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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, November 21, 1989 -- 7 JUST $1.5 BILLION MORE, BOSS An Interesting press release/communique ar- ed on my desk one dull, grey morning last week when my mood matched the weather perfectly. Nothing unusual about that. | get dozens, no, hundreds of press releases each week from the federal and provincial government. So many in fact (in English et en francais) that | have often won- dered just how many trees die each year to feed Me /Devamnmert printing presses. But that's another Believe it or not, as editor of this journal, | ac- tually make an effort to read all these press releas- es/communiques, and some actually find their way into print in the paper you are now reading because they contain information which I think might be use- ful to the public. Many, however, find their way to the trash bin beside my desk. This particular one caught my eye, perhaps because § are from Toasny Board of Canada (that means my money and yours) and |, like all of you, have a general interest in money and a partic- ular interest in my tax dollars It was dated November 8 and titled "Supple- mentary Estimates for 1989-90 Tabled." Hmmmm, | thought to myself. When govern- ments talk "supplementary," that means money that was not in the original budget estimates. Sure enough, after the first paragraph in-. formed me that the Supplementary Estimates for 1989-90 amount to $1.5 billion, the second para- Viewpoint by John B. McClelland nalized." It also informed me that the additional $1.5 bil- lion brings the total budgetary estimates for 1989- 90 (federal) to $132.9 billion. That's a lot of money, right? But | was heart- ened to read and | quote "this is well within the ex- penditure framework set out by the Minister of Fi- nance in the April 1989 budget. | am going to list for Uy dear reader, just Where this supplementary" $1.5 billion is going to e spent. Here goes, exactly as received in news re- lease/communique from the Treasury Board of Canada, Robert de Cotret, President. 1/ $600 million to convert debt owed to Canada by the Farm Credit Corp. into liquidity. (That's what it says, folks) 2/ $375 million to meet requirements under collec- tive agreements signed with the Public Service Alli- ance of Canada. 3/ $84.2 million in assistance to farmers (no break- down) 4/ $84 million to provide additional funds for pay- ments under the Japanese Canadain redress pro- gram. - 5/ $33.7 million and 284 person/years for workload requirements related to refugee applications. 6/ (You'll love this one) $30.3 million and 785 per- son/years for increased workload associated with 1988 tax changes and for compliance activities. These resources are primarily for public inquiries, processing of returns and various audit programs. with the following sentence which should ease your concerns groatly. "The additional person/years in- cluded in these estimates will be off-set by transfers from other departments and lapses elsewhere in government." Lapses elsewhere in government?You go fig- ure. There was an Ottawa phone number at the bottom "for more information," and | toyed with the idea of calling up the Treasury Board to find out what "lapses elsewhere in government" really means, or how $600 million will change debt to eq- uity for the Farm Credit Corp., or why $375 million extra bucks are needed to honour collective agree- ments.. But the thought of spending an hour or more on the phone trying to track down that info through d maze of bureaucrats sitting snugly at their des in the national capital left me cold. And do | really want to know? What the hell, this dreary November morning has put me in a foul enough mood. | perked up however, when a new thought sud- denly jumped into my mind. | strolled across to pub- lisher Pete's office and told him | made a mis- calculation in how much salary | need this year. He looked at me like I'd lost a marble or two. And when | told him I'd be submitting my "supple- mentary estimates" first thing tomorrow, he just smiled and went back to his word processor. But boss, | protested. If the feds can do it, why can't I? We're all entitled to a "supplementary est mate," aren't we, boss? (Reply unprintable) graph informed me these "provide for several items that have arisen since the Main Estimates were fi- The press release/communique concludes Remember When? 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 7, 1944 Word has been received that Wm. Thomas Harris has been promoted to the rank of Major and is now in the Adjutant- General's Office. : Mrs. N. DeShane received word that her son Cpl. Bert DeShane is now in Belgium. 