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S Hog Citizen' -- Tuesday, February 6, 1996 -- 9 _- VIEWPOINT by John B. McClelland LETTERS TO EDITOR TALES FROM THE TAX TROUGH--LIBERAL VERSION Quick now, does anybody out there know what a taxpayer year is? Stumped? A taxpayer year is worth about $4,840, or what the average Canadian forks over to the federal government in a year in personal income taxes. So, according to the tax watch-dog National Citizens Coalition, every time the feds spend $4,840, that's what an average hard working Canadian paid in income taxes. This bit of information is found in a new publication from the National Citizens Coalition called Tales from the Tax Trough, 111, the Liberal Vérsion. 4 I dare say that most average working Canadians. who pay that $4840 in taxes each year will not find this 28 page booklet pleasant bed time reading. No sireeee. It lists example on example of how Ottawa gs your tax dollars. And most of the examples simply defy the imagination. ' Here are just a few samples: $33,800 to examine Major League Baseball in Detroit--the Detroit Tigers. Seven taxpayer years. $100.670 for an interactive study of video games--21 taxpayer years, $30,000 to study "reform and popular fiction in late Ch'ing China--six taxpayer years. $19,400 for a study called "policing the boundaries of male sexuality 1890-1930" four taxpayer years. $500,000 (103 taxpayer years) to set up a Canoe Museum in the home riding of Prime Minister Jean Chretien. $95,000 for stereo equipment in the offices of MPs and Senators-20 taxpayer years, The list just goes on and on. Here's a final one that I found especially intriguing: Our government actually 'paid $105,000 to study "career markers and personal performance strategy development of expert and novice symphony and orchestra ductors and professional hockey coaches. Yes, folks, 22 taxpayers had to work an entire year to come up with bucks for that one. Maybe you're one of the 29 taxpayers who slaved for a year and will be thrilled to learn the government spent $139,000 in the first eight months of 1994 on condoms, most of them destined for prisons. The MP pension plan has been a favourite target over the years for the National Citizens Coalition, and Tales from the Tax Trough lists the "Top 25 MP Pension Porkers," who | if they live to age 75, will collect in total just over $53 million. Pension plan kicks in when an MP retires or is defeated or at age 55 at the latest. Brian Tobin, for example, qualifies at age 41 for an. antual pension of $53,000. Here are a few other oramilet If Jean Charest quit tomorrow, he would collect $50,000 annually for a total possible payout of $4.3 million, Andre Oullete would get $82,000 yearly for a total of $2.3 million to age 75. Jean Chretien would get $95,000 "annually, plus an' ex-prime minister's pension of $49,333 which would kick in 1997. We could go on. However, you get the point of.this little 28-page booklet. For your own copy, send $2 to the National Citizens Coalition, 100 Adelaide St. West, Suite 107, Toronto, Ont. M5H 183. Read it and weep. I should point out that Durham MP Alex Shepherd is among a handful of Liberal MPs who have opted out of the pension plan, along with 52 of the 53 Reform MPs. _ Still on this subject, I read last week where Lucien Bouchard is not . going to turn back his $31,000 annual federal pension, but instead will donate it to the Quebec government. I think I am right when I say that anyone who makes a cash donation to any level of government is entitled to a tax receipt. So, Bouchard is costing us morg than just that lousy pension. He'll get to write down some of his' own "personal income tax as well. Only in Canada. ; GOOD FOR JEAN: 'Prime Minister Jean Chretien is taking some heat for saying that if Oanada is divisible, so too is the province of Quebec. I say right on. H's about time he took the gloves off and let Quebec know that if it separates from Canada, the same could happen if the Cree of northern Quebec want to remain in Canada, or the people of Montreal, or those who lives in western Quebec. _ Sorry, Lucien, but you know the old saying of having-your cake and eating it too. IN CLOSING: I am sure I'm not alone in saying it was nice to bid farewell to January. Winter, which arrived in early November, has been with us far too long. With apologies to all you skiers, snowmobilers, ice fishermen and snowshoers, I am one Canadian totally fed up with snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures. / It would not hurt my feelings one bit to see the flowers bloom and hear the robins sing justin time for Valentine's Day. That may be asking a bit much, but you get my drift. [ + Timely reading for teen-age girls and their parents 'Same old tired gang' To the Editor: Constitutions are for people, not the politicians. The Financial Post Campas Poll in Quebec has set off alarms in the rest of Canada. The poll found that a clear majority of Quebecers say they would support outright separation if a vote were held right now. On Jan. 21, the Toronto Star devoted nearly the whole editorial titled "Chretien Must Energize Federalist." Is this just another costly unity charade? Quoted first was, Keith Sicer, the former infamous head of the Bilingualism Dept. and current head of the CRTC, our communications "watch-dog," that just allowed the $450 million increase in local phone rates. Spicer wants another nation-wide wasteful unity campaign. Remember the one with Jean Luc Pepin and Bill Davis. It met with so much opposition it had to be caricelled. Likewise the second one. The Toronto