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Tories have tackled a thankless job The David Peterson Liberals cre- ated a billion-dollar deficit followed by Bob Rae's New Democratic Party increasing it to $ll billion. which decreased Ontario's "AAA" credit rating, increasing the amount of interest Ontario had to pay on its debt. am concerned that while voting, Iii? motivation of Ontario's citi- lens might be misplaced and not acting for the greater good. Amman " not a burden. It" a mm under the UN Charter Nations are routinely bullied mm supporting the US position hy alternatively waiving a carrot and a stick When our nation is deemed by the sole remaining Political parties practise needless spending Us! Thursday I received a call rom one of the political names and it went like this: Caller: 1 his p, a messagt‘ from Mr Fives Response: Dom tw know me? Colle, Well, I thunk so Hus mes- sage IS for you. Response I have ttever had a call from bum. nor have I MN'TI him face to face Caller Well, you are on the list Response Are you a volunteer making these calls? Sn now that (morgv Bush has finally admuted that there Is no link hmwm‘n Iraq and 9/ I l. the quemon Mrlnns what are the Amer" ans still dmng there Sum (I there have not heen any weapons of mass destruction found, few are frmllsh to hetreve that at any "me Iraq posed eve-n a minimal threat to the US Why is it that (we! 7000 Iraqis are now dead, scores of Ameman sennenwn have been killed and maimed and the Administration k seeking additional billions of dollars to "finish the job"? Moreover, requests are being made for other mun- tries to send troops In order to hring "peace and stabili- ty'" to Iraq But asking other nation's to "share the bur den" of an unprovoked invasion of another country taken gall. Leaders should stand up to U.S. bullies You said it With such a fmancial strain and Caller No. wr- gm pan! for doing WHO AREYOU VOTING FOR IN THE PROVINCIAL ELECTION t QUESTION Frlrl limited income, the Progressive Conservatives struggled, but with good planning and management, rescued Ontario's budget and econ- omy. The Government of Canada failed Ontario citizens by cutting transfer payments for education and health services by 40 per cent. Opposition parties ignored the actions of their federal brethren and add insult to injury by placing fault for any shortfall m health and Caller It Is a whole lot better than the last series of phone calls we did Response Well, what IS the mer sage? Tell me about It Caller You are Invited In an event There will he free hot dogs and food Response Where IS the event? (allot In orangev1lle. this Samr» dav this (call). Response: Hrs you enjoy your 30h? Response Hev. I'm not going to "Sean Strickland. because he's going to help out the older people and I like that." "I don't like to vote when I'm not informed and as of right now. I dont know enough to vote." Tiii, (imam Angela Harrison COMMENT superpower to he off track, we are told through vannm leaks and by the us ambassador Paul Celhsrci where a Correctmrt must he made, Certainly we are not obligated In do as we are told, hut it Is undvrqood by all that this Is what " experted " is now time to tell the elephant that claims to be "a beacon of demmraty' that we will not an along with his behaviour. That I& precisely what we would tell our chil then when they are confronted with a bully who insists that his rules are the ones for everyone to follow Unfortunately this is not a schoolyard problem Our leaders. present and future should make it clear that this attitude will not be tolerated by our still saver- eign nation, And even if our relationship with our largest trading partner wnnens, perhaps we can still walk a little taller. like the kids at a playground free of bullies NICL] education spending on the provin- cial Tories. Citizens of Ontario are com demned to repeat the painful process of getting out of debt should they vote for either opposi- tion party. The Conservatives have tackled a lhankless job and succeeded. Thank you, Mike and Ernie. f 'rangeville for something like that. Caller: oh, maybe I did not have the right phone number End Where does this political party gel the bucks. to pull off phone talk and an event like this? Then I found that the Igherals are not restricted to a fixed sum for electron expenses Things are not equal UH" "We're not voting PC for sure. Mer the debate. few questions were answered by the candidates. But we're voting Uberal." “I'm voting PC. Their record isn't perfect. but they've come up with some important initiatives that I think