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The Waterloo Chrotucle is published every Wednesday by the Fairway Group, owned by CitvMedia Group Inc . a subsidrary of Torstar Corp The content of this paper is protected by | copyright and may be used only for persunal non commercial purposes All other rights are reserved and commercial useas proibited To make use of this material you must first obtain the permission of the ownet of the copyright WATERLOO CHRONICLE editorial@waterloochronicle.ca sports@waterloochronicle.ca sales@waterloochronicle.ca composing@waterloochronicle.ca 279 Weber St., North, Suite 20 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 3H8 Phone: 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 The views of our columnists are ther own and do not necessarity represent those of the newspaper Buh Leaschnet Uswasne Wersetadurt Group Publisher | Group Sales Director/ Associate Publisher Canmadian Publicationy Mail Sales Proa ut Agrcement Nutmber ANISD478 Vhe Warerla t hvromad s welcomes lerters to the Iditer: Ehey stmnld in signed worh mame aditress and yhone number ind wl be serified for aconracy No onsignei letrers will be published Submissions max br edited fee length so please he hrief Copynight in letters and ather muatenals sobnutted to the Publisher ind accepied for poblication remains woth the authar hin the pmblisher and its heensees may freely reprodice tm in prnt elec rrenmcor ofer lormis Oiar nouling address is 7 Weber St N "Init M Waterine NZLL Cynin Bartol Special Projects Mgr.623â€"7218. Ext. 210 Retail Sales Manager Ext. 230 Andrea Bavies Bob Vzbanas Editor, Ext. 215. Sports Editor, Ext. 229 www waterloochromele.ca nerrs Martice Letters Policy 9,5!*": cusmal Stambard Seraal Nurmber ISSN 1H32â€"34 10 Audited circnlation: 27.538 Marr Miller Special Projects 623â€"7218, Ext. 208 Norma t yca Advertising Sales, Ext, 223 Fur many years the Government of Canada, as well as the individual provinces, have actively participated in international youth exchange proâ€" grams. _ The programs help foster peace and understandâ€" ing throughout the world by exposing youth to other cultures and religions. Exchange programs reduce intolerance Most programs are "reciprocal," meaning that for every foreign student arriving in Canada, a Canadiâ€" an student travels to a corresponding "host counâ€" try." â€"Youth exchange program participants can be found in virtually every high school in Waterloo Region, and in most high schools throughout Canaâ€" da. Canadian students learn through experience about other cultures, while acting as ambassadors of Canada to their hosts by bringing Canadian culture to them. Students learn firsthand about religion, culâ€" ture and the joys and difficulties of the everyday lives of students their age. This experience helps break down barrers of intolerance. The value to the visiting student and the local comâ€" munity is immeasurable. In Canadian schools, the presence of an exchange student provides an excitâ€" ing opportunity for the stuâ€" dents and school commuâ€" nity to share in the mystery of other cultures. The exchange student is generâ€" ally embraced by the school community at large, as Canadian students learn fascinating details about countries they have only read about in books. Canadian exchange stuâ€" ! nenNDRriI I dents traveling abroad express the uniqueness of the Canadian culture and promote Canadian values and our way of life. Bilinâ€" gualism and multiculturalism are concepts not understood or practised in other countries. During the past 10 years, my wife Linda and 1 have had the outstanding opportunity of hosting more than 20 international exchange students. These students have enriched our lives beyond description. Catholic and Jehovah Witness. Their cultures also spanned the globe, representing Japan, Turkey, Communist China, France, Germany, Finland, South Africa, Australia and Brazil. The one thing we learned, after only a very brief period of time, was the difference between a teenage student from another culture and Canadian teenagers. The difference was .... there was no differâ€" ence! We have been fortunate to experience students of many faiths including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism. The second myth dispelied was that every exchange student returned to his or her home counâ€" try dreaming of the day they could move to Canada. In fact, most were very proud of their home counâ€" tries and used their exchange to share culture. The exchange students laughed, cried, made mistakes, and made us proud, just like our own chilâ€" dren. They were young students thousands of miles from their home and family, trying their best to fit in and soak up every experience in Canada they could. It is an experience we would encourage every family to