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6ag O, hlby Fis ros ., Wmdsy, Jminuàrygo, ,199 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whltby residents for Whltby reidents! MEMBER 0F: - ONTARIO CANADIAN I~* COMMUNITY f.W'LACMMUNITY NEWSPAPER +UCEMNEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION E :ASSOCIATION rqmn73CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X 26,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. Box 206, 131 Brook St. N, Whtby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager SPrinted on newsprint with minimum 20%0/ * recycîed content using vegetable based inks. 0 Alil written material, illustrations anid advertising contained herein la protected by copydght. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes Wthout the express permission of the newspaper la prohlblted and la a violation of Canadîan copyih law. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution shouldl bear a credit lino to the Witby Free Press. To th[e editor. Speak Up flOW To the Edîtor: 1 find it hard to believe that a front-page story about the. possible closing of our general hospital ('Future role of hospital discussed,' The Free Press, Dec. 22) has not motivated anyone 10 raise any questions or objections. l-ow many people can romember how it was before we had a hospital? 1 certainly cari -- i's a long way ta Oshawa General Hospital when you have a sick child, tien a three-hour watt for medical attention. How many people can remember the work that went mbt getting a hospital in Whtby, not 10 mention the money raised and given freeîy 10 heîp build i? How many of your children held garden 'fundralsers' for the hospital? How many companies and privai e cil izens g ave mone>' for a general hospital? HâIw many Of the saine people are involved in trying to close il? None, I suspect. The hospital has served us very weIl over the years with a courteous, enthuslastlo and deducated staff ai ail levels. How can anyon. have the gailîta say il reaill h as neyer been a general hospital. So why was the naine changed 10 'general?' The recent fundraising ta enlarge aur hospital was don. under fas. pretenses. Was th. money ie wilingly for a rehabilitation centre? 1 think not. Closing emergency at night is a crack -- Ibis area of the. hospital brings in a major portion of the money. Wo he h> count the cost of cîosing it, w. wiIl hear 1he hospitaIis running ai a loss, 80 it Wouldn't il make more sens. 10 close during the day -- if ai al -- when doctors' offices are open for sick people? This is simpl>' a political move 10 justifty the. end resuft -- no general hospital. 1 hope Our mayor will have a strong voice on Ihis Issue, h. was in Whitby bef oie we had a hospitai. When wMI the. health minister se. the obvious waste in th. health systei and put a stop 10 it before closing hospitals? WaIk-in clinics are totail> unnecessary and bleed the beah systemn budget, as are the Ifîoat ina' doctors who work in somne of them. They have theur own practiceS in Toronto and aiea and are paid 10 woîk in the cîinics (flot that 1 am suggesting they wark for nothing). Instead of going t0 famil>' doctors, people flood lies. clinios. f 1h.>' don't like lhe doctor or his advice or the. medication, they then go ta their own famil>' doctor. Tha's two fees for on. aliment, usuailly wihin a 24-hour p.riod. What a total waste. W. will lose oui general hospital thus year due to palitical bungling and financal waste (when Med-Emnerg, a private company, took aver operat ion of the emergency deparlment, Ibis added 10, lie cost) if we don't speak up now. Bombard the health minister and polit icians with letters and phone catis. Let themn know you wan't sllow aur general hospital 10 ciose. "hriatine Collins Wh ltb b $205OOO raised To th. EdItor: Alow me 10 thank al of the Whitby Fiee Press readers who boughl oui 1994 Rotary' Cash Calendaîs. AIl stubs are now in the dîum, and the first winners have been dîawn. The. project raised $20,000, al of which will go 10 12 local charities. Tii. economnic times are extremel>' bard for these arganizadions and so this f inancial help wili make a real difference. We'd also like 10 îhank The. Fr.. Press for ils continuing support of this and other projects. Tii. paper's help la invaluable, perfarming a real and unique service laopur town. Agi, lianks ta everyone from Whub Sunrise. And the best of Nlck Baker Preaident Rotary Club of Whltby Sunrie Vewon Wrong bous By Paul Pagnuolo Ontarlo Taxpayers Federation Otawa is buttering us up for a reduction in reg istered retirement savings plan (RRSP) exemption. But don't worry, they tell us, i's just the "rich* who wiIl b. affected. David Walker, Parliamentary Secretary to Finance Minister Paul Martin stated, "if we moved the maximum limit downward, il wouîdn't affect the. middle class but Rf would put some fairness back m inote system.0 I don't know about you, but evry lime I hear polit icians talking aut going after the îich or making something more fair, 1 grasp nervously for my wallet. By reducing the. maximum