Times Advocate, 1993-08-11, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, Atintlst 11,1993
11811bIlitsa1': Jim 8eekett
uL i aurkin Harte
er: Don Smith
Deb tor('
Publbations Mail Registration Number 0336
S11PTtt']N RATES:litiisA
141Abi 0'►n ee (65 (6501m.)1016reesed
to non lulteres1MersdWsesos (WOAD pits* 62.108.8.7.
Outeltle-4OitiAlss (65 km.) or 1rnyikttoreeMerS*INrss
580.00 plus 0:0.00 Ttetet00 00) +-48.20-086A.
Outside Camas MAO
N
The cost of savings
ow that Premier Bob Rae has
reached social contract agreements with
most of thepublic service unions, we
are going to find out how the promised
savings are going to materialize. The
government decided that two 'billion
dollars had to be saved, it also prom-
ised a 20 percent target reduction to all
groups that reached an agreement and
did not rely on the fail safe provisions
of the act. With most groups now in.a
position to collect on :the 20 percen n e-
duction, one has to wonder where 'the
,government is 'going to come up with
the extra $400 million in. savings, or did
they really onlyneed-tosave $1.6 bil-
lion in the first place.
It is.difficult topsaise agoverr nnemt
foraying to makethe:civil service
more cost effective,.when'themotiva-
tion behind themoveisto solve.a fi-
:nancial-crisisi roughtabautbythegov-
:e trnentsewn:spendingpoliexes.1fthe
-IADP had not -tried— =successfully --
to spend its way out of recession we
would not now be in a situation where
such drastic action was required. This
government, from its first budget, in-
creased spending dramatically. Now it •
finds itself in a position where it has fi-
nanced its purchases, but it finding diffi-
culty in trying to finance all of its future
want lists.
The public service lacks the great effi-
ciency enforcer called the market place
that is so active in private sector. When
any private sector company becomes too
inefficient or too costly, the marketplace
sees to it that a competitor will either
force it to become efficient or force it
out of business. This control is not avail-
able in the public service; therefore, the
public sector needs to be reviewed and
challenged on a periodic basis. This re-
view, however, should not be on the ba-
sis of foul-ups of government financial
policy.
Fergus Elora News -Express
Theprovince .wjns again
n case anyone is wondering
why the -Town of Exeter, and several
Mother municipalities,are prepared to
disband their police forces and sign
contracts with the OPP, you have to
look no further than last month's police
budget.
Council was understandably shocked
to find out that the chief of police at-
tended the Ontario Chiefs of Police
:convention at the town's expense, even
though he's on leave from active duty.
The question isnot so much whether
he:ahould have edthe conven-
tion;-afterall, he: is.still-the town's chief
and a member of the. association. At-
tendance.at the convention was likely
already in the budget. What really an-
noyed_council was that the chiefs.atten-
dance was approved by the Civilian
Commission on Police Services - who
have no accountability to the money
spent whatsoever.
This is akin to the Ministry of Munici-
pal Affairs coming to town deciding
just how the town should be spending
its taxes, approving projects indiscrimi-
nately, without consultation with the
people who were elected by the public
to make those verydecisions.
Yet this is exactly what small towns all
across this province are witnessing with
the passage of the Police Services Act.
The Ministry of the Solicitor General is
now essentially the "boss" when it
comes to all police forces. Police Ser-
vices Boards are appointed by the prov-
ince, and are only accountable to the
municipality in the loosest sense of the
word.
And so towns like Exeter are throwing
up their hands in frustration. Faced with
the loss of,control over their police forc-
es, they are abandoning them. If the
province wants control, let them have it.
It will be a sad day next month when
Exeter's police force closes its doors.
The building will stand empty for a
while as a testimony to the soaring ex-
pense of running a small force, and as
proof of provincial interference.
The saddest part is, the province will
have won.
A.D.H.
By Peter Hesse'
When the govemmen t announced the abol i -
tion of the Senate yesterday, I was as delighted
as everybody else.
With this major constitutional obstacle re-
d, the country can now finally settle down
to real business.
•When I passed our local Employment Canada
office this morning, I instantly recognized three
of the guys in the lineup as fonner Senators.
Their disguises (shaved heads, false beards,
dark glasses, T-shirts, Birkenstock sandals)
didn't fool me for a minute.
No doubt the ex -Senators will soon find jobs.
Why, I might hire one myself, to paint our
fence.
I'm worried not for them,,but for the famous
red chamber they have suddenly vacated. What
to do with it, now that We the People have lib-
erated it from the clutches of those unequal, un-
elected and ineffective politicians?
