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ARP ABE SU PEL PW TL rw PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, February 12, 1991 -- 7 Viewpoint NOT MUCH TO CHEER ABOUT The news last week that the Johnson Controls plant in Port Perry will be shutting its doors in mid- April came as a shock. Where will the 280 people who worked there find employment in these grim times? Almost every day the large newspapers have stories about plant closings in Ontario. But the impact never hits until one of those plants is in our own com- munity. While the out-of-work employees and their fami- lies will be the ones to feel the real impact, the trickle down affect will be felt by just about every business in the Port Perry area. : Company officials say it is moving south of the border, where presumably, the same product can be made for less money. And the free trade agreement between Canada and the United States is being blamed for this shut- down and hundreds of others that have taken place in the last year or so. | was a supporter of free trade with the United States. | felt at the time, and still do (to a certain ex- tent) that it was a logical thing for a country of 25 mil- lion people to have un-fettered access to a market of 260 million people. : These days, | am not so sure, as | watch yet an- other plant pull up stakes and move to the States. Free trade is an easy and convenient scape- goat, and | won't deny that it has something to do with it. But | can't help but wonder if there are not some deeper, more fundamental reasons why Canada is staggering along so miserably these days. Sure, we all know that people in certain parts of the States earn less than their counterparts in Cana- da. In some cases, the difference is considerable, as much as $10 per hour. But the going wage is only a ortion of the manufacturing component. There are a ost of other factors involved: everything from munici- pal taxes, interest rates, availability of low cost loans or outright grants, sales taxes, the cost of benefit packages, income taxes (corporate and personal) the list goes on and on. In my view there is a fundamental malaise in Canada. And it is this. We -are over-governed, over- taxed, over-regulated, and over-restricted; all of which leads to one thing: over-priced. The wage factor is but one component in this sick economic equation. The work that was done in Port Perry by John- ston Controls is being shifted to Indiana and Tennes- see. It would be interesting to find out the rate of mu- nicipal taxes, the state and federal taxes, the cost of services (hydro, water, sewer) the cost of land. Although | have not checked, | would venture to say that all of the above are less than what is being paid here, likely in the same proportion as the differ- ence in wage rates. | would like to conveniently blame free trade for all or most of economic problems. But there's more to it than that. | think we are seeing the chickens finally come home to roost. For the past 30-40 years, we have added layer upon layer to four different levels of government, all of which have but one source of reve- nue: taxes. : Our governments in those 40 years gave us al- - most everything we asked for (and a heck of a lot we didn't ask for) Those four levels of government have slowly but surely pushed and intruded into every facet of our business and personal lives. A few people have been warning us for years. We ignored those warnings, sloughed them off as the rantings of a few non-conformists who just like to rock the boat. So now, in this bleak winter of 1991, we have reached a point where one in four Canadians is em- ployed directly or indirectly by government. It takes the average person over six months work each year just to pay his/her taxes. Ontario is the most taxed (at all levels) jurisdiction in North America, having won this dubious honour from Quebec. Southern Ontario has the highest land prices in Canada. Toronto rivals New York City when it comes to the cost of land. Business and industry may be using free trade as an excuse to get out of Ontario. But | have a hunch a lot of industries have been itching for years to bail out, because the people who run those indus- tries aren't stupid. They could see the writing on the wall. When you throw in the on going constitutional crisis, the eternal bickering wit uebec, forced metrication and bilingualism, a horrendously expen- sive national policy of multi-culturalism that may im- prove "quality of life" but adds nothing to the econom- ic out-put, and is it any wonder that business is very Sus about the prospects of staying profitable in anada. Of course all this theorizing won't help the 175 people at Johnson Controls, who, come April 15, will find themselves without a pay-cheque. Pointing fingers of blame, or coming up with fan- cy economic theories won't help them find a new job. It's a scene that has been played out in just about every town and city in this province. Sadly, there will be more plant shut-downs. This is not a temporary lay-off, because orders are slow and times are a bit tough. Those jobs are gone, and they are never coming back. Remember | LEITers io the editor Writer expresses opposing views When? 