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‘OPnIIOM EDITORIAL ' What cuts? ell, it didn't take Treasury Board President Art Eggleton long to trumpet the massive savings to be realized from the freezing of federal civil ser- vant salaries for two more years. On the same day as Finance Minister Paul Martin released his first budget, . Eggleton also sent press release saying the freezing of salaries/will save "close to THE OAKVILLE BEAVER The m BMW m SIM, III F THE OAKVILLE BEAVER milihfffy ,Pub“ ”"39th ”W2: finer-ism flew . Norman AlexanderEdttor mwfim WWW 467 Spears Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K SS4 845-3824 Fax: 845-3085 ““3” “WWW . . Teri Cues Qflioe Manager Lberd. Mirror. Classified Adverhsrng: 845-2809 All 0am Beaver mm comm Circulation: 345-9742 or 345.9743 Tim 001°. W" Manager MTmmmutmmhmflmm wwhmm. mimics-meter windb- bmmmmnthhmde dalmatian w rim-n. «MMMwuvh-Ihwmwhmwdewmnwmhnflw mail-rebut) Ire-prim m.mmmhmhmeMhh-mm So fartoaay ZSharped onthe DEFICIT, 3'] grumbled over EXES. 52 gripeci $l-billion in 1996-9 ." ‘ Now here's where it gets interesting. The actual figure is $940-million. Only an -' Ottawa bureaucrat could sloflghâ€"off the remaining $60-million and round the figure 2 off to $1-billion. Is it any wonder the country is bankrupt? . The release goes on to spout the usual self-serving epithets but some of the lines ' are classic stuff: "The government wrestled with various ways of curtailing operatâ€" ing costs. Freezing salaries will allow us to contain costs without jeopardizing jobs." 2 Canada is in hock up to its neck. . Here's another gem: The government remains committed to a high level of 2, employment security for federal Public Service employees, ensuring no employee ' will be laid off without first getting a reasonable job offer. Surplus employees must We're sure that the thousands of Armed Forces personnel and other support workers for the military must think it's real peachy that while they have had their - jobs cut to save money, the bureaucrats keep their cushy jobs. Another reason why be ready to move or be retrained if necessary. , Anyone who knows how government bureaucracy works, knows this is a joke. ; If the mandarins on Parliament Hill want to give people more money, they simply ~ change their job classifications. So it appears they're not getting a raise, only pro- : moted. It's the Ottawa way folks and they always look after themselves first. ' Eggleton says he's reviewing operations to generate efficiency savings, reduce , overlap and duplication including the elimination of programs a priority. And what of any money saved? Will it go to reduce the deficit? Nope, the I cash will be used to shorten the wage restraint 2 the civil servants save will line their own pockets and remember, they won't lose 1 their jobs. Nice work if you can get it. i at the public trough. ‘ It's enough to make you sick. ' States and the highest total ever. . winners in hockey. I e 17th Winter Olympics finished with classic Norwegian ; time for celebration for Canada who garnered as many medals as the United - 1 Been laid off or know of those who have? You'll love this: the federal civil ser- » vice increased by 14,000 in the 1991-92 fiscal year and although pay fi'eezes were I in place, the payroll cost us another $100-million in the period. 1 And just how many of these paper-shufflers do we employ as federal bureau- 'crats? Not counting the RCMP and the Armed Forces, Eggleton says there 231,000 Hopes and dreams panache. It was a . It was a time to wonder, again, why anyone would want to choose figure skating as a sport The judging continues to be just appalling as it was in short-track ice sprints. And surely something must be done about shoot-outs to decide gold medal , But the most poignant moments of the games came when Sarajevo was men- : tioned. Ten years ago there was an air of optimism in then-Yugoslavia and perhaps ; now the killing will end. That is a true Olympian hope. that are no longer a period. In other words, the money were The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be signed and include the writer's addressand phone number. Letters should be typed, double-spaced and about QUuESEhia 133318279 {5 J 00 or aDAIE LETTER OF THE DAY addressed to: Letters to the Editor, - ”The Oakville"Beaver,467 Spears ad.,0akvltte,om. L6K 354 Of time and gas payments » Dear Sir: While it has never been my intention to enter into a dialogue with onewhorespondsinkindtomylettertothispage,lwouldcertainlybe remissifIdidnotsetthefactsstraightinrespecttoBD.Hauser’sletâ€" ter,“l-IappyGasUser”ofFeb. 16th. FirstletmesaythatlamindebtedtoHauscrforinformingmethat I at Gsrt opp . of Parliament.” What say you now Ms. Brown to those unemployed and to those seniors who . believed you and what you promised them dur- ing the campaign. Finally, the Liberals have decided to reduce the meal deductions hour 80% to 50%; thereby, hurting the restaurant industry, small businesses, truck drivers, real estate agents, and commis- sioned salespeople. They say that this is being done in order to bring fairness to the tax system. What is fair about a system that grabs more tax dollars from a truck driver earning $35,000 a year, but continues to allow MPs who earn in excess of $67,000 a year to receive an additional $27,000 a year as a tax-free expense allowance. After watching the performance of this Liberal government over the past four months, and I have not mentioned the Jag Bhouduria affair, I now understand why Liberals are so was “unacceptable”. What has changed in only four months that now makes an 11% unemploy- ment rate acceptable? Also, during the campaign, the Liberals attacked the Reform Party’s deficit reduction plan. Ms. Brown and her fellow Liberals stated, “Never would a Liberal government attempt to fight the deficit on the backs of the poor, the unemployed, or the elderly.” Well, Tuesday’s budget did just that. The Liberals, in their budget attacked the most volatile of our society. They have attacked those “rich” seniors