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Why give guns to kids? Every tume 1 turn around, the Mike Harris government is doing something to increase my utter contempt for them. Their latest move â€" allowing 12â€"yearâ€"old kids to hunt with guns â€" is mindâ€" boggling in its stupidity The policy change wasn‘t announced with the huge fanfare which typically accompanies this government‘s intiatives. Instead, the government that "doesn‘t deal with special interest groups" cooked up a backroom deal with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) to change the regulations in time for hunting seaâ€" son. The change was so secretive that only a leak to an animal welâ€" fare group alerted the general public. The Premier didn‘t even know about it when questioned by reporters. So why make the change and why now? The leaked eâ€"mail told Tory MPPs that "this is a policy that is likely to be popular with the hunter and angler crowd in your riding". In other words, as long as the rest of the public didn‘t get wind of the initative, it was designed to attract votes from people who think that shooting animals is "a â€"The Tories were particularly interâ€" AA“Y'T“ER ested in promoting the policy in a Nickel Belt, where a provincial byâ€" VIE“ election campaign is underway, The Tories thought that Nickel Belt voters [ To would like the policy and reward the E4| ’ Tory candidate â€" who just happens ~ ; {& to be the pastâ€"president of OFAH. It‘s ai. P the kind of crass pandering that gives l CR §£é \ poliucians a bad name (likewise, |l‘ | Nez . was hardly comncidence that the Tory i# \ Cabinet met last week in Sudbury or [\ { _ that Harris suddenly decided to take INCO‘s side in a dispute with Newâ€" Scott Piatkowski MESSEanl Of course, Natural Resources Minâ€" ister John Snobelen says he has legitimate reasons for allowing 12â€" yearâ€"olds to hunt. Let‘s take those justifications one at a time * It‘s important to give young people an appreciate for wildlife and the great outdoors. Teaching kids to track down and kill animals is no way to create respect for nature. Why not give them a pair of binoculars or a camera? * Forcing preâ€"pubescent kids to undergo training before handling a firearm will promote safety in the woods. Once they know where the guns and ammunition are kept â€" and know how to use it â€" what‘s to stop them from taking the weapon to school to settle a scote? This is a government that thinks its "threatening" for young people to carry squeegees, but thinks its all right to let them carry * Other jurisdictions allow kids to start hunting at 12. Some "other jurisdictions" also prohibit the use of scab labour, fund health care and education adequately, and permit same sex couples to adopt. Can we expect Mike Harris to adapt these policies or do other jurisdictions matter only when their policies match those of the Ontano Tones? * Parents are letting their kids hunt anyway. Let me get this straight: the Ontario government has evidence that a group of peoâ€" ple are regularly breaking the law. Instead of enforcing the law and penalizing the offenders, it changes the law to make them happy. Is this what the Common Sense Revolution calls "getting tough on crime"? The Tories never intended for there to be a public debate on this subject, and have been taken aback by the intensity of the negative teaction {some of it from their own caucus). They still might be convinced to change their minds on this one, but it will continue to haunt them for a long time with many vaters Chronicle Waterloo Town Square 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2 Telephone: 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail: _ weeditor@fairwaynews.com OPINION « 'W [*?g; sport Reporters: Tim Gardner Bob Vrhanac: Sports Editor Editor: Deborah Crandall Sales Supervisor Gerry Mattice Display Advertising Bill Karges Notma Cyca Let‘s hope the grocery war is far from over Prime Minister Chretien has promised cuts in personal income taxes. Well, sort of. There‘s one thing I can‘t quite understand: Why does a nominal tax increase cost you about $500 and a substantial tax cut save you about 40 cents? Checking the Perks: A committee is reviewing Winshare, the controversial bonus program for Waterloo staffers, and