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2 -Orono Weekly'11mes. Wednesday, March 11, 1998 Subscriptions $21.50 + $1.50 G.S.T. = $23.00/year. Publications Mail Registration No. 000368 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1MO E-Mail Address: oronotimes@speedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/ Editor Marg Zwart How things are shaping up tax-wise There are two things now established as far as our 1998 tax bill is concerned. We have received our new assessment and the Province has established a tax rate of .46 for educational purpose for all Ontario residential taxpayers. Of course everyone is interested in trying to determine the new 1998 tax bill to what was paid in 1997. To determine this is still impossible for the tax rates for Clarington and Durham have not been established. There will be definite unknown increases In these two but the education tax for residential has dropped considerably. 6 Mill Lane, Orono assessed at $2700 for 1997 taxes paid a total tax bill of $2054.15. The breakdown was as follows: Educational Tax $1184.78 Region Of Durham 374.23 Clarington, General 374.54 Garbage 101.00 Street Lighting 20.60 Total $2054.15 With the new 1998 assessment for 6 Mill Lane of $140,000 and a tax rate of .46 our, educational tax will be for 1998 $644.00 and that is a definite. It is also a definite saving on educational tax for 6 Mill Lane of $540.78 over that paid in 1997. The garbage rate of $101.00 and the street light charge of $20.60 has been somewhat consistent over the past years and likely to come in at the same for 1998. It leaves the Clarington General tax and the Durham tax yet to be decided. As a total cost to 6 Mill Lane in 1997 the two amounted to $748.77. There is no doubt that the two levels of government were not about to make any move on setting their rates prior to the Province setting the Educational Rate. To be fair there is some shifting yet to be undertaken but much more is known than Toronto, a more complex amalgamated City has announced its no tax increase tentative budget. With the drop in educational tax 6 Mill Lane owners now have some $540.78 in their pocket to call their own. It is interesting to do a little figuring here. If the Town and the Region up their taxes by 10 percent we, at 6 Mill Lane still have $465.90 in our pocket. If they increase their tax take by 50 percent we still have a wallet with $176.40 in it as a tax savings all due from the educational reduction. If Clarington and Durham empty our wallet of the savings they will increase their taxes by 72 percentage points. It is going to lie interesting. by Roy Forrester ORONO WEKLY TIMES 30 years ago, the Trudeau government introduced Canada to the luxury of living on plastic and we have con- tinued the downward trend ever since. A private business would have been forced by creditors - years ago - to run at a profit and pay down it's debt or face bankruptcy. The federal debt is 585 billion and this is 70% of the Canada's gross domestic product. This high percentage number is the key factor fueling our financial suicide. About 1/3 of Canada's annual revenue is needed to pay the interest on the national debt. Our pre- sent government proudly announced the first balanced federal budget in 30 years. This was achieved as a direct result of the recent Harris "sice and dice" Ontario bud- get. Ontario generates 40% of Canada's economic wealth. The many levels of protected political power and redun- dant bureaucracy is burying this country. If you are going to continue to read my letter, I wish to apologize for jump- ing from one thing to another. That's just how things unfold- ed in my little brain this morning. I wonder if you and 1 are troubled about the same things? How can a business sell it's product to a customer at one price and charge it's stock holders considerably more. Ontario Hydro sells power to the U.S. for less than it charges us Canadians and then writes so much red ink that it makes the Bre-X scam laughable. How can this be? Olympic hockey on ProLine. Who made that deci- sion? A gold medal winner tests positive for an "illegal" drug. Our politicians and OIympic committee unite to defend this cheater's right to retain his award and get him off on a technicality. The ing this issue until Durham Region completes the required study for rural employment sites as legislat- ed under the official plan. We should not decide this project until all of the studies are completed. I must remind you of the headaches that poor planning in the 1960's have caused 1990's councils when that era's decision makers granted Mosport their special exemptions. I urge you not to cut corners. Ensure that ALL studies are completed prior to even considering approval of this application. Future councils and gen- erations will judge the deci- sions you make today. You are the guardians of the future. Do not let it be said "They failed in their duty." Sincerely, Ted Kilpatrick intent of the illegal drug list was quite clear. The message we sent to the youth of Canada is over shadowed by the statement Canada sent to the rest