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Page 6. Miftby Free Press. Wecinesciay, Septomber 22,.1993 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F: SONTARIO CANADIAN E ICOMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER +C A NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION I3r1U CANADIAN MCIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD 25,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Pubîished every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario mnc. Box 206, 131 Brook St. N., Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-611il Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimumT 20% 4 recycled content using vegetable based inks. Q All written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by anly means for commercial purpeses without the express permission ot the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation oft Canadian copyright aw. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit uine to the Witby Free Press. mo tsuhe edo n. 'Arrogant treatment'5 To the oditor: 1 read with interest the experienceoef 1Bi11 Little who had tho audacity te criticize plans and decisions etth o mayor and counicil of Whitby concerning Breoklin, and the tact that this audacity has cost Mr. Little's business a valuable centract. The Cencerned Citizens of West Whitby ha experienco with these saine public servants when opposin9 the technically preterred route lnking the 401 te the preposed 407 highways, and there was abrupt isissal, by * a diminutive councillor et Irish persuasion, et the residents who epposed the Introduction ef subsidized co-operative tewn- houses on McQuay Boulevard. I must say thatI amrnont surprised by the indignation et Mr. Little, and I sinceroly hope that al the residents et Whitby, Broeklin, Macedonian and Almond villages and aIl other outlying areas who are entitled te vote, remember these public servants. and their tax-paid weekends te get away trom telephones, and their arrogant treatment of the people they were eîected te serve. I would suggest that the front page ef the Sept. 8 edition (Free Pross) be kept by veters who sheuld remnember te read the article in question before veting in the next municipbl electien. We need more people like Mr. Little whe are net afraid te oppoee Town council, and who are net af raid te speak up against miner ',politicians whe believe that election somehow gives them god-like powers et perception net shared by more mortals. read veters. See you at the poîling station. Rob Burges Whltby Reckless spending To the edItor: In this day et NDP budget rostraints and dot icit control, public sector ornployees are new being schedulod te attend a ono-day sominar on 'werkplace discrimintion and harassinent prevenitiofL: Thero are 950,000 public soctor ernployees who will be required te attend the course betore the end eft1h. foscal yea (March 1994). For emptloyees etf Whitby Jail, we wil b. required te attend this course ai anothor institution in Toronto. Theretore we wiIl be paid mileaçe te and trom the course, we wiil accwrnulae approximately tour heurs travelling time as wol as our regular day's pay. There are 115 staff members ai the jal. At a low estimatde ef $150 as a regula day's pay for a staff member, the course would cost appreximaiely $17250. And miiloage et 30 cents per kiometre for 154 kioetres round trip would cost this institution $5,313. Additional staff te replace the correctional efficers would cost approximately $17,662. Total costs for Whitby Jail atone wiIl be a wheppin9 $40,225. Muftiply this by 52 provincial institutions in the province and it will cost the geverrnnient more than $2,091,716. This is ony a very sinall fraction et the total cost for aIl Ontario public servants te attend this one part icular course. We have ne objections te, this training course. The issue is the reckless spending invotved in its dolivery which couki b. aveided by training at the local lovol, thereby saving hundreds et thousands et dollars in travelling expenses atone. Just sign us sick and tiredof the cest-cutting measuros affocting our wages and wadching tho government's miîsmanage- ment et this monoy. Laura P. MaIr Anita J. Westwood Mary Hurnphrles Maureen Tanner j~~ VVft s a crime. V - Viwpoint- W- Cigarette smuggling big business By Patil Pagnuolo, Ontario Taxpayors Fedoratlon f's the business success story of the nineties. The marketing plan has been superbly crafted. The product has beon priced te meet the demnands et cost-censcious consumers. There's ne PST or GST and the delivery service is second te none. Overhead costs are minimal. Cerporato taxes are nil. l's the illegal cigarette business in Canada. A ferensic report released Iast year values the underground cigarette trade at close te a billion dollars in 