So I've deckled to fax my list of suggestions
to Kim Campbell herself, urging her to take her
pick even before she picks a date for the federal
election. Here goes:
1. Wax museum
As a reminder of the era when Canada was
suffering under the scandalous and superfluous
Upper House, the former Senate could be
turned into a wax museum, exhibiting life -or
death -like images of The Last Senators in their
various poses of preposterous actor or indolent
inaction.
The place would probably attract more tour-
ists and thus earn far more revenue than any
other Ottawa ►uuseum including the. National
Gallery of Canada (the Voice of Fire and No.
16 notwithstanding.)
2. iedoor swimming pool
The size of the chamber and its high ceilings
make itideally suitable for a Roman -bath style
•t
"Men are never so likely
to settle a question rightly
as when they discuss it
freely."
... Thomas Macauley
`}N1011Each Wednesday Mornk g at 424 Main St.,
t!re7tter, ntlplo, NO%113e by J.W. reify Publications Ltd.
?SNphtNie 1319-2361191
O.S.T. IR1Oekteelb
By Adrian Harte
No beeping, small town ahead
I've had my car nearly a year
now, and I still don't know
where the horn button is.
That's pot entirely true. I do
know, but not when I really
need them.
The old car had a big horn
button right in the middle of the
wheel, where the airbag is now,
now there's two buttons by my
thumbs, and I just haven't got
used to the change.
This, my friends, is probably
the most telling symptom of liv-
ing in a small town and not in a
big city. We just don't use our
horns out here, at least not for
their intended purpose.
Driving through congested
Toronto traffic, my favourite
nightmare, some bozo cuts into
my lane, too close for comfort.
I fume, and my blood pressure
soars.
"Why didn't you beep him?"
asks my passenger.
"I don't know, I guess I didn't
think to," I reply; reminding my-
self those buttons are near my
thumbs, if=I=need them again.
But no, the next nimrod with
half a driver's license won't get a
beep out of me. I'm a small
town driver, and we don't use
our homs.
No, that's not entirely correct.
On any sunny day in the Town
of Exeter you can hear the occa-
sional toot of a car horn. Those
aretl't warnings to bad drivers,
they're people saying "hello".
I've done it; we've all done it.
You want to wave to someone
on the sidewalk, and a light pip
on the horn. gets their attention
first. lt's all very friendly, very
very...social.
It's not that we don't have our
share of near misses and incon-
siderate drivers on our local
roads. We do, of course, but no
one dares use a hom to signal an
indignant blast. Anyone who
dares to lean on the hon on
Main Street and follow it up
with a nasty glare is certain to
find out they're looking at thein
best friend's mother...or their
minister...the mayor...or the
neighbour across the street.
If it weren't for tooting "hello"
to pedestrians there would be no
point in putting homs on cars
.sold in small towns at all.
-Rush hour in Paris is an obvi-
ous way to test this thesis. All
you hear is a cacophony of
blasting horns.
You can bet they're not saying
"hello".
What to do with the Senate?
indoor swimming pool to be used by M.P.s and
their invited guests. A swimming pool is the
one amenity now missing on Parliament Hill.
Here, finally, cabinet ministers could rub shoul-
ders (or ankles) with backbenchers and enjoy a
relaxing swim or a strenuous workout after
spending all those hours in the reading lounge,
the parliamentary restaurant or the parliamen-
tary barbershop/hairdressing salon.
During parliamentary vacations (sorry: re-
cess) the pool could be open if not to the gener-
al public, then at least to the diplomatic corps
and members of the press Aid Heir lies
(for a user fee, of course).
3 Hothouse
With a minimum of expense, v.
ber could be converted into a or
hothouse for growing zucchini and Aar vege-
tables all year round. Fresh produce would be
sold in stalls on the east lawn of Parliament
Hill, which could be connected by tunnel or
footbridge to the nearby Byward Market. Sur-
plus produce could be awned and sold in
souvenir shops across Canad. The cans would
have appropriate labels including the words
"Product of hot air from the former Senate/
Produit d'air chaud du Senat precedent".
Other suggestions include: The Rad Cham-
ber Gambling Casino; Canada's first experi-
mental legalized brothel (for scientific studies
only, of course); a wind tunnel for testing heli-
copters; and a fancy bargain centre for posh
and precious government surplus (from prime -
ministerial curtain rods to portraits of fonner
cabinet ministers).
Readers are encouraged w address their addi-
tional suggestions to the editor of this paper
-.who will mail them to mc. I will fax them 10
Kim. I have already alerted her. She is waiting.
4