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I THE HERALD Wednesday April Page II Debt freedom bonds could help Trees to be planted Canada win the deficit war A couple of days ago I gave Michael Wilson a very fat package In it were hundreds of letters from people across Ontariosome angry some inspirational most long and others scratched out on small pieces of paper These were your letters and they poured In after I asked for Ideas on just how were going to get Canada out of the debt mess its now in Parliament has begun again first with a speech from the Throne and later on with Wilsons critical budget Right now Canada is billion debt the interest on that costs us billion a year which is money we dont have So every year the debt gets bigger That scares me- And the letters tell me it scares you too So weve talked about whether taxes should or government spending should fall or both But maybe theres another way Maybe we the ordinary people can solve this on our own shoulders A woman named Elizabeth she wants her last name left private wrote to say shed support a pnvatelysponspred campaign to reduce the deficit I agree that our love of country patriotism and pride should be ex plotted she said to reduce the crippling deficit but not by government decree She points to what Canadians did during the last war loan the government billions in the form of Victory bonds so that the war ef fort did not cripple the country with foreign debt She proposes that people send Deficit Dollars to me and that I channel them to Wilson to be to paying down our loans And she sends me a cheque for but dont you Good luck in your effort and I hope the majority of Canadians will support a private campaign rather than having the government subject us to a further tax Taxes even socalled one time taxes On The Hill With Garth Turner rarely go away Shes right Higher taxes arent the answer So in my package to Wilson I have reminded him about the war and how a little country did great things The war effort was ed almost 80 per cent by Canadians in sharp contrast to to day when we are sinking deeper debt to lenders in New York and Tokyo Will we ever be able to buy our way out Maybe we can with Freedom Bonds If Canadians loaned money to Ot tawa to refinance the existing debt at low rates billions could be sav Right now the feds have to raise very expensive money through securities like Treasury bills and that makes the debt payments huge But if you and I loaned our sav ings for a year or two at say just the inflation rateabout 5 percent then the debt would cost far less to carry The deficit would decline almost immediately and the future for our kids would look brighter Middleclass Canadians would be taking a giant step towards en ding a relentless round of tax in creases needed to fight the deficit A voluntary tax free investment in Debt Freedom Bonds would do us all a favor Would it work It could The last time around industry bought advertising space in papers to promote Victory loans Retailers voluntarily collected money from customers Banks voluntarily sold the bonds and loaned money against them There were 10000 volunteers across Canada Investors had their names published as patnots Canadians pulled together they won the war and paid for it I think it could happen again I think we can get off the treadmill that threatens to pull us down forever Your letters and phone calls have toldme you care and want to help Heres a way a start Here is ammunition for our own war A war Canada must win Halton Hills will receive the bulk of a treeplanting project in the Region this spnng The Halton planning and public works committee announced last week that two areas of Halton Hills specifically Norval and Steeles Avenue will be part of a May tree planting project to enhance the esthetics of road projects The Region has hired Green Sur vival Landscaping Ltd of Bramp ton to plant 120 trees of li varieties on Steeles Avenue from Eighth Line to Ninth Line Steeles Avenue from Ninth Line North to Ninth Line South underwent re construction last summer Following the removal of trees during a reconstruction on Winston Churchill Boulevard north of Highway the Region has agreed to plant new trees near the Credit River bridge The bridge was reconstructed and trees removed for alignment last year Other projects in the Region will include tree planting in both Milton and Burlington Trees will be planted on Steeles Avenue in Milton following reconstruction last year Minor landscaping will be done on Guelph Line north of Highway 5 following watermain projects Tenders for the treeplanting contract which will cost Regional taxpayers over were due March 7 Only one company ap plied for the tender says a Regional report MM meat shops TIME TO VISIT THE SEED HOUSE smith Downtown 8217490