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THE HERALD Wednesday September 1990 Page Opinions- Turners GST committee resignation baffling Peel MP Garth Turner said he resigned as the chairman of the Federal Government com set up to determine which companies will pais on their from the Goods and Services Tax to the consumer in his fight to protect what he refers to as the forgotten middle class Upon hearing this piece of news I was more than a little surprised Since the majority of Canadians operate within a limited budget it follows they would appreciate anyone who is trying to protect hem from having to dig into their pockets more than necessary During this summer s Hills Chamber of Commerce Deficit Reduction Barbecue Finance Minister Michael Wilson pointed lo Mi Turner and his com mittee as the way to ensure the GST once implemented Jan l 1990 would be passed on to the con in the form of savings Except for this committee and its mandate of having companies go on record as saying what they will do with any GST savings there was no other means the Federal Government had in place to ensure this would happen said Mr Wilson at the lime I asked Mr Turner week if he was not abandoning the very people he is claiming to protect He replied by saying he would Bens Banter By Ben Dummetl continue lo lobby Mr Wilson and the government to have them think the way he s thinking But when it comes to the benefits of the GST as a fairer tax all the way around Mr Turner and the rest of the govern have been on the same wave length Many a time I ve heard Mr go to the wall for the government in defense of the GST Mr said as chairman he spent most of his time presiding over meetings listening to MPs from all three parties battle each other Now he s free to pursue his own agenda as expressed to him by his constituents have difficulty with this line of reasoning Regardless of what issue Mr Turner now takes up in the name of the middle class results if any will only come about after long hours spent meeting with his fellow MPs to convince them his ideas are right It not as if the government follows when Mr Turner speaks It s more likely the government is less likely to listen to anything Mr Turner now has to say Mr Turner says he wants to represent the middle class yet he abandoned the government program initiated to protect the middle class Why should his colleagues trust him I m not saying the other con cems of Mr Turner such as the government taking a greater in terest in waste management t admirable but it better to see one issue through and then move an to the next Timing of Bourassas vacation questionable By STEWART Mail EOD Ottawa Bureau Thomson News Service OTTAWA It not that Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa doesn deserve a vacation In fact he probably in desperate need of a week or two in the sun But there are occasions when it simply not appropriate lake holidays And frankly lis difficult to imagine a less lime than right now for the premier to be off relaxing somewhere in the Slates Yes with modern Mr can run just as lively from sunny south as he can from his Quebec City bunker Hes saia lo be in constant ouch wilh his ministers getting updates on what s happening with Mohawk crisis But efficiency aside there are times when poll heal leaders should slay home There s also Ihe ques lion of perception how a holiday is viewed by those thousands of peo ple desperately waiting for crisis to end There has probably not been another occasion in Canada when we ve heard so many critical about leadership or lack of it And while much of it has been directed at Prime Minsler Brian Mulroney and his summer relative silence there have been similar Quebec Ci iy 1RAW OUT The Mohawk crisis has now dragged on for nearly two full mon ths Things are becoming more tense there have recent ly been some nasty confrontations and more are threatened It wouldn take much for the situation to turn ugly really ugly There could easily be more loss of life Everyone agrees hat the stand off requires he delicacy The military forces at Oka are under the control of Premier Stewart MacLeod Ottawa Thornton He is for Ihe purposes of ending current crisis the commander inchief And while commanders in chief no double require vacations like everyone else they don I usually take them when events are reaching a potential flash poinl People could easily get the idea that the premier doesn t consider the crisis important enough to disrupt his holidays It would be different if the federal government had a full grip on he situation but there has been evidence of leadership from Ottawa over the last few months Apart from paying to Ihe cool professionalism of the Cana dian Armed Forces Mr has been saying little about Oka Members of political par ties while all calling for a peaceful conclusion also seem lo be rather on ideas Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon certainly hasn I distinguished himself STAYCIOSE Mr Bourassa s deputy minister Lise Bacon says