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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 8, 20 18 | 6 The Georgetown Independent & Free Press, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corpora- tion. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. The Independent & Free Press is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the newspaper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca newsroom@theifp.ca IndependentAndFreePress @IFP_11 ABOUT US The Independent & Free Press 280 Guelph Street, Unit 77 Georgetown, ON L7G 4B1 Phone: 905-873-0301 Classifieds: 905-234-1016 Fax: 905-873-0398 Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail lpolar@miltoncanadiancham- pion.com or call 905-234-1019. CONTACT US Publisher Neil Oliver General Manager Steve Foreman Retail Advertising Manager Cindi Campbell Regional Managing Editor Chris Vernon Regional Managing Digital Editor Robyn Wilkinson Distribution Representative Iouliana Polar Classified/Real Estate Kristie Pells Regional Production Manager Manuel Garcia Production Shelli Harrison WHO WE ARE OPINION • EDITORIAL • • LETTERS & COMMENTARY • The Trudeau Liberals' latest budget deserves a thumbs- up from Canadians - but a qualified one. To be sure, the carefully-calibrated spending measures unveiled Tuesday by Finance Minister Bill Morneau are basically sound. They hold the promise of growing our economy, advancing equality and improving the daily lives of millions of Canadians. It's what's missing from this budget that's the problem. It neither acknowledges nor deals with the greatest threat to Canada's long-term economic well-being - the massive deficits to which this government now seems addicted. And this casts a long shadow over an otherwise bright fiscal agenda. Blessed with higher than expected revenues, the Liberals opted to spend an extra $20.3 billion on policy action over the next five years. While that sounds like a lot of money, it's not out of line when set beside Canada's 2017 gross domestic product of nearly $1.7 trillion. Besides, much of the spending is wisely targeted. There's money for scientific research and innovation and to increase the participation of women in the workforce. Increased funding for Indigenous Peoples will advance the necessary cause of reconciliation. The plan to study a national pharmacare program shows the Liberals continue to search for new ways to meet the needs of Canadians - though many will suspect the government is simply trying to neutralize part of the upcoming New Democratic Party platform. Critics have savaged this budget for failing to move toward a national child care program. Indeed, the lack of affordable child care expansion is an oversight for a gov- ernment committed to growing female participation in the workforce. It does, however, sidestep the issue of how this national program would be paid for, which will defuse some of the criticism from the right that the Liberals remain profli- gate spenders. Canada's economy is, in fact, humming along nicely under the Liberals. Recent economic growth has been strong, unemployment low and wages rising. The econom- ic plan the Liberals ran on and implemented deserves credit for at least some of this. So what's the problem with a shrewd, compassionate budget that acts progressively while holding onto the purse strings? Let us point to its deficit - $18.1 billion for 2018-19. Canada is 10 years from its last recession, which was one of the worst in its history. Another recession will inevitably come. Yet the Liberals have no plan to end def- icit spending in what are certainly good times. This could leave them and the nation ill-prepared for the next eco- nomic downturn. The federal debt will reach $651.5 billion in 2017-18 and soar to $730.1 billion by 2022-23. And interest rates are rising, making servicing the debt more costly. Adding to the uncertainty are the latest American corporate tax cuts and the possible demise of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which could result in jobs and investment locating south of the border. Today, the Liberals' Plan A - this week's budget - looks good. Let's hope there's a Plan B if undesirable nightmares become unavoidable realities. Budget ignores debt and deficits Newsrooms should start asking readers instead of telling Re: Jan. 25 editorial Helping distinguish 'news' from 'opinion' The IFP's effort to in- struct the public on the workings of journalism fell both short and wide of the mark. A more instructive tool is content analysis, in which one counts how many column inches or broadcast minutes the me- dia devotes to positive, neg- ative and neutral coverage of any topic. Take any such contro- versial topic of the last 20 years as gun control, legal- ization of marijuana, gay marriage, abortion or any other. You will discover that the media covers those topics with a clear bias, one way or another. Or you might take the public crucifixion of Mike Duffy or Rob Ford as exam- ples of the media run ram- pant. I am as down on crack cocaine as anybody, but Ford was convicted by ac- cusation, as was Duffy, and, recently, Patrick Brown, and the media is wearing the executioner's hood and an Alfred E. Neu- man face. Newsrooms should be advocates for fairness and the law, not be weaponry for activists. Polls of news- rooms in Australia, Cana- da, the U.S., Great Britain and Germany show that over 80 per cent of respon- dents say they are small-l liberals. A recent Statistica re- port puts public trust in re- porters about on par with lawyers and local politi- cians. It was not always so. When I was in grad school, we also found that the goals of the reporters had changed from wanting to tell the story to wanting to "change the world." The media is an un- friendly place for indepen- dent thought. I keep hoping journalism has reached its nadir and will wake up and smell the coffee, but it doesn't. At minimum, you should start asking your readers instead of telling. Kerry Knudsen, master of science in journalism Where's the diversity? Why is our provincial Liberal government at- tempting to introduce a publicly funded education- al curriculum on "Sikh Heritage Learning Tools " towards supporting and promoting a diverse per- spective? Where's the so-called di- versity in doing this? Shouldn't our education system be directed towards a greater understanding of Canadian geography, his- tory, and cultures, before spending taxpayers' money on catering to specific groups? Isn't this something that the school boards and poli- ticians should be focused on, considering the num- ber of newcomers to Cana- da every year? Teach about our coun- try first, cultural learning should be kept to the home. Today, there are so many cultures in our society. George Startup