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THE WEEKEND OUTLOOK Friday March 1991 Page 11 Peoples Forum Writer is demanding governmental insurance review Dear Editor A case for Governmental Automotive Insurance review The insurance industry talks of to per cent increases My wife and I had our premium in crease nearly per cent after Allstate Insurance cancelled our standard policy Reason given Too many claims Catch Insurers keep records for six years and insist that they be notified of every dent or your policy may be cancelled Our experience sug gests if you do notify the insurer the policy will be cancelled We appealed to the Insurance Bureau of Canada the Ontario Superintendent of Insurance even to President We were told the cancellation was order Is Allstate different from other insurers I dont know but pro bably not We were honest with our insurers and notified them of everything from a biggie where we were at fault wind shield breakage even of a park lot incident where not a cent was paid out Every one was recorded Our biggie total was under 3 The six year grand total paid out was about while for two vehicles we paid well over in premiums Honesty and the resultant cancellation earned us an en trance to the high risk category where this one years premium is more than the total amount paid out in six years We have no tickets at all but other in surers now look at the com record and refuse us a standard policy Even with no more claims that will continue for several years The N P government has promised changes I want to give them incentive to seriously review industry practices I know many others have received similar treatment and I believe it to be unfair This in is very powerful one man can not change it I am appealing to your readers for help Does any reader have an auto in horror story to tell or want to voice an objection of their own or just want to add their name to the list to demand changes I will take anything you wish to the government I need your help Please write tome Ron Martin P O Box Bolton Ontario 5T5 Thank you Ron Martin Bolton Ont Congratulations Laurie Editors note The following letter was released to the Hills Herald for publication Dear Laurie Bums Congratulations Finally so is telling it like it is Not the frequently mouthed lies and half truths of the sugar moguls While I can appreciate an in fighting for survival one must keep foremost in mind that food is meant to nourish and not destroy Incidentally a healthy replace ment for sugar on the special oc casion is Sucanet This is 100 dried organic granulated sugar cane juice what sugar was long ago I expect before they started tampering with it It is expensive and one may but it at a health food store no I dont have any connection other than being a long time shopper as a health conscious housewife Thankyou for a good article and may we look forward to more of the same calibre Yours truly Angela DeSylva Georgetown High School reunion GST infuriates women Dear Editor All former students of Englehart High School are in vited to Come On Home for the Englehart High School Reunion August 1st through August 1991 Are you planning your sum vacation or weekend away in Make plans now to Come On Home To EHS Dont delay call or write for more in formation today Were looking forward to getting everyone together again You can also help out by spreading the word to any friends or relatives or by sen ding us their name and address Please call or for more in formation to register or to receive the current EHS Reu nion Newletter See you August 15 1991 Contact Shirley Secretary Englehart High School Reunion Committee P O Box Englehart Ontario POJ 1HO 70554447479 Dear Editor We are now entering the third month of the GST and most Canadians have become resigned to it recognizing at the same time that regardless of the party in power after the next federal election the GST is here to stay Canadians were told that basic needs such as groceries would not be subject to this tax Amaz ingly one can purchase a frozen pizza or a cake and these items are not taxed as they are con sidered groceries However the purchase of feminine sanitary products such as tampons or napkins are GST taxable This is infuriating to women Although this is a sensitive subject through our recent contact with the public we have found that people are very angry about it and although most do not choose to become vocal they will cer express their disgust by signing our petition We have col lected almost signatures asking the federal government to make these products exempt Support for our effort has been extremely strong Hopefully with the aid of your readers others will join us by culating petitions in the farthest reaches of Canada Should you like to help please send your name address and phone number and we will send you a copy of the petition Your help will be greatly appreciated How often have you thought to yourself Someone should do something about this This is an opportunity to be that someone Every signature counts Sincerely Jacqueline Burnett and Sheridan Glenn Sarnia Ontario Write us a letter The Herald wants to hear from you If you have an opinion you want to express or a com ment to make send us a letter or drop by the office Our address is Guelph Street Georgetown Ontario 3Z6 All letters must be signed Please include your address and telephone number for verification The Herald reserves the right to edit letters due to space limitations Opinion Beware a smiling Finance Minister On AWA Michael Wilson seems to be smiling a lot more recently Purely from an aesthetic point of view we should be pleased the finance minister is happy His grin is much more charming than his serious aspect But why is he smiling Because he sees an improved economy and a reduced deficit on the way Or because the rumors of a cabinet shuffle are true and a weight is gone with the delivery of his last and most difficult budget Even as the pall of another set of ugly economic indicators settl over Canada this week Wilson found reason to be optimistic Remember the adage about the optimist seeing the doughnut and the pessimist seeing the hole Perhaps one of the reasons for Mr Wilsons cheery outlook lies in his fiveyear predictions for the federal deficit When interest rates last year they blew Wilsons 1990 deficit forecasts out of the water His projected shortfall between revenues and spending for the fiscal year ending March 31 was pushed up to billion from 5 billion Higher interest rates an inflation fighting weapon crafted by Wilsons sidekick Governor John Crow of the Bank of Canada also wrecked the finance ministers deficit projections for the next three years It s estimated a one percentagepoint increase in in terest rates costs Ottawa 75 billion Likewise a similar decrease saves that amount In his 1990 budget Wilson had hoped his deficit for the coming fiscal year was going to be billion Now he expects it will also come in at about 5 billion GLOOMIER PREDICTIONS For the finance minister that s relatively good news Some Ottawa Bureau by Vic Parsons Thomson News Service economists argued Ottawa was facing a loss as high as billion in the coming fiscal year Wilson is holding the line of course by laying about with a meat cleaver The provinces are cut back here the federal public service flattened there and overall spending trimmed back nearly everywhere else He also had some good for tune The last set of tary spending estimates for the current year show Ottawa is lopp ing about billion from allowable spending which was previously set al billion One of the big savings here is a windfall of million in lower debt servicing costs arising from tumbling interest rates Other factors are cuts in health and education payments to the pro vinces which tally over 1 billion Wilson is also helped by the sudden end of the Persian War He had budgeted million for the hostilities in Now Treasury Board President says what isn t needed of that ex traordinary expenditure will be turned over for deficit reduction Finally there are a lot of hints that the goods and services tax will take more out of taxpayer hides than previously an ticipated The net here will go towards deficit reduction With these recent gains Wilson seems able to at his blown predictions with serenity So what if last years deficit estimate for 1992 93 was billion and now its up to billion Who cares if the 199394 shortfall a year ago set at billion is now expected to come in at billion HAPPIER TIMES Wilson can look happily ahead to his prediction holding firm at a mere 10 billion and then on to when he sees it at 5 billion which would be the lowest in 20 years A word of caution Wilsons deficit estimates very much de pend upon Ottawa holding tight to a five year spending regime that the finance minister wants to en shrine in law If Wilson gets his wish federal spending other than debt reductions would be held to 8 billion in the 1991 92 fiscal year to a maximum of 6 billion in History suggests the success of these kinds of limits is not When Ronald Reagan assum ed the American presidency he promised balanced budgets by the mid 1980s then ran up the largest deficits in history Budgetary targets set by the American Gramm legislation havent been met yet Some worry that if targets are missed finance ministers wont hesitate to turn to the GST as a source of extra cash Wilson pro mised last year thered not be any hike in the sevenper cent rate in the life of this govern ment But this government has a maximum of two more years to go and who knows what furrow ed brow will have replaced Wilsons happy face by then win lose DREW EXCUSE ME mm MINORITIES