales tax there is on gasoline, although some oil companies have posted the governments' take on their pumps. The problem is, most.of us are so startled watching the blinding speed in which the dollars ring up that we fail to see other items in the surroundings. The real question, however, is not necessarily regarding the high taxes we are paying. Instead we should be ques- tioning whether people are getting real value for the money. It's one opinion poll the . governments never conduct. Could it be they know the answer? The auditors -general give most tax- payers an opportunity each year to see some areas in which governments squander thousands of those tax dollars and there are other examples that crop up periodically to suggest full value is not given for the money spent. For instance, it was enlightening to find out that the CBC, one of the bottomless pits into which considerable money is poured each year, expended considerable funds by paying four well-known Cana- dians to be in the crowds at Ottawa so they could be interviewed during the queen's visit on the occasion of the patria- tion of the constitution.. There were thousands of other Cana- dians who had paid their own travel and accommodation costs to been hand from several sections of the nation, but ap- .parently their spontaneous reaction wasn't good enough for the CBC. Most viewers assumed that BobbyGim- by, Gordon Pinsent, Diane Jones- Konihowski and millionaire shoe manufacturer Thomas Bata were among those Canadians interested enough to pay their way to the colorful event. But no, they were paid for their costs and ser- vices, apparently under the belief that the comments of less well-known Canadians would not be good enough for TV audiences. It's not unlike the waste of money on the between -period features being presented by Bobby Orr on the current Stanley Cup playoff series,\In the features the hockey idol interviews some of the superstars of his era. There's nothing wrong with the idea, but one wonders why Bobby and his guests had to be transplanted to the sun- ny climate of Jamaica to conduct the in- terviews, particularly when the major portion of the clips depicts on -ice ac- tivities of the guests. It obviously would have been cheaper to buy them each an overcoat and let them do the interviews here in the frozen north. So, perhaps there are three sure things in life: death, taxes and government waste. That's all for this week; have to hurry home and complete my tax form. Hope there's enough left to set aside a bit for the taxes my estate is going to have to pay on my coffin. Hand-wrjtjnq on the Does anyone know where I can buy, for about three thousand dollars, a large shanty in the middle of a woods crammed with deer and rabbits, beside a stream teeming with trout, and about one thousand miles away from the nearest factory? If you do, let me know, and I'll trade it even for a large brick home with 14 -foot ceilings a large lot teeming with skunks and moles, and with the acid rain gently falling on the already polluted snow. The only reason I pecify a "large" shanty is that it must be able t contain a grand piano. Otherwise the Old Bat- tleaxe wouldn't come with me. It would also have to house bur 12 by 18 . foot Indian rug. It has sentimental value. Though not made by, or of, native Indians, it is so scuffed and scarred and burn -marked, that it has an irredeemable character we couldn't live without. What I am working around to is that we are (and don't look over your shoulder or you'll turn white) heading into the second Great Depression of the twentieth century. Now . I am - no economist thank goodness. lout it doesn't fake one to see the hand- writing on the wall. In fact% most of the hand- writing is in the cribbed scribble of real economists. Stupid generals steeped in Clausewitz and Napoleon have been leading the poor but honest licentious soldiery into vicious wars for generations. Brilliant but basically The Recently the govern- ment of Mr. Trudeau ac- complished a feat that has been tried by many other prime ministers and political parties. He has brought home to Canada a constitution of its own so that Canada. is truly able to call itself a country. No longer are we in any way bound to Britain other than by the same proud ties that a grown daughter might feel for her parent. I realize that in these times of economic hard- ship that many peopleppare minister and thehpolicies. I can'tsay that I agree .with all of them either but in the next two articles I'd like to comment on some of the privileges that have been established b our constitution for Cana- dians, ana dians, privileges that peo- stupid economists. steeped in _ Keynes and others of his ilk, have led mouths -open politicians into such a quagmire of economical disaster that even the politicians, whose specialty it is, are