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Wednesday November 22, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A3 ^ PC candidate seeing positive signs in voters Rick Byers believes a volatile electorate his best chance for victory Ed. n o te : T he fo llo w in g view s fo llo w an in te rv ie w w ith R ick B yers, P rogressive C o n s e r v a tiv e c a n d id a te f o r O a k v ille b e fo re th e O a k v ille B e a v e r e d ito r ia l board. It is one in a se rie s w ith the c a n d id a te s ru n n in g in the Nov. 27 th fe d e r a l electio n . p ro v in ces, o u r ap p ro ach w ould be to m aintain a v ery sig n ific an t ro le fo r the fed eral g ov ern m en t, and put m ore fu n d ing in than the L ib erals. / B u s in e s s m a n b u y s ^ M a p le L e a f Z a m b o n i A treasured piece o f M aple L eaf G ardens m em orabilia will find a perm anent -- and prom inent -- resting place in Oakville early next year. M ark Healy, o f King City, purchased the G ardens' m int condition Zam boni for his new C anadian Tire store opening next M arch on Dundas Street near T rafalgar Road. H ealy had gone to the G ardens auction on Sunday look ing for som e M aple Leafs m em orabilia to hang on the wall o f his new store, but found the Z am boni an irresistible bar gain at $26,000. Well, I was looking for som ething unique," said H ealy last night from his hom e in King City. " I ju st d id n 't know it w ould be this." B ut the purchase was not purely for decoration. H ealy plans to attach a snow plow to the Z am boni and put it to w ork clearing snow in his parking lot in the w inter: "It cost me $26,000 and I d o n 't think th ey 'll let me pay in Canadian Tire money," he said. "B ut it costs about $1,500 to have your parking lot plow ed so I could w ind up saving money. O ut-of-season, it'll be parked at the store as an attentiongetter. And H ealy's looking forw ard to using it in com m u nity events. "I guess w e're not in tim e for O akville's Santa C laus parade this year," he said. "B ut I'd love to see the mayor, Ann M ulvale, driving the Z am boni dow n the street next year!" "Getting it out to O akville is easy. I'll ju st hire a flatbed truck. It's storing it that could be a problem . But, hey, I'm tickled. I grew up in M ississauga and I w as a goaltender. "H aving a Z am boni o f your ow n . . . it's every goaltender's dream !" The Z am boni w asn 't in the catalogue so he was surprised to see it in the sale. B ut he d idn't have to think twice. "It's a `94 m odel, but it doesn't have a lot o f hours on it. T hat's how they, m easure it, not in miles. It hasn't been used as much as the Zam boni at a com m unity arena w ould be." -- Torstar Wire Service On the biggest issue voters raise at their doors H ealth care an d tax es are tw o th at are m o st im p o rta n t an d k ey iss u e s fo r O ak v ille. I th in k th ey see our tax re d u c tion pro g ram as d istin ct from the other tw o p arties p articu la rly the focus on the ca p ita l gains side. T h is is a g reat m easure to stop brain d rain , im p ro v e p ro d u ctiv ity On how the response has been to his cam paign to date. "I 'v e n o tic ed a big ch an g e in p a rtic u la r fro m p eo p le w ho w ere say in g w e 're n o t p le a se d w ith th e p rim e m in iste r and th e th in g s th e g o v e rn m e n t h as b een d o in g . T h a t v o te is sta rtin g to com e to us and so m e so -c a lle d m o d e ra te A llian ce v o te rs th a t h a s b e e n s u rp ris e d ab o u t w h a t's co m e out, re la tiv e to th a t party, in the c a m p a ig n . P eo p le are very v o la tile in th e ir o p in io n . I th in k th e y 're le ss alig n ed to p arties an d m o re alig n ed to issu es and m o re lik e ly to keep th e ir d ec isio n to the en d w h erea s 20 y ea rs ag o th ey w o u ld alig n th e m se lv e s w ith a p a rty at the b e g in n in g o f an elec tio n and stick to the en d ." Progressive Conservative candidate Rick Byers co u n tries ie. in G 7 co u n tries w e 're at the top o f the heap in rely in g on incom e tax es as a source o f revenue. M any o f the o th er co u n tries, p articu larly in E u ro p e, rely on Value A dded T axes w hich is the e q u iv a lent o f o u r G ST ...I like the G ST and e c o n om ists w ill tell you it's good for the ec o n om y becau se you give peo p le m ore takehom e pay w hen you red u ce incom e taxes as w e w o u ld d o an d h av e a g re a te r em p h asis on sales taxes. T h en .d people have m ore flex ib ility on w hat they will do w ith th eir m oney, they can save, they can in v est they can spend. W e've been quite u p -fro n t w ith the GST. It's there becau se it's actu ally the rig h t tax system . In O ttaw a, w h en I w o rk ed fo r M ike W ilso n fro m 1987-91 w hen he w as M in ister o f F in an ce and w as there w hen the tax cam e in, you know the im p act it had on o u r party and it's very in terestin g in th e in terv en in g seven