35 YEARS AGO ' Thursday, December 2, 1954 Betty Sovereign Achilles 859402 (GP), bred and owned by Edward Oyler of Port Perry was an Honour List junior 2 year 2X producer. In Reach Township, Deputy-Reeve Robert Baird received an acclamation. vo The Ontario County Holstein Breeders held their Annual Banquet in Greenbank United Church on Wednesday evening, November 24th with over 200 breeders and their friends in attendance. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 10, 1959 Results of Scugog election were Reeve Anson Gerrow; Coun- _cil: Cecil Fralick, Clarence Carter, Glen Hood and Victor Aldred. Last Saturday evening a large crowd of friends and relatives gathered in Utica Community Hall to honour Mr. and Mrs. Jack Crosier and Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Harper on their 40th wedding anniversaries. * 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 10, 1964 Ratepayers of Reach Township went to the polls on Monday, December 7th and elected Edward (Sam) Oyler as Reeve. Top- ping the Tol was Mr. Chester Geer who received 708 votes for posi on on council. Mrs. Bert (Lucille) Gray was second highest with 689 votes and is the first woman to ever sit on Council in the history of Reach Township. . The members of the Official Board of the Port Perry United Church arranged a get-together in honour of Mr. Roy St. John who has been a faithful and ardent caretaker of the church for the past eight years. ~~ Mrs. William Heron, Brooklin, District Secretary of the On- - tario County Women's Institute presented the 1964 Ontario Coun- ty W.1. Scholarship to Miss Patricia Harden. The presentation was made at the 4-H Homemaking Club Achievement Day held recently at the Port Perry High School. Congratulatiohs to Mrs. Ellen Coyle, John Street, Port Perry, who celebrated her 80th birthday on Sunday, November 29th. (Turn to page 8) Letters to the editor Anti French tone is "nervasive" To the Editor:. As an ardent opponent of the Meech Lake Accord it is with con- siderable dismay that I read Dean Kelly's critique of said Accord in his letter printed on Tuesday, Nov. 14. Although I might agree with some of the substance of his stance, I am very concerned about the tone and logic of his at- tempt to "enlighten" the Star Editor, John B. McClelland. The pervasively anti-French tone of the so-called "President of the Association of Dedicated Canadians' makes one wonder as to what this organization is dedicated tp, and what the real message of the "President" actually is. Furthermore, Mr. Kelly's assertion that Canadians' lack of knowledge about the Meech Lake Accord is reason enough to abondon the debate, is Memories of hospital are good To the Editor: After a stay in Port Perry ' 'Community Hospital, I would like the people to know it is the friendliest hospital I have ever been in. . The staff can't do enough for you, and always with. a smile. The food is good with large portions. I will remember my stay there with good memo- - ries. Yours truly, Isobel Hardiman RR 8, Port Perry. riddled with the sort of short- sightedness that got Mr. Mulroney into the kind of trouble he is in today. It is as much Mr. Mulroney's approach to the process of Con- stitutional reform that en- courages the type of "power grab' Mr. Kelly blames on Quebec, as it is Bourassa's at- tempt to "blackmail" the rest of Canada. By approaching the Con- stitution as something you haggl over, like the purchase of an o should be filled by a person that has the conviction to chart a clear course for the country. To discard Quebec from Canada due to a fault in the process of Constitu- tional reform would be as pathetic as the attitude of apathy about Quebec that Mr. Kelly so clearly eludes to. Finally, to link Canada's budget deficits to the government's pre- occupation with matters bilingual or multi-cultural is as misleading as it is confusing. To suggest that horse, Mr. Mulroney has opened "Australia's apparent lack of pre- the process up to the kind of posturing demonstrated by Bourassa, Wells, McKenna, Filmon and. all the other horse traders. The Office of the Prime Minister was not intended to be that of a glorified auctioneer, but a position of leadership that Smile For The Day occupation with such matters is the reason why it has a (suppos- ed) surplus is the most interesting bit of accounting I have ever witnessed. I suspect the thousands of people who have broadened their personal horizons (Turn to page 10) . "Iwishyouwouldn'tleave your weightlifting equipment laying around where t have to pick it up all the time." pa ------ a ----------