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HAE rE I SLE I TRA A EA FN EUR RE FR GAR REE AT LA ht SRE BE RT af Ao ERAN 3 RY hi NP 3 Xe ven Vs 4] FAW di PL Leh or ' aD ENN > PAY 10 iy ATR . CU EE A VAN FIVE td Nd od Su very Sin pHs Accont we, [CSR wp / 13 YEARS AGO Students of Port Perry High School held a Walk-a-thon from Port Perry to Seagrave return and raised $576.68 for the hospital building fund. 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 26, 1921 The Port Perry Golf Club had a tea held at the links to the Fairgrounds. About 30 members and guests were present. ; The date selected for the census taking is June 1st. The following enumerators for Port Perry are Ivan Boweman and Randolph Switzer. Reach Township - J. Baird, Ed Christie, John Lambe, Wm. Phoenix, Peter Ganton, John Mark and Wellington Somerville with George Prentice responsible for Scugog. Mr. Stanley Hope has moved into the home lately ] TR AT AMK ND THE ROYAL BANK FoR?! 14 5 £13 4 » : Lp. », al w Se dr? . 4 * Seen with -the gigantic cheque are, from left, Raymond Hillier, Miss Purviss, Joel Aldred, Campaign chairman; Muriel Bryant and Mr. J.C. Barton. occupied by Mr. R. Butson, Prince Albert. Mr. D. Thompson, Raglan, motored to Ottawa to attend the Postmasters Convention. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 30, 1946 Port Perry Lions Club held their ninth Charter Night at Blackstock. Lion Reg Bounty presided. Lion Sam Griffen introduced the speaker for the evening Rev. W.J.H. Smyth. Mrs. Oscar Beare rendered a vocal solo. (Turn to page 6) PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, May 27, 1981 -- § letters Gouged, again Dear Sir: Any form of taxation or price increases that takes money from the consumer, leaves that much less to spend on the necessities of life. With ever increasing prices of food, municipal taxes, insurance, cars, heating, gas and rent, now Ontarians face steep hikes in OHIP, gas, drivers licenses and provincial income tax. Unknown to thousands of Ontario taxpayers is the fact that Ontario income tax starts at a lower level than federal income tax, affecting the people the least able to pay. People below the poverty line start paying Ontario income tax at $1820. Inflation and high interest rates hurt the poor more than the rich. Ontario now not only increases prices on consumer items by a fixed amount to start with, but they increase every time the product goes up. Its called '""valorum" or in other words they take a percent- age of the price increase. By doing this the government is a party to, and profits by every price increase, a most inflationary method of tax- ation. The 7 per cent sales tax (started at 3 per cent) is another vested interest in inflationary increases. Governments instead of fighting price increases, now have a vested interest in seeing prices go higher! While Ontario Treasurer Frank Miller gloats with his new formula of sticking it to the taxpayers with his inflationary "valorum"' system, 20 per cent on gas- line, 36 per cent on cigar- ettes, 27 per cent on diesel fuel, etc., he jumps OHIP payments by a flat 15 per cent and driver license fees by nearly 70 per cent. Why not tax gas guzzlers by increasing tax on license plates to save gasoline? There are millions of cars on the road getting less than 20 m.p.g., wasting our most . important non-renewable source - oil. One of the reasons we have a low-value dollar and high inflation is the billions we spend on imported oil. Adam Smith, a renowned U.S. economist detailed this in his latest book that received great reviews from Time and other top publieations. Treasurer Miller increased income tax to 48 per cent of the base federal figure, yet didn't raise taxes one cent to big business, that can well afford it. Why not an excess profit tax rather than hitting the workin man? The middle income worker is already carrying the whole (Turn to page 6) ~~ chotterbox ....... THE ONTARIO BUDGET Gee, was it only last March that the good citizens of Ontario stepped in line behind that Pied Piper from Brampton and skipped happily off into a Tory sunset that will last another four years at least? Remember the March election campaign with Billy Davis making leadership the main issue, and all those appy Remember the March election campaign with Billy Davis making leadership the main issue, and all those happy sounding radio and TV jingles which apparently numbed voters on their way to the polls? Those jingles are still fresh in my mind, but try as I might, I can't seem to recall Brampton Billy telling the = voters of Ontario last March that his first majority budget in years would have such good news for the consumers and low wage earners in the province. No, there was nary a word spoken last March about a 15 per cent