years, w e've had a gov ern m en t, p led g ed to take it out, w e've had the A lliance tin k ered w ith it, had th o u g h ts ab o u t it and have fled, it's a good system and b etter than the one that w as there. T he rig h t th in g to do on fuel taxes is to take o ff th e surtax and ex cise tax es on fuel b ased on fuel volum e and not flu c tu ate th e rates. · On the leadership o f Joe Clark. " I 'm e x tre m ely h appy to be w orking w ith Jo e C la rk 's team on th is elec tio n . T h is is so m e th in g th a t I th in k has co m e as a b it o f a su rp rise to C a n a d ia n s to see Joe C lark in an u n filte re d w ay the w ay they d id in the d eb a te s. H av in g w atc h ed and h ea rd h im o v e r the la st sev eral y ears I k n ew th a t th is k in d o f ch a racter, e x p e ri en c e an d in te g rity w as there. I th in k w hat has su rp rised C a n a d ia n s w hen th e y 've seen an d h ea rd him an d co m p ared him to the a lte rn a tiv e s, is th a t th is guy has w h at it tak es to d o a g rea t jo b fo r C a n ad a. I th in k w ith o u t a d o u b t h e 's been th e best le ad e r in the c a m p a ig n ." On a C o n serv a tiv e v icto ry in O akville only possible if `so ft' A lliance votes com e to the Tories. "O u r ta rg e t v o te rs are th o se w ho have v o te d L ib e r a l...if th e p o lls are rig h t, th e re 's a sig n ific a n t blo ck o f th e L iberal v o te o u t th e re th a t is v ery m uch o u r m a r ket. T h is has h ap p en ed in th e la st w eek or so an d w e 're se ein g so m e o f the A lliance v o te lo o se n up b u t o u r ta rg e t is very m uch th e L ib e ra l v o te, th e re 's a lo t o f the m ore c o n se rv a tiv e th in k in g L ib e ra l v o te rs w ho are v ery d isa p p o in te d in th e p rim e m in is te r an d lo o k in g fo r a c h a n g e and see us as th e n atu ra l o p tio n . T h e y 're lo o k in g fo r a p arty w ith a b alan c ed ap p ro ach a good fisca l p ro g ra m an d so m e th in g th e y 're c o m fo rta b le w ith ." in C a n ad a and a m easu re fo r new te c h nology com p an ies w here a lot em p lo y ees are given sto ck o p tio n s and o w n ersh ip as th e ir co m p en sa tio n ....a s w ell as len d in g its e lf to fam ily p lan n in g issu es, w hether it's p assin g p ro p erty dow n th ro u g h g en e r atio n s are v ery m uch so lv ed w ith the e lim in a tio n o f th e c a p ita l g ain s tax to g e th e r w ith raisin g the b asic cred it to $12,0 0 0 so w e h av e m easu res w hich are geared to the fu tu re an d rem o v in g 2.5 m illion tax p ay ers from the rolls. H ealth care is g o in g to be an issue that w ill be w ith us fo r 20 y ears n ot o nly th at tech n o lo g y w ill be a factor, p h arm a ce u ti ca ls are ex ten d in g p e o p le s' lives and th at w ill put m ore p ressu re on the bud g et lo n g -term . I th in k it has been a crisis in th e la st fo u r y ears w ith the L iberal gov ern m en t rem o v in g ab o u t $25 b illio n from the h ea lth care b u d g et w hich is ju s t about equal to the $28 billion th e y 've paid dow n in debt. It's im p o rtan t to get th at sta b ility back in the sy stem so w e can ta lk creativ ely ab o u t how to deal w ith h ealth care in the future. Confidence level soared (Continued from page A1) "It's a success story for so m any people in the com m uni ty," she said. Savoline w ent on to say that she has seen first-hand how the program has m ade people happier, m ore productive and contributory as they develop skills and build their self confi dence. N on-profit beneficiaries include hospitals, churches, m useum s, cham bers o f com m erce and more. C lients have also found full and part-tim e em ploym ent from w arehouses to laboratories. "We have established a strong partnership," Savoline added. Richard Ruthardt, w ho spent his career in the hospitality industry and was "forced to reconsider" his goals late in life, said O ntario W orks gave him the opportunity to learn new skills and flourish. "P ersonally, I b ecam e in v ig o rated en o u g h to seek em ploym ent," he said. "M y confidence factor literally zoom ed." Ruthardt took com puter courses and eventually found a jo b with the C hildren's Education T rust o f Canada. "I'm more than happy w ith that w ork," he said. "If (Ontario W orks) can help m e in m y advanced years, it can help anyone." Heidi Schw einbenz is a single m other o f one who, 18 m onths ago, was collecting welfare and in danger o f losing subsidized daycare. O ntario W orks helped her leam skills and confidence through a volunteer placem ent, keep her day care and get clothes to m ake an im pression at interview s. Then, after a four-m onth placem ent, she landed a jo b with the Burlington Econom ic D evelopm ent Corporation. "I can have a nine-to-five jo b and stand on my ow n feet," said Schweinbenz. O ne o f the. m ost enthusiastic proponents o f O ntario W orks at M onday's luncheon was Bob B