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THE HERALD Wednesday March 1991- Page 11 Opinion Region and Town budgets toe the line Local residents should have nt reason to complain about the 1991 Regional and Town of Halton Hills budget increases since both only reflect the rate of inflation More important however council at each level did they promised the publics biggest com plaints about politicians at all levels of government is their fre quent failure to keep promises especially when it comes to finan cial matters Well the opposite is true this time around Both Regional and Town coun cils made declarations last Fall that anything less than a five to six per cent budget increase for this year would be unacceptable They based their declarrtions on the many letters they received from the public expressing opinion people cant afford yearly tax increases of nine or 11 per cent Feeling the publics wrath which just happens to have peak ed during an election year the municipal elections happen this November Regional council ap proved an average per cent increase while Town councillors approved a 5 per cent increase Comparatively the inflation rate is now running at slightly more than six per cent To arrive at the relatively low increase each council was prevented from adding to ex isting services and in some cases was forced to make cutbacks Theoretically people have no problem with this philosophy In fact they promote it Govern merits like a typical family must only fund what they can af ford This is a common idea Bens by Ben Dummett shared by a lot of the public The only problem is if a family cuts back its spending only a few people are affected but when government acts the same way large portions of a community are affected a realization people only come to grips with when it hits them directly At that time a lot of people forget the credo that government should handle their finances like individuals do and they condemn the government But if people want govern ments to take their needs serious ly which is the case of the 1991 budget increase Regional and Town levels have accomplished people must also be willing to ac cept the repercussions As part of the obligation people must also realize the repercussions may not only exist in the short run but also in the long run For instance Town council re jected a proposal to hire two paid firefighters to help keep the 1991 increase to a minimum Hills Fire Chief Bill Cunningham said the salaried firefighters will be needed in the future but arent essential now Logically council cut the ex pense from the 1991 budget However as time passes and the need for paid firefighters becomes essential council could And itself forced to hire several in one year An expense like this could force a budget increase down the road much higher than if council had phased in the ex pense People must realize the Town is limited to how much it can run its finances like that of the typical family When it comes to the issue of fire safety and the like factors other than money should take a higher priority But for now the public should applaud both councils for keeping their respective budget promises Experts did not predict the GST jolt By VIC PARSONS Ottawa Bureau Thomson News Service OTTAWA When even the ex perts are stunned how are the rest of us supposed to feel The unprecedented surge in consumer prices m January caught nearly everyone off guard By a large margin the in January from December was the biggest monthtomonth increase ever reported by Statistics Canada About threefifths of that crease was accounted for by taxes primarily the shiny new goods and services tax that on Jan dropped on consumers like a ton of bricks Much of the rest was accounted for by higher fresh fruit and vegetable prices because of bad weather in the southern United States Economists knew the GST hit was coming and anticipated a sudden climb in the consumer price index but no one seems to have predicted such a severe jolt When StatsCan surveyed a group of 23 economists in January for their estimates of price index changes the guesses ranged from to per cent between January 1990 and January The average was 6 per cent But the actual numbers show have jumped by 6 8 per cent over the months the largest yearoveryear rise since March 1983 Why is this a surprise The GST after all is a seven percent tax True but economists ex that prices of many goods notably manufactured products would fall because of the replace ment of the old federal sales tax by the GST LOWERED PRICES They also believed that the recession and consumer resistance to buying would force retail businesses to eat some of the new tax by lowering prices Apparently this did not happen as much as was anticipated Some pundits felt that even the prediction by Finance Minister Michael Wilson of a 1 25percent rise in prices due to the GST was overly pessimistic StatsCan however found the Ottawa Bureau by Vic Parsons Thomson Newt Sendee attributable to the GST was 14 per cent exceeding Wilsons estimate Another per cent bnnging the total tax induced price hike to 16 per cent resulted from Quebecs har monization of its provincial sales tax with the GST and increases in gas taxes drivers licences and vehicle registration fees Art Ridgeway chief of StatsCans consumer price sec tton says the gap between Wilsons prediction and the federal agency actual figures is not as large as it might seem Wilsons figure was based on in formation that was a year and a- old he says while StatsCan had the advantage of more recent data Given that the results are relatively close On the other hand not all price hikes arising from the GST have gone through yet The federal agency noted for instance that new house pnces were not includ in the January index and wilt be reported in Februarys figures ANOTHER HIT Moreover Saskatchewan which recently became the se cond province to agree to monize with the GST will apply its provincial tax to all federally taxed goods in Apnl and services next January This harmony means prices will be hit later this year in Saskatchewan and whichever other provinces follow suit Perhaps a general indicator of how have risen more than expected can be found in StatsCan s consumer pnces against the list put out last fall by the GST consumer information office CIO Caution is required because the CIO reports just those changes anticipated from the GST while