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2 - Orono Weekly Times Subscriptions $33.02 + $1.98 GST = $35.00 per year. No Refunds. Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 · Agreement No. 40012366 Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs." Wednesday, April 1, 2009 ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON L0B 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax: 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Production and Display Advertising - Donna Anderson Wood Classified Advertising - Sue Weigand The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. New Brunswick gets economic stimulus right By Mark Milke, Research Director, Frontier Centre for Public Policy Over the past year, much of the political class around the world acted as if talk would help beaten-down economies speed through the recession. So the world's most high-profile orator, the American president, has been nothing if not loquacious in attempts to verbally prompt the economy back to health. Did it work? Except for the recent uptick in stock markets thanks to a few banks with less-than-horrible quarterly results, the markets have turned thumbs-down on the U. S. federal budget. The lesson is that pleasant words can win a campaign for the White House but chatter alone won't give investors reason to hand over their money. That's problematic as businesses need capital to build, expand, and hire; if potential investors think governments will likely cheapen their investment, it then becomes safer to keep money in the bank -- at least if the bank isn't failing. Unclear signals from governments to business, or worse, hostile emanations, are the wrong way to stimulate an economy. So too is trying to rescue individual companies. When the overall economy contracts and sends tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands in the case of the U. S.) to the unemployment office every month, throwing public money at a specific sector can only be justified if its collapse would pose a systemic risk to the entire economic system if not rescued: interbank lending falls into this category (though not most individual banks). Few others do. Beyond exceptions, a neutral approach to business and specific sectors works better. It's an approach the New Brunswick government just revealed it understands. In that Maritime province, Liberal Premier Shawn Graham and his Finance Minister Victor Boudreau made it clear that province will become a more attractive place to live and in which to invest. Between now and 2012, the province will eliminate the fourbracket personal tax system in favour of a two-rate system with lower rates. The province, in its backgrounder, properly brags this will make that province the one with the fewest tax brackets in the country after Alberta. New Brunswick explicitly defends the reduction and simplification with the aim of allowing people to keep more money. It also wants to improve that province's ability to attract better-paying jobs and highly skilled labour. Memo to Premier Graham and his caucus: You're correct on the method, justifications and goal. On the business side, New Brunswick will drop the corporate rate to eight per cent in 2012 compared to 13 per cent now. "New Brunswick's goal is simple," says the Finance Department's circular on the tax changes: "to have a globally competitive tax system that lays the foundation for the province to experience economic growth and create more jobs, moving the province toward its goal of self-sufficiency." Contrast that with much of what else is spun out elsewhere as ostensibly helpful policy in a recession. Federally, in Ontario, and south of the border, tens of billions of dollars are being sent (or will be) to General Motors and Chrysler. That creates uncertainty in the boardrooms of other, healthier automotive companies. That interference in the competition for customers is the great enemy of economic recovery. One never knows which competitor will be helped next and in which sector. Today, governments "help" out selected companies in the automobile sector and harm Honda, Hyundai, Ford and Toyota and their employees; tomorrow, some enterprising politician throws money at someone else's competitor and at drags down a perfectly healthy business. The result is that all businesses freeze plans to spend money on new equipment, plants and jobs until they can figure out what governments will -- and won't do, next. It's not that rhetoric, in the best sense of the word, isn't useful in restoring economic confidence. A president, prime minister or premier who scares the wits out of citizens by predicting a depression would exacerbate the downturn. But even positive words alone won't do it, nor will policy that throws out billions or trillions of dollars in an ineffective manner. In contrast, the right words combined with actual helpful policy will make a positive difference to investment intentions and then to economic and employment growth. New Brunswick, with its stated goal of self-sufficiency and smart tax policy, is an example of the latter. Letters to the Editor Camp 30 - significant historic war value? Dear Editor: Re: Camp 30 The recent fire will probably trigger more heated debate... but I don't understand or appreciate how this property has any real significant historic "war" value. Its POW application was simply a usage change of an existing operation. Apparently, some buildings were expanded, recreational facilities and gardens were added... but it basically retained its original delinquent-boys'-school setup. If it was decided that this property or parts thereof... should be preserved... I would vote for the original "boys school" heritage as the main consideration... and that might prove a bit thin. Sincerely Kelly Adams Orono Figure Skating Club's 62nd Carnival Dear Editor: The Orono Figure Skating Club presented its 62nd colourful Carnival on March 28th. I was impressed! A few years ago, the club was beginning to look weary and fewer skaters were taking part. This year from the painted ice decor to the purple hatcovered boards and large black broadway buildings and sparkling lights, the show contained great costumes and excellent skating. They even had my favourite, the real fox trot, skated in rhythm to the music, so delightful to my eyes. All the music was enjoyable (you can't beat show tunes!). I could even hear the Master of Ceremonies. I did miss the precision skating group, but we can't have everything. What a great show for a small community. My compliments to the hard-working skaters, the executive, pros and volunteers. Marj Lowery Orono We covet your opinion! We would like to hear from you, our readers. Tell us your thoughts about local issues and current events. Send us your letters today! THE ORONO WEEKLY TIMES P .O. Box 209, 5310 Main St., Orono L0B 1M0 Fax: 905-983-5301 or oronotimes@rogers.com