1991. The foderal and provincial governments lest just about the saine ameunt through evaded tax revenues. Cigarette smuggling has become big business in Canada. t's estimnated that one eut et every nine cigarette packages consumned in Canada is now contraband. And you don't have te search dark alleys or corridors if you're looking te buy some of the 6.4 billion cigarettes available in the black market. The preduct is readily accessible everywhere. Enter- prising 'retailers' driven by high profts abound openly in the least suspecting places. In the heart of Torento's f inancial district, it's evident just how widespread and acceptable the practice ef purchasing cheap smokes has becone. His dress w?.s neat but casual. The eIder gerilemnan walked up te a crewd of smekers standing outside. wGood afternoon," he said in a rapsy voice. wi'm the Cigarette Man. Do you need any cigarettes today?w Hus oversized bref case was crammed full of the popular Canadian brands. At two packs for six bucks, there was little hesitation,by most in the crowd te take him up on a good deal. Later in the day, another 'cempetitive retailer' arrived on a mounitain biko with its saddle bags bulging. Ho rode up te a smiall group eut enjoying their atterneon smoke break. Ho made his pitch. eLeave me yeur office phono number and l'Il cail you once a week. Delivery samo day.w he said. Il was enough te. turn the most experienced telemarketers green with envy. What has given rise te this explosive growth in the underground economy? The answer is simple. Taxes. The federal duty, the excise tax, the GST, and the provincial tebacco and sales taxes are the culprits. Rapid tax increases have driven normalîy Iaw-abiding citizens to look the other way in search for a botter deal. Between 1989 and 1991, the 'Centraband Tobacco Estimate' report peints out that the federal excise duty on cigarettes increased by 161 per cent and the excise tax rate by 142 per cent. The high tax policy which governments dlaim they've implemnented te discourage smoking has become couniterproductive. In addition te the billion dollars n tax revenues lest te the back market, i's aIse hurt many legitimate Canadian retailers, usualîy the smaîl 'mom and pop' convenience stores. They have net only lest business but have been hit threugh robberies of tebacco products. The tobacco market is just one example et what happons when governinents go tee f ar in th eir quest for more tax revenue. Consumners cani now purchase alcohol. gasoline, grecerles and other merchandise that has been smuggled past the tax coîlectors. This, along wth the riso In popularity In cross-border shopping, are ail symptoms et an overtaxed economy. It makes one wonder just what our politiciansare smoking. To theedo..o Schools need competition To the edîtor: Premier Bob Rae's recent attempt te reform Ontario's schoî system doserves a failing grade. Ho announced that he was going te givo parents a greater voico in the educatien systom by appeinting six of them te a newly created council that weuîd meet three or four times a year. You don't have te be a straight A student te realize that this plan is nething more than a PR shr that will do little te help ether parents or their children. The plain tact is that Ontario's beloaguered school systom is net geing te be holped with more bureaucratic councils or with strenger teacher unions or even with more tax dollars. What our schooîs need is actually quite simple. They nood competitien. Attor all, the school system right now is essentialty a monepoly. Unîess parents can attord te pay for an independent schooî, they have ne choice but te put their children into the public systein. Menopoies, et course, mean a lack et accountabililty. Hewever, if parents were allowed te channel their tax dollars into the public or independont school et their choice they could, in a sense, "shop arounde and send their children te the schooî et their cheice. This, in turn, would terce public schoels te impreve their preduct or face losing students. It's a plan which has worked elsewhere and it can work here, tee. Parents deserve a choice and our children deserve the best educatk>n possible. Let's give it te them. Colin Brown President OntarIens for Responsible Govemment The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters to the editor on ariy subject of cenoem te our readers. Letters sheuld be brief and te the point - rarely more than 300 words. Ail letters must be accompanied by thie naine, address andi telephone number et the writer. However, on request, yeur naine may be withheki froin publication if we agree there is a valid reason. The newscaper reserves die right te, reject or edit ail letters. Send te: The Editor. Whitby Free Press. Box 206, Whitby. Ont. LUN 5S1. or drop through our mail siot al 131 Brock St. N.