annual contribution 10 $8,500 from the current $12,500, lhe governiment plans 10 capture a cool $1 billion. Remarkably, despite a booming underground economy, decreaslng revenues and an already overtaxed economy,the Liberal govrriment is still fixsied on finding ways 10 suck more lax dollars out 0f our wallets, instead .0f focusing on ws ocut spending. waýo government, funded retirement sciiemes, such as RRSPs and priva. pension funds, represent a huge untapped pool of capital. Governments can't stand to see these funds prosper.whiîe their own finances romnain in shambles. And, by hook or by crook, they'II get their paws on every penny they can. Last year, nearly five million Canadians socked away $16 billion in RRSP contributions. There' is now more than $150 billion wrapped Up in RRSP cont ribut ions. RRSP popularlty Is easy 10 Understand when one considers that seven out of 10 workers in the privai. soctor won't have any pension plan to draw on (not like Our federal MPs). And- with tax raies soaring and programs such as Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) having an uncertain future ai best, RRSPs provide th. best defence for a secure retirement. Yet, irstead of *ncouragn people to save and inves or their own retirement, aur government chooses 10 punish them. lronically, ai no lime in aur country's histoy Radar rip-off To the Edîtor: Re: Photo radar 'gaine I would 1ke 10 Invite Drummond White and the. rest of lhe provincial NDP MPPs to a gamneof bowling, Dutch treai, of course. However, in the. game there will b. a cudit t suspended over the alley ,higi enough 10 let the. bail go under, but 0ow enougi 10 prevent the bowiers fîrom determining how weIl or how poorlythie>' are doing. There wiIl b. no knowiedge of the resufts or fe.dback liat day 10 determin, if corrective action is necessary. In fact, the. resufts wilI b. maîled lato th players in a monli or two. There Will b. no appeals. Tii. resuits, althougi terribly laIe, will not b. subi oct to appeal. I guess you would have la say tha t lus game would nol serve any useful purpose. Notbing waulb. learned by Ibis experience -- just a money-grabbing acheme. This leter will, no doubt, not register with White or hus fIIow NDPers. It is a proverbial catch-22 situation, ith the anl>' lasers once agatn beinq the. laxpayers of Ontario and any tourists unfortunale enoijgh 10 fallmb t t. photo radar 'gutter bail' speed lisp. So, 10 Premier Bob Ra. and uis feîlow NDPers, your photo radar game is Just a money-grabbing rip-off. Without immediate resufts, onî>' Floyd Laughren's puise will benefit. Thank God Seplember 1995 is gelting dloser and dloser ever>' day. Ted Greenfleld Whftby has financial self-reliance been more imotat As retire assume a larger and larger portion of the total population, the pressure on programs such asGPP and OAS wiII increas. drazntally as fewer anx: fewer workers are available to meet the cosis associated with the. retired population. bThese proposais are an effort .y cash-hungry govemments 10 diveit profitable. funded retirement sohemes into1he. cqffers of government.. But just because gvrmn passes laws to confiscate these' funds, Rt doesn't necessarily mean it wvil b. a big payoff for them. The measures simply encourage people 10 move their dollars int other areas thai avoid taxes. The. Canadian oconomy ends up the big loser. When will government stop Sure, a decreas. in ;eS ellgibility today may seemn harmiess, but what's In* store tomorrow if aIl that govemments se.m iJnterested In lesto find ways la add 10 their coffers? Clear the way for the orosi8on of RRSPs and more taxes wilb. on the. way including ,Inheritance, capital gains and assets. The. ihetorlo will go somethlng lk. this: Inheritance ila unfairw to nonirecipients and there wllI havei ta b. some kind of*equallzationO ta prevent the *rich* from takIng advantage of the. umiddl, class. Increasing I, government equ aies that wiîch la profitable and susainable as somethlng, that is for the rich and in need of equalizatlon. Instead of nurturing personal responsiblîIty, seif-reliance and initiative, the government actually discourages such measuies by tearing everythlng down 10 its level. As we witness tii.continued erosion of aur wealth and savlngs and warry about our retirement, Mile others such as our retiîed Members 0f Parilament live in comfort ai our expense, we'Il know who they're talking about Moen they said the rich will pay. Opinions expressad are those of the author. The Whitby Free Press welcomes letiers to #we editor on any subject of conoem ta aour readers. Letters should be brief and to die Point - rarely moré than 300 words. Ail letters must b. accompanied by thie name. address and teleplione number of the writer. However, on request your name may be withheld from publication if we agies there is a vahid reason. The newspaper reserves the right to reject or edlt aIl letters. Send to: The Editor, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ont. LN 5S1, or drop through our mail slot at 131 Brock St. N. 1 1 To the edit or*** 1