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

Omno W ee ly Tl. ..W ....... ..t..b ........ in order of standing The SAGA Scarecrow committee has tabulated ail the ballots ini the Scarecrow compefitien and without a doubt the entry of Bill Wright, designer of The Grapevine Scarecrow, in the Garden Hill area, is the first choice of those who toured the circuit during the staging of the Great Ganaraska Countryside Tour. The enrty of Sue Rankin and Brad Copping placed second; the entry of Bob abd Joanne Rotz placed third. Honourable mention gees to theRalph Greenwood for their straw bale scarecrow and to Bey Higgins for lierentry of the Sun Godess. An appropriate scarecrow by Bill Wright of Rumpelstiitskin where twig and rustic furniture is Piaced Second în votîng Sue Rankin and Brad Coppping came up with this big black Raven taking off with the Placed Third lu votîng designed and manufactured. An impressive scarecrow farmer's hired help. The table rather turned around in this case. This adaptation of a scarecrow Joanne Rotz. was outfront at the Rutherford Someone has lost the battle of Farm the creation of Bob and lufe in this case. Quen'sPark ]Report from Gord Milis, MPP Durham East Last week, at Queen's Park the Justice Commîttee wrapped up the public presentations made in respect te Bill 79. During the week, many poignant presentations were made te the committee. One women of colour explained that she had already three strikes against her, she was a women, she was black and she was a Francophone, but she put it this way, "In simple terms, 1 am net asking for some peuple te squeeze, se designated group members can sit. But we must rearrange the place wo make room of others." This week, Justice Committee members examine Bil 79 clause by clause, with the intent (I hope) of improving the proposed legislation. My personal fears are that the goverument wil net gel tough, they will propose wishy-washyamendments that will do precieus little towards ac hieving the whole purpose behmnd Bil 79, and the status-que will continue, more-or-less. Much has been written of late about "Health Card Fraud" and related rip-offs. All along the government has been portrayed as being unable or worse, incompetent, te deal with the problem. Figures of the total fraud have varied, depending upen which opposition party you want te believe, ranging from millions te billions. In any event, the NDP Government have been blained for it ail. I think it well wo remember that the "Health Card" was the brain-child of the fermer Liberal governent. They set the process in motion, in April 1990, complete with ail the faults and loop-holes which have haunted us since, and incidently, prier tw the election of the NDP government. This process followed as a result of the Report of the Provincial Auditor in 1987 which criticized an outdated OHIP system which saw 25 million people registered for health benefits with under 10 million people being eligible. By the time the NDP government assumed power, more Ontario residents, had been registered for their heaith card, at a cost of about $4 per persen, than there were living in Ontario.. As you can see, the problem hasn't just surfaced, its been around for several years. Hfowever, the present government is tasked with stopping fraud which the media choose net teý disclose until now, neo doubt for some very obvious reasons - like who forms the govemment now? - and blame the NDP for everything phiosophy. Ail rîght you say, that was then this is now, what are you doing about it? This year, we have cancelled heaith cards of 1.5 million individuals who were ineligible for health card. We have set up a toit free line --l- 800-268-1154-- se censumers, pharmacists and physicians can report suspected abuse; We have retained Lindquist, Avey Macdonald Baskerville Inc., the country's leading forensic acceuntants, te assist in the prevention, detectien. and presecutien of fraud; We will issue new, tamper-proof health cards with new security features, including personal photographs, We have Iaunched an automation project to link pharmaces by computer, te help stop drug fraud in the Ontario Drug Benefit Program; We will instal electronic "swipe" readers in a minimum of 100 hospitals over' the next twe years te verify card number; We have in 1992-93. through the Internai -Audit Branch,' recovered $7.9 million from laboratories, nursing homes, hospitals, etc; In the last three years (since we assumed govemment) tirough the Medical Review Committee, we have recovered $8.5 million from physicians who have billed for their services incorrectly; passage of Bill 50, which will increase the size of the NMRC, should increase recoveries by 50% a year; We wil, te avoid past mistaices not of our creatieni, establish an expert advisory panel te review the introduction of the new health card. The problems we have faced as a government with the health card, were net created over-night either, as much as we would like wo. Next week 1 will write about the resuits of the transportation survey which I conducted a few months ago in the riging. Worth Quoting "North America's preference system benefits everyone except the "white maie" ruling group, a state of affairs that seems te violate the normal working of the werld." - Derek Nelson writing in the Standard-Freeholder, Cornwall, Ontario, of Ontario's employment equity legisiation, Bill 79. Use the Classified Section o(de >CUSTOM HOME BUILDING RENOVA71ONS "SmaII Jobs and Large l'il Take Charge" 1-705-277-2397 JOE H. LEYSTRA s Theu CLARKE CONNECTION MORE ýTHAN A STORE b A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE ONE OF A KIND-HAND MADE CANADIAN CRAFTS ' q POTTERY - WOOD - SILKS - TOYS ANI) - MUCH MUCH MORE MAIN STREET, ORONO 983-9314 TUES. -FRL 11Lo 6 SAT 9Lto5 WARNING! THIS AD MAY MAKE YOU UNHAPPY WITH VOUR PRESE NT AUTO INSURANCE RECOMMENDED COVERAGE FOR, CAREFUL DRIVERS! * 91/92 medium size - $250 deductible collision * 1 million liability- $50 deductible comprehensive * Accident benefits - Family protection endorsement * Loss of use/rentai vehicle NOTE: Careful Drivers Over Age 25 With Preferred Driving Records May Qualify, this Rate Also includes Limnited Driving To Work. Two car policies may quali fy for additional discounts. SEMI-ANNUAL PREMIUM lcuigTx $425.25 ~ 623-0331 PINE RIDGE, INSURANC 3 Sîlver Street,,Bowmanville' Established 1978 Oshawa - 436-6239