Page 6. Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, July 28, 1993 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER OF: n ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER NANEWSPAPER "" ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD 25,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Inc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario L1N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% recycled content using vegetable based inks. © All written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright law. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit fine to the Whitby Free Press. To the editor... Not a pipedream To the Editor: Re: Councillor Ross Batten's comments on the officiaI plan (Whitby Free Press, July 21). I take exception to councillor Batten's comments regarding my appeal to the Region to preserve foodlands. There is no doubt that the growth that councillor Batten voted for, andthe Region wants, will consume far stoo much foodland. And, because this growth will be so spread out, i will increase everyone's municipal taxes to pay for services such as roads, sewers and so on. Mr. Batten is wrong to lay the blame at the feet of public for the difficulties family farms have in making a living. It is a more complex problem that that. Land pricing, government policies, marketing boards, banks, a gribusiness and municipal taxes aIl have a hand in making it hard for family farms to succeed. Despite these obstacles, many in the region do make a decent living. Mr. Batten is dead wrong in stating that increased housing density means increased traffic congestion. Just the opposite would happen. Increased density means mass transit is affordable. And, if properly planned, it would also mean that residents in these more compact urban forms would be able to walk or bicycle to work and to shop. I believe that is the kind of lifestyle most residents in the region would prefer. This is not some pipedream. Europeans long ago created extremely livable, compact towns and villages at densities 10 times higher than we have in Whitby. They have recognized that their food-producing lands are limited and invaluable. Our best farmlands were south of Highway 2 -- there isn't much left now. Our second best lands are south of Taunton Road and they are going fast. In fact, the Region's plan is to pave over everything south of Highway 7. Mr. Batten and Durham's political leaders have yet to awaken to the fundamental reality that foodlands are limited. Where will our food come from years from now, when all our best lands are gone? Stephen G. Leahy Brooklin To the editor... Per Bob and Floyd To the Editor: So much for democracy in Ontario. The NDP government has decided how they are going to reduce their budget deficit and those members of the public services (??) who receive assist- ance from the government must help as per 'Bob and Floyd.' To hell with the democratically elected municipal government, to hell with the legally reached contracts under which the employees are working, do as we say or 'we will force you to.' Obviously, the hope of the government was to force employees to take less money and time off and have no layoff s. Some hope. A gutless government, trying to do something that required guts, has created a morass from which they, with the usual draconian measures, are trying to extricate themselves. it really doesn't matter if slight deviations from the truth occur, if some of the stronger of their opponents get more than others, etc., just save the government's butts. They are also making sure that most of their sacred cows are being protected -- just hit those things that don't hurt them. Don't touch the Board of Internai Economy (what the devil is that -- what economy?); keep paying OHIP for visiting students, immigrants, those on the ever-increasing welfare bandwagon, well-to-do seniors, etc.; don't touch positions where political favourites reside, i.e. consultants, directors and heads of goverment agencies; find $318 million more for the services provided to those who will not or cannot work; find $117 million more for public housing, an area in which they do not belong; force the reduction in urgently required public security services, police, ambulance, fire, etc.; don't touch the women's issues office, keep funding and promoting divisive actions, such as pay equity and anything that promotes their view of what is politically correct; find $8 million more for the citizenship department -- why?; and find $282 million more for an education system that leaves much to be desired and which that amount will do little to improve. For those of us brought up to be independent, to take care ot our own, work hard, look for nothing from anyone else and to offer help and aid to those in need, the answers must be: cover your derriere; expect the government to look after you; lie, cheat and steal, don't let the government know what you have; and do ail dealings under the counter, you can't afford anything else. That is about all we can do, for the governments have cornered everything else. In this great country of ours, it is almost impossible for the public to do anything really effective. For the most part, our taxes are deducted at source. An effective tax revoit is difficult. Businesses could refuse to collect and remit the various sales taxes, but who could organize enough of them to be effective? Property owners could refuse to pay their property taxes, but who could organize t hem? The underground economy is a result of the people's disgust at the excesses of governments, Irresponsible spending To the Editor: Re: 'MPPs hope unions will change thinking on contract' (The Free Press, July 14). Oh, the smugness of Drummond White's comments: "I've had a pay freeze for three years and I've survived." "I would have liked to have gone back to school and have a job waiting for me.