slowly, very slowly, realizing they have been conned into a losing war. taxes. The poor demand- ed bread and circuses, and got them. So what's new The honest workers and middle-class found their workmanship scorned and their values laughed at and their taxes brutalized until they went broke, lost Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley And guess who's going to get it in the neck, Jack? You and I, that's who. A Great Depression doesn't .affect the very rich or the very poor. The former are so well in- sulated that they actual- ly thrive in a depression. The latter are so badly in- sulated that the cold winds of capitalistic col- lapse merely make them a littler poorer. It is the average, honest, hard-working slob (you and I, Jack) trying to keep his nose clean, raise a family, be a decent citizen, do his duty, and die without fan- fare, who gets it in the groin. • Let's go all the way back to Rome for a precedent. As the Em- pire, based on hard work and virtue, began to disintegrate under the blows of corruption, unemployment, high in- terest rates vandalism, and weak leaders, the Depression was on. The rich revelled long into the nights and whined about their slaves, and had to do their own housework. And it's been going on ever since. Every time I pick up a history book, regardless of the era be- ing described I read Thus began the rise of the middle class." No wonder. They . were beaten down SQ often, they had nowhere to go but rise. On a good day, the Canadian dollar will buy you a hamburger or a bottle of beer. How come? Our interest rates despite our vast natural resources are above those -of the U.S. How come? Our unemploy- ment rate, again with those great resources, is ridiculous. How come? Well, I think I can tell you how come.' Since World War II, from which this country emerged as a proud, resourceful, wealthy na- tion with an almost automatic fine future, we have been mismanaged by a succession of "leaders" whose prime interest was power, not wall the good of the country. Witness the events of the past couple of years in parliament. The Tories and Liberals have acted like nothing more than a couple of old maids, con- stantlybickering, con- stantlrecriminating, constantly angling for an edge in the argument as. to who should look after the remains of the estate. And .the NDP could be compared to an unliked nephew, inciting the old girls on, hoping they will kill each other, so that he can et his hands on the e. Provincial premiers have acted like cousins supporting one of the old maids then the other, wheedlingfor presents, turning teir backs when it was time to help, and always, always, more concerned with remain- ing first cousins rather than fourth cousins. We don't (Lord forbid) need a Ronald Reagan or a Margaret Thatcher to head this country. What we need is a man or woman of common sense who is completely devoid of a hunger for power, and who would put the country, or province • ahead of party. There are probably two or three such in Canada. Not one would have a chance to be elected as dog-catcher. Why not? Well, look into your own soul, mate, and you might find the answer. We vote only for those who make the fattest promises. Now, what about that shanty? I'm serious. I just added up my oil bill, and figured out my in- come tax. And read about the 12,000 rejected cars sitting in Halifax. Cana- dian cars. constitution is home ple in -other parts of- the world would literally give. their lives for. First of all, the constitu- overthrow the govern- ment but dared to bring Bibles into the country. If they step out of the eni- :4 Perspectives By Syd Fletcher MN* tion gives us freedom of conscience and religion. In Russia, right now, there are a number of Pentecostal people forced to be prisioners in an em- bassy in Moscow, basical- lybecause they cried out fr the right to practise their religion as they saw fit. They weren't out to bossy they will be ar- rested and sent to jail or Siberia. Along with the right to worship as we see fit is freedom of the press of thought and opinion. If I disagree with Mr. Trudeau or Mr. Davis I have the right to call his policies foolish and dangerous to the country. If I choose to stand on the street corner and preach my anger at these politi- cians I have the right to do it. In South Africa you would risk a beating -up by the police if you stood on a street corner and has the nerve to criticize the government. Many jour- nalists have been banned from the country or have lost th it jobs for being a little too outspoken. In this same country you do not have the right of peaceful assembly as we are guaranteed. One minister has been told, on pain of arrest, that he may not talk to more than one person at a time. I'm sure Canadian3 would be most unhappy if such a situation was true here but we forget how lucky we are.