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Pages- Political Forum -T- Wednesday September 191 Ottawa Report First week back was certainly a ripper Parliament Hill Notebook Well Week One back in Ottawa sure was a ripper It started off last Monday with a huge demonstration on the Hill outside my office window About striking public servants hooted and hollered for the governments resignation for an election for the prime ministers head and for an end to Tory at tempts to restrain spending It was the biggest demonstra tion I have seen in three years in Ottawa Looking down at the crowd it suddenly dawned on me exactly how many people work for the federal government and this is down jobs from when the Conservatives took over By the next morning the com mon sense of compromise was spreading By five that after noon a deal had been reached Scheduled votes in the House were cancelled at the last minute as the union agreed to return to work and the government agreed to negotiate The settlement came not a minute too soon a strike is the last thing this economy needs But the government says this years wage freeze for civil ser vants will remain And that freeze has now been extended to cover all MPs and everybody else who gets a government payche- My wages will not go up until January of 1993 and then by 3 per cent I voted in favor of that freeze last Wednesday afternoon Since coming to Ottawa this is the first time Ive had the opportune to vote on my own salary previous adjustments were made by an automatic formula that guaranteed a raise of less than the inflation rate Monday afternoon I had a chance to ask a question in the House about Canada Post I wanted to know if the govern ment would taking away the post offices monopoly over mail delivery when there was a postal strike It seems to me that losing its monopoly letting couriers or anybody else deliver mail in a strike is the last thing Canada Post wants It would also remove the unions bargaining power In fact a change like that might guarantee we never again have labor troubles at the post office The answer The government said everybody hated that mail Garth Turner MP Progressive Conservative strike and maybe its time to remove the monopoly on a per manent basis Score one for all those who de pend on the mails Ive put a lot of time over the past year into the issue of proper ty rights Since when the Constitution was brought to Canada Canadians have not had the right to own private property entrenched in law And I think thats wrong The old Bill of Rights Prime Minister Trudeau replac ed with the Charter of Rights gave propertyowners protection but that was removed for political reasons Now for exam ple a conservation authority can take land away and you have no legal recourse to fight it Almost a year ago I hosted a conference in Ottawa on restor ing this right That was followed by a comprehensive report and then the establishment of a registry of support which many people in this riding have cir culated and signed I also argues for this right at the Conservative convention in Toronto where it won the support of per cent of delegates As I write this the package of Constitution changes has not been unveiled but a few days ago I asked Joe Clark in the House if the government would act to restore the right to own property His answer left me very hopeful that progress is being made If this important right is not in the package of changes at least I can lobby for it before the committee established to study all this and make the final recommendations I certainly dont intend letting this issue go Finally this Constitution debate let me give you Joe Clarksprediction Nobody he said is going to be completely happy with this Changing the country around so the country stays together is going to involve a lot of com promise The West wants an elected Senate so it gets more power in Ottawa Quebec wants to be declared distinct so it can protect its distinctive culture The East wants a greater share of the economic pie Aboriginal peoples want selfgovernment I think the rest of us just want a healthy economy and secure jobs There will be lots of op portunities for us to selfdestruct and many people trying to tell you Canada can stay just the way it is without doing any com promising But I dont buy that Canada has been evolving for years and theres no reason we should stop now In terms of most other countries weve just hit puberty Ill be having Town Hall meetings next month to explain the plans and hear your input Watch this space for details and write me with your thoughts Garth Turner MP House of Commons OttawaKlA0A6 Queens Park OHIP changes dont mean denial of service A couple of weeks ago I talked about the controls on spending for hospital ser vices An anonymous writer wrote to the Herald last week with comments about the changes and I will be responding to the specific points raised m that letter In the meantime however I want to reiterate that OHIP will continue to protect those of you who leave the coun try but your coverage will be at fixed rates OHIP will pay per day for high level care such as surgery and per day for less intense care such as substance abuse or psychiatric il lness You will need private in surance to cover any bills from hospitals that ex ceed these rates but no one will be denied access to services Doc tors will be able to get prior writ ten approval to refer patients ofcountry with full OHIP coverage for services unavailable or unavailable in a timely fashion in Ontario Emergencies already get priority in