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Page 12 THE HERALD Wednesday September Politics is compromise Not everything the government does is right Not everything that any government does is right Politics is compromise If you dont compromise you dont govern Just watch Bob to see what I mean I have compromised over the last two years and next week just before the House of Commons resumes sitting I will tell you how and why I intend changing for the next two years Life in politics is evolution I am growing fins Last week I said this column would be about the GST including its warts I said early on that I would not try and sell you on this tax but I would instead provide the facts and let you make up your own mind The GST replaces three existing invisible taxes all at higher rates so the price of some things will go down But it also taxes things which are not taxed now and those prices will go up In general of goods cars building materials computers should be lower The price of services legal fees dry cleaning elect rtcitv ill be higher Overall prices will rise R how much is the wild card The says 1 because it believes all the existing federal sales tax which we pa will be removed That assumes all business people now paying those taxes will drop their prices to reflect the elimination of them Big labour says this is unrealistic Unions like CUPE say only a portion of the existing taxes will go and overall prices will rise by 3 The Probablv somewhere in the middle I have certainly heard businesses tell me theyll stay competitive by passing through the savings to consumers But I ve also talked to people who see this as an opportunity to in crease their margins Obviously if the GST is loo we have a big problem Nobodv especially the feds will benefit from that The big goal here is to reduce the deficit and in along with high interest rotes will worse ft PRICK LOWER THAN A SHAKES BILLY IN A WACOM- RUT Call Garth Turner MP PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE Another problem is the fact were going to have two retail sales taxes in Ontario Consumers will have to pay the GST and the pro vincial sales tax Businesses will have to collect two axes on two ferent sets of items This is dumb and wasteful If I were still a newspaper columnist I dump all over this duplication As a govern MP I m still dumping People in Quebec will only one sales tax to paj and businesses there will have one to collect That will save millions of dollars and eliminate civil servants Quebec has decided to blend its sales tax wiih the GST Two other provinces have also now started discussing a combined tax with the feds Do you suppose Bob can be persuaded to do the same I can support the idea of taxing spending rather than relying on income taxes In fact I like to see a GST and lower income taxes Better still I reform income taxes to make them simple and work towards a singlerate flat tax Not as Toronto MP Dennis Mills has proposed it however That variation relies on much higher taxes on business people something we dont need a weakening economy And in the same vein of tax fairness Id put the GST on everything in the economy Ex eruptions only lead to a situation where people are not treated equally And by taxing everything you could have the best possible rate Hey while were reforming taxes how about doing some stuff for middle class people Like creating a Family Tax Return which recognizes stay at home parents And tax deductions for volunteers And a Family Care Credit which lets you write off ex when elderly parents for example live with you And why not work on a way that RRSPs can be used to make buying a home more affordable If the GST shows that Ottawa is willing to really reform taxes and take all the heat that then whv stop there Wove got to work for more efficiency in government and less waste And lei make sure as we go along here hat there room to finetune the tax some parts of it don work then thev should be changed the way Michael Wilson is getting a copy of this Town Hall Meetings I II be available the next couple of days in the south end of the riding if you want to attend an open public meeting Thursday Sept 13 at the Brant Hills Community Centre Burl ington 7 30pm Brant Ave south of Friday Sept in the Lions Hail at Campbellville 7 p south of THINKING FALL Ladles Bandolmo Evan Picone Rohde Matching Handbags Briefcases Luggage Fashion Jewellery Gentlemen Rohde Jeanettes SHOES AND ACCESSORIES 212 Main St MILTON 8751627 Situ THE CORPORATION OF THE Town of Halton Hills Drive PO Box 128 HILLS Georgoiown 17G POOL CLOSURES Both the Acton and Georgetown Pools will be closed for annual mam tenanceSept 16th LOST AND FOUND The Hills Recreation and Parks Department has many reminders of its Summer Youth Programs if your child is missing a pair sneakers a towel a gym bag a pair of sweatpants a tupperware con tamer or any other article that heshe took to camp this year do not hesitate to call us at 873 ext 267 Our lost and found pile is im pressive We will keep these articles until Friday Sept 14 TSHIRT MAGIC The latest craze for kids is designing and painting their own clothes Sign up soon with the Halton Hills Recreation and Parks Department and learn how to paint T shirts with artwork and graphics unique to you Call 2600 266 SHOPPING SPREE VALUE STORE ATTENTION TRAVELLERS The New Fall Brochures are finally here with great savings on the latest Fall and Winter Packages Stop in today and pick up yourFREEcopy Goligerls Travel SINCE 235 GUELPH STREET GEORGETOWN 8770103 6ct TOP DOGS AT 1 PET CENTRES RAWHIDE WEDNESDAY BUY 1 GET BABY TURTLES REX RABBITS BUDGIES GREEN FLEA COLLARS 20 OFF 7 PET CENTRES BRINGING PETS AND PEOPLE TOGETHER HAGEN BIRD TREATS 20 OFF PINE SHAVINGS NUTRIENCE PETFOODS SOLD HERE HAGEN WICKER PET BEDS PEARL PLASTIC AQUARIUM PLANTS OFF 15 NO 1 PET Moore Park Plaza Georgetown Heartlake Town Centre 180 SanOlewood Brampton 840 And Over 21 Other Stores Across Southern Ontario 6