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4 The Canadian Statesman. Bowmanvillc, Wednesday, August 28,1996 nates states ' A XV K>' . r Former Publishers and Partners Rev. John M. Climie and W. R. Climie 1854 -1878 M. A. James, 1878 -1935 • Norman S. B. James, 1919 -1929 G. Elena James, 1929 -1947 • Dr. George W. James, 1919 -1957 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited P.O. Box 190,62 King St. W., Bowmanvillc, Ontario L1C 3K9 905-623-3303 lnternet-statesman@ocna.org Fax 905-623-616i HOURS: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. For 142 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 Lugtenburg, Sharon McMullen, Barb Patterson, Ralph Rozema, Jim Snoek, Vance Sutherland, Jim Tuuramo Advertising Editorial Laverne Morrison Brad Kelly, Lorraine Manfredo, Laura J. Richards Office Angela Luscher, Junia Hodge, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman, Marilyn Rutherford, Michele Rutherford Cut Back on Democracy? T he provincial government is considering creating larger school boards, with fewer elected trustees. That same provincial government is thinking of re-structuring municipal government in the Greater Toronto Area so that there will be fewer elected officials and possibly a new GTA government. government. (Durham Region has already made plans to trim its number of elected councillors in response to this direction.) Just last week, the province announced it may consider phasing out hospital boards in local communities and replacing them with larger boards in charge of a number of hospitals in a region. The provincial government itself has decided to reduce the number of ridings in Ontario. Can you see a pattern to these proposals? It appears as though the Province of Ontario is drastically reducing the number of elected officials -- especially at the grassroots level. This philosophy is well-intentioned. It is being done in the name of streamlining government, eliminating red tape and cutting cost. But is the move to cut back on our elected representatives representatives and local appointees also cutting back on our democratic democratic traditions? Politicians can score easy points with the electorate by bashing politicians. Since the public holds elected officials in low esteem, any politician who advocates cutting back on the number of councillors, MPs, MPPs, and trustees will find an appreciative audience. "Throw them all out," the public is inclined to holler. "Who needs them?" This altitude is an unfortunate one. In fact, it is a dangerous threat to democracy. Governments who want to decimate the ranks of elected officials are ensuring control of our public institutions will be handed over to the career civil servants. (In other words, it's the so-called ivory lower bureaucrats who will be the big winners winners in this game.) With fewer elected officials, there will be no one but non-elected bureaucrats to mind the store. The non- elccted staff will have more power to make the decisions and set policy. And, although they are highly visible, elected or publicly- appointed officials do not cost the taxpayer nearly as much as the high-priced consultants and administrators who toil behind the scenes. If Mike Harris or any other political leader hopes to reduce the costs incurred by elected officials, they might consider reductions in pay, benefits, expense allowances or other perks. On the other hand, if Premier Harris is interested in streamlining streamlining government, he is facing an almost impossible task. Democracy cannot be streamlined if it ensures the views of all citizens are heard. The most streamlined form of government is a one-man or one-woman dictatorship. But, it flics in the face of our democratic traditions. It might be cheaper if the Ontario Premier dismissed all elected officials and hired some management firm to run this province. But it would not be democratic. All governments intent on furiously restructuring themselves themselves should tread lightly when they consider cutbacks that will have an impact on our democratic traditions. There is no question that people are willing to pay for democracy. Sometimes they have even paid with their life. Perhaps this fact should be considered the next time any government kies to eliminate the job of a councillor or trustee or board member in the name of greater efficiency or the saving saving of money. And, for those citizens who think there should be fewer politicians because the ones we've got are crooked or self-serving self-serving or greedy or unresponsive to the public or just plain incompetent, incompetent, we have the following advice: It's still a democracy. And if you don't like the politicians you have, choose more wisely in the next election. Feds Fight The Deficit A t the federal level of government, they are continuing continuing to chip away at the national debt, according to the latest report from the Department of Finance. The deficit for June of 1996 was estimated at $0.7 billion, down $1.9 billion from June of 1995. In a note of explanation, the Department of Finance added that this year-ovcr-ycar improvement was attributable to higher higher budgetary revenues (up 7.7 per cent), coupled with lower program spending (down 11.1 per cent) and public debt charges which were down 3.1 per