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Friday July 1991 Community News Comments on the recession and the Tory government Some people have asked me to comment on the recent recession and on the overall performance of the Mulroney government A touchy subject Tor a person like myself with strong friendships within the Conservative party but let us give it a try It is certain that the policies of the federal government have caused undue hardship to Cana dians The stated objectives were to make Canada more com petitive and wealthier the Free Trade Agreement to fight infla tion the high interest rates to attract foreign investors high in terest rates to reduce national debt and the deficit taxes reduc tion of services The results high unemployment job losses to the States still a high debt thousands of bankruptcies a recession a six per cent inflation Nothing to be proud of The a lack of fully appreciating the impact of free trade on our economy an inabili ty to reduce spending and develop a national economic con sensus a of the im- pact of Interest rates on the economy While I cannot find and pro bably few people do anything wrong with the stated objectives it is clear that the implementa tion plans were not well thought- out To ask the Canadian industry to compete with the Americans burdened by high interest rates and a high dollar clearly did and does hot make sense On the positive side For the moment just a glimmer of hope but a glimmer which if it would fully develop would indeed make Canada a better place to live in I guess most of us have been confronted by examples of sloth in economic machine Some ex amples fresh on my mind a local banker makes an appoint ment and does not show up keep ing two of us waiting for two hours Another banker makes a promise only to be trounced by his head office A supplier pro mises a delivery and forgets A national newspaper does not follow up on an advertising con tract A request for additional service to Bell Canada takes six phone calls to be answered I can go on but what we have seen in Canada has been the dally decay of our standards of services and performance I remember five or six years ago a banker referr ing to a colleague stating If he cannot keep his word he will not be inbanking for long So let us assume for a moment that somebody up there a politi cian or a top civil servant saw the degradation of our per formance and decided for this country to get strong it needs a major kick in the pants or words to that effect And Just imagine that Indeed the suffering and hardship we went through made us more effi cient more responsive to customers less greedy more reliable We would still have pro blems Unemployment will stay high for many more months the public sector has not yet shed thousands of unnecessary employees a consensus between unions the private sector and the government is still a hope But maybe just maybe we are get ting there But if a plan to make us more efficient and competitive does ex ist it is time for the Feds to come out in the open and lay the cards on the table We know that we have to get better but to rely only on the invisible hand of the marketplace is not enough And not fair on Canadians Community Focus- Seated In her favorite chair with her four children behind her Is Louise Lindsay who celebrated her 751h birthday Sunday with family and friends In St Albans Parish Hall Her children left to right Don Jim and Mary- Jane had tried to keep A family affair the party a surprise but when Mrs Lindsay entered hall she announced that they hadnt fooled her Ms Lindsay has lived In Acton for 73 years and was married to Clayton Dude Lindsay who passed away 12 years ago Herald photo Easy does it Trying to be fast without spilling water Is a difficult feat but Gwllllam managed to speed to the bucket and still have some water left to dump In It Friday at the Safari Day camp at Holy cross school in Georgetown The camp is sponsored by the Hal ton Lung Association and is for children with asthma and their Ings Herald photo Rec leaders Steady aim Acton leaders with the Town of Halton Hills Recreation and Parks Department gathered around their sponge toss booth at the Annual Nickel Car nival held at Acton Arena Wednesday night Leaders are front left to right Phil Kevin and back left to right Ford Dee Dee Haynes and Heather Herald photo Peter Enn left and friend Doug right of Acton thought It would be a lot of fun to take part In the Hoola Hoop Toss at the Annual Nickel Carnival at Acton Arena Wednesday night The event was organized by the Town of Halton Hills Recreation and Parks Department Herald photo