The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

the HERALD Wednesday December 18 1991 Political Forum Page QUEENS PARK REPORT New transportation agency will make for safer roads Id like to talk about auto in this week About three months ago I told you that the grim reality of current economic conditions had forced us to recon our plan to introduce public auto insurance Instead we were going to reform the existing system and at that time I men some of the areas where improvements were needed Earlier this month Financial Institutions Minister Brian introduced a package of reforms designed to provide fair and affordable auto insurance within the private system The Road Ahead outlines a com prehensive and innovative strategy that provides the most generous and equitable benefits in Canada keeps premiums affordable allows more people to sue for pain and suffering puts safety in the forefront for the insurance industry govern and the public Under our reforms automatic accident benefits are being vastly improved and indexed to meet the needs of victims suffering economic Josses New benefits are being created to deliver fair compensation to those accident victims treated badly by the Liberal legislation children students homemakers small business people and nonearners Specifically the accident benefits include increasing the maximum weekly income replacement benefit for people injured in automobile accidents from to1000 indexing of income replace ment benefits and weekly ceiling to the Consume Price Index special benefits for students caregivers and people who are unemployed removing the lifetime caps on benefits for rehabilitation and care indexing of monthly care limit to the Consumer Index increasing minimum death benefits to a spouse from to 50000 with a geared to income maximum of 200000 Greater access to the courts is being provided so innocent acci dent victims can sue for pain and suffering and psychological in Junes The current threshold is being changed to enable all dent victims who prove someone else was at fault for their in juries to sue subject to a deductible Three times more people will be able to sue The Liberal plan delivered a billiondollar windfall to the private insurance industry Our reforms will direct some of that money to reduced premiums and better accident benefits Since we announced our intention to reform the private auto in system instead of pro ceeding with a public plan ap proximately 18 insurers serving 50 per cent of Ontario drivers have applied for or lm premium reductions We expect to see many more follow this trend Reducing accident frequency and severity will help bring down claim costs and most import ly human costs On the aver e someone is injured every four and a half minutes and someone is killed every seven hours in motor vehicle accidents in On tano Many driver errors are r e v e n Noel Duignan Halton North table That why a new Road Safety Agency announced by Transportation Minister Gilles will go a long way toward improving driver behavior and awareness and saving lives Our government will work closely with the insurance industry and community groups to develop the agency and to fund new and enhanced safety programs Other changes include getting good drivers out of the Facility Association so they can purchase insurance at market rates phasing in a uniform discriminatory industrywide classification plan All of these reforms honor com mitments we made in September They 11 result in affordable in premiums reasonable and fair accident compensation for all a fairer driver classifica system better customer ser vice and safer roads If you want more information please call the Ontario Insurance Commission without charge at or my Milton office at My offices will be closed on day December open on day December 23 Milton clos ed from December to January inclusive and open on January 2 Queens Park and January 3 Milton I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a and safe holiday season Triple A rating for Halton Region The recent confirmation of Regions Triple credit rating indirectly means a tax savings for local ratepayers Dave Haltons Director of Budgets and Finances explained Friday the Triple A rating permits the Region to borrow money through the issuing of bonds at the lowest cost possible In other words the lower a municipality credit rating the more expensive it is to money Halton Region borrows money on behalf of the four Region municipalities Halton Hills Milton and Burlington Halton Hills Treasurer Ray King said the municipality tnes to avoid whenever possible However the Town would need to borrow order to finance large capital projects such as the proposed new Acton arena The Regional Triple A credit rating means if the project was to go ahead next year then the in terest charged on the money borrowed to finance the new arena would be at a favorable rate In turn the Town would incur less pressure to finance the loan through tax rate increases explained Mr King Haltons Triple A credit rating confirmation was issued by Canadian Bond Rating Service Mr Birkett said CBRS is the most distinguished independent bond rating service in the country Earlier this year cian counterpart Moody Investor Services also reconfirmed Triple A credit rating Say I saw it in The Herald Technics Sound Off For Technics The science of souir Perfgrmance Perfect Pitch SA GX505 Here There and Everywhere Stereo Receiver with Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound tot 3 Dimensional sound clarity and enhanced home video enjoyment Centre Channel Separation a posil ons dialog in centre of screen MM Band Parametric Equalizer tally jj Encoded Rotary Tuning Remote Control 110 Wtts PerChannel MSL 649 95 99 Cinema Sound Stereo Receiver with Dolby Surround Sound tor 3 Dimensional clarity Digital Delay to reduce noise and improve frequency response 4 Band Parametnc Equalizer Digitally Encoded Rotary Tuning Key Remote Control 429 99 99 18Hour Series Playback DECK Reverse Double Cassette Deck doubles the usual recording and phyback times w having to flip Ihe cassette With high speed edtmg 18 hour series playback using two C cassettes and with synchro startstop amq Full Logic Feather Touch Transports FL J Jj Electronic Counter and Peak Level Meters Dolby BC Noise Reduction Systems 299 99 24Hour Series Playback Double Auto Reverso Cassettes Deck both decks providing auto reverse operation Computerized to make editing tapes more convenient than with separate decks Dolby HX Pro plus Dolby BC Systems to reduce Electronic Counter and Peak Level Meters 31 9 99 Uninterrupted Play A Rotary Compact 5 Disc Front Loading gn that lets you change the front interrupting play MASH 1 Bit digital lo analog converter system Servo System automatically to centre each Individual disc and compensates for warping scratches and dirt I A I I without remote control Change Your Mind Change any four discs 249 not in pay This top open 5 disc Rotary Compact Disc Changer puts you in charge MASH Bit provides unparalleled sound Digital Servo System adjusts to centre of each individual disc and automatically compensates for warping scratches and dirt As above without remote control Now Listen to What Your Authorized Technics Dealer Has to Say GS TELEVISION ITS NOT WORTH THE DRIVE TO BRAMPTON 265 GUELPH ST GEORGETOWN 8779541