cent. The government report didn't indicate how long it will take the government to be debt-free if it continues at this pace. Taxed Again C anada's highest court has determined that the education lot levies already set by a handful of Ontario communities arc within the bounds of the constitution. These lot levies (in those municipalities which have approved of them) would be applied to new homes. They would be used to help local school boards build the new facilities required by Lite additional development. Home builders, who fought the levy, claimed education costs should be shared by everyone and special groups such as home-buyers should not be singled out to fund education. But, legal or not, the levy amounts to another form of taxations taxations in a counuy which secs itself as over-taxed already. Outlook Laura J. Richards Statesman Staff Parties Don't Follow The "Golden Rule" Wild, Wild West All aboard for the Ontario Rodeo Championships scheduled for September 20, 21, and 22 at the Orono Fairgrounds! This Wild West stage coach was part of a rodeo preview preview held Thursday, August 22 in downtown Bowmanvillc that featured ropers, riders, and cowboy stunts to promote the upcoming event. Mayor Diane Hamre and the rodeo ambassadors enjoyed a coach ride along Temperance Street before the bands kicked off the street dance. - , ,v:. Letter to the Editor Real Compassion Doesn't Come from Cheque Book Dear Editor: Contrary to the opinion of Mr. Sloan (Letter to the Editor Aug. 21st.) compassion for people doesn't come via a cheque-book. Real compassion comes from governments who sec the need to legislate fairness fairness for all people. Pay equity, employment equity, wage protection, protection, health and safety regulations, regulations, social programs, drug programs, minimum wages, rent control, environmental protection, single tier health care, and the list goes on... Most people I'm sure, can recall the Biblical story about Lazarus the poor man covered with sores who was carried to the gate of the rich man's house hoping to get the bread that was thrown out daily. Laz arus was no doubt thankful for all he received; but those tlirownout bread crumbs also kept him dependent, passive and poor all his life. The problem problem of poverty could not be cured by the rich man giving Lazarus more crumbs. We have poverty today because not everyone shares fairly in the wealth of a rich country. We all contribute to the problem by accepting the status quo of wealth being spread around so unequally. We have allowed our economic system, in which we take part,, to develop in such a way that wealth is concentrated concentrated in relatively few hands and poverty is growing for all who live outside their gates. The problem that faced Laz arus was not that his welfare benefits were too low; a few extra crumbs would have helped, but they would have still left Lazarus totally dependent dependent on the good graces and the handouts from the rich man. The parable ends when Jesus describes Lazarus "feasting "feasting in heaven". With those words Jesus once and for all condemned poverty, and perhaps perhaps that is something we should start to think about. Sincerely, Gord Mills EDITOR'S NOTE - But how can wealth be shared In a way that's fair to everyone, both rich and poor? As I was unpacking more boxes last week, during my summer vacation, I came across a six-year-old newspaper newspaper put out by the Confederation Confederation of Regions Party of New Brunswick. Obviously I had kept it for its ability to remind remind me that 'isms' arc everywhere. everywhere. In 1990, the fledgling party party members and its leader, Arch Pafford, were racing around New Brunswick trying trying to grab supporters from the former Progressive Conservative Conservative Party. CoR blasted the bi-lingualism policies of the former and current governments. governments. This upstart party took hold of many New Brun- swickers who were disheartened disheartened by the fall of the P.C. party in 1987 election. That's when Frank McKenna and his Liberal Party members blazed a trail through the province to sweep all 58 seats at the legislature. The Tories under former P.C. leader Richard Hatfield sank so low, they could scratch the bellies of worms without stretching. In Ontario, the Tory party restructured itself after both the Liberals and Tories lost many seats to the New Democrats in 1990. In 1995, the Tories and their Blue Book took Ontario by storm and have been creating creating storms ever since June of last year. Both parties scare me. It scares me to see things happening that are not following following what many people consider 'the golden rule.' I am also tom because, as a tax payer, and someone who enjoys working (my job is not just a job), I see people who could be working and are collecting welfare. There arc jobs out there, and I know what it is like to work at some of the demeaning ones. But I worked them because I needed experience and mon ey -- that's how you get better better jobs. However, I am bothered to sec single parents going without without food and other basics to feed their children because there is more month at the end of the welfare cheque, than vice versa. Governing must be a hard job, because there arc so many 'rocks' and so many more 'hard