The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, May 3, 1988 -- § by John Viewpoint B. McClelland MONEY WOES, BIG AND SMALL How ironic it was last week to hear NDP leader Bob Rae in the Lugisiatiie harping about the fact the Government allocated some 67 per cent of its capital budget for school construction to Separate Boards in Ontario. What did Mr. Rae expect? Bill 30 has given On- tario two fully funded education systems running side by side. The fact that Separate Boards now need capital funding to build and expand schools is the perfectly predictable and logical outcome of Bill 30. Did that fact escape him a couple of years ago? Maybe the Liberals did make some kind of promise that full funding would not be at the ex- pense of the public system. The simple fact is that this year, the need for capital dollars is in the fast-growing Separate Boards in most areas of Ontario. And the second simple fact it that there are not enough dollars in the kitty to satisfy everyone, even with that monstrous budget handed down two weeks ago. Mr. Rae should be astute enough ot know that Separate and public school boards are going to be bickering over money for many years to come in Ontario. He looked pretty silly in the Legislature last week championing the rights of the public school boards. | also thought treasurer Robert Nixon looked like a bit of a hypocrite when he re-issued his warn- ing to provincial hospitals that the Province is not going to bail them out if they over-spend their bud- gets. Here's a guy who had just brought down a bud- get that slaps taxes on all of us to increase its own spending by $3.1 BILLION, and he's got the gall to tell hospital boards to tighten their belts. Hospitals are just as strapped for operating cash as anyone else these days. Unlike the provincial government, they don't enjoy the luxury of simply raising taxes on incomes, goods and services. I'm not suggesting that hospitals get a blank cheque every year, but if Mr. Nixon wants them to tighten up, maybe he should have done the same with his own treasury. Frankly, | think Ontario is heading for financial disaster in the not too distant future. Government spending is rapidly fuelling the fires of inflation. The cost of everything is going up, and you can bet your last dollar the big unions are getting very edgy. They are going to be seeking some hefty settle- ments. Interest and mortgage rates are already showing signs of upward movement to "dampen the inflationary trends" and if that happens, look out. The writing is on the wall now. | pity those peo- [ie in the Toronto area who are mortgaged to the iit to buy those vastly over-priced new houses that have sprung up in the new "ghettos" along High- way 401. If interest rates move to 15-17 per cent, there will more for sale signs than dandelions on the newly sodded lawns. | read somewhere recently that the average worker in Canada must now toil from January to July just to pay all the taxes that are imposed on us at every level of government. Think about that when you punch the old time clock tomorrow morning. You can blame governments for imposing these taxes. But | think that's too easy. If you want to scratch a little deeper, we should really be blaming ourselves. 7 * For the past couple of decades, our expecta- tions and demands have far exceeded our ability to pay. Rather than save for what we want, we borrow to get it now, and there is no shortage of easy (but very costly) money around to meet our insatiable appetites. ' Governments have done the same thing. They Sjmply float bonds, and when that line of funds is stretched to the limit, they raise taxes. How can governments (read politicians) be ex- Poctod to say "no" to the demands of society for igger, better and more services, when society it- self is spending and borrowing at a reckless rate? You don't have to be an honours grad from the Harvard School fo Business to conclude that gov- ernments and consumers hand in hand have built a very fragile house of cards when ij comes to spend- ing and borrowing. One little puff of an ill wind can send it toppling to the ground, and it will take years, if ever, to opal the damage. Before that happens, a greedy society will have to lower its expectations, spend within its means, and reduce its own personal credit and debt. Maybe then governments will get the message and do the same thing. Unfortunately, Canadians have not yet had to differentiate between their personal needs and their wants. It is somewhat ironic that Canadians have a reputation in the world as being modest, fru- gal and cautious. Sadly, we are anything but when it comes to credit buying and borrowing. Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 2, 1918 Mr. Wm. Moles of Seagrave has purchased the Palmer proper- ty on the 8th concession, just west of the Yellow School House. Mr. A.J. Carnegie has accepted the management of Farmers Union Milling Co. In a letter written in England by Ted Jackson to his mother, he signed.....You loving son, Ted. Yours till we bomb Berlin. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 6, 1943 Port Perry District is leading in Ontario County in the Victor- ia Bond Drive. So far $126,850 of the $167,000. objective has been raised. Gnr. Merl Dowson, RCA, Mrs. Dowson and baby visted rela- tives in Port Perry before Merl returned tc Debert, Nova Scotia. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 7, 1953 Mr. Stuart Sweetman is changing a garage warehouse into a modern Imperial Service Station. Mr. John Raines, clerk/treasurer, reports that $97,000 of the present $125,000 debenture issue has already been taken up. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 8th 1958 Mr. Ray Birkett's delivery truck rolled down the steep grade at the Raglan Underpass and crashed into a bulldozer, causing exten- sive damage. Co Mr. M.B. Dymond last week vacated the post of Minister of Reform Institutions, and accepted the portfolio of Minister of Transportation. J.W. Lowry, Bell Telephone manager for this region an- nounced this week that the new dial exchange will open Sunday, July 6th. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 2, 1968 A carload of Greenbank ladies went to Fairview Lodge last Wednesday to help Mrs. L.. Tomilson celebrate her 90th birthday. Samuel Eyres and Herb Buckland, the two oldest war veterans attending the Old Bills' Night at the Port Perry legion, were among the head table guests. Mr. Buckland is a Bocr War veteran and Mr. Eyres joined the Royal Navy in 1901. Ray Mountjoy, Blackstock, completed his year at Waterloo on Saturday and commenced work with the Manufacturers Life in Toronto on Monday. Mr. and Mrs. Dan Madsen left by plane on Satuday evening for Portugal, Spain. They will be attending the IGA convention. (Turn to page 6) Letters Local Heart Fund is successful To The Editor On behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. may I take this opportunity in ex- tending my sincere appreciation to the volunteers and residents of Scugog Township for their time and generosity during our February campaign. Special thanks to Judy Smith, Campaign Chairman. A truly dedicated volunteer for the past six years, Judy has given numerous hours from her busy life to co-ordinate the campaign for the Township. Due to her tireless efforts, the campaign has Let's clean To The Editor: Thank you for taking the photo of 'Port Perry the Beautiful?" (April 26 issue). Its about time somebody focused some attention to this mess. As a worker in the Plaza, I see this every day. I believe the photo in question (the ditch) is Township property. Why can't this be maintained by the Township the same as clean up of the trash in the park? This particular stretch of ditch has never been looked after. In the summer the grass (weeds) are never cut. I have in the past often picked up trash & papers along with beer bottles that collect around our doorway. As far as containers go. whatever happened to the old ones. that were on Queen St. before it was beautified" If they are stored somewhere perhaps they could be placed around here and some of the slobs increased dramatically each year. In 1988,, $12,899 was raised in Scugog Township. My letter would not be complete without thanking Jean Sweetman, Port Perry. Jean works throughout the year as a volunteer working with the local funeral homes, receipting in- memoriam donations so generously given to the Founda- tion in memory of a loved one. We appreciate you Jean so very much. The Heart and Stroke Founda- tion of Ontario is a non profit voluntary organization dedicated that drop their trash will take the hint! Marie Hooey, Prov. Licence Office, Water Street, Port Perry. to raising funds to reduce death from heart disease and stroke. 87 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to research, supporting 160 research projects in all teaching hospitals in Ontario. Statistics now show that 47 per- cent of all deaths in Ontario last year were directly attributed to heart disease, claiming more than 32,000 of our fellow residents. With continued donationss, medical research and education, we can change these statistics. No other form of research has saved more lives than heart and stroke research. It is encouraging to see how dramatically the death rate has been reduced over the past 25 years, by 34 percent, saving 20,000 more lives throughout Canada each year which might otherwise have been lost. The Foundation is constantly needing volunteers throughout the year, if you have time to give if only a few hours per month, please call 571-1582. Yours sincerely, Margaret Crees, to the editor. Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newpspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous letter While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- ~ tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer.