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4 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanvillc, Wednesday, December 28,1994 S|t CauaWan Wsiatt Former Publishers • Rev. W. R. Climie, 1854 - 1878 • M. A. James, 1878 -1935 • George W. James, 1935 -1957 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited P.O. Box 190,62 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 905-623-3303 Fax 905-623-6161 For 140 Years, Our First Concern Has Been Our Community Publisher-John M. James Assoc. Publisher - Richard A. James Plant Manager - Donald J. Bishop Ad. Manager - Brian G. Purdy Editor - Peter Parrott Production Rick Patterson, Laurens Kaldeway, Doug Lugtcnburg, Sharon McMullen, Barb Patterson, Ralph Rozema, Jim Snock, Vance Sutherland, Jim Tuuramo Advertising Editorial Lavcrnc Morrison Brad Kelly, Lorraine Manfredo, Laura J. Richards Office Angela Luscher, Junia Hodge, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman, Marilyn Rutherford l by Gord Mills, M.P.P., Durham East Before closing the Legislature down for the Christmas break, we debated debated the Supply Bill. As named, this is the authority required required by the government to pay all the bills up to the end of the fiscal year. This debate, of course, affords the opportunity for opposition parties to lambaste the government over just about anything. As a rule, members must debate the subject before the house or be called by the Speaker to keep to the matter at hand. The Supply Supply Bill gives an enormous amount of latitude in that respect. Some of the more important issues in this debate centred around Hydro, health, jobs, government spending and the economy. Naturally, die debating message from both opposition parties was our complete failure to manage these issues. Let me first of all talk about our economy. Real output in Ontario will grow by 4.5% this year -- the strongest strongest growth since 1988. Ontario's pace of growth and job creation is now the , fastest in Canada. The rest of Canada expanded by 3.7%. We have cut payroll payroll taxes for new employees to create thousands of new jobs. We held the line on tax increases in the 1994 budget, budget, and I'm sure the same will apply to the next budget. Ontario Hydro has cut the electricity rates for large users, those who create jobs, and held the line for everyone else. And, for the first time in more than 50 years (That's right, 50 years.) .the cost of government has gone down. During the 1980s, government spending was at a double-digit pace. Taxes increased all the time, but since there was lots of money then, who As 1994 draws to a close and we stand on the threshold of a New Year people get into a reflective mood. And I'm no different. For my final column in 1994, I want to discuss the accomplishments of the government you elected. When Parliament reconvened in January 1994 the government immediately immediately went to work oh its election commitments. We implemented the infrastructure infrastructure spending program, creating over 80,000 permanent jobs. With the help of the province and municipalities, the federal government is two-thirds of the way through the program. The federal government is now leaner with the cabinet- reduced to 23 members. The limousines arc gone, MPs' salaries are frozen and operating operating budgets on Parliament Hill have been reduced by $10 billion. The government quickly moved to cancel die Pearson Airport Deal, we introduced a budget that cut spending by a ratio of five-to-one relevant to tax increases. An inter-provincial trade agreement has been signed reducing reducing barriers nationally. We cut military spending and cancelled the EH 101 helicopter contract. Unemployment is now below 10 per cent for the first time in four years and Canada is leading all OECD countries in growth. Economists Economists say Canada will continue to lead all other OECD countries over the next few years. For my part I returned $5,000 to the taxpayers - money my office did not spend. This year I hope to return $10,000. Figures released by the government government show I spend 40 per cent less on travel than other MPs because I use the train to travel to Ottawa. While traveling with the federal Finance committee, I met, on my own, with all provincial Deputy Finance Finance Ministers from Ontario eastward. eastward. I was trying to find some commonality commonality among all governments to create one consumption tax. I undertook this, based upon direc tion you gave me at the three public meetings I hosted on the GST. I regret regret to inform you the process is bogged down in negotiations with the provinces. My trade mission to China is a success. A group from Wiafang, CIrina CIrina has now signed an economic alliance alliance with the Town of Whitby. One- million dollars in sales has been brought into Durham and dozens of jobs created. I have been asked to return return to China. As an associate member of the Industry Industry Committee, I assisted in developing developing the report, "Taking Care of Business." The extension of the small business loans program is one component component of the report already acted on. ■ The forums I have hosted on the budget and social security were designed designed with you in mind. The results of the social security review form have been presented to Human Resources Resources Development Committee. I will appear before them in the New Year to reinforce your opinions. As well as being vice-chair of the Public Accounts Committee, I ami working with a sub-committee studying studying the Lobby Registration Act. My goal is to make the lobbying process more open to public scrutiny. We don't need non-elec ted municipal politicians paying lobbyists $25,000 of your money to get the government's government's ear when you pay me to do