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wy" 8 -- Scugog Citizen -- Wednesday, January 3, 1996 published by : Scugog Citizen Publishing Ltd, publishers: John 5. MeClelind, aire Eis office manager : Sibylle Warren advertising manager : Valerie Ellis . OCNA Membét THE SCUGOG CITIZEN A Phone : (905) 985-6397 Fax : (905) 985-1410 Subscriptions sold outside Scugog Te p an independently owned and operated ccna (weekly community newspaper, Ic \ is distributed, free of charge, 5] CHA to over 13,500 homes and businesses 54 WATER ST., PORT PERRY, ONT. L9L1J2 ingnd around Scugog Township. "CCNA Verified Ci Ci RIRRE DE PEIOR rrr adv. sales reps : Thom Doran, Jennine Huffman reception : Janet Rankin production : Tanya Mappin feature writer : Heather McCrae "Proud Canadians, prow o call Scugog Tounship home." LETTERS Privatization To the Editor: } 1 am responding to the "Let's Talk Taxes" editorial in the Tuesday, December 19th edition of the Scugog Citizen. The article by the Ontario Taxpayers Federation provided several interesting methods for saving money in the Province of Ontario. Although I agree it's time for government to begin "tightening it's belt" there are several issues raised in the article which both intrigue and disturb me. | Privatization of government services is in some cases necessary, however, there are better ways of saving money than simply abolishing government provided services. For example, the Municipality I am employed with saved its taxpayers $500,000 in 1994 and plans on saving over $1 million dollars in 1995. This was done by encouraging employees to submit ideas on how to save money and to do their jobs more efficiently. This type of cost savings has been used successfully in industry for several years. Similarly, the municipalities Chief Administration Officer and several Town employees were recently profiled on C.T.V.'s W-5 news program for their cost savirig efforts. I also take issue with the level of service provided by privatized companies. In particular, a private fire protection company would not, in my opinion, provide a proper level of fire prevention and the priority towards saving lives by firefighting techniques, medical responses, and training would be seriously jeopardized. I realize the public perception of government workers is that of overpaid, lazy, and non-helpful individuals. However, there are some of us who take pride in our jobs and still believe in providing a quality service to the public. I believe the answer to a better government is for it's managers and employees to work smarter and more efficiently to ensure that a proper service is provided. Privatization may sound good on paper and in theory, however, a leaner, smarter government service is the ultimate and most reasonable answer. 1 would appreciate a response from the Ontario Taxpayer's = ARE THINGS GOING TO BE BETTER IN 1996 ? ~ | DONT CARE KID... I'M LIKE A POLITICIAN. | RETIRE WITH FULL PENSION PLUS MY KICK BACKS | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR < Hong Kong veterans wait To the Editor: Mr. MacAulay is obviously Re: Hong Kong unaware, however, that Canada Veterans Claim Still Alive also bears responsibility as a On December 11, The signatory to the Geneva Canadian Press carried an imprisoned by the Japanese in World War 11. The decision from Geneva does not turn aside the claim. It Convention and the Optional decision which was based on technical and procedural issues. The responsibility still exists, and we will exhaust every effort to see that Canada provides payment to these aging veterans. tally, if the Canadi * article from Geneva, stating that Protocol. This means that the the UN Human Rights Canadian government is Incid Committee had rejected the ble for its ifa pay claim for compensation for slave gross violation of the human labour for Canadians who were rights of a group of Canadians by another country has occurred-- and that country refuses to pay compensation, The United Nations found in foots the bill (a little over $15 million), the Canadian government can go after Japan for reimbursement. After all, the , claim is a valid one under the Geneva Convention--one of the most important international Federation. means only that the Human 1991 that Japan had itted among in the Yours truly Rights Committee does not have such gross violations of human world. Gord Gettins jurisdiction to rule that Canada rights and had ignored its Sincerely Caesarea, Ontario must bear eventual responsibility to pay reparations. ~~ H. Clifford Chadderton, OC, ' responsibility. The obligation of The rejection now by the Human ~~ 0.0Ont., DCL, LLD our government arises from the Rights Committee does not mean Chief Executive Officer fact that Canada let Japan off that Canada can escape its ~~ The War Amps the hook by signing a peace obligation uader international Ottawa, Ontario The Yankees To the Editor: I am reading my first New-Years day newspaper. I see no mention of our Canadian ground forces in Bosnia. Instead, I read with great detail about the Americans arriving and the boasting of their commanders. As usual, they like to take all the credit. The same thing happened in Europe during the Second World War. The Canadians and their allies did all the hard work at the cost of many young lives. Then the Americans came. How about war, as many Canadians died there. Can we forget the Iragi war, with all those glorified details of what the Americans did, and hardly a word about the other nations who were there. It was always America this and America that. Canada and the other small nations, have been in Bosnia for over three years. They and their allies, have been in thé line of fire by many factions in this very volatile region of the Balkans, where we saw the start of two world wars. Canada and their allies, have tried years to keep peace there, at the cost of many lives, including thousands of innocent civilians. Let us give credit where credit is due, instead of exalting in the Johnnie Come Lately Americans all the time. History does not lie! Canadians should not have to take a back seat to anyone. They have reason to be proud! Herman van der Veen Oshawa, Ontario treaty without regard for the rights of Canadian PoWs. Moreover, for the past eight years, Canada has consistently refused to support the claim against Japan filed by The War law by relying on the Committee Dollars well spent To the Editor: Amps at the United Nations. Regarding the December 12, As Chief Executive Officer of 1995 article titled "Is it worth The War Amps and Patron of the it?", on the $980 in legal fees to Hong Kong Veterans, I have now written to Prime Minister Chretien, pointing out that, in its finding, the Human Rights Committee stated that there are remedies in Canada to resolve the dispute. One of these remedies includes a challenge take a complaint to court about a barking dog. As a witness called by the Township in this case, I feel that the money was well spent by correcting an ongoing problem of excessive barking. This situation had been occurring for over a year and after dozens of calls to the Animal Control officer under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which we row have bY myself and many of my under preparation. neighbours, a charge was finally Also, we must question the placed after the offending dog statements made in Tokyo by the barked for three continuous Secretary of State for Veterans, Lawrence MacAulay, who is quoted as stating that the issue is between the Hong Kong Veterans and the Japanese government. This was true when we first filed the claim in 1987. hours. I would like to say that if the Animal Control Officer or the police had the authority to write a ticket and levy a fine on the spot a great deal of time and money would be saved, not only to the Township but to the citizens involved who had to take time off work to meet with the lawyers and go to_court to testify. As it stands now, the current system is both slow 'and cumbersome. To lay a charge requires several trips to Whitby for the By-Law Officer, and a long wait for a court date. This often discourages the Township from laying charges for the more minor offenses because of the costs involved. If the by-laws were amended to give the Animal Control Officer the authority to lay charges directly situations similar to this could be resolved quickly and cost effectively without involving the court system. Sincerely Kerry Stephenson Caesarea, Ontario