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:Eagt end of town becominflwiramffic nightmare Dear Sir: It seems everybody's jumping aboard Jean Chretien's 1970's win- ter works job creation scheme. Everybody that is but taxpayers. Metro Toronto Chairman Alan Tonks says he'll raise taxes. And Ontario Finance Minister Floyd Laughren says he's willing to put the province deeper in hock. When will this one-term NDP government stop passing legisla- tion which has a cost component Not only is this proposed leg- islation profoundly flawed, it is also another dramatic example of this NDP government's contin- ued lack of consideration for municipalities and the private sector to cope with additional costs. Municipalities such as Oakville and Halton Region are already well advanced at self- regulating such initiatives. And the last thing the private sector needs is additional costs and paperwork. Taxing more to pay for jobs doesn't make sense Dear Sir: Re: Proposed Employment Equity Legislation Employment Equity legislation deeply flawed' Firstly, the "Maplegrove Only" access to residents; then when I thought the Ford Drive opening would alleviate some traffic prob- Dear Sir: As a resident of east Oakville for the past l2 years, I can only say that Oakville's Planning Department must be going out of its way to make the residents of southeast Oakville more irritated and dissatisfied. It appears that this Board of Governors does not comprehend the nature of the crisis in the health care system today. The crisis is not government funding but attitude! It is unconscionable that this Board Changing hospital's name won't change problems Dear Sir: I find it ironic that the Board of Governors of Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital would state: "we're trying to get people stimulated to think differ- ently about the hospital" (Oakville Beaver Nov, 24th-Barb Joy) and then initiate a process that would eventually see OTMH adopt "a new style of name". On Dec. Ist, Prime Minister Jean Chretien will sit down with the premiers of all the provinces and territorial leaders to discuss his infrastructure program promised during the federal election. We wonder if he will have any solutions as to where they will find the money to pay their portion of the Mr-billion bill. In the last three years, Ottawa has held back $4.5-billion in transfer pay- ments to Ontario and that has seen the province pass on their shortfall to the municipalities. And after the municipalities. there is no where else to go for more funds. tickle-down economics is alive and well and living in Halton Regional I headquarters. Regional treasurer Joe Rinaldo says that the provincial government is squeezing municipalities so tightly that Halton taxpayers can look forward to fewer services for their tax dollars. 'h OPINION The task before Martin is a daunting one to say the least. But whatever actions he may take, Martin would do well to think about sacrifices the public has already made to help build this country. Taxpayers have given their money in the expectation of getting something in return. They are now facing the spectre of paying even more and getting less. Nice choice. But before he does anything, Martin is not only going to consult his provincial counterparts in meetings like the one being held today in Halifax, but he's also organizing an "economic round table" that will see citizens' forums given input into what might be done to combat the deficit. It's all very laudable but in the final analysis, Martin should listen to what Canadians and the government's balance sheet is telling him now. The average Canadian can no longer dig any deeper into his or her pockets for more and more taxes. This penchant for tax, tax, tax has forced many Canadians to re-think their status as residents of this country, While they have seen their incomes eroding and jobs disappear, Ottawa's only response has been to tax more, thus taking much-needed spending power out of the economy. The finance minister may well take the tack of his Progressive Conservative predecessors, and hire a new legion of bureaucrats to try and catch tax cheats. This was the response of former Revenue Minister Otto Jelinek who hired thousands of bureaucrats to monitor the GST program. Martin perceives his problem to be a shortfall of cash coming into Ottawa via corporate and personal income tax. The reason for this, he says, is that an increasing number of Canadians are either lying on their tax returns or are using the underground economy to dodge taxes. t doesn't seem to matter who holds the title of Canadian Finance IMinister. the result always seems to be the same. They don't understand the underlying problem of the country's current economic malaise. And that trend continued Monday when Finance Minister Paul Martin trotted out a prediction that the deficit for the year could run between $44- billion-$46-billion. Those figures were predicted some time ago and are nothing new. Passing the buck Martin's way EDITORIAL Chretien's $6-billion public works program promises to put some 60,000 unemployed Canadians back to work. But with 1.6 million unemployed, it promis- But taxpayers say they're not willing to pay anymore. More taxes or higher deficits are not an option in Ontario's overtaxed and debt ridden economy. As a politician, I believe gov- ernment at every level should have to pay for any costs associ- associated with it without sup porting dollars. FHON‘E' ALONE CALL845-5585 NFOS lems, they closed Maplegrove Road. built a series of fast food and gas station outlets, and the tramc is now more congested than ever. To make matters worse, we now have to con- tend with numerous Garfield trucks cluttering up what should be classed " "residential" streets. Now, the final straw to break the proverbial "camel's back". they want to build a miniature golf amusement park and light Wf would make such an egotistical decision at this time. Boards of all hospitals must be made to realize that it isn't the name of the architecture but the nurs- es, doctors, support staff and volunteers that make a hospital what it is to its community. Unfortunately, I fear this will never be the case as the very people responsible for driving the health car system into the mess it is today are still at the helm. My question to Tom Alton and Dieter Kuntz is "Can either of you be stimulated to think differently about your hospital? 