eyette, C E O o f T R Cox A erofoils Ltd. H is com pany has trained and hired 10 full-tim e O ntario W orks clients and Beyette said his firm 's success is directly attributable to the em ployees hired through the initiative. "It boils dow n to great people," he said. "And we have them through this program ." Beyette explained that w hat had been a small m achine shop has grown from 10 em ployees to 60 and jum p ed from $1 m illion in sales to $16 million. "W e needed people, Halton Region and O ntario W orks had people," he said. "W e have yet to get a bad em ployee." Beyette w ent on to say that custom ers in the U nited States have been so im pressed with his com pany's success that they're looking to see w hat their own state governm ents can do. A dded Baird: "Everyone in Halton is m aking a really o ut standing difference." On the falling value of the loonie versus the U.S. dollar. T he d o llar is at ab o u t 64.5 cen ts co m pared to the U .S. d o lla r one o f the real issu es I have w ith th is g o v ern m en t ab o u t the w ay th e y 've m anaged the econ o m y is that the d ep reciatio n o f the d o lla r has been a key p art o f the su ccess, yes it m akes our ex p o rters m ore co m p etitiv e b ut as a co u n try we c a n 't d ep re cia te our w ay to co m p etitiv en ess as a long-term su stain ab le policy. O ne o f the reasons it has d ep reciated , esp ecially on the tax side, is that we h av e n 't b ecom e as co m p etitiv e in tern atio n ally as w e should. If you look at our econ o m y on a m acro basis, ev ery good that w e p roduce, every service that w e sell o u tsid e the b o rd er is w orth less and less and less as the d o llar declines. So it im pacts o u r b alance o f pay m en ts lo n g -term etc. On m andatory debt repayment over next 25 years. T h ere is som e flex ib ility there to deal w ith n atio n al em erg en cies and o th er d efin ed circu m stan ces, it w ill be in law, there w ill be a set sch ed u le for rep ay m en t b u t th e re w ill be ra re c irc u m sta n c e s w here you can d ev iate from that $5 b il lion a y ear fo r the first fiv e years. O u r n ear-term goals are fairly m odest to allow fo r the refu n d in g o f the h ealth care p ro gram , to allow fo r the tax cuts to be phased in and it w ould in crease from $5 b illion to $7 b illio n to $9 billion. T hose are quite co n serv ativ e fig u res, I th in k the L iberal g o v ern m en t has d one a good jo b in bein g co n serv ativ e in its econom ic estim a tes in term s o f the grow th for the y ear 2% g ro w th o v er next five years, I th in k th a t's p retty m o d e st...w e've been 3% to 4% a y ea r for the p ast sev eral years th a t's w hy th e re 's a surplus. On reinvesting $4 billion a year on healthcare to counter m onies taken out by Liberal governm ent. "W h at w e w o u ld d o is go to the 1993 (fu n d in g ) le v e ls im m ed ia te ly w h ereas the PM is ta lk in g ab o u t $21 b illio n ...so we w o u ld be in v e stin g m ore in health care th an th e L ib e ra ls w ould. W h at I find in te re stin g in the h ea lth c are d eb ate and th e fu n d in g gap is th a t all the parties are u sin g th e 1993 le v e ls as th e b en ch m ark an d o f co u rse th e C o n se rv a tiv e s w ere g o v ern in g th e co u n try at th a t tim e. I b eliev e th e L ib e ra ls d o n 't get there fo r 18 m o n th s o r so. I f y ou d iffe re n tia te the ap p ro a ch o f the th ree p arties on h e a lth care, th e L ib e ra ls are lo o k in g at $21 b il lio n and th e A llia n ce P arty w ould very m u c h p u t m o re c o n tro l w ith the On easing gridlock in the Oakville area and the GTA. O ne g re a t thing that w ill happen for O ak v ille is the o p en in g ab o u t m id d le o f 2 0 0 1 ...we have so m eth in g near term to re lie v e c o n g e stio n b u t in fra stru c tu re badly needed and o u r party is p ro p o sin g that, n ot them e p ark s b ut stu ff we need to m ove goods and serv ices and people. On the results o f the Nov. 27th elec tion. I d o n 't w ant to sp e cu la te...b u t based on w hat I 'm h earin g , Joe C lark w ill w in his seat in C alg ary and do very w ell in A tlan tic C an ad a and m ay su rp rise som e people in O n tario . I 'm ex cited ab o u t our chan ces n atio n ally and ex cited ab o u t o u r ch an ces in O akville. On the GST. C a n ad a has a tax m ix w hich is quite d iffe ren t fo rm o th er co u n tries, w e rely heav ily on in co m e tax es than m ost oth er C H R IS T M A S C O M E S E A R L Y ! Choose one of the following: SCO O TER with every vehicle purchased between November 15th and 30th! , ^ JAY LOCKW OOD ALL INVENTORY J ~ NEW & USED ~ 1 In-Stock or Order Your Own! -M * Beaver ']jt6 O riginal in Ford C o u n try Fleet, as is, dealer trades and lease term inations do not qualify. S ubject to prior sale. 280 South Service Rd. ( a t D o r v a i D r.) (905) 845-1646 WWW.KENNEDYFORD.CA mm AT DORVAL www.oakvillebeaver.com