of the world. It will remain a tremendous embar- rassment and forever tarnish the medals we won fairly. Isn't it amazing how some of the new casino building con- tracts were awarded to gov ernment "friends" - then ran ridiculously over budget. A police officer directly involved in the investigation of a seri- ous crime has the right to refuse to discuss the matter with his fellow officers. WTho made this piece of nonsense a law, and why? Isn't thejudi cial system handcuffed enough? The OJ results best illustrates that the pendulum of justice needs to be recali- brated. Professional sports pay cheques have reached ludi- crous levels; and make no mistake - you and I are pay- ing the freight. In the last few hundreds of years, North America has been involved in wars that obviously reduced the population and at times magically kick started a fal- tering economy. Should we anticipate this barbarian solution? The penal system is a joke and does not work. Repeat offenders make up the grand majority of the jailed population. Hello! Is anyone paying attention? Lodging, food, clothing, security, free medical, entertainment, free retraining, free legal assis- tance, friends, and all the fille- gal drugs you can buy - this is the criminal's vacation away from the real world. It's got to be tough to get a job with a criminal record; but whose fault is that? Rehabilitation should remain an option - not the rule. Let's put punishment back into the Feb. 11, 98 Orono, Ont. Dear Mayor Hamre, local and regional councillors, 1 am writing this letter to again request that you require that an Environmental Impact Study be completed prior to deciding if approval of the Lishman rezoning application should be granted. While you have an opinion from Frank Wu that this is not a requirement, I would argue that it is open to debate and individual interpretation. This is a water recharge area with headwa- ter tributaries of Wilmot creek running through it. I would suggest it behooves us to err on the side of caution and do the impact studies. At the same time, I would ask you to wait before decid- SOpen Letter to Mayor and Councillors prison system. Our govern- ment continues to deny us a death penalty referendum; even though they are weil aware that the majority of the people want it reinstated. Our present system does not address the need for deter- rents to crime with appropri- ate penalties. Corruption and greed in big business, gov- ernment, and unions, has made it very difficult for them to work together for the good of the country. We need fresh leadership in order to refocus these forces. Tomorrow's leaders will somehow have to separate themselves from the temptations and slime clut- tering the course to the top. We are entering a "user pay for services" format that will drain our retirement savings. The handwriting is on the wall, - you will have to be penniless in order to qualify for any government money regardless of age. Our gov- emment tried to convince us that paying a $1/2 billion plus penalty for reneging on a helicopter deal was good. How did we get into that mess in the first place? How can we rid ourselves of this useless parasite called the Canadian senate? Our Quebec neigh- bours continue to hold Canada at ransom, even though they are the prime wallet drainers of our Canadian government. The expense of a Canada wide dual language for our govern- ment and industry should be shouldered by Quebec, - not by the federal govement. I wonder how demanding Quebec would have been if they had been a coastal province? We should bite the bullet and cut these whiners lose. When are we going to rewrite the young offenders act in order to address the present day problems? Most administration costs in gov- ernment, health, and educa- tion are counter productive and must be reduced - big time. Education after high school has become a necessi- ty for the survival of the young and a healthy econo- my, yet - we discourage this course by placing unrealistic financial hurdles in the way. We must educate the leaders of tomorrow or prepare for further chaos. 35 years ago our politicians decided we would be a pioneer in the nuclear power industry. Now we have grand quantities of real nasty stuff and don't know what to do with it. No one ever seems accountable for the many blunders in set- ting policy. Wouldn't it be lovely - if just once - a gov- ernment employee would say - "the buck stops here, - we made a mistake." Forget it, it will never happen, the system won't allow it to happen. If there was even a hint of a truth leak; there would be an immediate royal commission set up to ferret out and elim- inate those persons who should no longer be trusted as a public servant. Young Canadian couples choose to (continued page 3) Letter to the Editor for ail yourprinting requirements: • Business Cards • Letterheads • Envelopes • • Newsletters • Flyers • Invoices • Tickets • Full Colour Printing • and more! • KLogaI p1rinting ELtb. "Everything with theprinted word!" at the Orono Weekly Times 5310 Main Street, Orono LOB 1MO Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301