has changed with the premier away lhat he remains in constant contact with officials and with the army You know the premier she says he s been on phone controlling situation from Miami or wherever he is No one in Mr Bourassa s office would say exactly where he is or when he is due back However he decided on the trip in a hurry His sudden and unexpected departure resulted in his cancelling a long standing engagement with West German President Richard von Weiz But in the premier s office stoutly deny reports he is unduly tired or suffering from any sort of burnout Considering all the criticism heaped on Mr for spen ding most of Ihe summer hunkered down at his Harrington Lake cot age emerging only occasionally to comment on various crises you would think Mr Bourassa would be acutely aware of how his absence would be viewed By now the leadership vacuum should be ringing in the ears of all our political leaders Mr Bourassa s vaction regardless of need can only serve to increase the clamor Not a wise move Wilsons fiscal policy falls short of the goal OTTAWA Until Michael Wilson up hal hell likely miss his deficit target this year he might have qualified as the sadistic genius of Canadian So we 11 jusl have lo stick with lo describe the finance minister His high interest raie policy has hurt Canadians without apparently achieving lis goal of deficit reduci ion Wilson admitted this week his estimate in last Februarys budget for average interest rates 11 per cenl was ion low He now rales will be nearly 13 per cent for the year Thai will sharply in crease debt payments Ottawa has lo make and reverse apparent pro gress made at Ihe of ihe 199191 year If one had lo judge Wilsons record on federal revenues and ex lures m the firsl four months of the fiscal year starting April I Canadas lop money manager would have seemed lo be doing well From April through July he latest available figures government squeezed 17 per more revenue of Canadians than in same period a year earlier Federal revenues were 111 billion up from billion lasl year Program spending which excludes interest on national debi i was I billion up per cent from billion a year ago Payments on the billion up from Adding all these ihings gel her four mi nth dtficil was r billion down to per from I billion a year ago In I he first I he results wire had climbed per rem and I hi defuit was down per July figures signalled a rever sal however when for thai climbed to a billion Vic Parsons from 3 billion a year ago What was happening in the firsi few months on fiscal year to make the so positive before Wilson brought us to a screeching Finance officials say Us a mistake to read loo much into Ihe early results Three months do a year make a spokesman said when asked he phenomenal firstquarter results And Iheres a lot of volatility in firsi five months of ihe year Ii s a point made in the depart ment The pat urn of both revenues and dilures an subjei l a wide degree of overyear vana linns due suih factors as timing of lax refunds of Hid and purchases of capital assets the reporl notes drily for example I hi main lo swollen fedual rtvuiues so far Mils is a per jump in personal intome lax eoltiilions In Hie April an minted i 209 billion just over half i f revenue total Thai W I billion more than ai Ihe same time lasl year Personal income tax were higher than in pari betaase economy in the few months of the year was more I nan The strong income levels of lasl year carried over into fiscal DECLINING But ihis should off in the coming months The economy Wilson now admits is declining fasier lhan predicted in the February budget Jobless rales after a long period of stabiliiy are on nse Higher unemployment cosls governments both through reduced revenues and larger benefit payouts Another factor accenluatlng revenue collect inn was the fact thai a year ago the tax take was smaller due incometax reform In 1989 the April to June period was marked by a substantial pay meni of lax refunds to filers who had overpaid in the previous This depressed Oilawa s 198990 revenues by an pected cut into the billion in corporate collected so far this The inclusion of more companies and the new lax on large corporations though not yel passed by ihe Senate has helped offset the decline But it s clear from Wilson remarks this week that the lower deficits of ihe of the are only a passing phase billion Finally federal efforts to speed up payment by lax debtors this year resulted in hefl collections in June which reduced July s While personal taxes risen sharply corporate income tax has remained flat compared with a ago Bui this is a surprise because lower prof lis were ex Write us a letter The Herald wants to bear from you If you have an opinion you want to express or a comment to make send us a letter or drop by the Our address Is Guelph St Georgetown Ont 3Z6 All letters must be signed Please include your address and telephone number for verification The Herald reserves the right to edit letters due to space limitations or libel