The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

'stitvttttt There are d lot of things that the federal government should be doing Funding professional hockey (or any professional sport) Isn't one of them Not only are there far better uses for our tax dollars, but such sub- sRhcr, don't work Otherwise, the Wmmpeg lets wouldn't be playing In Phoenix and the Quebec Nordupws wouldnt be playmg m Den, vcr (both rccewed massnc subwhes many of them hidden. before flying south) In the wake of the quuk disappearance of federal and, Senators owner Rod Bryden whmcd that "I m not gmng Inmnlmuc lo wrm: cheques ior lhc orwralmg losses any more " Fair enough The only qucslmn IS, why docs he upon us to do so? Almost as nauseating as the original proposal was Manley‘s stub- born inststence on defending the funding even after he had pulled the plug on it It was a noble gesture, he argued, that was stymied only by the lamentable failure of other levels of govemment to go along with the bailout and the puzzling failure of Canadians to rec- ognize that pro hockey was an essential part of both the Canadian economy and the Canadian identity. Even alter being sent to the penalty box wnh a mtscortducq penalty. Manley IS stdl arguing With the referee So. how does the most right-Wing member of the federal cabinet (a cab, Igrrm met that includes more right-wingers ' ‘ on its roster than all SIX Canadian VIEW NHL teams combined) become champion ol a scheme to fund such a ‘ . Fi2?,Nl low priority as professional hockey? ’. ' N at? ‘ Quite simply. it seems that John Man- , w "tlt' ley is a fan -.- both of the Ottawa Sen- ' g ‘ _ ' ' " ‘ lil' ators, and of the moneythat Senators u: in P, ' 3 t owner Rod Bryden gives to the Liberal a" . M I party. He was apparently sheltered , - II enough from real people to think that Canadians would greet the planned hockey subsidy as a good news SCDll NrlIlrdllrgr announcement. How wrong he was, Reaction to the plan was swift and decisive. All four opposition parties spoke out against the hockey bailout, Liberal Members of Parliament across Canada were beueged by angry phone calls from CONSUIUCHIS. Editorial reaction was almost unanimously negative, particularly among sports columnists (who seem to do a better job of covenng politics than most political columnists). Faced wuh such an overwhelming cho- rus of opposition, Manley quickly backpedaled and declared that "the subject IS dead", It was almost as if the game-wmmng goal had been called back after the Video replay On the one hand, It was almost Inspiring lo see how quicklypub- [It outrage mus able to force the federal government lo change us mmd On the other hand, the fact that the Lberals were willmg -- even temporanly - to put up $20 aullion a year to subsidize Carta- don professional hockey teams. shows how desperately out of touch they are with the Canadian people. The chief cheerleader for the Liberals‘ locker room welfare pro- gram wasjohn Manley, Minister of Industry and reputed leadership aspirant (not lhai Jean Chreuen tS ever going lo step down). Mare ley has worked hard to earn hrs reputation as a fiscal conservaiive, In a speech before a busmess audience last year, Finance Minister Paul Martin joked that "every time I try to loosen up the purse sinngs. Manley is pulling In the other direction," ln other words, much of the blame for the Liberals' failure to spend much-needed money on a new housing supply program, farm aid and a long- promised child care plan has to go to Manley and others of his ilk. Manley earns a game misconduct "iiiilr:?_l,r t,5i'iiii'i, i',iti9""csl,i,'i")ai, g. ', - _,iiii,il, ""r'e n...:..‘ a , .4 ”#55? M” 1:3, M? . llhiFri',8ii_iil/ir,if'jr 't ' "e ije';r"iej;Firij, ' ”n q v - . IEW/tir/ri"' ' Why not ban gum chewing? I will gwe you a few of the most disgusting deposi- tones for this product: under chairs In beautiful cities, at our national moments, m our schools-- you name It My all-time favourite is the gum chewing commu- nity, who think it is their God-given right to despoil everything within reach with garbage that they chew and don't know what to do with. In reading many articles on the smoking Issue, I find it distressing that many issues affecting the health of the general public are completely ignored The Waterloo Chronicle welcomes letters to the editor. They should be signed with name, address and phone number and will be verified for accuracy. No unsigned letters will be published. Submissions may be edited for length, so please be brief. Copyright in letters and other materials submitted to the publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic or other forms. Our mailing address is 75 King St. S., Suite 201, Waterloo, NZJIPZ. our e-mail address is wchronicle@sentex.net, and our fax number is 886-9383 [HIE-I; Kids even thmk n PS cool , l A Should Waterloo regional council T (tyil 2N (t l reconsider the anti-smoking bylaw? I do not think u is asking too much to gwe the smok- mg community their rights, the same rights as the non- smoking community Many have died for our freedom, and often the only thing that saved their sanity, when their world consisted of death and destruction. was to have a wee drag. to stick a wad of this chewed refuse on their so- called friend's head. My true delight is when some gum chewing moron comes up and says, "wad the matter wit chew" and half the time this enlightened personage is one oryour co-workers, or maybe your boss. I am sure that if proper "We're non-smokers so were pretty happy With the ban. Clean an means a clean cnvnron- menu" “ll doesnt mailer You cait prck on anybody else like drinkers, but you can pick on smok- ers Letters policy Johnson Kuo Gary Speers It should be noted that the remains of a cigar or cigarette will decompose and are sometimes benefr cial to the environment, whereas the discharge of gum IS disgusting and totally unsxghlly, as for It is hoped that that the government in their infinite wisdom will impose heavier taxes on the chewing gum manufacturers and hold them accountable ior the defacing of this beautiful land and the contomons of the many faces that we have to come into contact with in our daily survival. designated areas are assigned, all parties con- cemed will respect the rule. ”It " I know that smoking can be hazardous tu your health, but as my was granny used to say, -moder anon In all tlungs/ ll IS sull a great guideline expectorating In pubhc places. And Fido's drop- plugs ignored by a dating mumsie, the hide darlings who throw then blkes down at the entrances of Convenience stores, thejog- gets who run on the roads In dark clothing, the bicycle riders and skateboarders on sidewalks who tell you m a gentile fashion to "get out of the (bleep) way" I rest my case, "I say yes because l thmk lle hurtful lo buw messes. They should have the rights m place to run their establish- ments" "I don't tlunk so It's better Incentive to go out It) bars and res1aurarus " George Lynn's, Waterloo Margaret Party Karen Dearlove