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_ Provincial funding hit a high of 75% of the board‘s budget in 1975 but has fallen every year since. Last year the figure was 22.9% and it‘s 20.8% for 1993. n it comes to bookkeeping, don‘t count on the provincial government. Ontario Treasurer Floyd Laughren now concedes that the provincial deficit for this year will be $12.1â€"billion, not the $10.9â€"billion that had been forecasted earlier. Even more alarming is the fact that the debt for the 1993â€"94 fiscal year starting, appropriately, on April Fool‘s Day, will be $13.9â€"billion not the $8.1â€"billion Laughren proposed earlier. It‘s all part of the bizarre number crunching that would make any businessman blanch. We see this again and again when it comes to government accounting proceâ€" dures. Another example is the way in which education grants are handed out to school boards. They have a formula only mathematicians could appreciate in deterâ€" mining the amount of money each board receives. Forget about logic too, that kind of thing just doesn‘t cut it in bureaucratic circles at Queen‘s Park and the Ministry of Education. Since Halton is labelled a ‘have‘ area, we end up subsidizing more ‘haveâ€"not‘ areas. The impact locally is quite dramatic. It‘s really a loseâ€"lose proposition. We not only pay higher taxes here because of land valâ€" ues etc. but a large percentage of those tax dollars don‘t remain in the region so we‘re paying for services we don‘t receive. Interesting concept. It‘s part of a continued trend to downâ€"loading provincial costs to municipalities but again it‘s a loseâ€"lose situation. Passing off its traditional expenditures to municiâ€" palities means local taxpayers not only pay more local property taxes but they also pay more provincial taxes used to fund more provincial government initiatives. It gives a whole new meaning to the concept of creative accounting. h, the folks who regulate our currency are at it again. Remember when the feds said there was no need for a dollar bill? Their answer was to bring out the ‘loonie‘. Of course they forgot we already had a silver dollar, they saw it as a way to cut costs, the reasoning being that it cost too much to produce the silver dollar, furthermore, it was too large. Next came the word that Ottawa was looking at eliminating the veneraâ€" ble one cent piece, the copper, the penny. Blasphemy! The reason here was that it was a nuisance, why not just roundâ€"off all purchases to the nearest nickel? Why not indeed. Now we learn that the powers that be are looking at trashing the $2 bill. Once again, the feds are looking at a $2 coin similar to the loonie. They suggest that coins last longer than paper money and you‘ll note that our buddies in the United States don‘t have a $2 bill. They do, however, have a $1 bill. Creative bookkeeping One wag has already laid claim to the name of this new $2 coin, the ‘doubloonie‘ named after the Spanish doubloon. It makes about as much sense as anything else the feds have suggested. The upshot of all this money talk is that men could soon end up with their pants dragging around their feet as they amass a pocketful of coins while their wallets collect moths.And we can envision women complaining of shoulder problems as the new coins add to the weight of their handbags. All in the name of progress. ~OPINION Dear Sir: As a taxpayer in Halton and the president of the West Oakville Ratepayers‘ Inc., I cannot contain the outrage I felt when I read the recent letter to "The Editor" from Ms. Jocius regarding Freedom of Information Act requests. Quite contrary to Ms. Jocius views, I, and many other residents, applaud the efforts of those citizens who conâ€" tinue to demand accountability Education: costs escalate, Information Act requests. Quite 1) FOI requests have grown contrary to Ms. Jocius views, I, and from 79 in 1991 to 168 in 1992. many other residents, applaud the Considering that the FOI act is still efforts of those citizens who conâ€" _ relatively new, wouldn‘t one expect tinue to demand accountability â€" growth? Reader wants to bury OTHS issue Dear Sir: Please â€" enough is enough! I am tired of reading in the Beaver of the continuing saga following relocation of OTHS. Stop allowing your newsâ€" paper to be the media vehicle for one Trustee and a few disgruntled vocal residents. Surely there are more interesting and important issues on which to report. It is time for those few negative people who continue to pursue the issue to put aside their hurt egos and direct their time and energies to more meaningful and worthwhile