Times Advocate, 1993-05-26, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, May 26,1993
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Quatro Os a ida'MSJ00
"Men are never so likely,
to settle 19 question rightly
as when they discuss it
freely.
... Thomas Macauley
re tae facts Wednesday ramble at 424 MMn
'1etw, Ontatto, NOM ISO by J.W. Esrey Pubttoadoes
Tataphons 141?2361331
e.S.T. lftlt1021093 r
L
10)11't 11,,t
r!
ast Wednesday's provincial
budget spared us the much -feared in-
crease in the provincial sales tax. We
were also spared the usual sin taxes on
gasoline, alcohol and tobacco (with the
exception of the U -brew industry).
Apparently, the province is coming to
the realization that those items are al-
ready taxed beyond the ability of most
people to pay.
Urifortunately,<this year Queen's Park
is dipping into our,ptockets :to the tune
of another $1.6 billion -.the _largest sin-
gle tax-increasein Ontario history.
-The -money comes from businesses,
The rich, toad the poor. Regardless of its
source, it still represents $1.6 -billion re-
moved _from . the provincial economy
and *posited in .the coffers of 'Bob
Rae's govenuuent.
-Thatis:$1:6-billion.(more than $3,000
per minute) .that won't -be invested by
businesses in .wages.and equipment:up-
des, -won't . be spent by people : on
cars, homes, clothes, or other retail
goods.
There. is Also. a .sigh of relief over_the
fact that 'the provincial. deficitthis year
won't reach $17 or $20 billion, as some
fid -=worried. Butlet's fact it, the:$9;2
ITilhon to.-be_addnd tome Ontariobt
its Still a ba1Fbeyond mat t*oulthhaVe
been considered tdderable only a ..few
years ago.
:In. a time of high unemployment and
low tax :revenues, Queen's Park contin-
ues to livebeyond its means.
Here's a scenwlo to consider. What if
. Treasurer Floyd Laughren had held off
mnmost otitis -tare increases and -decided
instead to :abolish the $1.1 -billion job-
s O ntario ttainiugprogram.
According .to.critics,-the,much-vaunted
training ;program : has failed to =place .-a
single -woriaer in its highest skill level
category, -and the -lion's share of: the jobs
are.actually-at the bottom end of. the skill
and pay scale.
Despite.'tbe fact 55,000 -people applied
toihe program (as of April 15) for train-
ing -.and job placements, only 7,600 got
jobs - subsidized up to $10,000 by the
province. This is what opposition'leader
Lyn McLeod-describesas an82--percent
failure -rate.
The .latest news, is :that two-thirds of
those jobs would :have been- filled any-
way -. without the subsidy :program,
withoutthe=$L5 million spent on .adver-
tising it, and without the$700,000 spent
on pins, buttons, posters .and bumper
stickers given to potential -employers.
As ` .Conservative leader Mike Har is
would say "governments can't create
jobs".
-How many jobs 40 you think would
have been created iLLaughren had been
...able to fin ;way :to keep his .$1.6 bit=
dion in- s in the -hands .of consu-
MOM .and 'businesses? How .= nary. jobs
will -be lost now -thgtit's-rnissing?
Bob Rae has to evcntwally..conae to the
-gtaati7ation -that-his government is -not in
'the:labour market, and can never be.
A.D.H.
•
Shocked by the hydro bill
Last week the electricity bill
arrived. It was a "catchup bill".
That's always good for a few
hours of depression. I'm sup-
posed to pay a fixed amount
every month, based on an esti-
mate. And then every three
months or so, the "real" bill
comes to tell me how much
juice we have actually used, and
how much I owe the friendly
utility company.
The only good parts are the ru-
ral rate assistance (thank you,
city dwellers, for this little fa-
vour), and the prompt payment
discount. Everything else on the
bill is shocking.
This time, the grand total after
all credits and partial payments
were deducted came to over
ilia/ Three hours later, when i
had sufficiently recovered, I de-
cided to send a cheque right
away, because once or twice in
the past I had forgotten the
deadline for the discount, and
that had caused another depres-
sion. As I wrote the cheque, I
thought of other things those
$700 would buy, like a weekend
without the kids, a new spring
wardrobe for Elizabeth, four
new tires and a tune-up for the
tired old Tempo.
So 1 started grumbling about
the cost of electricity in general,
and in our household in particu-
lar. What was it, i wondered
aloud, that ate up 8,1000 kilo-
watt-hours in 89 days (an aver-
ageof9l kWh aday)?I tried to
explain to my yawning audience
that it was the same as burning a
100 Watt light bulb for 910
hours. "Not possible," said Eliz-
abeth. "O.K. How about burning
100 such light bullbs for 9.1
hours every day?" I asked.
Peter's
Point
Peter Hesse)
"How many bulbs do Ave
have'?" asked Alexander. "1
don't think we have 100," said
Elizabeth, "but we've got a
washer and dryer, a dishwasher,
a hot-water heater, two fridg-
es..." Elizabeth has a very ana-
lytical mind.
"i still think we could cut
down", i said. "What do you
want us to do?" asked Elizabeth,
"Freeze in thc dark? Wash our
clothes in the creek? Maybe all
of us should take much shorter
showers."
I know whom she means when
she says "all of us". So I ignored
that last remark. Instead I of-
fered a, system of transfer pay-
ments. No, i didn't advocate
stringent measures like buming
candles to light the house. But i
did feel the whole family should
become a little more economy -
minded. i proposed that Eliza-
beth pay 10%, and each child
2% of the electricity bills from
now on. in the case of the cur-
rent bill, 1 explained, this would
amount to $70 for Elizabeth, and
$7 for each child. That way,
everybody would have an incen-
tive to save energy, to tum lights
off that are not needed.