hike in"OHIP premiums, a four per cent hike in personal income tax, a penny per litre increase in gasoline, and the usual hikes for booze and cigarettes. But politics being the cynical and hypocritical business that it is, the Ontario budget handed down last week is just what this province needs. I'm 'especially glad to see that corporate income and capital tax rates remain unchanged so that a better climate for investment will prevail in good old Ontario. Maybe this is an admission by the Tories that the Liberal and NDP charges last March are true: namely that Ontario in recent years has indeed slipped badly as a place to stand and do business. Ilove the hike in the tax on booze and cigs. If people want to sin and ruin their health, they are bloody well going to pay for it. Period. . As for the tax on gasoline, which by the way is tied to any future increase in gas prices at other levels. Well, we all know un Ontario is a glutton when it comes to gulping down gasoline. Now we know why Billy Davis has had his differences with Sheik Peter of Saudia Alberta. Billy wants to slap the taxes on gasoline, too. 'But my favourite item in the budget is the $3 Jnillion to buy bullet-proof vests for police forces. Sounds liké it is open war-fare between the cops and the bad guys, and a pretty good admission that current gun laws dealing with thugs who use firearms for criminal purposes just aren't working. So, instead of putting some teeth into the gun laws, we bolt the gate after the horse has fled by buying the cops bullet-proof vests. Charming thought. It is estimated that the new budget measures will effectively take $600 million out of the pockets of consumers in one year alone. Ontario's manufacturing industry must be over-joyed at that. « What confuses me a little is that the guy who was just elected south of the border is doing his utmost to get governments off his back and out of the pocket-book of the average citizen. Yet here in Ontario, the good Tory government has opted for traditional budget measures totally lacking in imagination. Of course innovation has never been a Tory strong-point. You know what is really distressing about this budget? Despite the tax increases, Ontario will still run a $1 billion deficit this year. As far as I can see there is no concerted effort to trim government spending. To keep up with inflation, the government simply raises taxes, an act which in itself is inflationary. , Politics may be a cynical and hypocritical business, and the Ontario Tories, with majority safely in hand, may feel they can get away with this kind of a budget since they don't have to face the voters for another four years. But what senior levels of government in this country don't seem to realize is that people ain't as dumb as they look. With each tax increase, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, with each hike in interest and mortgage rates, with every increase in the cost of living, people are beginning to believe that governments just don't know what they hell they're doing. : If things don't start to turn around quickly in this country, my guess is that we are going to see the rise of a new political movement or party which will have radical policies designed to appeal to the masses of people who really are feeling the pinch. At the centre of that appeal will be a cut in income tax of 10 or 15 per cent, coupled with a cut in all government spending by the same amount. The consequences for governments, of course, would border on the catastrophic, especially in the two big spending areas: education and health services. X But I think there is a growing mood in this country where people are reaching the point that they no longer care about the consequences. Government at all levels has grown in such massive proportions and touches every facet of our lives. But at the same time, government seems to be bungling at every turn to the point where public confidence has almost vanished. If this kind of an atmosphere and mood isn't ripe for a -radical new political movement, I miss my guess. Already, we are seeing the roots forming south of the border. It's just a matter of time before we see it here. The kind of budget Ontario handed down last week simply adds a little more fuel to the fires of discontentment in this fair land. ( port perry star Company Limited Phone 985-7383 Sam (A G CNA | : (Onn) : -_-> 2) i Rs 3 Serving the Township of Scugog J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association Published every Wednesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd., Port Perry, Ontario Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $10.00 per year. Elsewhere: $30.00 per year Single Coply: 25¢ J SERA Ft Pol J IR " BF Rey SE ARERR ~- v wai Ww WASTE, Ey 2 3 A ES --