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Page 6, Whitby Froo Press, Wednesday, March 23, 1994 >JJJT7 The only Newspaper owned and operated- by Whitby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F: ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY r ~ ACMMUNITY INEWSPAPER C+ N NEWSPAPER ASSOCATIONASSOCIATION E~I~uCANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X 26,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N, Whitby, Ontario Il N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% 0% recycîed content usîing vegqtable based inks. u (0 Ail 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 niewspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright aw. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit lîne to the Witby Free Press. By Daufmmon Whto Durham Contre MPP It's an oid chestnut that there's nothing so certain as "eah and taxes. That association Is nowhere more appropriate than. with cigarette taxes. Every year, 13.000 people die due ta tobaoco-induced ilness in Ontario. il 35 ta 40 people were ta die in a road accident, it would be considered a disaster of international proportions. Vet, every day, 35 ta 40 people die due to tobacco produts right here in Ontario. Toba=c manufacturers who are principally beneftted from the recent tax decrease are located in Quebec. The Quebec government was pressng for a reduction and nsed the political boost ta win their next provincial election. Locally, 1 know that two federal MPs opposed t heir own government's action. They didn't think that i was in Onta rio's best ntrests. We have grown used to the wasts of lives and resources caused by the tobacco industry. We ail know thae smoking kilis and that it costs somne $17.9 billion every year. Stili, we go on smoking and avoid the consequences. While ï do not support sucli unfair taxation as' tobacco taxes, I vehementiy and far more strongly oppose the unnecessary deaths and debilitating ilnesses that are caused by.the use of tobacco producte. In this instance, we are taxing a dying industry. OnIy iwiith tobacco taxes could I justify such an unfair tax. This is one tax reduction that 1 cannot easily support -- not while the heaith of Canadians is at risk. Lowering the taxes on cigarettes has some severe consequences. Firstîy, it wiIl make cigarettes affordabis for youth who are at risk of starting to smoke (il is in adolescence that most of us start, not in our twentiss or thirties). Thus more and more lives will be threatened., lnstead of a smoke-free generation, more teéens wiIl be condemning themselves to early and unnecsssary deaths. Incorrect headline in last week's edition, there was the headiine 'Zero increase wan- ted' for a letter about the Down- town B3usiness improvement Area budget.' The headiine should have been -Zero budget wanted,' since the wrter of the iepr was suggesting there there be rno budget for t he DB IA. The Free Press wishes ta apo- logize for the error and any con- fusion which may have resulted. WMAS%45Am a-#sAui'I cARE M#oSpirA&. CJ4MIGED Yb A RE<,DOfAL RIMOIASîMTTN IRlEKLAIuY I ... and more taxes To the Editor: Re: School tax may go up 3.3 r rcetor $42 for the average Each Canadian citizen py taxes on four separateleveIsI, federai, provincial, municipal and education, each an authorty unto its own riglit, and each with the power ta seize and soli the property and assets of any Individuai who, for some reason or other, does not or cannot pay the demanded taxes. For these taxes, we are assured, ad nauseam, that we wil have botter governiment, botter social servics, botter health benefits, better education, more employmsnt. For j ust a wreasonable, increase in the arnount taxed Iast year, ail this will be assured. One wonders when Canadians will wake up and recognize this for what K really is, promises that are empty, with no substance. Thers ss not and nover wiIl b. any intention to fulfill themn, whether made by a politician, bureaucrat or school trustes. I amn shocked and angered by the arrogance of the Durham Board of Education in their oblivion to the sconomic conditions that prevail today. The board apparsntly believes a taxpayer can continue to provide endless funds to the incessant demands of al four authorities. Sucli arrogance reminds one of the conditions that prevailed prior to the Frenchi and Russian revolutions. I telephoned Patty Bowman, chair of the Durharn Board of Education, and was informed that the school taxes were being held at the 1992 level of $381 million, and thal the student enrolment for Durham Reg ion was 50,000 students. Simple arithmetic tells us that, based on these figures, each student costs $6,620 per annum to educate, and assuming that a class consists of 30 students, then it costs the taxpayer $198600 per class per aiinum. This, of course, does not address the tact that the Durham Board of Education requires a 3.3 per cent increase to keep the taxes ct the 1992 level. I have also observed that these days, schools must apparently be huge magnificent buildings, filled with expensive computers and state- of-the-art equipment. However, the quality of the education does flot seem to have improved proportionately, as 1 have notlced many examples of graduates who appear unable to write properly or do math without the use of a calculator. As a senior, 1 arn welI aware that our numbers are increasing anid that our abllity to support such excesses of government and edu- cation infrastructures is severely imited by our inability to increase Our Income. Is it too mucli to sxpect our UbiIC servants ta understand this arfact of itfe? Are we to b. impoverished f they do not? I have worked hard ail my Iff e to rais. a farnily, provide them with a godeduc! on, establlsh and own a hom ndptsome rmoney aside for retirement. 1 rosent this continued erosion of my ability to support and provide for myseif and My Mie. I have paid school taxes before I lied a family, while I raised a family and for many years atter my farnily reached aduft hood. I do not know how many childrsn my taxes have educated, but it is certainly more than the two my wife and I brouglit into the world. At this time the federai governiment is examining ways to replace the hated goods and services tax, the key word being replace, not eliminate. The beief appears ta b. that if a tax is hscden, it will flot b. noticed and will have no eff ect on a person's disposable income and, cons.- quently, wilI not cause consumer backlash or ang or. In other words, the consumer- tax payer-cit izen- voter is st upid and does not understand What goes on in public service, or the costs thereof. It is paintully obvious that the four taxing authorities are unable or unwilling to understand that there are just too many taxes, period. It does not matter whether they are hidden or visible. It is long past the time when public spending can b. strictly controlled, and that public servants b. made accounitable. But it is not yet toc late ta change the status quo. 1 would suggest that control be estabiished by a committee of ordinary citizens who have no political ties, perhaps by senior citizens whose famnily units have survived wthout deficit budgeting, and who would have the power to recall and replace abusers of the public tri jst. W. have surpassed the limit of taxes which can b. tolerated by the taxpayer. Spending must b. curtailed and public servants rnust be more efficient and more responsible with the f unds that taxpayers have entrustsd to them. Rob Burgess Whltby Ch iroprlacic treatment, p hilosophy su pportAedC To the Editor: Re: 'Chiropractic should be f uIly insured under OHIP: Manga,' The Free Press, Feb. 23. Your article was informative and timely. considering the recently commissioned and funded Manga report. I have received chiropractic cars for the treatment of migraine headaches and Iow back pain. The treatment lias not onîy been effective but t h las been a natural and conservative kind of heaith care without the use of drugs. Chiropractors empliasize the imorance of good health habits andencourage patients to take responsibiîity for their own welîness. i like this phlosophy. S. Chandler Whltby Atendance good for World Day,.v To the Editor: Thank you for publicizing the World Day of Pray er which was held at HoIy Family Roman Catholic Churcli recentIy. With the heIp of the Whitby Free Press, approximateiy 60 to 70 people of different denomina- t ions attended each service. Mrs. N. Belîissîrno Catholic Women's League of Canada Communications and public relations convener To the*editor...