Stephanie cried: "That's almost
two weeks' allowance forme!"
"And for tne!" echoed Duncan.
Wisely, Aletdander, who eams
considerably more, kept his
mouth shut.
"No fair!" protested Stephanie
and Duncan.
"Do you think it's fair for me,"
I asked, "that i have to pay the
whole bill all by myself, when
nobody is careful with the lights
except me?"
"What do you think about my
suggestion?" I asked Elizabeth.
But when I turned around, I real-
ized that she had quietly slipped
out of .the room. I found her in
the kitchen, telephoning our
electrician.
"How much would it cost to
put a timer on a shower, and to
install an energy-saving shower
head?"
Another phone call. "I'd like an
estimate for having a bunch of
new energy-efficient windows
installed in a drafty old house."
I gently took the phone book
out of her hands. "Alright," i
said, "you've made your point."
i guess there isn't much use in
discussing the hydro bill with
the family any further. They're
just not ready for it. I'll quietly
continue to turn off alight here,
and a light there. Without mak-
ing a big fuss.
&Rod Bend Castle
The big :debate • tin -England
these :days,.so I ht ar,is whether
or not the -monarchy is still need-
ed. I tend to be.a little sympa-
thetic towards .the plight of the
royals, even if they have been
behaving badly lately (or just
getting caught after all these
centuries) because 1 actually met
the Queen once.
I was only seven or eight years
old at the time, but the experi-
ence left a lasting favourable im-
pression - perhaps because I was
reminded that I would never for-
get her visit for the rest of my
life.
No doubt England will contin-
ue as a monarchy, but let's just
have fun with the possibilities
fora while.
If England decides she doesn't
need royalty, maybe royalty will
decide they don't need England.
What a shock for Britons to
wake up one moming to discov-
er a quarter of their country has
just been traded for a dozen
memberships at the Tokyo Lawn
Tennis Club.
It shouldn't be left up to just
the English, however. What of
the colonies that pretend to func-
tion as constitutional monar-
chies? England does without a
constitution and gets along fine.
Apparently, we don't have much
of one either. So without the
monarchy, what are we left
with? .
Hold that
thought ...
BY
Adrian Harte
In England they seem to real-
ize that it's not what's legal un-
der the law, -but what meets with
royal approval.
So what if Englandexiles the
royal family? Where wvlll.ihey
go: Australia, Bemtuda, Gon-
da? I'm inclined to think we
might be the last choice, ,at least
as far as climate ;goes, but it
would be nice to see a -series of
ten palaces built across this
country, one for each province.
I'm not the first to say this.
In Ontario, the palace
shouldn't t$c in Ottawa. It's too
i.etty: to Loiter
cold and no one would make the
same mistake twice. Toronto
needs to be taught a lesson, so
that just leaves Grand Bend:
Grand Bend Castle. Even Sand-
castle days might make a come-
back.
It would definitely be loads of
fun having royalty around all the
time, not just for state visits.
We would no longer be putting
pressure on our millionaire
hockey players and tennis pros
to behave like princes and prin-
cesses. Instead we could be
gratified to watch princes and
princesses misbehave more like
ordinary folk.
ilk touch of class could be add-
ed: to sporting events. The Stan-
ley Cup could 'be awarded by a
princess. The Canadian Grand
Prix trophy could be bestowed
by a prince, instead of a beer
company president, or whoever
dgesit now.
It'>; All wishful thinking. It
won't happen. England will
come to her senses, realizing
that if she no longer has royalty
to find fault with in the tabloid
press, then the camera will have
to be turned on herself.
Bicycle helmets, w io's responsibility
Dear Editor:
Come on parents/adults/
guardians, why wait until your
child is hospitalized, crippled or
worse, (killed) because he/she
wasn't wcaring a helmet. Why
must we wait for government leg-
islation to make bike helmets, like
motorcycle and snowmobile hel-
mets mandatory. Arc we not legis-
lated to the neck now?
i feel we arc neglecting our re-
sponsibility as parents towards our
children. No wonder they are los-
ing all respect for their elders, par-
ents, teachers, police, etc. it's time
we as parents/adults started show-
ing somekola/ship. Don't be like
the chap ligAtioned the.r day
about not wearing his
helmet. His re-
ample".
"let the �
`
kids set the cx- `A 1
ample". What an I
attitude. I could
sure tell his child
was never hospi-
talized from a fall, losing his mem-
ory and suffering a concussion.
OK kids, if that's the way sonic
want it, set thc example. Wear your
helmets. if you and your family arc
going on a bike tour, make sure
your parents arc also wearing their
helmets. How docs one gain respect
when a family is on a bicycle ;tide
sold your children arc wearing hel-
e$Is but the adults we pot. lt's w -
fully difficult explaining .that to
your own children.
Sometimes we as parents must
be firm. "No Helmet, No bike".
They won't like it, but they'll un-
derstand it and eventually will re-
spect you forthis decision.
By the way K.ipS, don't id those
macho (smart -ass) students teasing
you about wearing helmets gat to
you. What goes 'round cornea
'round. They may have to learn the
hard way.
Good judgement comes from ex-
perience. And where does experi-
ence come front? Experience
conies front bad judgement. ...
Mark Twain.
,(jgry T. Middleton