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Page'6 — Halton Hills This Week, Saturday, October 2, 1993 pinion ig [HIS WEEN Hal . Georgetown, Ont L7G 481, Web Printing PUBLISHER: Ken Bellamy EDITOR: Colin Gibson PRODUCTION MANAGER: sis reali MANAGER: Marie Shadbolt Jean Shewell Let the voter beware ! Before I really get into this weekend’s offering, I would like to clear the air on a few matters, T am not, and hever have been, a Tegistered card- ‘| carrying member of any political party in Canada. Neither have I Supported, overtly or covertly, any Political party in Canada seeking election under any political banner. There is a reason for this — although it may well be unfounded when Teflecting on those who hold Politi- cal office at various levels.in Ontario and Canada — and that is that the Canadian people, not the political Parties, should decide how’ our country is run both now and in the future. : Obviously this is idealism in the extreme but let me tun with it for a bit and please bear with me bécause as far as I’m concerned, it is the politicians, and not the Canadian electorate who have led us down this weed-infested garden path we are present- ly negotiating. T have studied political science at both Laurentian University in Sudbury and at the University of, Aberdeen, in Aberdeen Scotland. Believe me, the course at the University of Aberdeen was. much more intense, much more critical, and much more solution-to-problem related than anything offered in Canada. We have heard and read — ad Nauseam — the much ballyhooed Winston Churchill dictum which runs along the lines of, “democracy is not the best politi- Cal system for society, but basically, preferable to the alternatives.’ Anyone who has taken the time to read Churchill’s Musings or studied the political clime in which Churchill thrived or even his Tecord as a politician (which'I have) would have serious doubts not only about his qualifications to lead, but about his qualifi- Cations to hold political office. Does anyone remember his disastrous decision on Gallipoli as a’ member in the election immediately following the cessation of World War II hostilities. He was a politician-immaculata, He was for him- self. Democracy, as we know it, was the furthest thing from ‘his mind when-he held office. He called the shots and woe betide those who disagreed with him. He was a strong war-time leader in a time of need. Other than that, Churchill contributed little, if any- thing, to British society as a whole. e The basic premise, nay, the reason for being, of any political party is to get elected. Pure and simple. We are experiencing party politics par-excellence in Canada in the Tun-up to the Oct. 25 federal elec- tion. Believe me, this has nothing to do with sup- in the form of Jean Chretien. The Reform Party has glibly hidden the role that Preston Manning played behind the scenes when his father, Ernest Manning, and William Aberhart, unveiled the Tacist and funny-money Social Credit Party way back when, and the afore-mentioned Parties, along with the NDP and other hangers-on are blowing smoke when what we need in Canada is_a fire to stoke the Tapidly dis- appearing embers of what used to be.a vibrant ian society, All claim. to be offering plans for the future of, Canada. They lie. They are offering outlines, with little Substance and more moose droppings than the.aver- age herd would leave on a good day day in Northern Ontario. : As I see it, anyway. : Colin Gibson To the Editor: Enough is enough. On Sept. 24 the downtown merchants put on.a Moonlight Madness sale to try and boost sales\in this. long-forgotten street in Georgetown. A lot of work and effort _Was put in by a select few, as Downtown merchant wa two-fold. First, there were Real cheaters Editor’s note: The follow- ing letter was released to HHTW for publication. Hon. Garth Turner Minister of Revenue 27 Main St. South Georgetown, On. L7G 4w3 ti Dear Mr. Turner: You stated in a recent arti- cle that you were going to crack down on ordinary Canadians who are cheating the tax system. Of course, as you climb aboard your white charger to do battle, it would never Occur to you that citi- zens who lose respect for their ‘ country’s tax system will go to any lengths to avoid being Tipped off, even if it means Cheating a government that has wasted untold billions of tax dollars, Over the years. ‘This is called survival. May I suggest that before launching your mighty cru- sade against the forces of evil - ordinary Canadians - you -turn your attention for a moment to the real cheaters - the federal politicians - who have been greedily ripping off the system for so long that they require ever-increasing amounts of money to feed their insatiable habits. Allow me to briefly list a few that mmons; - double-dipping with lucrative Patronage govern- Ment jobs while indexed MP pensions; ~ perpetuating a useless, costly