Paglé 6 Whitby Free Press; Wednesday, tvay 12. 1993 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER OF: ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER CNA NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION rr CANADIAN -M CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISIÃ"N AUDIT BOARD 25,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Inc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario L1 N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20%# recycled content using vegetable based inks. To the editor... He plays, we pay To the Editor: After having listened to the abundance of vague, politically- correct statements of our would-be leaders, it occurs to me (and I would suspect millions of Canadians) that not one of the self-proclaimed, erudite expoun- ders of solutions to this country's woes has detailed a specific organized plan to carry out their promises. Watching from the sidelines has prompted this letter, which I believe spelîs out a fairly workable and sane grouping of proposed solutions to this beautiful but ailing nation. I propose that a questionnaire be sent to every Canadian household so that our next leader may tailor the proposed amendments to try and satiate the majority of the population's response. Of course, i must be understood that the decision of a strong leader, while not always initially painless, nust be implemented for the good of all in the end. Here are my proposals: 1. Abandon the health care system; have people pay their own way when they need it. I assure you this will cut down drastically on the misuse of our emergency wards where we have patients waiting to have a small cut or a bruised knee treated, when some common sense household medicinal teatment would suffice. This motion also equates to about $20 or $30 per doctor's examination. This would also enable our taxes to be lowered since there would be no medicare system handy to be milked by any of the medical field. (I'm not supposing that all medical staff misuse the health insurance program, by the way.) 2. Abandon the UI and welfare system -- except in exceptional cases, and then only on a temporary basis, unless a person is seriously incapacitated. Let it be known that the disabled population make excellent workers when given a purpose to achieve. As to UI, when there is no back door, we tend to adapt and deal with our 'main entrance' in a more efficient manner through necessity. 3. No more monopolies. Let private enterprise enter into competition for mail service, sales and manufacture of spirits and wines. etc. The result would equal more jobs, healthy competition and potential expansion into global markets. 4. Disallow workers' labour unions as they are known at present; rather, encourage employers to work with their employees and develop a collaborative and unified flavour in the workplace. Mini- governments in the workplace are condusive to alienation of the industry's common goals. 5. Delete the draconian tokenism (a vote-seeking tool) extended to minorities and women with regards to job placement. When pressure is taken off the prospective employer with regards to dictating how many and whom they should hire, there will be no fear of hiring and firing a potential candidate to test their mettle. 6. Ban the practice of extending vote-seeking yea's, to any one person or group of persons in Canada who try to get special privileges by virtue of their sexual or religious beliefs. 7. In lieu of the partial or complete deletion of social programs, reduce federal, orovincial and personal taxes, as well as the excessive use of taxation on gasoline and luxury items (we are not here to slave without reward) so that the people of Canada will have incentive to spend within the country. 8. Reduce merchandise taxa- tion so that goods will be purchased, jobs will be created and a sense of healthy competition is invoked nationally and internationally. 9. Purge the government internais of bureaucracy that robs the very heart of our country's desire to expand, grow and develop new ideas that wili help solve our environmental, monetary and social problems. 10. Elect our country's leaders on a reward-for-effective- management basis that would discontinue the excessive salaries for politicians sitting on their hands. 11. Cancel ail foreign aid, except where a definite growth pattern is shown by countries receiving such donations. 