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Page 6, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, June 9, 1993 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby-residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER OF: ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER CNA NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION CANADIAN - M 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. To the ediuIorI. Viewpoint Incredible debt a credibility threat Most generous To the Editor: I would like to express my thanks to the BIA on the International Week ir\Whitby. I was the Passport\Draw winner of a trunkful of gifts -- talk about excitement. lhe merchants were most gen Thanks to all, and g with the downtown shoppi Proposed law to protect pub from dangerous offenders By René Soetens Ontario riding MP Draft legislation unveiled recently by Solicitor General Lewis would enable the federal corrections system to high-risk offenders in prison indefinitely. The proposed legislation responds to public requests th government take action to prevent these offenders committing more violent acts on innocent Canadians, speci women and children. Lewis, who has been pursuing the changes for s months, noted that the proposed legislation would include s provisions. The new laws would enable a crown attorney t the courts to apply the dangerous offender provisionsc Criminal Code near the end of the sentence of a hig offender, resulting in continued custody or supervision for up years. In addition, the parole board could refuse statutory re and detain inmates who have been convicted of sexual off against children until the end of their sentence, if it is cIe offender would likely commit another such off ence. Safeguards would include automatic reviews by the Ne Parole Board of the case of the offenders ordered held afi end of their sentence. Also, a much-criticized 'sentence calculation provision' be amended so that reconvicted offenders would be cert spend the parole ineligibility portion of their new sentence any time remaining on the ineligibility portion of their pr sent ence. The legislation recognizes that we must take a leap forw the way that society deals with the small, albeit highly dang group of offenders that we cannot rehabilitate but who wec now keep beyond the end of the original sentence. I believe that the new proposals are reasonable and re to the concerns aired by the public that the safety of society be the paramount concern when making changes to Ca correction system. This is just a draft logislation, so if you have any thoug the proceedings, I would appreciate hearing from you. The Whitby Free Press wecomes letters to the editor on any su concem to our readers. Letters should be briet and to the point - rarE than 300 words. Ail letters must be accompanied by the name, addr telephone number of the writer. However, on request, your name withheld trom publication if we agree there is a vaid reason. The ne reserves the right to reject or edit all letters. Send to: The Editor, Whi Press, Box 206, Whitby. Ont. LIN 551. or drop through our mail so Brock St. N. By Michael Wycks Canadians have lost faith in their governments. The cynicism felt towards politicians is so Whitby strong. it's noxious. erous. These days the only time you ood luck hear a politician's name is when ng area. it's preceded by an expletive. What has happened to the I. Dafoe reputation of this once honourable Whitby profession? Part of the answer can be found in budgets, the fiscal blueprint governments provide ta their electorate. A predominant issue in Canada now s government debt and that's where many pecple look for oeadership from their politicians. diîc Starting with the federal government, Ottawa chose complacency this year, tabling a stand-pat budget that will do little ar stem the federal deficit's meteoric rise. Not much of a confidence builder there. ou Provincially, sme governments g actually tried ta impart sound keop fiscal measures (Alberta, Manitoba , and Newfoundland, for example), e vos and their taxpayers should gain a f romll measure of confidence as a result. a The governments in Quebec a and Ontario, however, tabled ýeveral budgets blasting their taxpayers eveal with tax grabs of $1.1 billion and $2 o n as billion respectively. Huge fiscal ,f hes blunders in the past. and little htris else, brought about these hefty t10 tax hits. Quebec and Ontario have bath lIase, made deficit financing into an art ences form and bath have monstrus ýar the debts Ia show for it. Ontario has projected an astonishing $78.6 ational billion in total debt for 1993-94. ýer the Sînce corning to power in 1991, the NDP government has would managed ta increase the ýain ta pravince's total debt by 86 per DW plus cent. Quebec has kept pace wth evious a total debt of $39 billionand deficits of $4.1 billion this year and lrd in $4.9 billion last year.* enougSaskatchewan is in even worse :ant shape than Quebec and Ontario; with a smaller economic base ta ylet contend with. Saskatchewan's ,nmu's government brought in austerity omeasures taslash its deficit from Ihts on $592 million to $296 million. aBritish Columbia is alsano st ranger ta bllion-dollar deficits. In its budget, the government deemed i twise, however, tahit British Columbians with multiple ibject of tax hikes while completely my more ignoring expenditures. This ess and halfway approach is similar ta - ayb dieting on f resh flruits and wspaper vgtbe while lounging on the ctoy Free neeblr Dt at 131 sala watching TV aIl day. As inlis, most governments have woken up ta Canada's debt Mainstream Canada crisis and the public is applauding this. However, some finance ministers have opted to jack up taxes and cut spending at the same time, hardly a confidence booster when unemployment remains high and the recession continqes its devastation. Underlying all of this is the badly shaken credibility of the nation's policians. Only through hard work, honesty and integrity will this credibility be earned again. Above aIl, the answer to this country's debt crisis (and a renewed reputation for politicians) will only be found when governments, and the public in general, commit to unified action for t he good of Canada.