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THE HERALD Wednesday October 1989 Page LETTERS- GST should be five per cent THIRTY YEARS AGO The Business and Professional Club handed Betty Avery a scholarship She was given the business and pro fessional scholarship on the recommendation of Miss Florence Luke and Mr J Lambert Also Mrs W Gwizdala was appointed as alternative delegate to attend the provincial Conference in North Bay The delegate Mrs Win Wallace is unable to attend Four North Halton Golf and Country Club members are a whirlwind tour of some of the better golf courses in Canada and the United States Dan Rand Stu Young Harv Chappel and John Kerby went on a six day tour to courses in Buffalo Syracuse Cooperstown Lachute Quebec Ottawa and Peter borough FIFTEEN YEARS AGO Special safety citations were awarded to the Town of Halton Hills Councillor Garnet McKen- rie and OPP safety officer Larry Scott at the Hamilton Automobile Clubs Annual Safety Banquet For four years of fatality free pedestrian accidents Georgetown received a special citation Julia was named Miss School Safety for Acton and the Georgetown title went to Dave Thomas and his wife Shirley became richer thanks to a third place finisher in the Irish Sweeps Cambridgeshire handicapped run TEN YEARS AGO Frank and Olive of Georgetown marked their 50th wedding anniversary with a gathering in Hillcrest United Church they were married on Oct 1929 Halton Burlington MPP Julian Reed presented the couple with a scroll on behalf of the province and Mayor Pete made a presentation on behalf of the town of Halton Weaver Norman Bourassa Davine Barber and Mary Lamon are the members of the Faith in Halton Hills spoke with representatives on the local provincial and federal levels of government on the persecution of the Bahai com in Iran Their discussions led to government intervention that stopped the destruction of a house in Iran the hold sacred The Meteor team became intercity soccer champions when they won the final game in a shoot out against the Guelph Crusaders FIVE YEARS AGO Sergeant Ted Waller was pro moted to staff sergeant and transferred to division Georgetown and Acton to the duties of platoon com mander He started his career in 1964 as a civilian clerk became a uniformed policeman three years later and gradually worked his to his new position Constable Ron Welsh has been promoted to sergeant with the regional police forces Criminal Investigation Bureau He worked the regional bureau investigating a wide number of crimes before receiving his pro motion Amateur performers Jeannie Johnston Amanda Deforest and Park Public School teacher Louise Hurley and of his students were only some of the people celebrating the third an of the Halton Hills Cultural Centre Hushing pleas for VIA The latest move by the federal government to act without con suiting Canadians begs the tion where is the democracy VIA Rail cuts are scheduled to be announced today Reports say that Such cuts could mean a loss of 3 jobs and a los of the oldest public transportation service in the coun try a service that bound Canada from coast to coast the early days Last week when the House of Commons met after summer recess Benoit Bouchard Minister of Transport was on the hot seat Mr Bouchard said in broken English that he refused to com ment on VIA rail cuts that had not been officially announced He was attacked by a barrage of questions and accusations Nova Scotia sources say will be one of the pro vinces hardest hit by rail cuts Some towns in western Canada will be virtually inaccessible MPs said last week Amtrak the American rail system that con with VIA could take over some of the Canadian systems routes Sentimental reasoning aside some current reports say the VTA rail cuts will mean less choice for Canadians in how they travel and higher prices for airlines and bus services Canadians recently faced price increases in air fare when Wardair was purchased by Canadian More increases would make it likely that travelling inside the country would be much more costly than going to Florida or even Cuba To stabilize our economy the federal Tories under Brian Mulroney are cutting a service many Canadians still want Mr Bouchard refused to meet with over 20 mayors from municipalities across Canada last week Mayor Hazel McCallion of respected for her unrestrained opinions said this country is being run like a com mumst government when Cana dians can have no input into the system The transport minister said in parliament that he met with mayors in the summer At that time he heard their opinions he said But apparently Mr Bouchard didnt hear the opinions of many local politicians including those in Region Regional coun cillors voted recently to support a motion asking for public meetings to make the feds accountable to the public before cuts were made to VIA rail Acton Councillor Rick has certainly grown tired of for VIA over the past while Canadians have been struggling with an identity crisis for a number of years 122 years to be exact And now something that has meant an identity for Canadians is going to get the axe without public con sulfation And MPs are shouting and be ing ignored by Benoit Bouchard in Canadas House of Commons EDITORS NOTE This letter written to HaltonPeel MP Garth Turner was Hied with the Herald for publication Dear Mr Turner Re Goods and Services Tax First I want to congratulate you on the Taxpayers Guide to the Proposed Tax It certainly cleared up a lot of questions that I had con ceming this proposed tax and why it was introduced in the first place Second I think that the Conser vatives have done a much better job of reining in spending when compared to the Liberals However I see a precedent being sent by attemp ting to reduce the deficit by in creasing the tax base further Lower taxes and free market forces are the major reasons for the worldwide increase in growth rates However by choosing higher taxes we are collectively choosing a lower growth rate In the short run the increased revenue will make it appear that the fiscal battle is being won But as the economy slows and the revenue take decreases the budget deficit will agin increase Canadian residents both private and corporate are already burden ed with far higher tax rates than those in most other industrialized nations So what would I During an economic expansion of the magnitude that has occured in Canada it still amazes me that all the additional revenue has made little impact in getting the overall deficit down The solution it seems to me is not increasing revenues but decreasing expenses One the key promises that Prime Minister Mulroney made which helped him to win the election was to cut the size of the federal civil service