Page 6, Whitby Free Press, Weckesday. Decomber 8,1993 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby resîdents for Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F: COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION E~U~NCANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#O844-398X 2650COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontarioa mc. Box 206, 131 Brook St. N, Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimumr 20% l recycîed content using vogetable based inks.to 0 Al written material, illustrations and advertis'n contained.herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercialgpurposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright aw. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credît fine f0 the Witby Free Press. DBIA initiativeiqs hav e imnproved the downtown To the Editor: We moved ta, Whitby 17 years ago. There was very littîe promotion of the downtown. Since thon, the appearance of the downtown has buen improved immeasurably through the efforts of the Downtown Business Impravement Area. 1 fail ta 500e the reason for any dissension btween the merchants. With the variaus special events put on by the DBIA, the downtown merchants' have achieved a cohosian which wiIl do nothing but improve the business situation for everyone. Ann Platt Whltby A C '5ie!&' SAint Social programs threatened LET'S TALK TAXES By Paul Pagnuelo, Ontario Taxpayers Fodieratlon Recently a reporter asked me if the Ontario Taxpayers Fedieration wouîd bu considered a triend ot people on welf are and unemployment insurance. Being a littîe uncertain as ta what the question meant, 1 probud for further clarification. "WeIl,« the reporter said, "as an organization y u are concerned about rising tax levels and would like ta 500 limits put on the growth of govemnt spending. *How would people on welfare who rely an govemment spending view your organization?w The question was a good one, and summarizes a tension many taxpayers feel. On the one hand, taxpayers are concerned about the seemingly imitloss growth of gomerment spending and Speed, you pay To the Edîtor: The carnage on aur highways and roads continues ta grow in frightening bounds. Having buen affected by one of the crazy accidents that are happening hourly on aur roads, ad havi~ grandkids who mean a lot ta me. Iamn concornied. As I1500 ià , the increase in accidents is due ta spoed, inattention, lack of a sense ot responsibility and a comnplote disregard of the traff ic laws. In an attempt ta reduce the tol caused through spood, the governiment is considering using photo-radar and summonsing ta awners af the cars involved. Now we hear tram the radicai civil rights people claiming that the ownor is nat the one respansîie. the driver is, and the owner's civil rights are denigrated. That part af the problem is easy. There's a new addition ta the Highway Trafc Act making à an attence toalalow a vehicle ta bu driven in excoss of the logai limits. Hence, if your car is pictured travelling tofast -- you pay the piper. The real problem is that more fines will nat doter people. I rocommend a system of points bu assigned ta an auto license, and points -- big points --bu deducted for eac h off once. And for every point deductod, the cast ot your car licence wiIl bu big dollars more the next time you eAndif you lose more than 75 per cent of your points in a given period. your car Ucense is supneanldyour car physically remaved t ram the road by police. I can hear the crying now. But I am sure owners would bu much more caroful about who drives and how they drive their auto. W.J. Gaîger Whltby Coverage appreciated To the Edîtor: The YMVCA's l3th annual gala art auction could not have buen such a great success if it weren't for the coverage given us by The Free Pross. There were 120 people in attendance this year, ail of wham onjoyed a great evening of music, art and rot reshments. Thank you. Mary WoIIor Drector, administration and client services Durham Reglon YMCA Bazaar 'great' To the Edîtor: On buhait of the CathaîL Women's League and panishioners of Hioly Farnily Parish, I would like ta express aur thanks ta the Whitby Free Press for advertising aur annuai bazaar which was a great success. Vour co-operation s alwaYs appredîated. N. BOllIsamo (MMs) Comniiatlon and public relatInS conener JEFF MARK, a past district governor of Rotary International, spoke to Whitby Rotary Sunirise reoently. Mark is active with the Rotary Foundation which gives millions of dollars a year to educational and humanitarian work around the world. Whitby's two Rotary clubs have igiven more than $90,000 ta the founidation. I Pho= by Markc Reesor. Whilby Fre Pres thoy would not desire to See Canada's social safety nets eliminatod. Advocates of increased governmont spending seem ta aggravate this tension b>r insisting that if spending is not ncreased. these services will, in tlact, disappear. Every time a proposai is put forward ta reduce sponding, some special interest group or politician taIkF about how some beneticiary of governmont spending is unfairly under attack. There's no mention of roducing bloated bureaucracios, eliminating Iower priority expenditures, cutting handouts ta business or introducing off iciency measuros, just the charge that spending restraint wiII threaten cherished social programs. The rhetoric sound impressive, but f ails short in reality. Ironicaiîy, the reaiity is that the greatest threat ta aur social programs is not fiscal restraint, but uncontrolled g overnment spending. For a numbe r of years now, government spending has been increasing faster than taxpayer's ability or willingness ta pay for it. This ha.s resuted in persistent annuai dot icits and a growing mountain of debt. Because the problom is being aîlowed ta continue virtually unchecked, more and mare tax dollars must bu used simpîy ta pay the interesi on the debt, Ieaving loss revenue for valuable programs. Bear in mind thae this bill doos not caver the cost of any services being deîivered today and doos not roduce the debt burdon. AIl it doos is pay the interest, while rising governmont spending drives us deeper into debt, pushingq the interest bill higher yet. Anyone who is truly concorned about proerving social programs cannot afford ta be complacent about the rising levels of government spending and debt. Unless this situation is brought into check, aur sociai programs are indeod at risk, nat because of limits on spending, but rather because of the Iack ot them. Individuals and organizat ions, who work ta 500 balancod budgets and less spending are the friends of bath taxpayers and thase who are legitimately dopending on goveruifient sociai progrartis. Conversely, those who advocate increased spendin9 when txpayors cannot aflord it,' are contribut ing ta the detorioratian of the very programs that they dcaim ta detend. Opinionif exprewd are tboee of thbe autiior. w-I ONTARIO COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION C+CNA