Loading...
Zurich Citizens News, 1974-05-02, Page 12PAGE 12 Financial critics for both Opposition Parties delivered a major attack on Treasurer John White's new budget this week, scorning it for wild spending and a deficit that will continue to stimulate inflation. The Liberal Critic critized the Treasurer for making no attempt to curtail rising costs. He said a Committee of the Legislature should be set up as a Provincial prices review Board which could recommend price rollbacks to the house. Mr. Breithaupt, the Liberal Financ- ial Critic said the Board could examine such things as the recent milk price increase, medical fee schedules, car insurance rates, and apartment rent structures. The Board should immediately, summon food processing companies and ask them to justify their enor- mous profit increases. The budget did not even mention food costs. The document did estimate the Provincial govern- ment spending would increase in the current fiscal year by an even one billion dollars to 8.3 billion and the deficit would come to 625 million dollars. Mr. Breithaupt said that by the end of the fiscal year the Government will have added more than 2 billionto the public debts in four years. He said annual interest payments on the debt have already jump- ed by 177% to 674 million doll- ars this year. Mr. Breithaupt went on to say that Ontario's government cannot slow the inflationary spiral in the Prov- incial economy until it find the courage to control the inflation of its own expenditures. Mr. Breithaupt accused the Government of waste and mis- placed priorities and outlined a number of measures the Official Opposition would like to see implemented. These measures included the following: - Mining taxes should be made stiffer by being applied against the Company's cash flows or real operating profits minus a portion of their actual explorat- ion and development expendit- ures in Ontario. - Development should be REDI MIX CONCRETE (ALSO FORM mono() McCann Const. Ltd4 OASHWOOO' PhD!IV 237-3381 Or 237-3422 ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS from Queens Pork prohibited on good farm land in Ontario unless it is demonst- rated that no other suitable land is available. Property taxes on these lands should be levied at agricultural rates to encourage farmers rather than at develop- ment potential rates. - Ontario should step up its corporate tax rate by two points to re -occupy room left vacant by the federal govern- ment's reduction of corporate income taxes from 40 ro 38'/0 in the past two years. - To help overcome regional disparity within the Province, tax policies should be selective. The former 50jo Provincial tax credit for investment in mach- inery and equipment should be renewed for goods that will be used in regions east of Ottawa and north of the French River. - Retail sales taxes should be cut two points to 5'%u north of the French River. Gasoline tax should be reduced 40 to 15c a gallon in the north. - The Ontario Development Corporation should change from a loan agency into an -initiator of business. The ODC would carry new proje"cts to the stage where conventional business organizations are prepared to fund and manage them. -Throw away bottles and cans should be banned. There should be a standard returnable pop bottle in Ontario just as there are already is a standard beer bottle. - A package of measures to meet the housing crisis would include development of the 18, 000 acres currently held by the Ontario Housing Corporat- ion, provision of trunk sewer and water services by OHC to Municipalities as a public util- ity, removal of the sales tax on building materials used on houses and apartments and en- couragement of inexpensive housing forms including mobile and factory built homes. Mr. Breithaupt said Mr. White's tax on land speculation has too many loopholes to have any significant effect on the price of housing. Indeed without a mechanism to prevent its effects from being passed on to the housebuyer, this tax may even aggravate the problem. Mr. Breithaupt was particul- arly distressed by the loss of prime farm land to urban sprawl, He stressed that this dangerous trend must be stopped. With every acre of farm land that is consumed by urban sprawl, the ability to produce food is alter- ed although the demand for food is increased. Mr. Donald MacDonald, Budget Critic for the New Democratic Party, in reply to Treasurer John White's budget, said that the Provincial Govern- ment should move into the housing market in a massive way to ease the pressures that are driving prices up. The Govern- ment should set itself the target of building from 25 to 40 per- cent of housing stock through the Ontario llousing Corporation. He felt only in this way could housing be re -geared to incomes and the market cooled suffic- iently to dampen the fires of inflation, Mr. MacDonald said rhe latest figures show OHC owns only .65 per cent of the prov- ince's housing stock and only rents 5.13 per cern of it. Whereas comparing Ontario with Britain, more than one quarter of the housing stock is rented from local authorities. Ile called the budget "a flagrant exercise in flim -flam- ing the public." Mr, MacDonald felt that the Government's proposed land speculation tax is full of loop- holes. "The lawyers are going to have a Roman holiday and the developers will still be laughing all the way to the bank." He said the higher taxes on mining companies hardly touch these firms' real profits, that there should he a . 150/0 tax on mining production as well as a tax on reserves in the ground. That there should be a provincial prices review board able to decrease prices, either on isolated com- modities such as fertilizer and arm machinery. Mr. MacDon- ald also felt that Ontario should follow the lead of Nova Scotia and force the oil comp- anies ro cut the extentof the price increases they plan for next month. This could be done through the Ontario Energy Boarc Consumer and Commercial Relations Minister, John Clem- ent, said that the Ontario Government will introduce war- ranties on new houses, covering materials and workmanship later this year if it can work out agreements with the federal government. The Ontario Government will increase its spending on cultural activities by one third in the current fiscal year. Cultural spending plans were outlined in a statement by James Auld Minister of Colleges and Univ- ersities. .THURSDAY, MAY 2, 19974 Libraries, museums, galler- ies and artistic organizations will get hefty increases in their operating grants from the Prov- ince, Mr. Auld plans to introd- uce legislation soon that will give municipalities greater power to designate and preserve historic buildings. One million dollars will go to a new program Outreach Ontario, which aims to decentralize Ontario's cult- ural resources. rCmu unw innnc.r' CHECK YOUR FOOD NEEDS ^ CHECK OUR PRES1 save pier' SPLENDOR 2 LBS Macaroni/Spaghetti 43 KAM 12 OZ 79 Luncheon Meat UTOPIA 19 OZ TIN Choice Tomatoes 35( BY -TI -IE -SEA 8 3/4 OZ Light. Flaked Tun ;i 73( 3 1/2 OZ TIN Seafood Snacks 30( Cooking Onions 2 LB 29( LUCKY DOLLAR FOOD MARKET PHONE 236-4.316 - ZURICH Here's t TaDymaster byv13cT;.u' N 111611T colour keyed to pep up your profits The Tallymaster started something big in opening up the homemarket as a bonus profit source .. . Now the profitable Victor line takes on•an extra dimension with the modern colour -contour styling of the NEW Tallymaster, Here's Victor quality ... practical value -pricing .. , the utility of the convenient carrying handle, wrap -in cord and stand-up storage ... A compact, lightweight home adding machine that adds, subtracts and multiplies electrically! Maira©h di/e///4. Pil(Dwo 236-4672 Zurich