which along with taxes is also considerably larger than in most other nations From what youve indicated in your booklet the proposed new GST will require a whole new bureaucracy to administexwith no reductions elsewhere In addition because of the complexity of the new tax additional administration will also be required on the part of business In conclusion I suggest that the following taken Eliminate the manufacturing sales tax and replace it with a fairer goods and services tax at a rate of no more than per cent 2 Eliminate all exemptions so that everyone is treated equally 3 Reduce the size of the federal civil service thereby reducing ex Sincerely Victor Estevan Terry Fox run Letter took raised 26000 the long way T ToTheEditor Dear Sir On Sunday Sept 17 the Ninth Annual Terry Fox Run was held in Acton at the High School track where volunteers and participants gathered to raise over 26000 for Cancer Research This total was achieved with the help and dedication of so many people and we would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to them Thanks to Acton IGA Freezer Frenzy and Al and Als Meats for donating supplies for our food booth Thanks to McDonalds for providing juice and containers and to Acton Home Hardware Jack Tanners Table Hardware Hearth House Toronto Blue Jays Gord McCutcheon Vitos Fruit Market and mans MiniGolf for donating draw prizes Thanks to Harold Townsley for providing his V and to Bud Kentner for transferring VCR tapes for use in the schools Thanks to Centre and Tyler Transport for the use of their road side signs and to all residents who showed their support with lawn signs We would especially like to ex press our gratitude to Rick Glugosh and the staff of Jack Tan ners Table for donating and hosting the beautiful luncheon dur ing the visit to Acton by Betty Fox and to Blue Springs Flower Shop for providing And last but not least our sincere thanks to all the volunteers who helped throughout the day to all who participated in the run and to the many people who sponsored participants The outstanding pledge totals are a direct result of the above mentioned people and their con tinued support and dedication to Terry dream Thanks again Ac The Acton Terry Fox Run Committee George McPhail Jan Penlck Nan Hurst Jenny Murr Jon Hurst ToTheEditor With all the jokes and complaints concerning the post offices alow service I have one to include Last week I mailed a letter neatly typed to Concord Ontario It was returned because they ed I happened to notice the post mark It showed my letter was stamped Edmonton Alberta Tell me does all our mail go across four provinces before we receive it Just curious Sincerely Margaret Chiasson Acton Ont Thank You from ProLife To The Editor Readers and Area Residents who attended the Georgetown Fall Fair North Halton ProLife says Thank you for the dlng manner the questions and suggestions with respect to our booths display North Halton Tony Smyth Vice President Airing those travel complaints I was feet or so above Medicine Hat the other day when it struck me one dismal philosophical truths It is impossible both to love humankind and to travel by airplane You do one or the other If you have any sense you stay on the ground and practise loving your neighbor If youre rash and foolish you climb aboard an air borne cigartube and quickly learn to loathe the poor guy sitting beside you As I may have mentioned flying and I dont particularly agree with each other I tend to take the tradi tionalists view if God had meant us to fly Hed have created more As such I was a pretty gloomy mood for a good week before ing a crosscountry flight And then when I actually climbed aboard Well you know the scenario You arrive early at the airport so as- to get an aisle seat Theres no point in getting a window seat of course You end up scrunched in a comer and the only conceivable advantage is that you may get to be the first one to notice that the starboard engine is falling off No you seat yourself on the ai sle so you can stretch your legs out This way youll arrive with your legs in good shape or at the very least in much better shape than your feet which the stewardess will keep running over with the drinkstrolley That s when the fellow with the middle seat arrives Your heart sinks He is smiling pleasantly But he is large He wedges himself down in his seat sighing happily And then he does the unforgivable he hogs the whole armrest with his elbow Now its possible that you are such an absurdly good hearted person that you can tolerate this sort of intrusion into your personal seat space without descending into black fury But I doubt it At such times one thought is foremost in your mind you paid several hundred bucks for your half of that armrest And you re a gonna have your half of that ar mrest You place your elbow against his and press firmly He smiles You press harder He beams assuming youre just being friend Temporarily defeated you withdraw silently fuming and harboring malicious hopes that he had to pay full fare and that his wife will forget to pick him up at the airport Some while later the meal ar rives You peer underneath a small and wilted piece of lettuce and there it is your steak At this point you learn an even more terrible truth about the wretcH on your left Not only does he steal any armrest he can lay his grubby great elbow on he holds his fork in his right hand Naturally you hold your fork in your left hand as your mother taught you to do Which leaves you with two options You can shamefully capitualte and switch your fork to the other hand Or you can stand on pie and endure a semes of colli sions which will deposit most of the meal in your lap Once the meal is over there just one course of action You com drinking heavily while thinking truly dire thoughts about the man on your left You gloatingly wish that the airline has already shipped his bags to Poland That hisNconnec ting flight has already and that legions of travel agents are working In concert to foul up This hotel reservations Four beers later of courseyou have to go to the washroom And thats when you discover that your fellow human beings have stooped to truly appalling depths There are scurvy villains lined up ahead of you all smiling benignly and all ignoring the fact that they have no right to be there in the first place They did not consume four beer in a row They have absolutely no excuse for going to that washroom Theyre doing it out of sheer spite And finally hopping cross legged in taht aisle you begin to realize Well you begin to realize why the federal cabinet is plotting to dismantle VIA rail Theyre not doing it to save money No theyre people who have spent too much time on airplanes And now they just hate everyone