purposes. It is time for the Beaver to put this issue aside and get back to quality reporting that is of interest to the majority of its readers. Pocketful of trouble I would just like to pass on my congratulations to Diane Hart for her article this aftermoon (Wednesday, Feb. 17th). I applaud her strength of character to return such a wellâ€"thought out and meaningful response to (Haltonâ€"Milton Federal Liberal Riding Nomination candidate) David Bazar‘s letter. I couldn‘t agree more with her last comment. Indeed, that is not what I would look for in a politician, someone who would come back with such a personal attack. agado A reminder that people can still participate in the Oakville Beaver‘s Weekly Poll â€" Who would you like to win the Oakville Milton Federal Liberal Riding Association â€" Mohan Anand, David Bazar, Bonnie Brown or Bruce Hood ? â€" by calling Phone Alone 845â€"5585, box 5186 to cast their ballots. And there is still time to respond to the Question of the Week â€" If Prime Minister Brian Mulroney steps down as leader of the Progressive Conservatives, who would make a good replacement? â€" by calling Phone Alone 845â€"5585, box 5012. ALONE CALL845â€"5585 EDITORIAL SPEAK YOUR MIND | Got a gripe? Give us a call. Readers are invited to express their opinion on a topic of their choice by calling 845â€"5585, box All callers are allowed 45 secâ€" onds to express their opinion and must provide their name, address and phone number for verification. A cross section of the responses will be published in next Wednesday‘s Oakville Beaver. from our public sector, especially 2) We are provided with statisâ€" the school boards. tics on the origin of the FOI The use of numbers in her letter _ requests, 97.2% from Oakville. was no more than an effort t0o Maybe we should consider this as divert the public‘s attention from â€" the last, or is it first, bastion of the real issues at hand. Consider â€" hope for the silent majority. Maybe the following: the time has come for the residents 1) FOI requests have grown _ of Burlington, Halton Hills and from 79 in 1991 to 168 in 1992. Milton to start speaking up and Considering that the FOI act is still _ making inquiries. The use of numbers in her letter was no more than an effort to divert the public‘s attention from the real issues at hand. Consider the following: Desmond Beddoe Julie Irwin 3) In 1992, 11 people were involved in making 168 requests. This number also concerns me. I wish there were more people as actively involved trying to scrutiâ€" nize what is going on in an almost $300 million budget. What would we do if these few people were not around? Maybe we should all be asking why are these people asking so many questions? What is it that they know? 4) The Halton Board of Education incurred costs of $90,000 over 2 years regarding FOI requests. Ms. Jocius fails to mention that the Board of Education has staff members dediâ€" cated for FOI requests. Obviously their costs were not included. I wonder what they would be doing all day if there were no requests. Additionally, Ms. Jocius reminds us that she was once a key commuâ€" nicator and was able to obtain this information with out a formal FOI request. Considering the key comâ€" municator program has been disâ€" banded, I am impressed by her ability to influence the Board and get this information. Maybe she could ask the Board to release the current account information? Better yet maybe we should all be asking, if the Board has nothing to hide, why did they incur any legal fees? Also consider this, how much time, effort, and costs did these private citizens expend. Surely they don‘t do this to simply pass the time away. 5) For all the citizens who have read these letters, "When do we say enough?" As long is there remains no accountability to the taxpayer I hope there will be at least one voice in the crowd demanding to know where our money is being spent. Freedom (including the access to information) must never be constrained. Let us not forget all quality deteriorates The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be signed and include the writer‘s address and phone number. Letters should be typed, doubleâ€"spaced and addressed to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 354 46 Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 845â€"3824 Fax: 845â€"3085 pO( THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Ro WiresididGAMienasnainiesssirinenniiinensnaienniidienabovinnnncinioonn iiveesra en niveenencinennioniee enviemanenenermes anranntamamtannamentm en mm amnaramm m eenmenmamenrateemmarme en arennenre mm eermen m meepmnmre en mnemmmmmmemems om Oakville, Ont. L6K those before us who gave their lives to defend it. Additionally I would like the citizens of Oakville to consider the following statistics right out of the 1993 proposed Halton Board of Education budget package. 