1' SPEAK YOUR MIND All callers are allowed 45 sec- 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. Got a gripe? Give IE tt call. Readers are invited to express their opinion on a topic of their choice by calling 845-5585, box ated with legislation or by-laws initiated by that government. Stephen Sparling Halton Regional and Oakville Councillor The Prime Minister's two-year make-work plan would split the costs evenly between Ottawa, the provinces, and municipalities. The problem is no one has the money to pay far it. After hammering taxpayers with $2-million in new taxes in his es temporary relief to only I in jobless. .. 'W......» A _'-_'_-er,__,r, _ um 'va4tfalrad1; DI! ”PM '?i? The Oakvillo Beaver mica-nu your comment: All loner: must be signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Letters should be typed. doutArtspaced and addressed to: um to the Editor. Tho Oukvlllo Beaver. 440 Spoon Rd., oebtttilte, Ont. UK MM " Classified /rdverttsing: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 or 845-9743 845-3824 Fax: 845-3085 anu- John Lindsay Ro the place up like a SkyDome. I firmly believe the only thing the Planning Department is looking at is the rev- enue this sort of thing would create. Our traf- fic problems are a major concern now. Please do not make these problems any worse. l'm sure there are a lot of very unhappy campers!! gd, Oakville, Ont. L6K HE OAKVILLE BEAVER _-"".'.-.......'..'.....' “I“! a" Chretien's invitation to his spending dance, requires three to tango. If taxpayers are lucky, he'll get stood up. With municipal elections due in November next year, it's doubtful most politicians who want to get re-elected will do anything to inflame an already hostile elec- torate. The scene of revenge taken against the tax hungry tories and Ontario's NDP in the federal elec- tion should be a wake-up call for any "spend and tax happy politi- cians" still out there. Metro Toronto is not alone when it comes to being in the poor house. Across the province, munic- ipalities of all sizes and shapes are reporting similar problems. The Town of Lindsay, northeast of metro has IOU's it can't collect of $3.3-million. The Town's accoun- tant says it's the highest he's ever seen it. With bailiffs working around the clock and municipal govern- ments hustling to cover the short- falls by digging into depleted reserves and borrowing money. the messages should be obvious. If taxpayers can't afford the current level of taxes, further increases are out of the question. Borrowing to pay for the province's share is okay with him. "That would not be bad economics for Ontario," said Laughren. His logic suggests if you're in the ditch, let's go for broke. spring budget, Laughren knows a funhertaxhikeistaboo.Buta$l- billion revenue shortfall which threatens to push this year's deficit over 'IO-billion doesn't seem to phase the provincial finance tninis- ter. Wow-9' Paul Pagnuelo Ontario Taxpayers Federation lip: ., W. ..., .,_,...-.. u. y... '.MVVPrtFw_FrrNrF" m. u- pm In! ll .. TTV TtT 'rr"""'"""'"' my“ r"'"'"""')""' In Iwwlun In my Mona yum with or wvvm may ml ha 'xAl Allvwlnmq I mum” an mm Io all nu may be Mumm- 31 my Ilnu Roy Pellegrini Robert Gun-hey Adverttsiny Din Not-mun Alex-nae: Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Cu“ Oflire Manager Tim Colon Production Manager Ian Oliver Publisher .To.tvttyxxe1itrsomethittgashsdicmusaschaogittgthertarneorthe toak.rilkHospitaliroamatetsffhtancialeuttxsefs,Giemwres,aad socjalcontPctnertiationsishepemamaegrsmreofan'usorioas auloverpaiiiadmististratim." IwillbetdollartodoughstutttsatDoctas,Nurses, tmdPtstientswould rattrrseetheavailahlehmdsspeatinammeamstructivemamters "eedamomresponsiNepetsort'mthepmsideatiautite,don'twuttriw H,eJ..(t,tfl name change a waste of money The plain truth is that governments at all levels having decided to tossChristiansintocultural outerfarkpessarernerelyperforming ran- dom manoeuvres on the oceans of prejudice without chart or compass. The solution is, ofcourse, togivetheBibleitserplaceagainihthe everyday affairs of the nation. Alex Smith A learned commutator of the 1980’s coined this de-Christianizing as the “naked public square", stripped ofany reference to the God of the Bible. This was not the intention ofthe founding peoples ofboth the United States and Canada. There was no notion that government, whether federal, provincial. or municipal should be atheistic. Separation ofChurchandState wasintendedtomeanthattherewastobeUstate Church, that no denomination was to be given favoratism, but that God wastobcgiven I?orpWonfhrmseatoseiaccordingthePsaim72. We.oug.ht.tobe.thsnkh8thatouI'rownoioakvuehasnotgone '.iownthtr1areeiofintokmmcethatthecityorTormtohas,aen last year Mayor June Rowlands refused to attend the kick-off of the Salvation Army's Red Shield appeal. The leaked Ontario government memo informing all civil servants to desist from putting up any kind of txnamentation "might be classi- fifd,aliytrelyaitolhe.thristi.aniai1h",jstoutthear7exorakmg stea..iy.battlebythtsauarhuPanistsandotherstorepUcetheatho7 our fathers by anothertower of Babel. Dear Sir: Three cheers for your most perceptive editorial of Nov. 28th, enti- tled - "Keeping the Faith". Up until now, I thought that the media was part of the problem regarding.what the article calls "the de.. Christianizing of our culture". The Beaver may be part of the solution if it continues to wake up the majority of Canadians with common sense thinking. On the road to intolerance my Director LETTER OF THE DAY News. NowrmrkoI-Au} '8hatalWhltty This Liberal, Scamomum N " m whqu Oukwlh may: The Iumdhn, Bowing: "rtmrttttsnt/ Ac mum mum Bauer, [mulch-a may B, In one ot the Motown Pun 3:101th "upon Aux-Pk v Acton Fm Pun, kings»: mu Sun, tmuthtlhr9Mrtfs Tr MIMI-Mia's Eta-Bunny, Na "by This Week. Pohmorough tgale, pub“: In the 0mm. Balm ml or his mum I: am» mm Collnaworxl mule Beaver I: plowed b atrium lawman without " my, IM XI Now“ Mow Comedian. El tth wk Mm Week MM FmdsClnmey Mt )9vath A in ot In HII man. (390er 1lri, Markham to . - vol. Onlla Today NMMnghan Dec " 1'l1t, '99