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â€"OriNiON "What we‘re making sure is that those dollars don‘t go for beer, dan‘t go for something else" Even news reports (ne. not editorials) described the comments as "startling" A V\ Poj Pregnant women do have real needs )};)‘ heyond those of other people on welâ€" | 2 | _ dare. Going hungry toward the end ol m the manth is an unpleasant prospect at Scott Piatkowski the best ol times hlll»ll van have serious health consequences for both the pregâ€" nant woman and her feus. Babies born to underted mothers have lowerâ€"birth weights. lower 1Qs and get sick more aften. Underted mothers have a harder time looking after themâ€" selves or their children Why does Mike Harris hate poor people so much? He detnonstratâ€" ed that hatred yet again last week when his government cut a $37 00 per month allowance for pregnant mothers living on welfare. 11 also introduced even greater powers for officials to humiliate and invade the privacy of wellare reciptents NDP leader Howard Hampton argues that Harns. No matter how you spin this, it is al mean." As usual, Harris has responded to the controversy with a qualified apelogy: "I anyone has drawn that inference, I apologize" Changing the policy decision, or apologizing for 1t, is clearly out of the question. Stupid and meanâ€"sprrited remarks merit apologies: stupid and .‘ yAMulnin | _ meanâ€"spirtted policy decisions do nat It was Harmis‘ explanation of the reasons for the former change that best illustrated his contempt for the poor, paruicularly poor women Chronicle Waterloo Town Square 73 King St. South. Swite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J IP2 Tclephone 886â€"2830 Fax No. 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail _ editor@waterlooâ€"chronicle.com AnotnEr yIEn Pulling the wings off flies As the furor over Harnis‘ remarks dies down, the attack on the benefhit cut itsell must be stepped up. As lan Morrison, editor of Workfare Watch, said (before Harris opened his mouth} "This is Tikepulling wings off Thes There is no policy rationale discermible except to be mean." o# tns rical Reporters: Trin Gardner Tok \ thana Display Advertising Rill Karges Gerry Mathice Norma Cvea Editor Debor. is the real Mike 10 as nasty, (L S oral Crandal Group Advertising Manager: Buich Gneve Classified Circulation/office Manager: Catalyn Austes David Oliver Lowâ€"Calorie Feud: Ho hum. It turns out that the "plot" by Kâ€"W Hospital {or the Kâ€"W Health Centre, if you prefer} wasâ€" nt. Yes sir. KW Hospital wasn‘t guilty of conspiratorial shenanigans after all prommmemmimume Whoaopee! My income tix return is in. Next to being shot at and missed. getuing that return in is just about the greatest feelâ€" ing ever. Gee, Im sorry I‘m not a scholar, I‘ve always wanted to read the tax regulations in their original Greek And it turns out that the outrage by St. Mary‘s and Cambridge Hospital supporiers was just so much emotion wasted. Not to mention, of course, thal it was unwarranted and undeâ€" served. So, to sum up, the "plot" wasnt and the "secret" report wasn‘t hushâ€"hush. So what are you left with? A passel of people who have been prone to go off halfâ€"cocked at full decibel. Their greatest contribution now to what has been a lasco would be a spell of sitence. Thats, of course, unless something mighty significant arises that forces them to break that unusual conditou A hinal point: coverage of the hosprtal situatio® has, to put it kindly, been less than perfect The public can be pardoned if its totally befuddled. Yup. anybody who isnt now canfused doesn‘t know what‘s going an Come what may, all agencies in the system are going to have to work together after the hosprâ€" talâ€"restructuring report comes down. Better th used to coâ€"operating Spinit Life: The Laquor Control Board of Ontano racked up a record profit of $745 imilion on sales of more than S2 1 bilâ€" lion, and wow ! â€" that‘s a lot of schnapps Obviously the baoze had quite a markup. Still, you have to give the PCs credit for a superh marketing strategy: set the prices high and get Mike Hatris to drive quite a number oCem to drink Thumb Taxes: Well, Waterloo Regran councal boasted taxes by $40 for an average hameowner and. predictably wound up Tax regulations all Greek to me _ _ s P Pa )\ Circulation: Jerry Fischer Matthew Haves Production: Mithe Mariin Kerr Miller Group Publisher: Chersd McMenenty down. Betier they should get Group Publisher: Cheryl McMenemy The Waterloo Chronicle is published by The Fairway Group. a division of Southam Inc. 75 King St. S., Suite 201, Waterloo ON. N2J IP2 886â€"2830 Waterhoo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessardly represent the siews ol the newspaper Once ovER LIGHTHY Gee, since they eliminated that annoying train whistle.... strolling on the right of â€" way is so much more enjoyable. Or another that was bad news on the cultural front. The symphony orchestra had to cancel its performance al Becthoven‘s Fifth. The fellow who played the first ukulele quit Counter Attack: It‘s hard to believe that not so many years ago we had no Sunday shopping. Not to mention that on the Sabbath you couldn‘t buy all the lager and liqueurs you want Strangely, there‘s now almost no apposition to Sunday shap ping. It‘s not that most folks are Nocking to the malls. 1 sup pose a lot of us shop on a Sunday only rarely. but we appres ate knowing we can if need be Gosh, its sometimes hard to believe that when 1 was a youngster. they were prosecuting people for selling ergareties in Sunday C ome to think of it, with what we know about ag areties now, they were on to \u'll(‘llllllg with councillors pointing the finger at Queen‘s Park In every disaster except Nagasala and Hiroshima, sorm phulosopher has probably surveved the seene and commented "Well. it could have been worse." I‘m not prepared to say that about Waterloo Region council Lets not forget that during the recent campaign, most of the councillors talked of all the wondrous things that could Ix mm . cone o rclorm Walcrioo Region through a car wash The barrway Group A diviston of Southam Inc Internatin.l Standart Serial Number ISSN OMtZ 4 10 The big trouble is that too many councillars are content to be senior statesmen in their ow n lile inviolable bailiwicks. Heaven forbid that their municipahues should disappear And natch, they invariably espouse a simallâ€" town outlook. Of course, in fairness, some ol them come from places that until a decade ago were aversized hamlets Almost half a year has passed since then and nat a thing has been even broached about muk ing the Region more efficient and less costhy The amount of the tax increase and mare could casily have been saved by reforming the Region. Mailed subscription rates Sh3 yearly im Canada $90 vearly outside Canada