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6 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 29,1994 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" ED > PORT PERRY STAR ITTORIAL Editorial Comment Provincial Rae Daze It was the old good news, bad news scenario when the provincial government announced its transfer payment levels last week. The good news was that the uncondi- tional transfer payments on which the municipalities depend for various projects were not cut. The bad news, however, was that they were frozen at last year's level. Last week, the provincial government froze transfer payments to hospitals, school boards, municipalities, colleges and universities at last year's level. Social assistance rates were also frozen. But university and college students were not as lucky, as tuition fees will be hiked 10 to 20 per cent over the next two years. As a result of the freeze Scugog will re- ceive $234,451 in unconditional grants and Community Memorial Hospital will re- ceive $6 million. There was fear earlier that transfer payments would, be cut in an effort to make up for a $2-billion shortfall with which the province is faced. And in related news, the Township of Scugog was also greeted with further good news last week when it was re- vealed that municipal workers will not be subjected to "Rae Days" (unpaid days off). These unpaid holidays were imposed on almost 1 million municipal workers across the province under Bob Rae's So- cial Contract legislation in an effort to save $2 billion from the provincial coffers. Locally, Scugog's municipal workers were forced to take seme unpaid days off to meet the demands of the Social Con- tract agreement. But this will not be the case this year as the township was able to produce a budget at less than zero per cent and therefore avoid these unpaid holidays. In choosing to freeze transfer pay- ments instead of cutting them, Premier Rae and cabinet have decided to let the deficit increase instead of taking meas- ures to keep it in line. An extra $2 billion will be realized on this year's deficit. It is obvious that the NDP government has sacrificed its deficit plans at the ex- pense of votes in the upcoming election. It is also obvious that Bob Rae's glori- ous Social Contract legislation is not working. No one is disputing that the leg- islation is needed in the province, but the government should set the example by practising what it preaches. fle gas _Plokard's Hardware, Purdy's Store on Queen Street in Port Perry, which later acam Holy Grail has been mistakenly misunderstood To the Editor: The Holy Grail has been mistakenly understood to have been derived from the Greek krater, Latin cratalis or grad- alis and Old French graal, to the Eng- lish word meaning cup or dish. (Encyc. Amer.) Beginning with Chretien de Troyes' Perceval (c.1175), the story has come down to us through the tales of King Arthur's knights, etc. In short, af- ter the Crucifixion, Christ's blood was caught in a chalice used at the Last Sup- per. A very interesting announcement in the April number of the magazine Dis- cover announces the discovery of a very old goblet in an archeological dig near the center of Jerusalem. Analysis of the sediment revealed that it was of type O blood. It is my belief that "Holy Grail" is de- rived from the French "sang real" (royal blood). In the course of time "san" being understood as "holy", the G was com- bined with "real" (pronounced "ray-al") and anglicized as "grail." Sincerely yours, ~WarrenT. McCready Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten p-- SCUGOG - A CARING COMMUNITY! Generosity and com- passion are alive and well in the Township of Scugog, even thoug many of our residents are going through trou- bling times themselves. While this is not something new in this community, every so often it's good to acknowledge the generous spirit of our friends and nei rs and say "well done Scugogonians.' ardly a day goes by when we are not asked to "give" to some worthwhile cause and most often area residents open their hearts and wallets to support these requests. Last week we reported the Blood Donor Clinic once again exceeded the 150 pints it hoped to collect by 18 pints. Time after time, when Scugog is called upon to help, local residents roll up their sleeves and give the gift of life, and Red Cross officials are never disappointed. We also reported recently that local resi- dents dug deep into their pockets during the Heart and Stroke campaign, giving almost $16,000 to aid research into Canada's number one killer. Last week members of the Canadian Cancer Society were around on their annual blitz of the community selling daffodils to raise funds for Cancer Research. And while figures will not be known for a while, there is no doubt the community will come across again and the Cancer Society will be rewarded by the generosity of our local residents. This weekend, Operation Scugog holds their annual Spring Food Drive, and once again we are being asked to help. Donations of non-perishable foods can be dropped off at either of Scugog's fire halls this weekend, or at Port Perry IGA and Dowson's Valu- Mart any day of the week. The requests for funds goes on and on, and sometimes we all get a little tired of having to dig into our pockets. But without the continuing support of this community and thousands others like it, many of these organizations could not exist. It's impossible to give every time you're asked, no matter how worthwhile the cause, so it's important you pick the charities most dear to your heart and then give as gen- erously as possible to those. Give yourself a pat on the back Scugog, there are few communities who can boast the generosity of our residents. JUNIOR CITIZEN'S I've just returned home from a couple of days spent with my peers at the Ontario 'Community Newspaper Association con- vention held in Toronto. As always, it's good to see old friends and have a chance to talk about how other publishers are doing in their communities. But even more exciting, as a newly elect- ed member to the Bd. of Directors of OCNA, I had the privilege and opportunity to meet the Ontario Junior Citizens of the Year who were being honored by the newspaper asso- ciation and Bell Canada. This great bunch of young people were nominated and chosen to be honored for displaying compassion, heroism and out- standing service to their communities. There is no doubt, if these "kids" are a mirror of the majority of our young people, Canada will be in good hands as we head into the 21st century. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Port Perry Star encourages its readers to make use of the letters to the editor column to express their opinions and viewpoints on just about any subject, as we feel a lively letters column will help make this a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that all letter writers sign their name and include a phone number for verification. Sorry, anonymous letters will not be published unless The Star believes it to be in the best interest of the public. We also reserves the right to edit letters with respect to their length, content or libelous comments.