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

4 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, January 11,1995 Section Two If you don't live in the all encompassing encompassing political world it is difficult to understand just what takes place all the time in politics at the provincial provincial level. I say this to explain why I can't be at every event I'm asked to attend. An MPP who is a member of the government has a far different political political life than the MPP who belongs to one of the opposition parties. It starts off by belonging to a much stricter regime that doesn't allow for leaves of absence, leaving early or arriving late. It means you can't miss your committee nor can you be absent for any vote. Being in government means having having at least twenty members in the Legislature each day at 1:30 p.m. and on Thursday, morning at 10 a.m. when the Ontario Legislature is in. session. Opposition parties are not required required to have anyone in place if they don't want to. But if only one of their members is in the House and makes a quorum call, and we can't muster 20 members the House closes down for the rest of the day. Depending when such a call is made it could result in the government losing important legislation. legislation. The attendance of government members is in the hands of the Government Government Whip. The Whip makes sure every day that the "numbers" are there. In giving circumstances, for example votes of no-confidence or a vote involving expenditure of funds, and not having sufficient members present could cause the government to fall and face an immediate election. election. Much the same regime applies to attendance on the various committees. committees. Legislation passes through com mittees ol the Legislature. This information, information, by tradition gives the government of the day one more member than the combined numbers of opposition members. Votes are taken in committee and government members must always be present. Opposition members can appear at committee or not, legislation goes forward just as long as one member from each opposition party is present. The government is required to have their full compliment of six members present on all of the various 11 Legislative Legislative Committees, who for reasons of numbers, thankfully don't all sit at the same time. So by simple arithmetic it's easy to see the demands on government members. We have to have twenty people in the House all the time. As a rule at least four committees are sitting sitting every day, some in the morning others in the afternoon which accounts accounts for another 24 members. Take away the members of Cabinet who are more often than not away busy with their ministry operations, and do not take part in any committee function. function. Add in a few people off sick and you can see just how difficult it is sometimes to come up from the Legislature Legislature to attend a particular event. Being in government also extends to the constituency office and the staff. In opposition there isn't the requirement requirement to explain government policies policies very much. It's much easier to be able to say, "I wish I could help you but we are not in government." So you can see life at that level is equally less demanding. Bill 165, a key part of the government's government's reforms of the workers' compensation compensation system received Royal Assent Assent at the conclusion of the session ending on December 8. The changes for the most part are now in effect. Of importance to constituents constituents is that about 47,000 unemployed unemployed older workers injured before 1990 will now have increased benefits benefits of $200 a month. The Bill pro-, vides for vocational rehabilitation provisions which strengthens an early retum-to-work. About 52,000 of the most vulnerable WCB recipients of WCB benefits will continue to get full inflation indexing. The bottom line for this new legislation legislation will combine improvements to early return to work and vocational rehabilitation which will save the system system a minimum of $ 18-billion over the next twenty years. The WCB's financial situation is very serious and that didn't get that way since we formed the government in 1990. The problems with the WCB started in 1970. In the early 80s the situation got worse. I know, by the reaction by some injured workers present at the clause by clause examination of the Bill in Committee, that not everyone was pleased with the decisions made by committee members. I was appalled with the behaviour on the committee by the Liberal members who used the situation, in front of the injured workers workers present, to gain political points, all the while knowing they would have been forced to take the same actions actions if they were in government. If we had allowed the system to continue as it was, the WCB would have collapsed, and then what would injured workers do? The Government Whip to a backbencher. backbencher. "What's on your mind? - if you will forgive the exaggeration." See you all again next week. Streamlining Court Proceedings If you are charged with a minor offence in Ontario and plan to plead "not guilty", you will find a new process process in place that can help resolve your case before a trial is needed. What are known as "First Attendance Attendance Facilities" began operating August August 15 in Metro Toronto, Cobourg, Peterborough, Mississauga, Brampton Brampton and Milton. They are the most notable of the changes to the Provincial Provincial Offences Act which were announced announced recently by the Ministry of the Attorney General in a continuing effort to make access to Ontario's court system more efficient and timely- timely- The facilities are designed for people who are ticketed for minor offences offences (fines of $500 or less) under the Act, such as traffic violations. "We want to make it clear that everyone still has the right to a trial or to plead guilty with an explanation," explanation," said Walt Chmiel, Director of the Ministry's Integrated Safety Project Project Initiatives. "Through First Attendance Attendance Facilities we hope to be able to deal with matters that can be resolved without taking up the court's time. In this way, timely trials can be held for more serious matters and where there are real issues which are unable to be resolved prior to court." The facilities are designed for people who are ticketed for minor offences>. Alter you're charged, and you intend intend to enter a "not guilty" plea, you should make an appointment with, or go to, the First Attendance Facility in the area in which you were charged. Once there, you have the option of discussing the ticket, the fine and the circumstances of the case with a 1 prosecutor. In situations where it is warranted, the prosecutor will be able to recommend to a Justice of the Peace that th t charges against you will be reduced or withdrawn. While at the facility you can still request a trials, plead guilty and pay the fine, or plead guilty with an ex planation before a Justice of the Peace who will be available. "Often, people who request trials for Provincial Offences have technical technical questions about the charges or don't understand the specific points of law under which they were charged," Chmiel added. "If those questions can be answered or settled to the satisfaction of the person charged at a First Attendance Facility, Facility, it will mean trial courts will have more time to deal with more serious