« Mr. White complains about the public sector employee workers complaining about what they face in terms of the public sector, social contract 'negotiations.' What he forgets is his party created the expectations in the minds of many of these pUblic sectors when they were in oo sition, that everything would be rosy when they (the NDP) came to power. h is Mr. White's government (so to speai) .that raised those expectations even more when they went on (and apparently are continuing on) a massive spending spree when they were (gasp) elected. Interestingly, many of the public sector employees, out of whom this government is now carving the cash, benefitted very slightly from their attempt to spend us out of the recession and into a depression. The government, however, is not targeting very problematic and wasteful areas of spending, meaning the deficit problem will linger even longer. Targeting education and health care, when even the government realizes that these are the two kingpins to our long-term security as a society, is, well, stupid. If the government had been more responsible with the province's money from the beginning, many of us in the public sector would - have many fewer complaints about the changes that have to be made. Additionally, the 6 per cent that everyone has to pay only augments the cash crunch that will reduce the spending power of all (middle class) Ontarians. When will our governments (particularly this one) figure out that the only way to stimulate the economy is to allow people discretionary spending money to purchase things they want or need? It also ties up the job market because there will be many more 'necessarily two-income families,' reducing the number of families that can be supported by the economy. More spending means more sales tax revenue -- wow, what a concepti Mr. White fails to talk about the lack of creativity and guts that this government has shown in terms of deficit-fighting. More taxes and threats of job Iosses -- they're not exactly new. Maybe they could think of more responsible ways to spend money. A new $3-million study to examine yet another way to change the education system is an example. Why not just get some of the Ministry of Education staff to go out to talk to teachers and parents? Are they not paid already? And Mr. White could take 12 days of unpaid leave (nix another $1,961 from that frozen salary) to show us the leadership that we expect from our elected officiais. Go to school on that, Mr. White, and after the next election I hope you have a job to go back to. At least my member (Gord Mills) was bright enough to not have any silly comments quoted in the press. Steve Rae (no relation) Cô(rtidd their apparent disregard for the people they supposedly represent and the obvious lack of any realistic alternative to the three major political parties. If Bob Rae intends to reduce this hidden economy by having investigators dig into people and businesses, I suggest he provide them with bulletproof vests and tin hats. The people have had it, and it will be a war. Also, if the NDP expect the members of the public to squeal on their neighbours, I would suggest to the public that they know what happens to spies and traitors in a war. I would like to end this with a small summary of what Bob Rae doesn't mention in his talks about the province's economy. Since the NDP has taken over the following things have occurred: operation expenditures (not including debt expense) for the province have risen by 10.2 per cent; the province's operating surplus in 1990-91 of $192 million is now an operating deficit of over $6 billion; the province's budgetary requirements have risen by 45 per cent; the province's net financing requirements have risen by 233 per cent; the province's debt, not including Hydro, has risen 86 per cent; in the same period, the province's total debt has risen by 76 per cent; in that time. although the gross domestic product will have risen by 5 per cent, the province's expenditures, debt interest and total debt as a percentage of the GDP have skyrocketed. Bob Rae loves to blame the feds for his problems, but a study of his budget shows that in 1989-90 the feds provided 13 per cent of the province's revenues, while in 1993-94 the percentage is expected to be 15.6. The problem is his own government's spending. And the major changes since 1989-90 have been heafth spending up $2.7 billion, education and training up $1 billion and social services up $3.2 billion. And which ones are being attacked in the social contract? That's right -- the first two. A socialist government never gives a hoot for the people who pay the bills, only for those who can't or won't or a combination of the two. I highly recommend that you study the budget summaries as provided by our governments. They are revealing and scary. And when you are forced to deal with a government office or even read a newspaper about government occurrences, do you ever wonder who is running this country -- Canadians who have worked and struggled for Canada, or immigrants and minorities? W.J. Galger Whitby - - - -= ' .- 1 1 ý -70