we need In stay the course on." Frederick I. Truscon Waterloo Wig Gibson lohn F. Petm Wamrbn Felix I-nt The inevitable defeat of the Common Sense Revolution (which Flimbeth Wilmer premanuety declared "over" when she launched her leadership bid), can only be a good thing. For eight years, the Harris and Eves governments have systematically undermined our health care and education systems, our key public services, and the very social fabric of the province of Ontario ' d ‘re not toast," insisted Ontario Premier Ernie Eves last I/l/Si?,?,)"' As he spoke; however, the fact that hisgow emmenthadalreadybeguntomrnvisiblybrmvnand crispy was dear to allwho havebeen following the election. By the time polls dose on Thursday, we'll all have to unplug the toaster. tum it upside down and shake it vigorously in order to see the last dramad crumbs of Eva government They have targeted the poor, immigrants, workers, young peo- plé, teachers. and public servants for particularly bad treatment, but vistualtyevery0ntarianhassufferedinsomewayftomtheactions of this government. Only the richest one per cent has emerged Now,lknowthatmanypeopleintheUbesal Partyaresincerein promising that their government will reverse the worst excesses of theTorieslaisoexpectthaitheywillmakeafewhigNysymbolic changes tostanotftheirterm,andlwill ,_A,,“_,, welcome thosechangesasmuchasthe ‘ ‘ nextpersomBut,overthekrngterm,my ‘ Mimlimti r fear is that aMcGuinty governmentworit t Bll F“, _ reallybethat much different at all. A ‘ ‘ So, the defining question of this election is not whether we 'thoosechange";votershavealma4ydexidedtodothacThereal questioniHattindonhangerrwil1gr1: -- _ _ Even assuming that the Liberals intend to do everything that they've promised to do, it appears very unlikely thatthey'1lbeahletoaffbrdtodosaThe Infomercial Budget projected that the next government would be starting off with balanced books, but economists, bond mtingageodes and interest groups of all political stripes are projecting that the government will actually be looking at a deficit of between $2 billion and $5 billion. Moreover, the Liberals have grossly L======Jl underestimated the cost of some of their promises. inciuding the veryworthwttiientoftxaiveoflimitimprimaryavcssizesto20thil- dam. and theroorequestionableothtxtixeoffkingprmple logo to school until they tum 18. Dalton McGuinty has already admitted that he may have to break some of his election promises. but he won't say Which ones he'll break The most spexific answer he's been willing to give Ls that he "may have to slow down the pace of change." I'm not naive or optimistic enough to think that the NDP H gang to ovenah- the liberals and form the next gimmmem But with NDP numbers going up and the Tories m a [we fall, I do think that Howard Hampton muld easily become the next leader of the OffioalOpposition. Given that the liberals proposed pace of change is already plen- ty slow enough, that's enough to make voters stop and think. Instead of inoeasing the minimum wage to $8 an hour over four years, would he slow dawn the increases to $8 an hour over my“ years? Whuld he build 20.0“) untts of affordable housrng over IO years. instead of over four yuan? Inquiring mulls mum to know. Who forrm the oppasnmn. and how strong that opposition IS [both In [ms of seats and popular vote). makes a mal differente In how any gavemmenl ans, Remember the contrast between the progressive Meson liberal gnvemmenl of 198') m 1987 and the corrupt Peterson liberal mm! of we? tn 1951? Remember how ritttt Wing the ( hymen grrverr1ment was from I993 to I997. when the NDP didn't haw "ttroi parry status (and the tune In Question Period that Wes with m Givmg any party too large a matority breeds arrogance and (unit-mp! for Opposing ( tther than the sheer satistaemon of Wing NO many [ones go dawn to defeat. one of the pnnnpal ttertr4its of a Itrry collapse has hem that vmen many feel free to vote for what, they helm in. Campaigning for the NDP. I can't tell you how many times I heard in 1999and in themrtypart ofthtsrampaiRn that [Impleme- fc-m’d our plathmo and our modidate, bot feh that they simply had to vme Iiheral to stop the Tories That hasn't been ihe cm? sine the ”heals iirmty m~estahlislwd thiwidebeadin theperwincial pWs,sintarTheRrxzord published its own local polk and since Howard Hampton won the leader’s s9rw.mmethananytimesinrasl99o.sotersarecominghat1to thepartyinsignifkaantnumt-HowardHamptonqaidwhert hewasinh%t_st%turdryroorrtirertokmehaseto t-yourvmeortwhatrmtar,yrmmnhanerourwttetmwhat Here's to needed change Thatmbkratoast