it for you. The lobbying legislation is drafted and will be sent to the Commons in the New Year. 1 welcome your continued input into the political system. This government government has spent the last year trying to cam back the respect the public has lost for its institutions and politicians. politicians. I hope my efforts have helped restore restore your failli in political process. As we stand on the threshold of 1995 I would like to thank the many people who phoned or wrote with words of encouragement, or just with words! Every call is important and your interest is greatly appreciated. My office is your office. really cared? The governments of the day spent well above the inflation rate. They didn't plan to make health care better. In fact, health care costs were out of control, increasing at a rate of almost 12% each year, they cared little about infrastructure. There, were no major improvements to highways. highways. Bridges fell apart at the scams, very few new schools were built. When we took office in the toughest economic times since the 1930s, the cupboard was bare, and there wasn't anything to show for the boom years. In 1990, we had to respond to some very unprecedented fiscal and economic challenges. There were the limits placed upon our health care and post-secondary education through reduced reduced federal transfer payments. The changes to UIC led more Ontarians to provincially funded social programs. Through measures such as the expenditure expenditure control plan and the social contract, contract, as difficult as that was, spending has been brought under control in Ontario. Ontario. Spending has declined by 3.4% in 1993/94 and will fall again in 1994/ 95. The deficit for 1994/95 is projected projected to be $8.3 billion, $206 million lower than forecast in the 1994 budget. budget. Our plan in 1990 was to create jobs, maintain services and to control spending. Despite a debilitating recession, recession, we have done all of that. In the process of managing spending spending on health care services, we have had to make some decisions that have been less than popular. I can't subscribe subscribe to the idea that the fundamental underpinnings of our health care system system are at risk because we have had to reduce what we will pay for hospital stays while in Florida or Arizona. Ontarians Ontarians are still covered by OHIP when they travel. Doctors' fees, lab fees, and prescription medications as well as a broad range of other medical services are still part of that coverage as are hospital room charges. There has always existed in the past, as now, and into the future, the need to top uji that coverage for out-of-country travel- with private insurance coverage. i "Our plan in 1990 was to create jobs, maintain services and to control spending." The new rates for out-of-country hospital coverage, along with the changes implemented previously, amount to $247 million each year. These savings have allowed the government government to fund programs of benefit to all, such as the radiation therapy unit coming soon to the Oshawa General General Hospital. Increased resources for breast cancer screening, and for more dialysis machines. Ontario is also the last province in Canada that continues to have a cost- free drag plan for seniors, should we cancel that in favor of 100% out-ofcountry out-ofcountry hospital coverage? During the debate on the Supply Bill, the opposition made much fun over what they termed "Bob's Ontario." Ontario." The tories, of course, didn't mention mention their plan to introduce a "levy" on health care or, in plain English, user fees. Personally, I'm glad to be living in "Bob's Ontario." See you all again next year! Take , Since w 1 ) VW^ars reSoWion is 4o cut svJieh cut 4 ^ { have i° ^' s /\ a\\ {kfy clnocoH^ Parents Still Concerned Over Controversial Book in School To the Editor; A group of four mothers, of which I am one, went to the principal of Bowmanville High School to express some concerns that we had about a book that is used in the OAC English curriculum. The book in question "The Wars" by Timothy Findley is a violent, pornographic portrayal of homosexual homosexual gang rape, sadomasochistic sadomasochistic sex between two men at a whore house, and also voyeurism. Considering the rise of violence in our schools, I can't believe that it is good to fill our young people's minds with such issues and consider it to be educational. Since this issue has come up, I have had an opportunity to see how people react if they even suspect their rights are being violated by that awful awful concept of "censorship 1 . We have been accused, of trying to censor this book, but that is not the case. We are not asking for this book to be removed removed from book stores. People would still be free to add this book to their own personal library if they so desired,' we only asked that it not be a part. of the OAC curriculum where our children are held a "captive audience". audience". We have been told at this time that our children have the opportunity to read something else, but how many young people will violate their own conscience rather than be different different from their peers. Certainly, we have all heard of "peer pressure" and wc know the importance that it plays on our children. My daughter read this book last year in her OAC class and that is how I became aware of this material. She said she found the book to be disgusting. It must have left an impression impression on her mind, she has read many other books in English class that she didn't enjoy, this was the first time she ever spoKe in such a way about a book on the curriculum. The point I would like to make is this, the damage is done. She has already read the book. My husband and I had no way of protecting our daughter from this because