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"A Family Tradition for 130 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, May 14, 1996 -7 a ---- I _FETTERS Tory budgets just a shell game Dear Editor: The Conservatives down at Queens' Park are telling every- one how good their budget it. What they should be asked is how this budget will affect real people. Mike Harris was plain wrong when he said the tax cut would pay for itself. The budget's own numbers show the tax cut will cost $1.2 billion this year, and will rise to an annual cost of nearly $5 billion by the time it is fully implemented. There is no evidence whatsoever that this tremendous cost will create any significant number of jobs. People also shouldn't be mis- lead by the "new" funding an- nouncements either. Look first at education. They took almost $430 million out of post- secondary education and boost- ed tuition 20 per cent for univer- |A thanks to kids who cleaned up - To the Editor: Special thanks to all 900 students at Port Perry High .| School who worked diligent- ly on May 7 to help pitch in and clean up the community. They worked with enthu- siasm, helped the students at R.H. Cornish and.S.A. Caw- ker, and returned on time to attend their other classes. This donation of about 1,000 hours of time and effort gives a positive signal to all of us that these young people really care about their envi- ronment and when given a chance, readily step forward to make a collective differ- ence. Larry Doble, Greenbank sities and 15 per cent for colleg- es. Now they announce a trust program that may return $100 million of that - and they call it "re-investment". The Tories took $432 million, out of elementary and secon- dary schools and now are put- ting back $20 million to buy computers, requiring a match- ing investment from cash- strapped school boards. An in- vestment in technology does not address the fact that 10,000 lay- off notices have been issued to teachers in the elementary and secondary sector. They also took $1.78 billion out of the hospital sector and re- allocated only a small piece of that. They slashed highway capital by $540 million, and now have announced $40 mil- lion in the north and $100 mil- lion in the south of the province. This budget provides no infor- mation about the cuts that will be needed to pay for the tax cut in future years. Both the Bank of Montreal and Dominion Bond Rating have stated that the government has overstated its. revenue projections for the long term will be unable to bal- ance the budget by the year 2000 without deeper spending cuts. Finally, more than half the benefits of the tax cut will go to' only the top 10 per cent of tax- payers, and the rest of us will find their tax break eaten up by new user fees, including higher municipal taxes and other costs. It's all a shell game and a sham. Gord Mills, Orono. Vulgarity's not needed To the Editor: . This letter is prompted by 'Editor's Notepad' in your paper dated April 23. I do agree with your com- ments regarding Lyn McLeod's recent outburst in the Legisla- ture over the fact that Mike Harris' riding association sup- ports some of the expenses, in- curred by the premier. Her comments were particu- larly small, considering that she too is subsidized by her own riding association. I do feel, however, that the ti- tle of the column, "Just a Sweaty Palmed Ninny" does not really do justice to you, in your position. You can do better than that. My main concern, however, liesin the last statement in that column, under the heading 'An- other Plug.' You tell us to "get off your arse" and support the production of Music Man. Real- Kl ly Jeff, have you checked your Thesaurus lately? "Arse" is definitely the vulgar form for derriere or posterior. We do not need vulgarity in our community newspapers. There are so many better ways that you could have said the same thing. You are in a position to set an example. Please, be aware of your responsibility. I am far from being a prude Jeff, but I have to tell you that I am offended by your choice of words. I am not the only person who feels this way. Please, keep our newspaper a - credit to our community and set a good example to all the young- sters. It is sad enough that the English language is deteriorat- ing without an editor contribut- ing to the decline. Marjorie Wilson, Port Perry by Jeff Mitchell GIVE THAT MAN A SHOVEL! THE MINISTER OF POTHOLES: | may be wrong, but | have a feeling that Transportation Minister Al Palladini will come to rue last Wednesday. That's when he pledged to employ the funds re-injected into his ministry by the budget process to fill the potholes that dot Ontario's roads. Then something must have happened. Something short-circuited in the minister's brain, and he carried on. He pledged -- no doubt, while his assistants winced nearby -- that any craters missed by his staff would be filled in by the minister himself. Co ...At least he didn't promise to resign if it didn't happen. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: Great to hear we're being given the opportunity to help pay down the province's deficit by way of personal donations. All you have to do is check a box on your tax forms next year, and that rebate handed you last Tuesday by Finance Minister Ernie Eves goes straight down the black hole which is our debt. It'll be interesting to see how many folks opt for such a plan. You wonder if everyone who's screamed over the proposed tax cuts will pony up for the provincial tab, or quietly pocket their savings. Me? I'm gonna take that $1.03 per week windfall and invest it in Ontario's economy. Or maybe buy a lottery ticket and a chunk of bubble gum each Friday. | don't know. High finance has always eluded me. IT'S ABOUT TIME: Don't look now, but the first long weekend of the summer (har-de-har-har) season is upon us. Yep, Victoria Day's next Monday, and we working hacks will get a day off to barbecue, golf, romp with the kiddies... whatever it is your favorite pursuits of the kindly season are. If it doesn't SNOW. MUCH ADO ABOUT NAZIS: So, Cincinnati Reds owner Marg Schott says Hitler wasn't such a bad guy, after all. So she figures he was actually a pretty good politician, who got a little carried away. So, her remarks are repugnant to survivors of the Holocaust, and all other decent human beings. No big deal. At least, that's the view taken by Major League Baseball. The organization last week accepted an apology from Schott, who once claimed she'd rather have monkeys than blacks on her team. Okay, apology accepted. Everything's all right now. | feel better. Do you feel better? PITCHING IN: Here's a word of thanks for all the school kids from the area who got out last week to do the Pitch-In thing. Students from several elementary schools, as well as Port Perry High, were out in force to carry out the spring cleaning that's so desperately needed along our streets, roadways, and parks. Still on the congratulatory theme, we should sing the praises of the concert band from Cartwright High School, whose members captured silver at the prestigious IMF festival in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. sisting of Eggs Benedict, orange juice, toast and hot Random Jottings . ee by J. Peter Hvidsten While not a complete stranger to akitchen, I'm unlike some hubbies who refused to venture into a kitchen at all. And although | confess to being less their seventh birthday. Jamie and Katie celebrated their special day on Saturday with a birthday party, so we decided to - make Sunday Mom's day. Saturday afternoon, with Jamie and Katie in tow, we headed off to the grocery store to pick up a few items for a special breakfast. Our shopping list included eggs, cheese, butter, English muffins and orange juice. | Arising early Sunday morning the kids and | headed off to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Mom con- EGGS-ASPERATING KITCHEN EXPERIENCE Not only was last Sunday Mother's Day, it was a special day for our twins, who finally reached fitforour queen. than a master chef, I'm capable of cooking a hearty 'meal on occasion. | But for the most part my toiling in the kitchen is as chef's helper, warming soup, frying eggs, boiling potatoes and cutting the meat. So last Sunday morning the kids and | attacked the kitchen with confidence and began to prepare a meal Jamie stirred the ingredients together as we made up Hollandaise sauce, Katie picked out the large dou- ble-yolk eggs and set the table and Matt poured the glasses of orange juice. There were a few frantic moments as we tried to co- ordinate toasting English muffins with cooking eggs and stirring the Hollandaise sauce so itdidn't scorch the bottom of the pan, but the plan came together nicely, justas Mom entered the room. She satdown to a table full of homemade cards and . flowers made by the kids, while | struggled to put together the final touches of our creation. On atoasted English muffin | placed sliced cheddar cheese, apiece of warmed ham, a hot poached dou- ble-yolk egg, then topped it off with a coating of crea- my Hollandaise sauce and trimmed warm with toast . it looked like a picture out of Canadian Living as | picked up the plate and carried it towards the table. Butthenithappened... justas | was placing my masterpiece in front of Nancy, the egg slid off the ham breaking the yolks and creating a mixture of sauce, egg yolk ham and cheese on the plate. | was aghast and apologetic as the eggs slithered around the plate in the creamy mixture and my plans for the 'ultimate' breakfast vanished before my eyes. Needless to say, after seeing the blended mess on mom's plate the the twins decided on the safety of fried eggs, while Matt and | indulged ourselves in Eggs Benedict, served to perfection... justthe way we'd planned for Mom. Although the breakfast didn't end up the way we'd planned... our efforts came from the heart and were appreciated by Mom.