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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, May 3, 1988 Editorial Comments A Hand for the Fans Hard to believe that in the first week of May, hockey is still on the minds of a lot of people in Port Perry and Scu- gog Township. And why not? The Junior C MoJacks are in the all- Ontario championship series, and there is little doubt that the team has captured the fancy of this community. People are talking about this team on the steet corners, in the coffee shops, even in the lobby of the Post Office. And last Thursday night, if you were among the crowd that jammed into every seat, every nock and cranny of the Scu- gog Arena, you knew darn well that hockey fans were squarely behind this team as they battled a tough crew from Hanover in the deciding game of the semi-final ser- ies. The MoJacks won that game, of course. This is a good hockey team with a lot of character; a lot of pride, and that special ability found among winners in any sport to be able to come up with a top performance when the pressure is really on and all the chips are right out there on the table. The MoJacks deserve to be in the all-Ontario champi- onship series. And even if they don't win another game all season (perish that thought) they have helped put Port Per- ry on the hockey map. But enough about the team. The final score last Thurs- day night was 7-4, and maybe those loud and excited fans in the building that evening should get credit for at least one of those goals. The fans were simply great. They cheered and yelled all game; they blew trumpets, stomped their feet, sounded the air horns, waved towels, hoisted a huge MoJacks ban- ner high in the air, and in the final few minutes of the game when victory seemed assured at last, they broke into that familiar song that ends with "Hey, hey, good-bye." It is of course difficult to measure the impact that a loud and boisterous crowd has on any athletic competition. Some players will tell you that once the game starts, they hear nothing from the stands, they block everything out. Maybe so. : But we feel pretty confident in saying that most young Junior C hockey players in a crucial game in their own building would feel it just a bit if the supporters for the other guys were making more noise than their own fans. It has been said over the years that hockey fans in Port Perry are knowledgeable, interested, polite and remarka- bly quiet. They have a reputation (right or wrong) for sitting on their hands, so to speak. Well, that sure as heck was not the case last Thursday night. The fan excitement and noise added a dimension to the game. And it was great to see and hear. The Port Juniors have one more series to go, and you can bet that when the team returns to the Scugog Arena, the place will be packed. It's nice to see the community be- hind the team, and making a lot of noise in the process. Port Perry STAR) 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO Phone 985-7383 P.0.Box90 LOB INO J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager (*cCha { CD | | Ch a) Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd, Port Perry, Ontario J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for cash payment of postage in cash CATHY OLLIFFE News & Features Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year. Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50° LP a AL 1) © COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver- tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. SL) pls dia - = | = I | 2d RIN $d Q & Somehow I'm not surprised that David Pe- terson's government has slapped us so soundly. | mean, that's what happens every time you give any government too much confidence. You give 'em a resoundingly whopping ma- jority at the polls, and instead of thanking you, they stab you in the back. That's what the the 1988 provincial budget is--a stab in the back. It's the most vicious at- tack on middle-class pocketbooks seen in a long, long time. Here we are, Ontario, in grand financial shape. This economy is so healthy the rest of the country is green with envy. Yuppie consu- mers are happily coughing up all kinds of hard- earned money on big-ticket items like cars and compact disc machines, and the government has been even happier lapping up all that in- come and sales tax. According to the experts, spending is the reason Ontario has a healthier economy than the rest of Canada. Take away a reason for spending, and there won't be so much money flowing. Well, the Peterson government has just giv- en Ontario folks a really good reason not to spend. By raising the sales tax to 8%, the Grits have pushed the price of some items out of reach of some would-be buyers. But it's not just the sales tax, nor is it just the yawningly predictable sin tax hike on cigar- ettes, booze and gas, or even the substantial income tax increase. It's the combination of that $1.3 billion in brand spanking new taxes that we, the aver- age joes, will be shelling out. | say "average joes" because it's us working folk, without the benefit of fancy investments and shelters, who will be paying the brunt of the $1.3 billion. This slays me. Because wasn't it the Tory-sick middle-class that gave Peterson a whopping majority in the first place? Sure it was. And instead of treating that trust with a little respect, the Peterson government has stuck it to the sarne middle-class. Just stuck it to us, plain and simple. Knowing, or a least hoping, that by the time another provincial election rolls around in five years or so, the middle-class that got stuck like a pig, will have happily forgotten all about the budget of 1988. A BRUTAL BUDGET Are you like me? Sick and tired of being treated like you're stupid by government offi- cials? Who only care how much money you can give them to keep all their red-taped bu- reaucracy in motion? We're just like sitting ducks. Already, approximately one-third of our pay cheques disappear to one government or an- other. And then the government says PAY MORE, and We do because hey, what choice do we have? The only choice we have is at election time-- and isn't that a farce. It wasn't too long ago, was it, that Ontario fell deeply in love with the Peterson Liberals, who promised us all winds of change. We married them after a whirlwind romance, and for awhile, we thought we were married to Mr. Right. Looks like the honeymoon is over. Turns out, we married a wife-beater. There's the government poised over our purses, saying "lI want to pick your pocket" and we can't do anything about it. It makes me so mad | could spit. All we do is pay, pay, pay, and for what? The Peterson budget has promised even more spending. More spending! And instead of looking around its own back- . yard to see where fat can be trimmed, the gov- ernment turns right to the middle-class and says "Pay up." | know there's all kinds of places where the Ontario government can trim down its spend- ing in unneccessary places. You should see all the paper that comes into the Star office from one Ministry or another. Really glossy press releases, all. Really use- less, for the most part. But instead of dieting, the fat cats simply de- mand more money, money, money from peo- ple who really can't afford to pay anymore. And have absolutely no wish to pay Peterson or any other government, one more dime. I'm beginning to believe the only good gov- ernment is a minority government. With the threat of election always hanging over the heads of a minority government, things get done a little more 10 the public's lik- ing. And in case any government officials out there get to forgetting--- You're there to serve the public good. Not to stick it to the public, good. Ci A Doi rp --