we had no prior knowledge knowledge of it. The school says that they supply parents with a reading list, this is actually à course outline distributed distributed for the students' notes. On it is stated the books they will study throughout the course and the number number of classes that they will spend on each text. If, by chance, a parent ever even sees this course outline, the author author of each novel is not even listed, therefore if one saw the title "The Wars" one would assume it was a wartime text, not a pornographic novel. novel. The group of mothers were encouraged encouraged to file an appeal to review the use of this book as text. During a meeting in Cobourg at the office of the Northumberland-Clarington Board of Education, the committee voted unanimously to continue the use of this book. This decision did not surprise us. It would not have been so difficult to accept if we felt that it was a "fair test of the system." Each member, I would think, had a vested interest in the outcome of the procedure. A post-graduate student was asked to come and tell us the positive benefits of this book as a text. One does not have to be a brain surgeon to guess how this member of the committee voted. Another member member of the committee was the head of the English department of the Port Hope High School. This school also uses this book as text, obviously he approves of this book or he wouldn't be using it in high school. I would hardly call him an un-biascd member Continued on Page 16 by Laura J. Richards I thought this week's OUTLOOK: * should be sedate, but a letter from ari \ acquaintance sought a much stronger j column this week. J ? The letter was a copy of one that * was sent to Marion Boyd, the Attorney Attorney General of Ontario. Oshawa Rape Crisis Centre Education Education Coordinator, Laurel Hansen, wrote to the Attorney General on the topic of "Drunkenness as a Defense" for sexual assault. Laurel makes a number of points that anyone in their right mind would support. From her letter: "Many people in this country get intoxicated to the point of memory loss, incoherence and even loss of ' consciousness on a daily or weekly basis. Most will never commit sexual assault against another human being while in this state. It is a matter of scientific scientific fact, alcohol has a direct effect on a person's (male or female) sexual drive and performance so as to limit, reduce or completely inhibit sexual response, response, capacity and endurance. ..There is an abundance of scientific data to support this. "Therefore, it is not only difficult, but impossible to imagine that a man who is so intoxicated with alcohol, that he is no longer considered legally responsible for his actions, would be able to engage, in sexual activity whether or not the other party was consenting or not! Ask any woman who has spent time with an alcoholic' \ partner. "What this defense can and will ; do, is further excuse and enable a man ! to use alcohol as a facilitator and ex- ; cusc in order to perpetrate violent, : criminal activity against another hu- ; man being, specifically as in sexually assaulting a woman or child. "The man who has pent-up hostili- ' ty, aggression and anger may use alcohol alcohol consumption in order to vent or re-direct these feelings without the restraints restraints that sobriety may impose upon him." People use alcohol to lose their inhibitions. inhibitions. When I attended university in the early 1980s, my friends ' who bar- . hopped, drank to be sociable. They drank because they wanted others to like them and to fit in with other people people in their group of friends. While friends downed rum and cola, I had straight cola or sky juice j on the rocks simply for the reason that ' I wanted to stay in control of my ac- ! lions. * If a man can walk away from ai sexual assault a free man because he* had consumed so much booze that he' was no longer thinking straight, what ' can a woman do that she çould get off ; scott free? Hey, I want to see equal time here! ; As far as I am concerned, drunken- \ ness does not dismiss a criminal act -- j - any kind of criminal act. |i 6 push comes to shove, would that mean that drunkenness will always be jj brought up at murder trials, or for oth- f er crimes? !' Back to Laurel's letter: i; "At our centre, wc see an average *■ of 200 to 250 children per year be-1 tween the ages of two to 15, who have J been sexually assaulted...I challenge > anyone responsible or supportive of î drunkenness as a defense for sexual $ assault in our justice system, to come 1 to our city and explain to these chil- j dren and their caregivers, once and for « all, why it is acceptable." J For the longest time, women were 1 seen as being chattels, as part of a * man's property to do with as he saw * fit. ;l The idea of drunkenness being an * acceptable explanation for sexual as-J sault reminds all of us that women; have not come as far in becoming r equal in the eyes of the law as we' need to be. > Nor have children, be they able! bodied or disabled. The mere idea of a man claiming, he was dnink at the time of a sexual; assault and being acquitted leaves me» feeling ill and disgusted. ; I hope the idea docs the same to* you! j An Open Letter to All Canadians A considerable portion of Canadians are disgusted with the results of the last Federal election - disgusted with the fact, that the official opposition is a party that was elected in one province. I know Canada is the world's foremost example of ancestral regionalism, but this display of isolationist voting is taking the whole affair a bit too far. Furthermore, the Bloc Québécois received a smaller percentage of votes than cither the Reform or Conservative parties. Arguably, depending on your political slant, the Reform party supporters arc disgruntled