earning $26,000 a year, which by the way is less than what an MP receives as a yearly tax free expense allowance, and they have attacked the unem- ployed, by reducing unemployment benefits. The Liberals, to quote Mr. Chretien after the Tories did the same thing in 1992, “Are attacking the people who are not worldng.” Another Liberal at hope to our unemployed. At that time, the that time stated that the reducing of benefits was vehemently opposed to the “Right of Recall”. Liberals stated that an 11% unemployment rate the “most cowardly measure ever in the history Richard Malboeuf _ Poor sidewalk snow removal hard on wheelchair users Dear Sir: . So much for Liberal election promises. ”During the last election, the Liberals campaigned on a platform of jobs, jobs, jobs. Well to date, they have yet to create any new jobs. As a matter Zof fact, they have done just the opposite. ZCancelling the Pearson deal and the helicopter :contract without presenting any replacement pro- grams cost Ontario alone 5,500 jobs; and by closing four military bases, two here in Ontario... another 16,000 jobs will be lost; 21,000 jobs lost after only four months of Liberal government. , During Feb. 22nd’s budget speech, Mr. ,Martin forecasted that the unemployment rate ;would remain in the area of 11% for several :more years, and that was the same statement .made by Kim Campbell during the election cam- paign, after which she was attacked by the Liberals as being uncaring and not offering any QAS, and I now see where. senior residents who are fortunate to be located in the areas of ‘Heavenly Gas”. Misleading perhaps yes, but W! Inreferencetothepenultimateparaofhisletter,perhapslcanclari- fy his dilemma. In December, my budget payment was due Dec. 29th. several days before the government pension cheques arrived... no problem. In January of the new year, my billing date has now been changed to January Md) and before the January pensions arrive. In consequence. Winnâ€"26.51% W! This is precisely why four seniors like myself have also expressed their dismay after reading my letter. Now, contrast this with may friend Hauser’s situation, whose due date has beenchangedfmmtheletofthemonthwhenhestartedtheplanto the 4th of the month following the arrival of his monthly bill. Assuming month with 30 days. WW W and has had two government pension cheques to settle the account... result HAPPINESS! 0h! Would I love to trade places with Hauser! Certainly, I can hardly be guilty of obliquity now! Incidentally, my budget payments have just been increased by another $18. I don’t know about dear old Hauser; I, like most other seniors, live from pension to pension with nothing to spare after paying bills. Dear Sir: I am a resident of Oakville and use a wheelchair to get around. The sidewalks absolutely are horrible and I have to spend most of my time travelling on the road which is a frightening situation. In the first place, I should not have to do this. Just for an exam- ple, I got stuck on a sidewalk. By my good fortune, a nice lady helped me out for which I am very grateful. I cannot understand the way the town ignores the obvious needs of any sidewalk user and has done so for a number of years. The town then turns around and uses tax money without conscience and then gives you a wimpy excuse for their inaction such as we only get the same amount of money as last year even though they have 40 people working for them (I was told). Is there no responsibility left anywhere? I though that people were important individually but it seems even though the Town of Oakville is directly made aware there is a problem, the town avoids all responsibility and it does noth- ing because it is easier to ignore the problem than deal with it. Even during the summer, when the sidewalk (if there is one-- Oakville conveniently ignores the fact that you have to travel from one point to another)»are so badly «r maintained that my wheelchair gets damaged. It would be a great idea if the public works department would read their own pamphlets about what a curb cut is ...it should be level access, not a drop. I wish the planning people would quite this ignorant behaviour. I would also like to pubâ€" lically challenge the mayor and rest of the planning council to use a wheelchair and get around. This may make them more aware of the situation. It seems unbelievable and quite ironic that the road is ploughed and OTMH staff deserve credit for coping Dear Sir: I would like to bring to the attention of the community the trials the staff of our local hospital have had to undergo during the past two years. The on-going demolition and renovations to bring our hospital into the ‘90s has increased the difficulties (noise, dust) of working and caring for some 250 patients â€" 24 hours per day. It would be like having your home renovated, inside and out, while caring for a family suffering various ail- ments and disabilities. This family (and staff) at the same time being served 1,800 hot meals a day with improvised kitchen facilities. I would say, certainly, a job well done on behalf of the community. (râ€"1 s ’ THE gasmwam - John Black Got a gripe? Give us a call. . 'Readers are invited to express their opinion on a topic of their choice by calling 845-5585, box 5250. ‘* 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 the sidewalk is not. The roads are number one and if there is an opportunity to plough the side- walk, it is done carelessly without thought (it is the last priority). They like their pay but do not want the responsibility in doing their job. I see children required to walk on the road to get around as well as people of all ages. The image that the Town of Oakville portrays is misleading and obviously human rights that they are constantly talking about is nothing but lip service. I truly wonder what era they think they are in. If something happens to me, I will personally hold them responsible R.G. Richardson WEEKLY FOCUS Exercise decline Gardenlng or yard work tracing ° measurable m Swimming or . water exerclfl .23