The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

"A Family Tradition for 128 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, February 15,1994 - 9 Letters io the editor Should sell seized cigarettes, booze Need help with the math To the Editor: Scott Anderson's article in the February 8 issue needs a math check. He suggests that our local M.P., Alex Shepherd "said 23 cents of every dollar col- lected by the tax (GST) goes to- ward the administration of the tax." In a later paragraph in the same article the author quotes Mr. Shepherd as indicating the tax generates more than $19 billion per year "for the coffers of the country." During the election cam- paign, it was revealed that ap- For the use To the Editor: Congratulations to Mr. Arcu- lus and the Port Perry Star for the very interesting and ex- tremely enlightening history of the Scugog area. I intend to collect all his arti- cles, when published as a per- manent addition to my knowl- edge of this area. I do hope his efforts will eventually be pub- lished as a book - I'm sure it would be a "best seller," at least locally. After several readings and much thought, I cannot help re- late the population of Scugog by both indigenous peoples and overseas settlers to the facts presented therein. It appears that the Hurons, as far as we can trace, were the original set- tlers here. The Iroquois, then drove the Hurons out to the north and after a bloody massa- cre, returned to this area, and after a short time returned to upstate New York. The land, thus abandoned, was then sparsely settled by a branch of the Ojibway, known as the Mis- sissaugas from the Western Great Lakes. But at this stage of area history, this abandoned land was also being sparsely settled by "native" whites many of whom were United Empire Loyalists and others from the settled South of Ontario - many of whom by that time, were sec- ond or third generation North American born. The question can now be proximately 4,500 civil ser- vants are employed in the administration of the tax, lets work on this. Twenty-three per- centage of $19 billion is $4.4 bil- lion (give or take a few million) and dividing that by the 4,500 civil servants would provide each of them with an annual bank president's salary. Can you help me with the math? Art Murcott, Ashburn, Ont. of everyone asked - who really can claim the "original" settlement of Scugog as we know it today? Is it the Mississaugas or the white Ca- nadians neither of whom were originally from this area? The only logical answer in my mind is: all of us. Then of course comes the on- going dispute between the Scu- gog Band and "white" residents over the fate of the provincially owned park land at the north end of the Island. Since we all settled here about the same time it is logical to deduce that it belongs to all of us. Then it must be open to all of us. The Ministry of Natural Re- sources advises that the Missis- saugas are free to use this land for religious, spiritual and tri- bal ceremonies - they are free to hunt, fish and trap on the land, shorelines or waters surround- ing it, and launch their boats from the ramps provided, as should be their inalienable right. But it must also be the in- alienable right of "whites" as well and must not be exploited by Mississaugas or whites, but left open for the use of all. It seems to me that there can- not be a fairer solution to the use of this land. Let us put this controversy behind us, then all of us can enjoy this natural jew- el to its fullest. Bill Alchin, Port Perry All At Guaranteed Low Prices UNITED CARPET? Largest Carpet Selection in Scugog Township and a member of the largest carpet buying group in Canada HOMESTEAD by Ballard & Carnegie » HWY. 7A EAST - PORT PERRY 985-2451 or 985-2157 ~~ » FAMOUS BLINDS VERTICALS « VENETIANS PLEATED SHADES Kelly, Zuly, Greenway, Bruce Barristers and Solicitors Motor Vehicle - Criminal - Personal Injury Wills - Real Estate - Family Law Corporate & Commercial EVENINGS AND WEEKENDS BY APPOINTMENT 114 King St. E., Oshawa 723-2278 To the Editor: I have a suggestion to offer the government. Why not, in- stead of having the hundreds of cases of cigarettes shredded and destroyed into a pile of nothing, can the government not resell them to the public at the retail price and then use this money and transfer it into the budgets of the health care system and other programs to further educate the public on the dangers of smoking. They could also use a percent- age of these funds to go back. into the budgets of the police force that initially seized these illegal goods thereby helping to lower the costs that these forces need in order to continuing their investigations. It would, I think, reduce the cost to taxpayers in reducing our tax burden. Would this be too difficult for the government to undertake or even look into these possibilities? 1 would think that it would cost far less than the costs of administering the dreaded GST. [fthis new form of revenue in- come is successful, then it could be expanded to seized alcohol and those funds given to help or aid in the abuse of alcohol. More important though would be that instead of destroying all contra- band drugs seized in raids, they be sold or given to our hospitals and research labs to reduce the costs of administering pain kill- ers to the terminally ill orin the treatment of cancer victims and other life threatening diseases for the chronically ill and the aged. Surely a drug program could be started to aid the addicts who are hooked on these drugsin the form of some kind of a treat- ment centre. Many robberies, purse snatching and muggings are done by drug addicts who are desperate and will do any- thing possible to get money to feed their habit. This is just a thought and maybe it might work. Yours truly, Andy Cobean, Pickering, Ont. 3 . > Stonemoor Day Care Centres Inc. i 399 Queen St., Port Perry ¢ 985-0800 > "CHILD ENRICHMENT PROGRAM" > "for children 18 months to 9 years > > Full time & part time available ¢ Hours 6:30am to 6:00pm AAAAAAAAAAAAA SEARS CANADA INC. RECALLS HEATED CAR SEAT CUSHION Sears Canada Inc. is recalling the "Heated Seat Cushion", manufactured by Superex Canada Ltd. Due to a possible manufacturing defect, the product could pose a potential fire hazard. Sears urges anyone currently using the cushion to immediately discontinue its use. This recall applies only to stock number 86365, which was sold at Sears Retail stores and through its 1993 Wish Book, between September 25, 1993 and January 1994. Customers can identify the affected cushions by the black elastic straps, which were added to this model, to hold the cushion in place. Customers who purchased this item can return it to their nearest Sears Retail or Catalogue store for full credit. SEARS Expect more from Sears