StatsCans figures are affected by all causes including annual sticker pnee changes But it may be significant that in near- ly every case prices have risen more than the CIO predicted Exceptions are clothing and travel accommodation previous ly untaxed at the federal level Both the CIO and StatsCan report a 6 lper cent increase for clothing while hotel rooms ac tually rose by 6 per cent when the CIO prediction was 5 2 But look at these numbers with the actual in creases first and the CIO predic tion in brackets Restaurant food 7 2 per cent furniture decline of IB electricity 10 6 66 reading materials 92 5 taxis 81 8 drinks served in bars 7 3 ap pliances decline of one per cent All the evidence suggests the GSTs inflationary impact has been greatly underestimated GORI Abortion not just a womans issue Dear Editor Thank you again for publishing the rather long let ters from Joan Davison and myself on womens issues One point has already been clanfied while we seem to basically agree on womens issues as presented we disagree on the question of abortion Abortion is not only a womens issue I believe that the male fathers are just as responsi ble for procreation whether the baby is earned to term or aborted and mostly responsible for the easy sex attitude which causes unwanted pregnancies They are often the very ones who propose abortion to their part ners as an easy way out Often they do so to avoid their own responsibilities Abortion on de mand is also an issue that touches all of society However silent the media is on the subject the number of human beings male and female who died by abortion in the 1st year in Canada alone is greater as far as we know to day than all the people killed in the Gulf war What a disaster for our nation to be in a continuous warl A green bloody war fought with weapons that kill peo ple with no apparent damage to the environment but with a pro found effect on families and society Joan mentions women trapped into becoming baby factones rape ignorance and unwanted pregnancies Why are Hats off to youth Dear Sir In a recent Youth Forum tn the Herald you asked what would you do if you ruled the world Congratulations Park School Marcy Hallett Jeff and Michelle Wiener we need you and give thanks for your wise words on answenng this forum Marcy Hallett grade 5 would make peace on earth I would get of the war makers the tanks and nuclear bombs Jeff Boyce grade I would protect the animals Michelle Wiener grade 3 I would clean up the world and stop pollution Id make everyone compost and recycle Is anyone listening to the children These words should be required reading for all politi cians The awakening of interest is the most crucial and most elusive aspect of education If the industry does not create peo ple who are interested in the world about them dunng one single life then education has failed Obviously not at Park School Yea Park School and the parents of those feisty class young Canadians Sincerely Dr Ball Georgetown all these problems appearing in the hundreds of thousands after about twenty years of sex educa tion womens liberation pro liferation and availability of con doms government subsidized programs sexual explicitness in the media and to abortion I can see only two answers either 1 all thee solutions are in part causing an increase of the problems and thus of unwanted pregnancies or 2 increased abortions are due to a conscious decision to change the law of the land In the second case the above problems appear to be used individually and collectively as a justifica for our changed attitude If these problems indeed do ex ist in large numbers why not to attack the root of the problem with financial help moral help and laws to aid and protect women from being trapped in such situations Why not to in crease at the same time pro grams and services such as crisis pregnancy centers to allow pregnant women to remove themselves from desperate abusive situations and hate tionships It is interesting that Joan I assume by mistake calls fetus a person who grew up resulting from an unwanted pregnancy She asks whether it is better to abort it or to let it grow up in poverty abuse hatred and despair I suggest that she con duct a simple poll find some of the poor desperate abused and hated and ask them Perhaps they will tell her that they wish the abuse and the hate would stop but they consider their right to life a matter of fact I know she would not propose the same solution e extermination to the problems of famine or pover ty in Mexico or Ethiopia Yes the intends to be very active in stamping out all the other pro blems but the cry of the unborn torn apart alive in the mothers womb is in our opinion louder than the cry of the poor Joan concludes her letter with some criticism of the religions The is based on JudeoChnstian principles remember even the NDP was once based on the same Although various Christian religions differ in doc trine liturgy and other serious matters the fundamental prin ciples are common well known and generally understood Many of course do not espouse any such system of rules of moral conduct but tend to create the rules to fit their own behaviour I would refer her to a pastor or so meone who may better than me dialogue on the subject and show her the merits of Christianity with respect to other religions sects or say the New Age move ment Sincerely Giuseppe Gori Acton Dogs must be controlled Dear Sir Im in response to the article about Mr George Binders dog that was shot Its sad but why should we feel for him What right does he have to allow his dogs off his property to roam where they please What if everyone did if He has property for them to run in why do they have to go where they might frighten someone who doesnt know they are Does he own the conservation area too I used to live in the country I had a big dog and I trained him not to go off the property and he never did I had neighbors who felt their dog had a right to run and it would come and do Its doo- on my garden People seem to think they can do as they please The owners should be charged Halton Township needs more dog cat chers I live in Town now and I go to walk my small dog and nearly every time I do Ive got some big dog to face Makes me sick Maybe we wouldnt have this pro blem if owners take care of their pets and be responsible for a change Otherwise dont have any Look after it or lose it Andrea Georgetown