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Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager Ian Oliver Publisher en it comes to value for the dollar, no one deserves to earn more money than the Prime Minister of Canada or the country‘s top premiers. Forget all the breastâ€"beating about deficits and the like; the truth is that these people are not only worth every dime they‘re paid...in most cases, they‘re worth a whole lot more. Let‘s use Ontario Premier Bob Rae as an example. Rae is currently in the throes of dealing with a provincial deficit that‘s sucking up too much of Ontario‘s revâ€" enues. He‘s been dealing with the public service unions about a ‘social contract‘ to try and get the unions to cooperate with the government‘s plans to cut costs. In an attempt to win their support, Rae has said that he‘s slashing his own office‘s budget by 10 per cent and his own salary as well. Considering the guy makes $113,330 a year, you might think he could afford it. To the average person, this might seem like a lot of money. But the reality is that it‘s even less money than some of the government‘s top bureaucrats are earning, notably Ontario Hydro‘s Maurice Strong who earns in about $425,000 a year as head of the Crown Corporation.When questioned on the salary, the premier said the amount was "a fair salary range." This comment was made after Rae had cut former Hydro chairâ€" man Marc Eliesen‘s yearly wage from $400,000 to $260,000 a year before he resigned. The country‘s top business executives must get a real laugh at Rae wanting to slash his paltry salary, considering his responsibilities that include long hours and being on the end of every kind of verbal abuse imaginable. Its also an embarrassment that our prime minister earns just $159,300 a year. Not a lot of money for the country‘s top jOb What kind of message does that send to those seeking the top post? In Canada, if we are to attract good people, not just the wealthy, we owe it to them and to ourselves to pay these people what the positions are worth. Increasingly more people are saying ‘no‘ to a life of political service and the country could be the worse for it. Buckle up Under valued 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 354 Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 The Oakville Beaver, published every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, at 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing Distributing Ltd. group of suburban newspapers which includes: rA'rx-Hd(ag'? News Advertiser, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Buringon Post, Collingwood Connection, Etobicoke Guardian, Georgetown Independent/ Acion Free Press, Kingston This Week, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist and Sun, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Milton Canadian Chi ion, Mississauga News, Newmarketâ€"Aurora Eraâ€"Banner, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Onllia Toda¥‘. Os! itby This Week, Peterborough This Week, Richmond Hil/Thomhi/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror. All material published in the Oakvile Beaver is protected by copryrl?gt. Any reproduction in whole or in part of this material is strictly forbidden without the consent of the publisher. a good job about educating people on elts, or they‘re just plain lucky. How idents have the hichest seatbelt use in Deficit is a monster ready to devour us Dear Sir: In 1977, Jean Chretien was the Canadian Mmlster of Finance. That year, our federal government borâ€" rowed $10.8 billion, and it was one year prior, in 1976, that the Auditor General of Canada, J.J. Macdonell, stated, "I am deeply concerned that Parliament â€" and indeed the (Trudeau) sovernment â€" has lost. or is close month. What‘s tragic about this whole thing, is that just 14 years previous, in 1970; the total accumulated national debt of Canada â€" piled up over 103 years and two wars â€" was only $17â€"billion. Yet, in the spring of ‘84, the Trudeau administration set in motion a budget that called for borrowins more than twice that amount in 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 3S4 mm