small 'c' Conservatives. For this reason and a host of oilier statisticsal anomalies, the potential implications of our defective electoral system remain ambiguous at best. It is not the intention of litis letter to suggest alternative electoral methods - that has already been done; it is merely to provide statistical food for thought. Many arc familiar with the phrase, "there arc three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Alas, although the results of the 1993 election arc not lies, the implications of the statistical results arc. The statistics imply the official opposition should be the Reform party (die lesser of two evils, I suppose). The statistics imply the Reform party finished 1st or 2nd in 44,1% of all ridings. The Bloc Québécois finished 1st or 2nd in 25,4% of all ridings. It is appropriate here to add, that the Liberal party dominated the Montreal riding results, and that therefore, one can assume sovereignty association is a largely 'rural' ideology. A good portion of the Reform parly's victory also came in the rural ridings. Urban Canada is growing disproportionately faster than rural Canada. Moreover, Quebec has a dwindling birth rate. Can wc, therefore, conclude that Separatism as well as the politically 'traditonal 'mores and values' of rural Canada will become issues of diminishing importance? The statistics imply the Conservative party finished 2nd in more ridings than there arc in Quebec. The Bloc Québécois won 13.4% of the national vote in a 'single' province (my..„wc arc a tolerant lot). The Conservative parly won 16.0% of the national vote. The Bloc Québécois are the Official Opposition with 54 scats - the Conservatives have two. Our electoral system has placed an individual who unabashedly expressed his sovereignty mandate to all of Canada, as the leader of our official opposition, and one who received 'singular' representation in a plurality system. Our electoral system is anything but vapid. The statistics imply die NDP should return to their ideological roots or learn the inter-relationship dichotomy between jobs and business investment incentives. Interestingly enough, in the 1993 Federal Election, teachers, not lawyers, made up the largest demographic group of MPs. Nonetheless, both proovc "knowledge is indeed power," or lawyers don't want to sully their pristine reputation by entering the realm oof politics. Excuse me? What docs it say about the teaching profession, whose members arc fed up with society's demand that they be parents, doctors, lawyers, carcgivccrs,. sociologists, psychologists, and scapegoats, as well as teachers? The Reform and Conservative parties finished 1st or 2nd in a cumulative total of 71.2% of the ridings. The Liberals finished 1st or 2nd in a cumulative total of 90.2% of the ridings. However, the Libcrabl party claimed 25 ridings with less than 40% of the votes where 2nd place finisher was a Reform or Conservative candidate. Often, the difference between 1st and 2nd place was less than 1%. If wc reverted these numbers, the cumulative 1st and 2nd place totals for lltc Liberal party would be 81.7% and 79.6% for die Reform and Conservative parties. All of these results can hardly be accused of being representative of our 'national' feeling, But, llicrin lies die irony. Canada docs not have national feelings. It has ancestral rcgionalist grumblings. Our nationalism is spread so thin, it is hard to taste. Canada's economy and our cultural psyche can no longer sustain this continuous barrage of attacks on our fragile national unity. Although the Liberal parly has enjoyed enormous electoral suecccss in Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes, it has also fractured possible inroads in Western Canada. Indeed, much of Western Canada elects provincial socialist forms of government that are conducive to 'Welfare Livcral' policies. In fact, statistically, the Liberal party has been clectorally undcr-rcprcscntcd in Western Canada. Theorcdcally, die Liberals would gain electoral support in Western Canada. In 1972, there were 1117 candidates as compared with 2155 in 1993. This multiplicity of candidacy will continue as more and more Canadians continue to feel abandoned by the voices of representation. A constitutionally stronger, more 'centralized' federal government may be the impetus needed to revise Canad's electoral system. The Conservatives and the NDP have been clectorally 'eviscerated.' It is likely this will happen to die Liberal party - remember 1984. How soon will it be before a regional party of Western Canada becomes the official opposition? Will they 'stick it to die cast' for die National Energy Policy, etc,? Will they become the next Bloc Québécois and weaken the foundations of Canada further? Will the Reform party master 'brokerage politics' and in so doing, appeal to die increasingly larger group of disenchanted voters who wish to return to a more disciplined 'corporal' and less tolerant society? The Liberals have been the masters of Canadian politics for approximately die last 80 years. Yet, die political mosaic in Canada is becoming more and more diverse. As Canadians first, wc can lie sure of one tiling, there will be more election results as shocking as diosc of 1993. Imagine the respect and electoral endorsement a political party would receive were it to provide Canadians with an electoral process they could be proud of - an electoral system that would give all Canadians an equal voice in Canada. Is there anyone among us, who wishes to join the ranks of dismemberment as experienced by Audrey McLaughlin or Jean Charcst? This is an opportunity for the Liberal Party of Canda to remain supreme - to prove that what happened to the NDP and the Conservatives will never happen to the Liberal party of Canada. -Louis MacPherson, Whitby, Ontario.