places. It must be tough trying to figure out which department gets what and for how long the money can keep going to various projects. I don't think the politicians, politicians, any politicians, have it really easy. Mind you I also don't think they should be paid more than $25,000 a year either, the approximate salaries of many tax payers. Here in Ontario, the Tories Tories are on a one-way track trying to find ways to reduce the deficit and balance the books. In New Brunswick, the politicians arc pushing that Maritime Province into - the the next century. Sometimes I expect to sec George Jetson on the television instead of Premier Frank McKenna talking talking about another computer company moving to the province. province. Here in Ontario, I suspect the premier will be making his way to the cupboard and finding a lot of outstretched hands, once the budget is balanced. balanced. Once the budget is balanced, balanced, what will happen to Ontario then? Can we expect business to boom? And when the boom comes, will it put our precious precious environment at risk? Somehow, I suspect the Tory government is only looking at the bottom line through rose-coloured glasses. glasses. And that is pretty scary, too! Thoughts Unlimited by Rick James Prepare Your Computer For the Next Century At first glance, the year 2,000 may seem like a long way off. But, if you're in charge of your company's computer system, you'd better start making plans quickly to deal with the next millennium. The reason? Most computer computer programs cannot accommodate the year 2,000. Rather than taking up valuable memory space and slowing down processing times, early programming pioneers opted for a two digit code to represent years and decades in the 20th century. So, 1996 was simply reduced reduced to 96. It's not that the pending problem wasn't recognized. It was just left for later programmers and faster machines to solve the potential meltdown. So, what exactly is the problem? As you celebrate New Year's Eve on Dec. 31, 1999, systems that arc not able to accommodate the year 2,000 will roll over to the year 00. The computer system will think it is January 1, 1900, causing a variety of problems. Some systems may simply freeze, while others may start calculating interest incorrectly or mix up databases. It's a huge problem that most businesses have not yet recognized. A Stanford University based study estimates that 65% of businesses have done nothing to avoid the crisis, while another 50% will not have fixed their systems by the year 2,000. The study also also predicts it will cost American companies ^morc than $600 billion over the next three years to add two digits to their databases. The cost is so high because more than 30 years of data must be altered to accept four digits instead instead of two. On a positive note, the two digit dilemma is a huge make work project, creating huge employment opportunities for software programmers programmers around the world. So, why I am so concerned about the year 2,000? You guessed it. Our twclve-year-old IBM machine can barely count to 10, let alone 1999. I suspect it's going to be a long, lonely night sitting at our computer with a bottle of champagne on December 31st, 1999. The Next Jack Nicklaus? If you happened to catch the U.S. Amateur golf championship on the week-end, you would have seen "Tiger" Woods make history history by capturing his third consecutive title. Even more amazing, if you include his three U.S. Junior Amateur titles, he's won six U.S.G.A. titles in a row. Although his entire game is solid, his length is his strongest asset. During the playoff playoff on Sunday, lie hit one of his drives more than 340 yards, prompting commentator Johnny Miller to say, "That's just not fair." Keep in mind that John Daly's driving average average is only around 283 yards. As for the rest of us mere mortals, if you can hit a ball 240 yards, you're doing well. But, the real question you should be asking asking about "Tiger" Woods is his real name. For all you trivia buffs, it's "Eldridge." On the flip side, I don't have a clue where he got the name "Tiger." Newsprint or Newspaper? Last week, a customer asked me why it's called newsprint before it's printed, but it's called a newspaper after it's printed. Good question. The only answer I can give is that the two words were created by the same person who created parkway and driveway. After all, you park in a driveway, but you drive in a parkway. parkway. What's Sam Doin' in Winnipeg? I just noticed a photo in this week's Statesman of former Durham East M.P.P., Sam Cureatz with Progressive Conservative leader, Jean Charcst. They were both attending attending the recent Conservative Association's annual annual meeting in Winnipeg. Although Sam is the current treasurer of the Durham association, my suspicious mind is telling me that lie may have attended for more reasons that just representing the association. association. With a federal election due next year, perhaps he is testing the waters to sec if the newly-defined boundaries of Durham could change back to Tory blue with him as a candidate? candidate? Depending on the popularity of the government government at the time of an election, it would be a great campaign battle between incum- bent Alex Shepherd and Sam. Stay tuned, j