12. A major revamping of our educational system to develop a nation of thinkers and problem-solvers, as well as establish the highest possible standards of living. When we stand up and provide for ourselves, the standards of the nation are magnified and we rise to our own higher level of competency. Imagine you're the Prime Minister of Canada. You've just spent the last eight years building the greatest national debt in history; the electorage can't stand you (as reflected in your woeful popularity, the lowest for any prime minister); finally, you're forced to step down in favour of choosing a new leader in order ta give your party at least a fighting chance of winning the upcoming federal election. What could you possibly do for an encore? If you're Brian Mulroney, you take your show on the road. Since Canadians have rejected the man from Baie Comeau, P.Q., Mulroney will journey outside of Canada for one final grand farewell -- touring several European capitals, hobnobbing with political contemporaries, living No mercy To the Editor: To Mr. Wayne Nelson's retort (The Free Press, May 5 issue) to my letter of April 28, I would state that he obviously remembers who is paying his salary (the insurance industry). Having just finished a five-year odyssey through hell in my lawsuit with the largest company in the business in Ontario, I know that of which I write. As Mr. Nelson states, "Why would a company be in business if not to make a profit?" These insurance comnanies give you nothing, repeat, nothing, that your lawyer doesn't beat out of them. The worse you are injured, the more you can expect to be followed by private eye cement- heads. They will attempt to intimidate you by following you off and on for years. Then, don't forget the prepaid doctors (who long ago sold their souls to the insurance industry) and their predetermined physicals that I understand tend towards 'hypochondria.' I was so diagnosed and took three needles into my spasming back muscles at Sunnybrook's pain clinic the next day -- for my hypochondria, no doubt. The more you are injured, the more you need the best lawyer you can find. Remember the insurance companies like to take in premiums, not pay injury claims. No fault means just that, so buy the biggest car (read 'tank') you can afford and pray to God that you are never at the mercy of an insurance company. They have none. Charlie Carlyle David J. Gummer Whitby Whitby Mainstream Canada high-off-the-hog -- all at the taxpayers' expense. Mulroney has already bade an expensive goodbye to his American buddies, Ronald Reagan and George Bush. While yukking it up with the Reagans, the PM spent three nights at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, where suites cost up to $2,000 per night. Stormy weather kept Mulroney and Bush apart but not before a room was booked at Houston's Ritz Carlton Hotel -- Canadian taxpayers will foot the bill for the unused room. Next, Mulroney storms Europe. Estimates are the trip to Europe will cost taxpayers between $250,000 and $1 million, based on previous foreign junkets. Even at the low end, that's more money than many working Canadians will take home in a decade. For the thousands of unemployed, struggling people in Canada, Mulroney's traipsing about is quite insulting and downright demoralizing. It sends the wrong message to Canadians: tighten your belt, pay more taxes, accept less, so I can continue to live like a prince. The government's party line for justifying the road show is that Mulroney will "continue working on several issues of fundamental importance to Canada and .SEE PAGE 26 Public accountability in education By Drummond White Durham Centre MPP At public gatherings in Whitby and Oshawa, the number one concern that I have heard time and again is schooling. Parents are worried about the quality of education and want assurances that their children are being prepared for the future. There is no more important investment that we make as taxpayers and as government. Likewise, I want my three children to meet and surpass global standards. We need to know how well our' educational system is performing for our children and our community. Our schools have changed to meet recent challenges, but we need to know how effective those changes have been. Are those changes adequately preparing our youth for the competitive global economy? The government recognizes the absolute importance of public accountability in education. At the end of April, five measures were introduced to directly ýmeasure the achievements of elementary students as they enter high school. We are acting now to measure results. The Grade 9 reading and writing tests will be based upon present curriculum. They will provide an in-depth view of the achievement of both students and their schools in these core areas. Province-wide standards will be set to include grammar, spelling and punctuation. Over the next six months, benchmarks in math and language will be developed for Grades 3, 6 and 9. A detailed record of students' work, called an achievement profile, will provide more information to parents, students and teachers than the traditional report card now does. The government is announcing a commission to study education. It will offer a comprehensive view of public education within 18 months. Before that commission, the public will be able to fully express their concerns. In the meantime, the government is attempting to make the educational system answerable tri you and not simply await the commission's report. Whether we like it or not, we are moving into an era where we must compete. In the government's 10-point plan to put Ontario to work, the need for education and training continues to be emphasized. The new measures will help ensure the government's ability to assess the preparedness, not only in the individual student, but also in the school and the system. For the good of all