participate in. The province should continue to support youth exchange programs fully: after all, we can‘t on one hand boast of "multiculturalism." while on the other hand put policies into place which threaten their existence Intolerance is on the rise in many of our schools Intolerance is usually escalated by ignorance of oth ers. Exchange programs help to reduce intolerance and build friendships by allowing students to inter act with students around the world. No, youth exchange programs won‘t eliminate prejudice, nor will they stop intolerance. But they will reduce it, one student, one school, or one comâ€" munity at a time JOHN HENDRY VIEWPOINT Liberals are good at yacketyâ€"yack Waler!ou council should get a plus in effective budgeting, but do you think it will? Not by a long chalk, friend, not by a long chalk. There‘ll be enough ratepayers to say blah to the increase, but it‘s not the current counâ€" cil‘s fault. Just remember, for example, that past councils blew the money from the reserve funds. Tsk! Tsk! Too little has been said of that in the past. s â€" 8 â€" By the way, the library board is seeking an additional $109,000, which would raise it from the lowest grant in Canada for libraries of Waterloo‘s size. Now let‘s not have idle talk about Waterâ€" loo winning a lottery. I break out in a rash when I win a free Egg McMuiffin at McDonâ€" ald‘s. Coming Soon: Gee, it looks as if the fedâ€" eral election is coming with a rush like Eastâ€" er. All that talk about more delays is just that â€" talk. idle talk. The fuss about the money blown on making corporations look good has been mostly disâ€" sipated in the handful of hearâ€" ings. It‘s now safe as a church to hold an election. The Liberal insiders met at Paul Martin‘s and, after wrestling with food and beverage. got down to the real yacketyâ€"yack. They didn‘t pass a resolution. but the Grits seemed agreed that election day is soon. Hip, hip and a double hurrah! Meanwhile exâ€"leader Joe Clark has stuck his foot up to the hip into the election camâ€" paign. He said â€" honest!‘ â€" that he‘d rather back Paul Martin than PC leader Stephen Harper. Can you imagine that little tribute being recited in the middle of an election campaign? So Joe‘s been called everything up to and including a traitor. Gosh, the Grits will be hard put to find expletives to top that. Anyhow, with the spring breezes moving up around the country, we‘ll have to stand by for torrents of hot air. Yea verily, clouds of it. A Time to Weep: If you are looking for someone to feel sorry for, you might shed a tear ot twa for Toronto Police Chiet Tultan Fantino 45? TAXES SANDY BAIRD For months he‘s had gun battles breaking out every weekend and his force has been accused, among other things, of operating on racial lines. As if that wasn‘t enough, Fantino has scandals aborning in his police department with maybe a dozen officers involved. That‘s about as messy as it gets, and it‘ll take a bit of skill and luck to get to the bottom of it. You‘ve got to give him credit because he‘s given Toronto excellent service. Given the demographics of Hogtown, it‘s a tough mass to oversee. Look at how this community has been sprawled, thanks to the expressway and other good stuff, The police department has stayed clean; it hasn‘t developed a major flaw. Cross your fingers. But shed a tear for Fantino. And, oh yes, he‘s got a traffic morass to worry about. Trafâ€" fic is so bad in Toronto that the way to change lanes is to trade cars. Frozen Assets: Unless he strikes oil in Algonquin Park, Premier Dalton w McGuinity is unlikely to check MANM | in with a balanced budget. DY Ugh, more taxes. Yup. there are a lot of folks now who claim iD they can save you a lot of money on your tax returns. Of course, you can only go to see them on visiting days. Extra Rounds: It‘s been a year since Gearge Dubyah proclaimed victory over Iraq. George was all Johnâ€"Wayned up in an air force suit and the everâ€"present smirk. It seems to be a bad joke. We can trust George Dubyah to do nothing right. He can‘t Alush a torlet without an instruction manual But now things are different. The U.S Marines are battling hall a town full of peo ple, and there‘s lots of killing going on. The Americans are striving for a cease fire, but none seem forthcoming. And, oh yes, they had to wire home for a dozen or so heavy tanks. The mighty Amen cans are short of troops and some vital equipment. but they will win eventually. He seems to be striking out an every idea that‘s mentioned. He‘s nixed a couple that would provide real dollars, including the unlikely sale of the grog shops. It‘s a good bet that after runâ€" ning short of good new ideas, he‘ll resort to the tried and true recipe: higher liquor and cigaâ€" rette taxes. Hey‘d anybody else notice this damn thing _ only goes up ?