1) Actually we are reminded that a large percentage of the budâ€" get is attributable to salaries and there isn‘t much we can do about this. In 1993, 79.5% is salaries, wages and employees benefits. 2) When we look at the average cost per elementary student, $6,313, only $2,743 or 43.5% is attributable to inâ€"class teaching. For secondary school, the total cost is $7,743, only $3,203, or 41.7% for in class teaching. Both a far cry from 79.5%. 3) The pupil teacher ratio (PTR) for 1993 is expected to be 15.6 for elementary and 14.6 for secondary. have you asked your children lately how many children in their class. For those of you who have taken the time to read this letter, please let me make it clear that this is not intended to be an exercise in teachâ€" er bashing. I genuinely believe that the majority of teachers do care. However, there is something obviâ€" ously wrong somewhere and the taxpayers are getting tired. 4) If we set PTRs of 16 for eleâ€" mentary and 18 for secondary, Halton would require a total of 2,538 teachers versus 2804. A reduction in staffing of 266 at approximately _ $55,000/year equates to $14.6 million savings per year. 5) It appears that a significant amount of money is being spent on staffing. Unfortunately most of it does not appear to go directly towards elementary or secondary education. Finally I ask that we all be vigiâ€" lant. Do not drop your guard simâ€" ply because the preliminary budget is only a 2.85% increase. We must continue to demand accountability. Do not let them divert your attenâ€" tion from the real issues, the costs continue to escalate and the quality continues to deteriorate. Eini A. Di Bon President, West Oakville Ratepayers‘ Inc. 94 Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas O[fice Manager Tim Coles Production Manager Ian Oliver Publisher pâ€"â€"â€"* _ WEEKLY FOCUS Halton taxpayers illâ€"served by Key Communicators program Dear Sir: In reference to Ms. Jocius‘s letter of January 12, 1993, I found her analogy of Girl Guides to Key Communicators quite an insult, especially to those of us who are and were Girl Guides. I fail to see the comparison. Girl Guides are very open and honest individuals, with nothing to hide or apologize forever. It is my opinion, that Ms. Jocius, is in fact, making an apoloâ€" gy. The phrase where inference is made in past tense, "I was once a Key Communicator," gives some indication of this. I believe, that the credibility of her information can also be questioned. The fact that she "once was a Key Communicator," only tells me that, she was perhaps, privy to information, that other individuals cannot seem to obtain without the efforts of FOL. If there was nothing to hide, why was this an issue? I don‘t ever recall, receiving any information on the Key Communicator Program. If this was a position to be proud of, I would have expected to read about it in the newspapers, along with a brief job description as to what the intent of these individâ€" uals would be within the Halton Board of Education. Instead, I find out about these Key Communicators, through the newspaâ€" pers, as a position uncovered through information obtained through FOL It has been said, that the efforts of the Key Communicator Program, was to provide the Halton School Board with a network of community individuals, who were to show positive support for the board and act as a liaison between board and community. I would like to know where the positive support is for the taxpayâ€" er? or even better yet, the student? I believe that, if the Board put half the efforts into the standards and the quality of education, as they seem to do in the Key Communicator Program, that we might yet one day see, graduates who in fact can read their diploâ€" mas. P.S.: I was once a Girl Guide and a Guider, and I would never be a Key Communicator, for which I am not apologizing. British Knights Top 10 athletic footwear makers, ‘91 aessceecsssscseasssesssassctsesssesessssceesssseesenseeessersossensssenssnsesssoescaneecoosceceressseescesnsssassecnssacosct LETTER OF THE DAY Converse L.A. Gear Reebok | Adidas Etonic Brand Asics i Keds Avia Nike - $400 U se U s - $270 . $220 . $204 Total Sales (millions) Wook Jgo Tr eaver wataria day, We Matrola pl Fed Up Citizen Sabina Wood x, Patarboroug! ugh Mirror protected by c strictly forbidde February py 199 Any