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the HERALD Political Forum Wednesday November 13 1991 OTTAWA REPORT Municipal candidates applauded First off my congratulations to all those who won office in this weeks municipal election And my admiration to everybody who stood as a candidate Having gone through the pro cess I know how exhausting dif ficult costly and frustrating it is Elections are tests of endurance going door to door standing up to give speeches and being challenged at every turn by your critics And for what For the op portunity of temporarily occupy ing an office and suddenly being the object of public cynicism and anger Given this it has surprised me that such good people would run for election It shows the system still works And again my per sonal thanks as a colleague in public life to those who just went through this gruelling exercise Last week I voted in support of a number of new laws in the House of Commons which have to do with law and order The government is bringing in changes to toughen up the Young Offenders Act because kids cant believe that they can do a crime and then walk away with a slap on the wrist We also made changes to the extradiction rules so never again can a Charles spend six years in a Canadian prison using our laws to avoid justice Canada cannot become a safe haven for from around the world There were also changes to the regulations governing parole so that violent offenders dont end up getting day passes or see their sentences unduly shortened Canadians are sick and tired of the abuses which have been allowed to happen in the past Were also fed up with criminals getting more rights than victims With the new changes victims will get a say in the parole system which only makes common sense I supported all of these Garth Turner MP Progressive Conservative changes in the name of public safety and But I have to tell you that I voted against the gun control legislation when it was brought up for second reading I missed the final vote because I was chairing a meeting of corporate executives who had flown to- Ottawa from across Canada for the 0 Canada project which Ill tell you about soon The gun control bill in my view was wrong from the start Instead of taking guns away from criminals it will make- legitimate gun owners into criminals It will also create a whole new bureaucracy in Ot tawa which is about the last thing we need I voted against the government on this one because I want a gun law which spells out mandatory sentences for crimes committed with firearms I want a law which clearly teils the bad guys that if they use a gun they can im mediately expect to be doing a lot of time I do not want a law like the one we now have which gives bureaucrats the power to decide what is legal and what is not Some people tried to portray a vote against the bill as a vote for guns which is bizarre What we need are laws that accomplish societys goals not laws that are trendy or politically correct Of 295 MPs I was only one of who stood up in opposition and that was not easy Probably not good for my political career either But its you not the chief government whip who will decide that Good Neighbours Sanding by each other Find out how you can get your community involved by contacting The Ministry of Citizenship Office for Senior Citizens Affairs CALL COLLECT Town hall meeting Haltons Peel MP Garth Turner is hosting another Town Hall Meeting for the residents of Hills on Friday November 15 at Public School gym in Acton The meeting will start at pm Topics being discussed include the economy and the recent proposals for changes to the constitution in this open accountability session There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and comments I encourage everyone to come out and be part of the political pro cess Turner said QUEENS PARK REPORT October was a busy month Id like to start off by thanking everyone who attended the Open house at my Milton office last month The resource people at the event included represen tatives from the Workers Com pensation Board and the Office for the Greater Toronto Area and several guests took ad vantage of the opportunity to speak to these individuals October was also a busy month at Queens Park Attorney General Howard Hampton laun ched a public awareness cam paign outlining the economic and social costs of unpaid family sup port and also announced the new Family Support Plan And Health Minister Frances Lankin releas ed a public conciliation paper on longterm care The Public Awareness Cam paign was designed to highlight the serious social problem of un paid support payments Many people dont realize the economic consequences for women and children when support payments are withheld And its a problem that concerns everyone Three- quarters of the support orders fil ed with the Ministry are in default to a certain extent More than children are not receiving family support over 470 million is owed in arrears and million in social assistance has been paid to families not receiving support We all share these costs The new Family Support Plan will come into effect on March 1st of next year and allows for the automatic deduction of support payments from income The system is new to Ontario but not a Noel Ouignan North New Democratic Party new concept elsewhere It has been used in Wisconsin since 1983 and in other American states since then Heres how the Family Support Plan will work At the time the support order is mode the court will also make an order requiring payment by way of deduction from the parents income The order will be immediately for warded to the Family Support of fice which will serve the employer with the order The employer will be required to deduct the appropriate amount and forward it to the Family Sup port office for prompt distribu tion to the family The support deduction is similar to the way in come tax is deducted and will become the normal way to pay support orders The new system will apply to all court orders made in Ontario after March 1st and can also be applied to ex isting orders if practical Employees will not be fired because they are paying support payments under the automatic deduction plan I also mentioned the release of the public discussion paper by Health Minister Frances The document called Redirection of LongTerm Care and Support Services in Ontario sets out the government principles goals and priorities for the redirection of longterm care for seniors and adults with physical disabilities An extensive consultation pro cess is already underway and is expected to last at least four mon ths The paper reflects our new directions for longterm care which were announced in June These directions emphasize a shift away from institutions and toward community alternatives They include the following prin ciples an integrated approach to the provincial management of all longterm health care and social services better coordination of ser vices assurance of greater com munity preparation realignment of funding policies to reduce regional disparities increased funding for sup portive housing For more information about the consultation paper please call my Milton office at Tuesdays through Fridays And finally Id like to con gratulate the individuals recently elected to the municipal govern ments in Hills and Milton and to commend all the can didates for making the effort to participate in an important elec toral process REVERSE MORTGAGES Available At CONCEPTS 8731877 Established HALTON HILLS COLLISION RR 1 ACTON Georgetown District Memorial Hospital Auxiliary presents their 33rd Annual Soil FRIDAY DECEMBER 6th Punch Served at 700 PM Dinner at 730 PM Holy Cross Auditorium Music by Dave Smallwood Tickets Available At The Hospital Gift Shop or call Vi at 8774593 or Brenda at 8778212 Please Join Us at Our CKMTMM OPEN Weekend of November 16 930 AM to 600 PM Preview the Hallmark products and promotions at your Christmas Idea Place Receive a free Holiday Planner Register to win a Christmas Carousel Horse suggested retail value SI Enjoy the sweet sounds of Christmas with Hallmarks music premium The Tradition of Christmas featuring Harry Belafonte and Jennifer Only for tapes and for with any 1000 Hallmark purchase ACTIVITIES INCLUDE Mr Tom on the Classical Guitar Mr Haydn Evans on Keyboard and a Special Guest from the North Pole Join us for Christmas Cider Goodies and much more NEW LOCATION and 266 St Market Place Plaza i Georgetown 8737096