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LS) = Seugog Citizen= Tuesday, April 8, 1996 io Phone : (905) 985-6397 Fax : (905) 985-1410 'published by: Sugog Ci Citizen Publishing Ltd. THE SCUGOG CITIZEN OCNA Member ni tly ed and operated CCNA Member advertising sales representatives : weekly community newspaper, = is distributed, free of charge, (2 al (#CNA A i EJ ? # Jer 5500 aa usingiies - CRY feature writer : Heather McCrae 54 WATER ST., PORT PERRY, ONT. L9L1j2 in and around Scugog Township. conn Ved bscr ptions sold outside Scugog Township. ~~ Circul co-publishérs : John B. McClelland, Valerie,E editor : John B. McClelland office manager : Sibylle Warren Thom Doran, Jennine Huffman, Bob Osborne reception : Janet Rankin hy, production : Tanya Mappin, Valerie Ellis "Prowd Canadians, proud to call Scugog Township home." lye J -- A EDITORIAL + Ontario Workfare The province of Ontario i% about to embark on a Workfare program which will make it mandatory for able bodied persons cgllecting welfare to work for their benefits. Details of the plan--called Ontario Works--will be announced in the near future by social services minister David Tsubouchi; but already the nay-sayers and bleeding hearts are having a field day claiming such programs don't achieve what they are supposed to achieve and in fact may, doom participants to nothing more than a'lifetime of dead- end low paying jobs. The nay-sayers should at least wait until Ontario Works is up and running before jumping on their old shop-worn band wagons. Let's give this thing a chance before roundly putting the knock against it. Though the details of Ontario Works have not yet been fleshed in, basically it will put able-bodied welfare recipients to work at a. wide variety of tasks from helping get food to. starving deer herds in northern Ontario to clearing shorelines of debris, painting community facilities, , shovelling snow and raking grass. They will be paid at the minimum wage rate of $6.85 per hour. Failure to take part in this program will mean being cut off benefits It shoyld be pointed out that welfare recipients with young + children will not be required to be part of it, so they will not have to arrange costly baby-sitting or day care. "The province of Ontario is not; exactly breaking new ground with this scheme. Almost every 'American state has it in seme form or another; likewise other provinces. And back in the dark days-of the Great Depression, thousands of young Canadian men went to remote work camps where they toiled for 20 cents a day to keep them away from the cities thought at the time to be breeding grounds for social unrest, violence, anarchy, even outright revolution. Rather than dwell on past or current shortcomings, we ought to consider several positive aspects to this Jind of program. First of all, society is paying those on welfare--why not get some kind of useful work in return--work that would not get done otherwise. ndly, since the rate of | pay is minimum wage, it stands to reason that some (not all) are going to hang onto jobs of find jobs that pay more than that. After all, if you're Boing to have to work, why not work at a job that pays the most. Thus it follows that welfare roles will be reduced. Thirdly, full time employment opportunities will come up for those on Workfare. Employers, will be more willing to hire those who have worked. than those who have stayed home in front of the TV set or hung out at the local arcade all day. And is it not possible that once a person gets back into the - workplace through this program, that person will decide on his/her own that being on welfare is the pits and the only way to get ahead irife is through a better job as a result of better education or up-grading job skills? That Ontario is moving to bring in thig program should not come ag any huge surprise. Premier Mike Harris made the promise very clear in the last summer's election campaign-- and it proved very popular with the voters. The Harris Tories have moved very quickly on other"| promises, why would anyone think they would drag their heels on this one. Finally, how often these days £5 you hear people talk of the "work ethic being dead," or théit-every individual has a basic right to work, or that work, be it for nothing, minimum wage or 50 times more has its own intrinsic values that are of unknown benefit to the individual and society in general. Somehow, spciety has slipped into thinking there can be something for nothing. That cycle must be broken. There are those quick to condemn anything these days. Lét's give this one a fighting chance to succeed. At this point, the | potential benefits far out-weigh the pitfalls. . fro the - = = = = [IL ™ GOING To GET ME ONE © OF THOSE £100,000 DOLLAR A YEAR GOVERNMENT [4 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Christians and tolerance Ta.the Editor: Pn Hebrews 5 Verses 8 and 9 say: "And he, Son though he was, learned obedience from the things he suffered and when perfected, He became to all who obey Him the cauge of eternal. salvation." Mrs. McIntosh (letter to the Citizen, April 2) would preach tolerance to Christians? Well, personally, I believe that Christians have been so tolerant that we have allowed this descent into moral decay that we arein.. If Mrs. McIntosh is quoting' sermon on the mountairf, I would suggest you _read on and discover that, although Jesus®would have us love our enemies as well as all . peoples, he also tells us to fight against all sin. He tells us that it wold be even better to enter Heaven without your hands, feet and eyes, rather than your whole body to be. cast intoshell. All sin is repulsive to a loving' and good God, that created us in his image and likeness, who because of that-love and the horror of sin, suffered the most agonizing and brutal sufferings in the history of the world. He was God andscompletely , innocent, He felt every pain and sin committed throughout the ages in Hig passion. He who was sinless beéame the bearer 6f all sin a He gave himself oy etely so all who seek Him d follow His teachings could gain eternal life. | We Christians are not intolerant, rather we simply want all people to know how to » or iy " rg find the narrow road through * Jesus to Heaven. At times in our zeal, we have. come across as such, our love is so great/that the hort we bear for even one lost soul brings us such great sorrow. i All evils committed in the nam of Christianity have "not necessarily been committed by Christians, as history reveals to anyone who takes the time to investigate. God bless and may y the Hope of Easter reign supreme. Anne Davies, Christian. _ Port Perry, Ontario. Merit in both our languages To the Editor: This letter is written to rebué" the letter written in the March 12th edition concerning "Inequality of Status". I, as a Canadian believe that this country way founded by both the English and French heritage. Although, times have changed and there are many ethnic groups, I believe that the heritage is what makes Canada great; therefore, it is important that our national langdages are maintained. I do agree that there is too much money spent on solely French education but I think French Immersion Programs are the strength tool for the future of our children. Myself and my children are from Quebec and we enjoy our lives in Ontario. My children are now in' a French Immersion Program .and are both successful in both English and French. When we arrived in Ontario neither of my children spoke English, but they adapted to the English community and accomplished at communi in both English*and Frepth. 1 also think people shotild not be so fast to judge the cost of French language educational programs without knowing the success rate statistically these programs will have on our children. 1 also"think it is a great opportunity for a young ¢hild to learn two languages that could - obtain good employment they have mre ing rough facilitate thejr options into multilingual employment. Through &xpe ience, I have seen many ethnits,who have learned both French and English, and through those languages, have learned other languages and skills. It is easier for someone to hen P.S. Is ft "Common Sense" to limit the future of our children? Sincerely yours, L. Blackman Nestleton, Ontdrio A ay ye language skills. ' We are in the age of communication. Education in both Yangusiges is a good option while restricting education is a bad * + option. a Catholic -- -