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the HERALD Immigration policy gone awry Home Newspaper of Hallon Hills Established A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited Guelph Street Georgetown 3Z6 Ontario DAVID A BEATTIE Publisher and General Manager BRIAN Editor Phone 8772201 DAN TAYLOR Advertising Manager Strand lau Mail Page THE HERALD itorial Smoking blues Smokers of the world you re going to have to unite Youre a dying breed That may not be news but it quickly becoming reality The province has pushed us all into huddling smokers in some isolated corner of our buildings with new legislation taking effect in January Any time after that date businesses all over Ontario can be investigateo by the smoking police Businesses will have to make sure that 75 per cent of their office space is smoke free But we agree with Halton Hills bylaw enforcement of Bob Ustrzycki when he says smoking policies should be left to businesses It makes it easier to police and more effective when smokers bring on the wrath of their peers rather than some floundering smoking inspector issuing tickets And it costs taxpayers less The town has taken a sensible approach to the attack on smoking in the 80s The new Civic Centre will have ing areas and less than 25 per cent of the building has been designated for smoking Although municipalities do have the power to enact legislation on smoking if it is stronger than the province s law we would be overextending ourselves if town workers suddenly had to enforce a bylaw on smoke plumes A tip of the hat to those businesses which have already taken the smoking issue into their own hands and to those who will be pressed into action by Jan 1 a democratic vote by workers is the easiest way to snuff out the issue Victory crow Editor Notebook J We have to congratulate Georgetown resident Gord Hamilton and his rooster Vem for crowing over his victory at the Canadian National Exhibition this week Mr Hamilton and Vera won first place in the rooster crowing con test Vera crowed a remarkable 28 times in 15 minutes Mr Hamilton has birds and pheasants and about of them are entered in various categories at theCNE Oh yes remember that nine per cent tax on goods and services Michael Wilson wants us to pay It will apply to that little movement you make with your finger whet you hit the light switch Your elec tricity will be taxed starting in if the new national sales tax is put in place Ontario Hydro says Doesn sound much like there s going to be too many loopholes in this one does if Speaking of taxes everyone to be on the tax the big bandwagon these days show that the higher in come earners spend more amount of dollars in restaurants and amount more on services business writers say So the tax will hit them the most they say Well how about those low in come earners who were trying to get out of the house for a meal a bit more often It simply puts it fur ther out of reach for them so they 11 continue to spend less of their in come on meals and services Either way the now vague idea of getting ahead is being cast farmer and farther adnft The Ontario Community Newspapers Association is looking for the provinces junior citizen of the year Says the The sponsors not only want to recognize the dozen or so outstanding young peo ple who will be the recipients of awards but want to give a pat on the back to hundreds of others who represent the good kids we all know Everyone nominated receives a certificate of congratulations the OCNA says The award is supported by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario To be eligible for the award you must be between the ages of six and 18 and a resident of Ontario Groups or individuals may be nominated Nominees may be involved in worthwhile community service have overcome disabling physical or psychological limitations or have performed acts of heroism perhaps endangering their own lives the OCNA says Know anyone Let us know Nomination forms are available here at the Herald TORONTO It tough understanding the immigration policies of Canadian governments They are so illogical as to make one think there must be deeper motives underlying their stupidity Or perhaps it is just that the governments are so completely in ept they have no idea what they are doing Under the constitution pro vinces have had a shared respon with the federal govern ment for In practice Ontario ducks an connection whenever possible But every once in a while it pokes its head into the immigra maze Its viewpoint is live There have been three major ex an pies over the past year One was the instant reaction of the province when the York Region board of education tried to keep out the children of illegal immigrants the media call them refugees because it t find room for kids who were legally here This board action was illegal then education minister Chris Ward from his high horse So the York board backed down and put up with the overcrowding But one has to wonder why il should be the responsibility of any school