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OPINION Sooner or later the new Liberal government must realize that more severe taxaâ€" tion creates more problems than solutions. Swift said if there‘s the political will to change this situation, change can happen. Only time will tell if that takes place. More taxation creates only more problems, according to Swift and we couldn‘t agree more. With individuals and employers facing huge increases in Unemployment Insurance costs in the new year, for example, more jobs will be lost and nothing will have been gained. economic slump. The CFIB‘s senior viceâ€"pres. of administration Catherine Swift, told business people here on Tuesday, that the federal government must do more to help small business succeed and not throw obstacles in their paths. year. When you consider that an "acceptable" level for road paving is $900,000 annually, the problems become obvious. Think about how all this could be played out in the coming year. Oakville taxpayers face a hike but get reduced services to save money. The more money they pay in taxes goes not to pay down our provinâ€" cial and federal debt but to pay for things like road paving...the same projects that had previously been cut to save money locally. If you don‘t think this makes a whole lot of sense, you‘re not alone. And yet it‘s in this kind of environment that our elected officials will have to operate in trying to strike a balance between cutting costs and maintaining serâ€" vices. We don‘t envy them their task. Help or hinder? It‘s really quite a puzzler. Here we have the town thinking about reducing its road paving program from $650,000 spent this year to a projected $250,000 next Classified ‘Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 Ian Oliver Publisher Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager The Oakville Beaver, published every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, at 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, is one of the Metroland !'imingéP ishing Distributing Ltd. group of suburban newspapers which includes: Ajaxâ€"Pickering News Advertiser, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Collingwood Connection, Etobicoke Guardian, lown |mfiw Acton Free Press, Kingston This Week, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist and Sun, Stoutfville/Uxbridge Tribune, Milton Canadian Champion, Mississauga News, Newmarketâ€"Aurora Eraâ€"Banner, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby This Week, Peterborough This Week, Richmond HilV ThomhilV Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror. All material published in the Oakville Beaver is protected by copy%My reproduction in whole or in part of this material is strictly forbidden will the consent of the publisher. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize and reject advertising. In the event of typographical error, advertising goods or services at the wrong price, goods or services ma id may be withdrawn at any time. The irony here is that with all the cutting of services that are likely to take place, the federal government says it still intends to proceed with its infrastructure program to improve roads, sewers and other ancillary services. It‘s this kind of background that forced the town into a corner recently, resulting in the cutting of bus service over the Christmasâ€"New Year‘s holiday period. And if local residents think this is an isolated or oneâ€"time situation...think again. We‘ve already been warned about this by the town‘s director of finance and treasurer, Michelle Seguin. If the town is to hit is target of a 1.6% mill rate increase, she said this past week that measures will have to be taken to "signifiâ€" cantly reduce or possibly eliminate certain town services." This shortfall has been, in part, responsible for the province‘s own financial mess. With more demands placed on services and no cash to pay for them, Ontario has gone to the world money markets which has only served to add further debt to the province. Federally, the government has been retaining more of Ontario‘s tax revenues in order to bolster other sagging provincial economies. Simply put, Ontario has been putting more money into Ottawa than it‘s getting back. The upshot of this has been the implementation of provincial cuts and a kind of trickleâ€"down economics that has forced Ontario towns and cities slash expendiâ€" tures. In the case of most municipalities, this has meant the taking of soâ€"called ‘Raeâ€"days‘ when employees take unpaid days off to save money. town budget early next month, they will find themselves with one of the most daunting tasks undertaken by a local council. Like most Ontario municipalities, Oakville has found itself under extreme ecoâ€" nomic pressure from a number of areas. When Oakville Town Council‘s budget committee sits down to look at the EDITORIAL Budget blues hen the Canadian Federation of Independent Business takes a stand on an issue, Ottawa should listen. For it‘s the small business sector that is and will create the jobs to pull the province and the country out of our 467 Speers Hoad Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 A sampling of the best answers will be published in the next Weekend edition of the Oakville Beaver. 7 What services do you think the town could reduce or cut to save money? Give us your opinion on this topic by calling 845â€"5585, box 5012. f All callers are allowed 45 seconds to respond and must provide their name, address and phone number for verification. Dear Sir: As regional manager of the Halton/Peel Region of The Arthritis Society, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone, especially our dedicated volunteers â€" for the time and commitment you have put forth in the various activities that were undertakâ€" en these past few months. Residential campaign ‘93 has been a gruelling and demanding one, and I know everyone is delighted that it is over. We were very fortunate this year to have over 1,300 hard working volunteers assisting us in the Halton/Peel area, and I am confident that we will be Arthritis Society thankful for campaign support Two more numbers offered by the health department which may, or may not, surprise you â€" 13,000 people in Ontario will die this year as a direct result of cigarette tobacco use with 75% of these smokers addicted before the age of 18. Clearly, many kids want to smoke. Even today, with all the information, all the data and the programs, they find it alluring. Alluring. Can you imagine? I mean, it doesn‘t make a great deal of sense. And yet, as a 14â€"yearâ€"old teenager in the midst of true teenage angst â€" and we‘ve all been there, lightâ€" ing up at the corner store for God knows what reasons â€" stuff like mortality all seems rather A survey done earlier this year in two Oakville high schools pointed to a disturbing trend â€" that teenagers are startâ€" ing to smoke at a younger age. In the survey, it showed that 17% of Grade 9 students were smokers â€" the average age was 14â€"yearsâ€"old and 70% of these smokers said they buy their own cigarettes. don‘t know if you caught the latest statistics on teenage smoking from the health department, but they were sobering to say the least. Teenage smoking stats alarming ‘"Many young females use it as a form of weight reduction," said See, adding although her own preliminary look at the two high schools did not reveal any gender differences, the provinceâ€"wide trend is towards young females lighting up more than young male teens. Truly astounding is another Here in Oakville, according to Joyce See at the health department, kids smoke as early as Grade 6. Most disturbing is they are starting to smoke more in the early ages than at 15 or 16 years of age. More statistics... this time from an Ontario Ministry of Health survey taken a couple of years ago and reprinted in this month‘s Public Health and Epidemiology Report: "...Onset of daily smoking was most likeâ€" ly to occur at the age of 12. Among teen smokers, 38% reported smoking 11 or more cigarettes per day..." surreal. able to obtain our goal. There are over four million Canadians currently afflicted with this debilitating disease, and over 65,000 live in the Halton/Peel area. Our need to find a cure for Canada‘s #1 chronâ€" ic disease is essential and all your donations are very much appreciated. On behalf of The Arthritis Society â€" have a safe and wonderful Holiday Season. And I can‘t help but wonder if some of these kids who flirt with smoking should have been in the kitchen in our house almost 20â€"years ago when my 45â€"yearâ€"old father had his third â€" and final â€" heart attack. That‘s the reality of smoking. And it isn‘t pretty. When it comes to something as insidious as smoking, females are foregoing their own intellect to be thin. And that means there is far more work to be done than simply advocating tighter smoking legislation. We must go deeper to other societal causes that would have intelliâ€" gent girls disregard information in order to be thin. Simply put... it‘s nuts. My own kids know a sad reality. They haven‘t had the pleasure and delight of knowing their grandfathers because both of them were heavy smokers. "...More young female than male smokers indicated that their smoking would likely lead to health problems. A high level of knowledge about health conâ€" sequences would not appear to influence the _ smoking behaviour of females..." fact â€" more females, in the provincial study, realized the implications of smoking. Harriet McLoughlin Regional Manager