Tax grab Another tax grab, another shell game, another vicious deception, a crude PR exercise. Those are the words I use to describe Allan Mac- Eachen's latest financial mismanagement. His budget is confirmation that all the government can offer in response to our economic problems are beautiful sounding words. The government has put on a brave face and is claiming the budget is in the true spirit of liberalism, that taxes will be reduced, that the rich are being soaked, that fighting inflation is the government's main priority, and that Ottawa too is tightening its belt. This is all untrue. Here are some facts. Total government outlays are $68.3 billion, up from $58.6 billion in last fiscal year. Public debt charges are up from $10.7 billion to $14.7 billion and will go to $20.3 billion in fiscal year 85-86. Total personal income taxes extracted from the economy by Ottawa will increase from $19.8 billion to $41.47 billion in 85-86. (On a per family basis that is $6,000 to $12,500.) Â typical example of the way Mr. MacEachen juggles with figures in order to justify his myth of tax reduction and compassion is the case of indexing. Normally taxpayers pay the government more moeny when their income increases. The trouble is, in an inflationary economy, a bigger sized income does not mean the taxpayer is better off. So he shouldn't be forced into a higher tax bracket. This is what indexing of taxes prevents. It's a very fair system and was proposed by my party in 1972. Last year Mr. MacEachen threatened to abolish tax in- dexing. This would have been a sneaky and huge tax increase of about $3 billion. The Conservative Party raised an uproar and Mr. MacEachen backed off. Indexing shall remain, at least for this year. Now, Allan MacEachen says that not abolishing indexing is the equivalent of giving the taxpayers a $3 billion tax cut! Common to all the budget documents is an offen- sive and pervading theme. The government thinks of raising or of lowering taxes only in terms of stimulating or retarding demand in the economy. It doesn't think about whether or not taxes are fair or unfair. It thinks only about how the tax tool can be used to manipulate the economy. And, as the deficit figures show, it rarely thinks of cutting government spending as an alternative to raising taxes. The budget follows Mr. MacEachen's tradition of ignoring problems. A token effort is made to help strapped mortgage holders. I call it token because it amounts to less than 1 per cent of the sum the Conservative government was willing to provide through mortgage interest deductability. The budget follows the Liberal Party's tradition of thinking of the private sector primarily as a sour- ce of revenue, not as a source of job creation. (In Mr. MacEachen's world, it is mainly government that creates jobs.) As a consequence, business cor- porations are going to be hit hard by reductions in the capital cost allowance. This will mean less modernizatin of equipment, which in turn means Canada is less competitive on world markets, which in turn means fewer jobs for Canadians. But Mr. MacEachen was at his most hypocritical when he talked about inflation. After blandly an- nouncing that government spending would increase by 16 per cent, he asked Canadians to tighten their belts further. He went so far as to say that "everyone would be better off if more restraint had been shown" years ago. That's probably the closest thing to an apology we'Il get from Ottawa for having caused inflation. But we won't get anything other than words. The government spending increases will continue. The punitive taxes will continue, inflation will continue, and the middle class will continue to be taken for granted. Whitby Whitby will become the marigold capital of the world. Last week, Whitby Town Council adopted the marigold as the town's official flower. However, the adop- tion was contrary to an operations committee recommendation that the town only encourage the use of the marigold as the town's flower. East Ward Councillor Joe Drumm fought the recommendation and suggested that the town become the bloom's of- ficial home. "I've never seen such a wishy-washy thing in my life," he said, "We're sitting on a fen- ce." "Don't just recom- mend the flower, go ahead and adopt it." Drumm also told his colleagues to "get off the pot - do it right and do it quickly." Mayor Bob Attersley said that the idea of using the marigold was suggested by Cullen Gardens and assistant administrator Forbes McEwen. He said that Cullen Gardens had 300,000 visitors this year. "By 1985, when an ad- dition is complete they will be expecting from 800,000 to one million people," the mayor ad- ded. "Council is dedi- cated to promoting tourism. The benefits will spill over to business." Board needs logo What does Whitby mean to you? The board of manage- ment of the Whitby Cen- tral Business District Improvement Area Board is looking for a logo to represent the downtown core. The contest is open to all local artists and art students. The logo must be in black and white and reflect the histori- cal nature of the down- town. A cash prize of $100 will be awarded to the first prize winner with second place being wor- th $50 and third place $25. The contest will close on January 30, 1982. For more information call Lynda Buffett at 668-3892. WHITBY FREE PRESS. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1981, PAGE 13 world rnarigold capital Drumm believes that "if 10 per cent of those vistors shop downtown, those merchants will be millionaires." Support for adopting the flower also came from Regional Coun- cillor Tom Edwards and councillors Barry Evans (Centre Ward) and Joe Bugelli (West Ward). North Ward Coun- cillor Ross Batten suggested that the flowers could be planted in Brooklin by the local horticultural society. Bugelli said that those who "are in the know" say the marigold is a hearty plant and keeps its bloom for a long time. McEwen told council that a two-foot wide row of marigolds will be planted along Brock Street South near the in- formation centre at the corner of Burns Street. He also recommends that they be planted in the tubs in the down- town core put out by the downtown board of management. McEwen is also confi- dent that Cullen Gar- dens will display the marigold and that local residents will get in the spirit of things by plant- ing them at home. The assistant admini- strator estimates the cost of planting the marigolds at $3,000. He is also seeking per- mission to construct a Victorian style informa- tion centre and wash- room facility at a cost of between $65,000 and $75,000. OF FIC E FURNITURE WAREHOUSE-FULL IN AJAX Ambulance During the week that ended at midnight last Thursday, the Whitby Ambulance Service res- ponded to 83 calls for service. According to co-owner Bill Cocker, the service responded to 28 emer- gency calls and to 28 standby calls for other ambulance services in Oshawa and Ajax. The service also res- ponded to 2) urgent calls and to seven emergency calls including two motor vehicle acciden- ts. # * l'i