board to take care of the children of illegal immigrants Canadian citizens and landed im migrants should obviously have priority And students from other lands who come her legally simply to study should be next on the list This is especially true since even an admirer of illegal immigration such as New Democrat Richard Johnston he calls them refugees admits thousands and thousands of such children are causing incredible extra ex both in schools and for various social support services This brings us to the second in comprehensible decision of the On government It decided that illegal im migrants read rt should be exempt from foreign dent fees in Ontario colleges and universities It means a foreign student who is here legally can pay up lor his education but if he tomes il legally he can enter for MOST CURIOUS Then there is the third case perhaps the most curious of the three It concerns the 8 Portuguese who came to Canada as illegal im migrants many claiming refugee status for persecution because of being Jehovah s Witnesses which they weren t About 3 people demonstrated at Queen s Park tins week to de mand they be allowed to stay And egging them on was On new citizenship minister Bob Wont These people have made a contribution would hope the government would be a little flexible Interestingly the Portuguese are the only group that federal migration Minister has appeared before to talk tough about there being no amnesty Might that be because the tuguese don vote Progressive Conservative Or is it perhaps that they are white Europeans who can always be kicked with impuni One point might be made here in passing it is constantly said the reason immigration now is so over European is that Europeans on t want to come to Canada anymore The Portuguese as well as the number of Insh Poles Greeks and others who can t gel in would seem to indicate that the reason being cited is an out and out federal government fabrication It is quite clear a double Stan dard exists for immigration to Canada Anyone who can somehow make it across the border and who t either a white European or from a socially stable Third World try Tnnidad Hong Kong is ost an automatic refugee The rejection rate by the new review board with its lax criteria is about per cent It used to be 70 percent SOW ALL MS WE BE iwwbsons LETTERS VIA was never on track Dear Sir As the campaign to save VIA Rail rolls into high gear perhaps your readers may wish to view the issue in its full political context and the real reason VIA is so vulnerable to the cuts about id be made by the Conservative govern ment VIA was created by a Liberal government as a means of bailing out Canadian National and dian Pacific Railways thereby allowing and CP to concentrate on more profitable freight vices The first spike contributing to VIAs death was due to the Liberals forcing VIA to pay bet ween and million to CN and CP for their dilapidated rolling stock No company could survive on its own with that degree of debt The second Liberal spike was their refusal to introduce tlon giving VIA the power to con its own destiny They remain captive to the scheduling and costing decisions of CN and CP The third Liberal spike was their refusal to provide VIA the necessary funds to reequip its passenger fleet in order to proper ly serve the Canadian traveller The fourth Liberal spike was the 1981 unilateral decision by then Minister of Transport Jean Luc Pepin to cut per cent of VIA s services without holding public hearings As a result of these cuts VIA s deficit increased million since rail costs are relatively fixed while revenue will change ac cording to ridership This is now where the VIA story takes a bizarre twist After the Liberal cuts the Opposition Conservatives con ducted a cross Canada tour to save VIA Rail In 1981 they campaigned on a platform to replace the routes cut by the Liberals to purchase new rolling stock and to enhance VIA s operation Once elected the Tones did re establish the routes eliminated by the Liberals but that s where it stopped In spite of ongoing insistence by the NTJP Transport critics the PCs reneged on their promise to pro vide new passenger cars and failed to follow through with VIA Rail legislation Now the most bizarre twist of all In the name of deficit reduction VIA is to be dismantled leaving only a few connected routes in place In 1981 the PCs were outraged by the Liberal tactics of using Cabmet decree to make their cuts Now in the Conservatives are going to make their decisions secret and not allow any public hearings either Mr Editor it is clear that the Conservatives are in an ideal posi tion of attempting to dismantle VIA Past neglect and deliberate policies of the former Liberal government have ensured this As the Opposition Liberals hold VIA hearings in a few major cities in this country your readers should ask themselves if the Liberals can really be to save our passenger rail system any more than the Conservatives could I personally don t think so Yours truly lain Angus MP Thunder Bay