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 10, 1946 Hugh MacMillan, son of Rev. J.A. McMillan, Port Perry, having received his discharge from the army, has done a record- ed bit of hiking. He covered a distance of 4,200 miles in a couple of weeks. A shipment of 200 baby chicks was made by Peels Bros. from Toronto to Bellingham, Washington, by air express, a dis- tance of 3000 miles. This is the second trial shipment of baby chicks. The chicks all arrived well and in good condition. Port Perry High School Choir entered the Kiwanis Music Festival and won third place. Mrs. Elsie Dobson is musical di- rectress for Port Perry school. Mr. John Orde has received his discharge from the army and is now settled in Hamilton. 85 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 16, 1956 At the annual Scout Father and Son Banquet, held in the Scout Hall, Mr. Stanley Ploughman was presented with the Long Service Medal for 20 years of faithful service to Scouting in Port Perry. Three Scouts - James Hunter, Albert Fulford and Clive Boyd were presented with Queen Scout Badges. Mr. Jack Atkinson, Commissioner from Provincial Headquarters, made the presentations. The new addition to Uxbridge High School was officially . opened. This addition adds 5 more classrooms and a cafeteria. ' 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 9. 1961 The Port Perry Chamber of Commerce honoured the Port Perry Baseball Club, O.A.8.A. All Canadian Champions for 1960 with a presentation at the Flamingo Restaurant. Blue Ray Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, catered to 150 guests at a "Bobbie Burns" supper. "A Town Band Association was formed to encourage local youngsters to acquire musical skills. Mr. Garry Tummonds was elected president, John Orde as vice-president, Wentworth Wat- son as Treasurer and Frank Godley as secretary. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 10, 1966 Last Tuesdays "Blitz" which was carried on by 60 local Port Perry ladies in a house-to-house canvas, resulted in over $500 being collected for the March of Dimes Foundation. Port Perry Guides took ip of a beautiful weekend and camped out Saturday and Sunday. They included Lynne Turn to Page 8 To the Editor: I don't usually write letters to the Editor but I feel I should ex- © press my opinion after reading E. Haagaard's letter of February 5. First of all I believe that instead of trying to change our communi- ty she should try to accept that other residents of the community have different views. I am a non- smoker and I believe that smokers have rights as well as non-smokers. I would remind her that restaurants provide take-out ser- vice. Why should the smoker have to step outside; perhaps she could step outside to enjoy her coffee. On the subject of snowmobiles, Positive-Negative To the Editor: Re your editorial on the Provin- cial Government's Environmen- tal Bill of Rights. I note that you start off by complimenting Ruth Grier on establishing an En- vironmental Bill of Rights Com- mittee then end up by raising several concerns that appear to be politically biased in view of the fact that the Bill is still in the pro- cess of being drafted. Before raising adverse skep- ticism among your readership about the Bill would it not have been more prudent to present your doubts to the committee which is the very reason for which the committee is set up. Positive criticism presented to the proper authority will get more results than negative speculation addressed to no one in particular. Yours truly, Roy Grierson, Port Perry 4 I would like to remind this person that ten o'clock is not considered a late hour in this area. The curfew for snowmobilers does not even start till 1 a.m. I would also like to point out that the aircraft that took her and her husband to Europe burned more fuel on that one flight than all the snowmobiles of Durham Region would burn in one season. If there is an energy crisis and when they stop flying planes for people's pleasure, stop driving cars to hockey games, theatres and every other type of recreation then it will be time to put an end to snowmobile recreation. All snowmobiles in the last fif- teen years inject oil with the gas and the emissions are well within the accepted range. Snowmobil- ing for the last twenty years has been a major recreation in this area and many people travel from the major metropolitan areas to use the facilities of Lake Scugog and surrounding area. Many of the businesses benefit from this recreation. I realize that everyone does not think alike on these subjects but when you go out into the public we must respect other people's rights for enjoyment. Yours sincerely, W.R. Harper, Port Perry Lo "As it turns out, your policy covers falling off the roof, all right, but not hitting the ground." CATAL a ORE LP) EARTH SI VE Choe VLR