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O rnn....,..-..,....ý-..,.41.-.-... .....ý..-..,,. .' -.,;ly :a:- T.-,im e -s . -ý: -, . -da.y. , -. -e.c.m ber . . ... -.. ,- .1 093 .. - .. ... Lordy, Lordy Stevie's Forty Queen's Park ]Report from Gord Mils, MPP Durham East In last week's column, I told you 1 would report this week about the tbings I bave donc to impmove service for you. We bave now bad the Bell Telephone Company instail their Centrex IVMS systemn in tbe constituency office in Bowmanville. Wbat is Centrex IVMS you ask. It is a fully featured voice message system which provide a non-simultaneous excbange of information at the convenience of botb the caller and my office staff. Ail messages are sent in the original voice of the sender using a standard telephone. In a single cali to Centrex IVMS you can send, messages to my staff, they can pick up tbe messages, reply and send copies down to my Toronto office. The systemi will allow me to cal into tbe system using a secret password, and listen to your message frons any destination in Nortb America-. We are now providing every constituent with the best access to their MPP tbey have ever had. As 1 told you in last week's column, my staff, are called upon to assist constituents at an ever increasing level. I'mi sure tbe demand for assistance bas not come close in previous years, to what is happening these days. I now bave a staff of six, and we ý_ bave moved into larger offices botb in Bowmanville and in Toronto, partly to accommodate the requîred document storage space and larger working areas. If your answer to a problemi doesn't come it a couple of days, I want to share witb you some of the statistics we keep, in the hope you may understand wby sometimes tbere is a delay. Since my election in September 1990 we have responded to the following calîs for assistance: Welfare assis tance - 1,002; Health Care - 982; Auto Insurance - 771; Rent Control - 615; Affordable Housing - 102; Seniors - 54; Transportation - 187; Tourism & Recreation - 32; Work Related Problems - 203; Workman's Compensation - 689; Skills Development - 46; Support Payment Program - 165; And this is just a small sampling of the various categories of belp we are called upon to provide. In ciosing out tbis statistical segment of my column, we have bad 89 people write to say tbey tbinlc we are doing an excellen t job, 389 said our performance was above average, 918 toid us we were average, 397 said we werc below average and 415 told us we were doing poorly. How is tbat for being bonest with you? I would wager very few politicians, past or present, would be bonest enough to share tbose kInd of statistics witb anyone. But my tack, right from the beginning, bas been one of bonesty and openness. There isn't really any substitute for that, in my opinion. It surprises me bow seemingly petty tbings come to cause so much irritation. For example, we have received quite a few telephone calîs over the Christmas decoration story. One person was beside berseif in claiming that Our goverument was bent on banning, religion itself. Listen to the facts. In this case a regional property manager in Sudbury issued a memo to local government building managers stating there wouid be no religious decorations in tbe lobbies of local government buildings. The memo was issued at the property manager's own initiative and in no way reflects any government policy. The decision by the property manager bas now been withdrawn. The recent cancellation of the helicopter order by the Federal Govemnment caused tbousands of job losses. 1 didn't bear any ioud complaints coming from unions over this, and 1 wonder wby not. The Ontario NDP government kept 4,'000 people working by investing $30 million in Cbrysler's minivan plant in Windsor. We also put $34 million in training and modemnization at Ford in Oakvile which helped to secure 4,800 jobs and create 400 new ones. Our partnership with deHavilland meant 2,600 direct employees, and four thousands more whose jobs are tied to dellavilland. By expanding UTDC in Thunder Bay we created 300 new jobs there. Making worker ownership possible saved 1,500 jobs at the Spruce Falls Mill in Kapuskasing and the Provincial Papers Mil in Thunder Bay. This year we bave spent more than $ 1-billion on training and adjustmnent. jobsOntario Training bas already created training and worked for 30,000 people on social assistance or wbose UIC benefits bad expired. Why then doe organized labour wish to forget the things the NDP government bas done on bebaif of working people? If we had not brought in Bfi 40, Miracle Mart would now bave brougbt in replacement workers in Bowmanville, as it is Bil 40 bas probibited them from doing that. It wouid be as well to remember that if Mike Harris and bis gang gets elected, they plan to repeal Bill 40. The Liberals too, bave made noises about.gutting it, if tbey formed the govemment. I was pleased to bear tbe OFL President denounce some of their fellow unionists as "common thugs, hooligans and raging lunatics, followmng the attempt by some of their membersbip to "storm" the Legisiature iast Wednesday. I've seen some New Bowmanville school top ot wish Iist The Northumberland and Clarington School Board has prepared its annual wish list of possible new schools. This list is being forwarded to the province for their consideration. demonstration over the last three years at Queen's Park, but nothing like this one. There seems to bc a crazy sickness sweeping the ranks of organized labour these days, perhaps they should look to the United States where unions now represent less than 13% of al workers. And how they can think our government is anti-labour leaves me speechless. Last week, we introduced the Graduated Licensing legisiation aiong with the Ontario Tobacco Act. Botb pieces of legislation, in different ways, will go far in the quest to save many of our younger community, fromf premature death. 1 have been pleased to actively support botb Bis, 1 hope you share in my position. Until next week - the real test of a gentleman is bis respect for those who can be of no possible service to hlm - take care. Heading the llst is a new public scbool for the west side of Bowmanville wbere it would take some of the pressure off the Waverley Public School. The Waverley schooi operates with twelve portables A new public scbool for Newcastle Village is also higb on the wish list. 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