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l Wednesday, May 12, 2004 Orono Weekly Times - 5 .. !'•! •" ll • . •• *• r« fh. Orono Town Hall Garden restoration work crew accomplished a lot in a rtdrt time, Plcutred from left to right are Robbie Robinson, Sebold Wesselius, Jeanro Burnside, Ann Dresllnskl, Jim McAlister, John Slater, Sonny Young and Paul Jones. Staying in Touch MPP John O'Toole Online petition against higher taxes & user fees Dalton, keep your promise. This is the message in an online petition you can sign at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation web site at www.taxpayer.ca . The petition petition states, in part, that: "We, the undersigned taxpayers, taxpayers, call on the government of Ontario to keep its election promise not to raise taxes without consultation, not run deficits, and uphold the Taxpayers' Protection and Balanced Budget Act." The provincial government government recently promised not to extend the Provincial Sales Tax to cover meals less than $4. However, the government government is not ruling out increasing user fees and has come up with new ideas such as a tax on lottery winnings. With the provincial government government introducing its budget May 18th, it's important important to speak out now in opposition to more taxes or higher user fees. I am also circulating a petition against higher taxes and higher user fees for presentation in the House. It's available at our Constituency Office located at 75 King St. E., Bowman- ville. Family farms exempt from land transfer tax The Province of Ontario has announced an exemption to the land transfer tax for farms that change ownership between members of the same family. Typically, this would occur when ownership of a farm is passed on to a new generation. The tax ranges from 0.5 to 2 per cent, depending on the value of the property. Eliminating this tax will help build stronger rural communities and encourage future generations to stay involved in the.family farm. More detailed information information is available at the Ministry of Finance website located at: www.trd.fin.gov.- on.ca. I've been supporting this initiative for sometime on the advice of many farm families families in my riding. Immunization Bill introduced in House My colleague, Elizabeth Witmer, MPP for Kitchener- Waterloo, has introduced a Private Member's Bill to extend immunization coverage coverage under OHIP. Bill 57, if passed, would provide OHIP coverage for immunizations against chicken pox, pneumococcal pneumococcal and meningococcal disease. Although the vaccines vaccines will be universally accessible under the Bill, parents parents would be given the choice to decide whether they want their children immunized. immunized. Last week, during national Immunization Awareness Awareness Week, the bill received second reading, with approval from all parties in the House. Children in some other provinces already receive these vaccinations at no cost to their parents. The same policy policy should be in place across Ontario and across Canada. Ontario commemorates 60th Anniversary of D-Day The provincial government has launched a new web site that will help communities commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy this June. The web site pays tribute to the allied forces that stormed the Normandy beaches June 6th. Canada's contribution to the battle included 14,000 O'TOOLE see page 6 Arnaeiu J Optical HOURS: . Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Wednesday & Friday 9:30 a.m. - 8.00 p.m. Saturday 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. MAY SPECIALS FREE plastic single Vision lenses with frame purchase OR $50 OFF Easyctip magnetic frames OR $50 OFF Invisible progressive lenses* KIDS come see our Barbie and SpongeBob Square Pants Eyeware! OSHAWA TAUNTON I HAM IT. PARK ST. i'- ■OWMAMVM-LB J 6 Park Street, Orono 905-983-5002 Orono suDscriotion