senate for political i and worn-out party hacks at an annual cost of $75,000 per hack or dinosaur; > panting after one of the more than 600 Brian Mulror age int- ments that only fall to loyal Sravyboat riders of the Tight political persuasion who have Paid dutiful homage to their leader; > wasting millions of dol- lars to buy attack helicopters, to chase non-existent enemy ‘Submarines; 3 expending billions of dol- lars annually on licare and welfare to bring in elderly out-of-country relatives under the family unification pro- ram to live out their lives in the land of milk and honey at a horrendous to ladians, while at the same time charging Costly medical insurance premiums to our Own seniors who want to ‘ a fe iths in Florida after a lifetime of collecting should suffer working and paying their way in Canada; - wasting millions of dol-- lars annually on multicultural- ism to encourage certain Canadians to establish their own ethnic ghettoes that fos- ter racial intolerance. May I suggest that you use your energies as Revenue Minister to go after the real cheaters before you tackle the already over-taxed citizens, Why would Canadians be stupid enough to seid even more tax money to Ottawa for greedy politicians to squander if they can possibly avoid it? Our government’s irresponsi- ble spending habits have turned many Canadians into cheaters in order to survive. When their backs are to the wall, quiet, compliant Canadians will fight: back: l€y May even pull you of your charger and beat the hell Out of you if you push them * far enough. Frankly, they have had enough of the cheaters in Ottawa. And so, unfortunately, in Spite of your threat to crack down, the underground, back- yard economy will continue to flourish among ordinary Canadians until politicians with integrity restore fiscal Tesponsibility in Ottawa. How about it, Mr. Tumer? Are you ‘courageous enough to try? James F, McDonald Caledon East Kathleen Topoisek MAN GEI OFFICE MANAGER: HALTON HILLS THIS WEEK IS INDEPE INE: 873-2254 some stores that elected to close at 9 p.m. and not 10 P.m., as advertised. To the owners I say “you get what you give”. We were very busy from 9 to 10 p.m. And you missed out. These are the very same people who complain about the amount of People shopping downtown. So what did shoppers think when they visited our street and saw stores closed and not Participating in a widely- advertised sale? Well, they weren’t’ impressed, but I am sure they were even less impressed when they got back to their cars and found an $8 parking ticket on their windshield: I could not believe that at 5:45 P-m. on a big event day, when the meters.close off at 6 p.m., there was the meter maid, giv- ing parking tickets to all the expired meters on the down: Politicians deserve To the Editor: It is saddening to see the level of cynicism and pes- <simism directed’ at our politi- cians, as apparent in your People’s Forum and your edi- torial on Sept. 25. Perhaps we don’t deserve to have any Politicians. I am sure that this comment would cheer the heart of all those that are so willing to make cheap shots at politicians generally. But what would we do without them? We have the best sys- tem possible, and we need good people to run it. The low esteem in which our Politicians are held makes me why anyone would be willing to offer themselves for such a position. But they do, and thank fortune for that. course, some politicians act or behave badly in the face of the challenge of their NDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED. Fi S not impressed town street. Why didn’t she just go have a coffee for 15 minutes and leave them alone? Sure, I know what you are thinking, it was before 6 p.m. and the metres had expired. But sometimes a little com- mon sense goes a long way. We may as well put a sign at both ends of the street (Tréspassers. Will _ Be Prosecuted) and close our stores and go home. A personal thanks to all those people who participated in our Moonlight Madness. And to all those People who Teceived a parking ticket that night from 5:30 to 6 p.m. on Main Street, bring your ticket to us and we will reimburse you for the $8. Enough is enough. David H. Tarzwell Main St. Miracle Georgetown better position. Why should we expect differently. They are us, and among us there are imperfections. The electoral system is designed to correct these problems. It is done through the ballot box. Most- Politicians, as I know from Personal and family experi- ence, put in hard long hours for their constituents. They deserve better consideration from the public and the opin- ion-makers than they are get- ting. Tepresent us. Only an informed vote will give us:the best chance of electing the best representation possible. Laurie Reed Rockwood , ~ % Sy FER PEE A HERS as “looks like a close race folks will pull this one out...” Halton-Peel Federal Riding i «MO telling who