what piqued my interest was a city official‘s comment, "It‘s a legitimate review, and not a public relations exercise." Oh? In a nearâ€"lifetime of PR exposure, I‘ve noted that 98 per cent of occasions when someone has protested it was not a PR exercise, it was a PR exercise. In spades “N“l All the taxpayers who don‘t have the opporâ€" tunity of a sizable bonus are no doubt wonderâ€" ing why wellâ€"paid city staffers should have such a perk. But I can picture what the report is going to say. And you think PR doesn‘t work? It‘s what convinced millions of Canadians that yogurt doesn‘t taste like library paste Selfâ€"Portrait: What next with Cambridge? Now it‘s hired a consultant to provide arguâ€" ments against what it perceives is an erosion of local power. Coun. Douglas Craig. leader of the circleâ€" E theâ€"wagons effort, says, among other things, that he wants the consultant to look at why Cambridge unique Gosh, it is unique. As the old saw has it, "unique" comes from the Latin for "uno" (one} and "equus" (horse}, And the thing that really makes Cambridge oneâ€"horse is the calibre of councillor thinking. Sick Call: You can‘t accuse the Kâ€"W Chamber of Commerce of recruiting doctors on the cheap. It plans to spend $600,000 to lure 24 MDs to the community That, if you‘re a little slow at math, figures out at $52,000 per medical cadaver. That sounds like a fair bit of change, but 40,000 people in Kâ€"W don‘t have a family doctor. A problem of that size requires a major investment A lot of local folk are probably baffled that newlyâ€"minted MDs aren‘t flocking to the community in columns of four Classified: David Olwer Saahira Ladha Circulation/affice Manager: Carolyn Anstey Circulation: Jetry Fischer Matthew Hayes :T â€"‘ _ Hey dude...1 find your # ‘ secondâ€"hand smoke b * iâ€"a _ way offensive ! Production: Millie Martin Kerm Miller Group Publisher: Chery| McMenemy Group Advertising Manager: Butch Grieve OxcE ovER LIGHTIY Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group _ Mailed subscription rates A division of $65 yearly in Canada = Southam Inc $90 yearly outside Canada i GAL The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily teptesent the views of the newspaper y \Aratee: Fact is, while we are rich in cultural attractions like bowling alleys and billiard halls, the dearth of cuttingâ€"edge medical equipment tends to turn them away. â€" Come to think of it, doctors aren‘t that good on their own equipment. For example, how can you explain why the scale in the doctor‘s office always weighs three kilos heavier than the one at home? Victual War: Quebecâ€"based Maxi & Co. with its big, new Waterloo store has triggered a grocery war, and most hope More intriguing are the crops grown under lights in a home. Some of the setups make a uranium reactor look simple by comparison. Pity the home growers don‘t utilize their talents on matters legitimate. If they did Canada would be No. 1 in peanutâ€"growing, mangrove management skills and such like. Stillâ€"and I think I‘ve written this beforeâ€"decriminalization of marijuana will get nowhere. The potheads will keep forgetting where they left the petitions. Foul Line: Wouldn‘t you know it? Just after I sneered at the Toronto Blue Jays, they uncorked an umpteenâ€"game winning streak. Using my sneers as a reverse yardstick, the NDP should score a landslide win in the next provincial election Oh yeah! Have you stopped to think that the NDP and planet Earth have a lot in common. _ _ You see the Earth isn‘t a perfect sphere. It‘s flattened at the polesâ€"just as the NDP will be. ... Ditépiafional SthpMsrd Serial Nutober. ISSN (37â€"3410. CMT (NE CC OT NC “('W\‘Yd'l(f cona D m ch > Sm % peace is far, far away. _ The Maxi store is big and roomy, and the prices seem pared down. Would that they stay that way. The stores are so big that my only complaint is how long it takes me to find an article. For example, the other morning it took me 40 minutes to find instant coffee. Pot Luck: It looks as if there‘s one failure we need not fearâ€"it‘s a flop in the marijuana crop. Every year the gendarmes in choppers seem to be locating more and more. Its a pity indeed that they bag only a few of the marijuana farmers. The links are difficult to establish so the growers go free.