Star editorial was critical of the Reform Party (as usual) because Reform has called for a clear cut approach fo setting terms for Quebec's eventual separation. The Liberal Cabinet team headed by Marcel Masse wants another unity campaign despite the fact that Lucien Bouchard harshly turned down Chretien's veto powers and special status for Quebec. ° The Star calls for people on this campaign such as Bob Rae, Bill Davis, Tom Berger; Robert Bourassa, Michel Who is mending'our soles? To The Editor: _ What Belanger, Ghislain Dufor, Pierre Anctil, Claude Ryan, and PC leader Jean Charest with his national, party of two MPs. This is the same old tired gang of politicians, the same old horse and pony show that Canadians are fed up with--to the teeth, They don't trust politicians after the mess they made with Meech Lake and * the Charlottetown Accord cliff hanger. Polls show that 92 per cent of Canadians outside Quebec are opposed to mare concessions. this "country needs is a constitutional assembly of ordinary Canadians similar to that called by Preston Manning. Ng more politicians. Former Supreme Court Justice W. Estes once said "constitutions are for the people not the politicians." Spicer said "many Canadians now have grave doubts about federal strategy before, during and after the referendum." This is just slightly veiled criticism of Chretien, the Liberal Cabinet and the massive majority of more than 180 MPs in the House. The Toronto Star's call to "energize" the Chretien federalists faces a dead battery. Not even a jump-start will give it life. Shuffling the Cabinet is like playing musical 'chairs on the Titanic. Too late. Time is of the essence. ~ Je me souvien. Dean J. Melly, president, Assoc. Dedicated Canadians (since 1967) Port Perry, Ontario. Am I wrong or is it true that there is no shoe repair shop in Port Perry? a a recent arrival | am slowly orienting myself to the options of living quietly in this lovely rural setting next to the insanity of big cities. But surely with 4500 plus people 5; must be wearing out footwear a ying around our streets and walkways they te that would make someona a decent living, even part time, repairing the.obvfous ravages that pavement make on leather. It seems ridiculous that one has te"@rive twenty miles one way to put a new heel on a shoe at the , inflated prices that/fo with quick fix repairs in a mall. This, tom find; would seem to be a good opportunity for some anterinising person to get in op is ground floor and provide a service locally where none yet exists. We bring in deétors to repair our bodies. Why not bring in someoné to look after our soles! * "Owen R. Neill, Port Perry Rural townships and GTA To The Editor: Anne Golden's Bipot for the fra 'suggests Scott Township should amalgamate with FRY other ic and social gr ies. The rural and 8! inj agricultural hin of such a union BD set Us apartifrom the GTA and the urban area of Uxbridge. . Since Scott Township's amalgamation with Uxbridge Jownship, major development has occurred in Urban Uxbridge and the cost to the rural and agricultural taxpayer to service these developments has been phenominal. The projected population growth within urban Uxbridge to 14,000 people supports the decision to build a huge Canadian Tire, an expanded Zehr's store, a McDonald's franchise 'and an expanded sewage / treatment facility. Do you think the business ventures just listed would have procéeded without reassurarices there would be population growth to support their profits?' The agricultural and rural popul is more self-supporting. We provide our own sewage trea water and lighting. A great many of us are self-employed, business entrepreneurs as farmers, vegetable growers, artisans or small business owners. Why: then, should we Be supporting the services for a larger populated urban area to the south? Does that question have a familiar ring to it? Why should Scott Township support, the financial mismanagement and glad-handling we have endured? turn to page 12 To the Editor: 1 wonder how many local readers have heard about the phenomenon of our daughters beginning to lose their self esteem as they approach the - age years? I'd like to pass along some information that might be helpful to parents trying to understand and deal with this situation. First of all, to get a handle on the forces that contribute to the. erosion of our girls' self - esteem, I highly recommend reading an excellent-book called Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of "Adol Girls (Ball "New Moon". It's for girls ages 8 - 14, contains no advertising at all, and is a great antidote to the media images which tell young girls that only anorexic people are attractive. This would be an 11 blication to have in Mary Pipher, Ph. D. (I borrowed it from the Uxbridge Library). Secondly, there is a delightful magazine from the U.S. called ine) by. our local library, since the individual subscription rate.is pretty steep (around $50. - because of its lack of advertising plus the exchange rate). What a great idea it would b& for someone to donate a subscription to our local library! The magazine's address is: New Moon, P.O. Box 3620, Duluth, Minnesota 56803 - 3620, USA. Thirdly, I heard about a neat little book called Why It's Great To Be A Girl - 50 Eye - Opening Things "You Can Tell Your Daughter To Increast Her Pride In Being Female (Warner Books, ~ . 1994), by" Jacqueline Shannon, __ that is also a self - esteem booster for girls. Scugog Library has a copy of this one - please consider borrowing it if you are a young girl or the parent of one! Janet Banting Greenbank