Ontario hospitals In the rare instances where genuine emergencies be treated they can be approved retroactively The new rates reflect the increased cost of covering S hospital bills which are much higher than those in On tario We cant afford to continue to subsidize the profits of S hospitals if we want to preserve medicare and improve health care services in Ontario If you still have any questions about how the new policy will affect you why not call the Ministry of Health directly at 18002681154 Some time ago I outlined the mandate and structure of the Fair Tax Commission and I would like to share a recent an nouncement from Commission Chair Monica with you More than 160 volunteers from across the province have ac cepted Treasurer Floyd invitation to work with the Fair Tax Commission The Commission as you may remember was established in March to advise the Treasurer on the design and implementation of a more equitable tax system in Ontario The volunteers make up eight working groups and the members of each working group represent a broad crosssection of and include those traditionally excluded from the process of developing tax policy The groups will be studying Cor porate Minimum Tax Tax Treat ment of Real Estate Gains Pro perty Tax Women and Taxation Income Taxation Relief En vironmental Taxation Wealth Tax and Retail Sales Tax- and Services Tax Two technical advisory groups have also been established- one on tax expenditures and the other on the tax system as it relates to cooperatives and notforprofit organizations Some working groups are expected to submit final reports and recommenda tions as early as this fall while others will report at intervals up to the fall of 1992 The reports along with comments from the Commission itself will be for warded to the Treasurer and Noel Duignan Hallan North MPP Hew Democratic Party subsequently released to the public for further discussion and debate Last week I was delighted to take part again in the annual Halton Agricultural Advisory Committee Farm Tour The day provided an excellent opportunity to gam valuable in sight into the marketing finan cial and various other problems facing our farming community today I would like to thank the follow ing people and their families for the hospitality in allowing me to tour their farms Bert Andrews of Andrews Scenic Acres and Fruit Nelson Shaw of Halton Sod Dave Taylor who operates a market gardening and cash crop farm Albert Cor mier of Valcor Export Ltd and George Bird and Sons of Bir- I would also like to express my appreciation for the wonderful dinner put on by the members of Hdlcrest United Church at the end of the day The Reserve Parttime adventure Build on your civilian career while you earn extra money working parttime in the Militia Canadas army reserve Live this uniquely rewarding experience Work with interesting people on selected evenings and weekends Enjoy varied employment and travel opportunities Join the Reserve now For more Information contact Lome Dullenn 1 Park Street iCollccll In related news I received a letter from Agriculture and Food Minister Elmer Buchanan about AgriFood Week which takes place this year from October 6th to 12th For the past eight years AgriFood Week has focused public attention on the im portance of food and farming and raised the profile of pro ducers their highquality pro ducts and rural communities throughout the province The Minister also announced million in payments to On tario grain and oilseed farmers through the joint federal- provincial Gross Revenue In surance Program The plan com pensates farmers for recordlow commodity prices The interest assistance program payouts under the former stabilization program and crop insurance will provide additional benefits to the farming community during these difficult times Minister challenged By PAULINE JOHNSON Queens Park Bureau TORONTO Region needs action not words to get a second shelter for battered women Community and Social Services Minister Akande has been told South Gary Can- has fired off a letter to Akande and Womens Issues Miniter Anne Swarbnck deploring the governments delay in providing capital funding for a much- needed second shelter In a press release accompany ing copies of his letters Carr a Conservative member said it is appalling that in Simcoe Coun ty with a population of there are six shelters for abused women and their children Halton area with a population of nearly has one Carr who intends to bring the issue up again in this sitting of the legislature says changes in government rules appear to have delayed Halton Womens Place from going ahead with the pur chase of property in east Burl ington which is for sale at 425000 He says a grant for capital costs for the new shelter was ap proved by the Ministry of Hous ing a year ago dependent on operating funds from COMSOC The social services ministry approved operating funds then the government decided that the housing ministry was only to give money for permanent housing Hows your financial future looking Tony Schlegel 55 Pennington Georgetown L7G or Its probably belter than you think But do you know how much better Thanks to a sophisticated computer program we can analyse your financial situation Youll receive a printed report with advice on how to save money on taxes suggestions on the kind of investments youll be comfortable with and how to protect your Savings Best of all it costs you nothing Call me for a personal financial plan Ml The Mutual Group Facing Tomorrow Together Mutual Lrf of CanadaMutual In WiwntfritiiWi IHiM