matters." If you wish to plead guilty immediately immediately after being charged, you can still do so by ticlung off the appropriate appropriate box on their ticket and mailing it, along with the fine payment, to the court office. If ycu're charged in a part of the province where First Attendance Attendance Facilities are not yet in place, you will still be able to write to ask for a trial. However, you'll only be able to plead not guilty when you actually appear in court. If you don't attend a trial that you requested, you'll be deemed not to dispute the charge and you can be convicted by a Justice of the Peace. However, if you don't appear at the trial through no fault of your own you can apply to have the case reopened. reopened. Twenty-five per cent of people who request trials for traffic violations violations and as many as 50 per cent of people who request trials on parking offences either don't appear for the trials they request, or plead guilty immediately immediately once they're in court. , People who live in one of 44 Ontario Ontario municipalities have seen a change in the way parking tickets are handled. These municipalities have begun operating Parking Tag Facilities Facilities that are similar to the province's First Attendance Facilities but only deal with parking offences. These municipalities estimate that up to 50 per cent of parking matters now going going to trials could be resolved through the first attendance process. In Metro Toronto alone, that could result in 100,000 fewer parking trails a year. In addition to these facilities, the Ministry of the Attorney General has made several other changes to the Provincial Offences Act and to the way it collects unpaid fines. Since February 1993, the Central Fines Collection Project has recovered recovered more than $65 million from unpaid, unpaid, court ordered fines. The money was recovered on more than 800,000 outstanding court-ordered fines, dating dating as far back as the mid-80s. The Central Fines Collection Project has recovered more than $65 million unpaid fines. Recently, the government has stepped up its efforts to collect unpaid, unpaid, court-ordered fines by referring some outstanding matters to private collection agencies, seizing and selling selling property, seizing funds from bank accounts, and garnishment of wages. Information on default of fine payments payments can now be referred to credit bureaus which affect the defaulter's credit rating. These fines are ordered by the court for everything ranging from traffic violations to drug offences," said Chmiel. "When people default on these fines, the burden unfairly falls on all Ontario's taxpayers." All fines can be paid by VISA or Master Card. By early fall, payment of fines by credit card over the telephone telephone will be possible seven-days-a- week from 6 a.m. until midnight. Fines can currently be paid by credit card at eight Service Ontario Kiosk pilot locations in the province. The Kiosks are similar to automated banking machines. Other changes of note have been made to the Act dealing with court procedures which are designed to free up the time of Judges, Justices of the Peace and police and other enforcement enforcement officers for more important important duties. From now on, Justices of the Peace will be able to hear all Provincial Provincial Offences matters regarding young people, unless it involves a custody disposition. Previously, only Judges could hear these cases. New Display by Artist at Town Hall Water colors by Bowmanville painter Christine Belko are on display display until the end of March 1995 at the hall gallery at the Clarington Municipal Administration Building in Bowmanville. Belko has been painting for four years and has participated in the Camp Samac art show, and the Art Gallery of Northumberland juried art show. Belko has won an Honourable Mention at the Buckhom art,show and a first in the Orono Fair show in 1993. Over Canada's history, Canadians have protected different groups. Those minorities considered weakened weakened and disenfranchised. Visible minorities like the disabled, disabled, religious groups and cultural groups come to mind first and foremost. foremost. But what about the group known as taxpayers? The 13-million people who pay for this country's lifestyle. After spending years studying Canada's taxation system and how governments have continually increased increased taxes for services taxpayers never requested, I've concluded this country needs a, "Taxpayers' Bill Of Rights." In this and in subsequent columns I will develop my argument for it, how it can be formulated, and most importantly, how you can be part of it. And you playing a part is the essence essence of it. Although I have access to legal and tax experts in Ottawa working on this idea for me, I need your input. Do you see any merit in this idea? Would you get behind me to support it? The Taxpayers' Bill of Rights will be a private member's bill I would hope to introduce in the House of Commons before Spring. Now I want to discuss why there is a need for it. Canada was founded by people escaping escaping harsh governments. Churches and governments taxed people, making making them subservient on their own land. People had no control over their economic well-being and sought out a new world which would allow them to control their destiny. After they settled, a new government government replaced the one they left behind. behind. The new government became rule by bureaucracy. We made the mistake of allowing those who spend taxpayers' money to control taxing - and, I might add, allowed them to develop develop an onerous process for doing it. Within the last 25 years this process process has made Canadians the second highest taxed people in the industrial ized world and the most indebted. As governments continued spending spending they relied on borrowing and taxing taxing to do it. Although Canada has one of the world's highest saving rates, we borrowed borrowed all our domestic savings and then went abroad and borrowed more. A1 the while we continued to tax more. Today we face the threat of foreign foreign and domestic bondholders saying, saying, "No more Canada. You can't afford afford it." We see what has happened in New Zealand, Italy and a host of other other countries that lost control of spending. We refer to this as, "hitting the wall." What's remarkable is that no one has talked about taxpayers saying no. In fact no one talks about asking taxpayers for permission to increase taxes. Haven't you wondered, I know I have, that if taxpayers had the right to say no whether our country would be as deep in debt as it is? Bondholders had the right to collect collect interest. The right of a mortgage on everyone in the country. And they have the right to say no. Why, I ask you, have we given these bondholders more authority over our debt and financial affairs than you - the people paying the taxes? taxes? Did you know that Canadians, individually, individually, owe $15,000 in federal and provincial debt? History repeats itself. Now the middle class, not just the wealthy, are sending their investment income out of the country to avoid the tax collector. collector. The rest of us give up all goals of saving as the tax collector cats into our earnings. In future columns I will discuss how a Taxpayers' Bill of Rights can protect the 13 million taxpayers - ordinary ordinary Canadians - who arc trying to make ends meet. I look forward to your views as we work on this legislation together.