The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

i c 1 t r t 1 s f f t 3 i p4 wefekfinder october 2 993 stux be a voter not a venter on october 25 weve been taxed in yet a new way by government this time mentally canadas economy is still reeling from the recession and whichever party is to rule this time around theyd better be ready to make critical deci sions about our prospects for the future this time our vote is an awe some responsibility voting is going to require a considered opinion on a number of finan cial issues which weve been happy to leave to the likes of mr crowe in the past take free trade as just one example the pc party says the free trade agreement is working already for canada and nafta is a welcome next step viewpoint jo ann stevenson the liberals would make changes to that agreement and to nafta but they too favor expanding trade the ndp would abrogate free trade end nafta talks as well saying it threatens the auto pact all three mainstream parties support gatt can we form our own opin ion without reading a dozen trade agreement manuals this one issue alone is why many canadians are going to have a tough time voting this oct 25 just not voting registers as apathy besides thats undemocratic and unproduc tive appearing at the polls to officially register a vote as declined is only temporarily satisfying voting for a fringe party out of frustration with the big three doesnt work either long after the public has for gotten its anger over the per ceived arrogance of peterson it lives with the consequences of the landslide victory for the ndp it is generally recognized that many mainstream voters chose ndp hoping to weaken 1 was iowucj int sisfjikg nk up wr 5pmkpim games amqwciauze its a mo a vm nfiha do wihirk scxjkps eat ftwumt awoke mik wceto itrgrkpantal awoke i ihtai m irv majority control and create a balance of power there is a tendency for people this time around to consider voting fringe for the same reason voting fringe for rational rea sons is not in question a vote is not a vent educa tion solves the problem talk to people involved in export business call the chamber of commerce the board of trade the canadian manufacturers association and talk to your local candidates if the national leaders are too hard to read markham economist and sun stouffville tribune uxbridgetribune weekender edition a metroland community newspaper patriciapappas publisher jo ann stevenson edtooiiwief paula crowell editor andrew mair editor debbaweller director of advertising barry goodyear director of distribution vivian omn business manager pamela nichols operations manager harkham 2942200 sale 7987624 classl- fled 2944331 siounmlle 6402100 uxbridge 8529741 2948244 distribution and administration 9 heritage bd harkham isp 1m2 fax markham 2941638 stouffvffle 640- 8477 uxbridge 8524365 the maritham economist and sun ssoufivibe tri bune and uxbridge tribune published every wednesday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing group of subur ban newspapers which includes ajax pickering news advertiser barrie advance brampton guardian burlington post coqingwood connection etobicoke guardian the libera georgetown inde pendentacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week milton canadian champion mississauga news north york mirror oakville beaver orillia today oshawawhubv this week peterborough this week scarborough mirror the era banner contents not to be reproduced without written permission from the publisher dual career couples need flexible hours aside from a handful of inno vative companies the majority of workplaces still harbor a 50s mentality toward working parents both men and women contin ue to be penalized in the minds of superiors for having familial responsibilities employers still wash their hands of any reminders that most men and women must juggle a number of different roles with expectations to excel in each one for example most compa nies offer rigid hours of employment and remain closeminded to the option of flexible hours a choice of flex hours could be just the solution many par ents need while trying to schedule a successful marriage of family and career productivity between the hours of 830 and 430 is no different than productivity between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm a valued employee will produce satisfactory results regardless of the sequence of hours he or she has chosen to work the fact that their employer is support ive and flexible will only enhance productivity and loy alty onsite daycare is another important issue that remains virtually ignored by the corpo rate world although most employees would gratefully pay for the convenience of such a benefit leaving very little expense to the employer most companies continue to waste money on re hiring and retraining losing many excellent employees with great future potential in the process statistics prove that companies with the insight to support onsite day care have a minimal employee turnover rate and thus enjoy longterm retention of valued employees children get sick parents dread news of a sick child as much as the employer does a good employee that is forced to stay home occasionally with his or her sick child doesnt guest editorial expect the company to pick up the tab a good employee does resent the added stress of guilttrips and pressure from superiors compounded resentment is the key to failed productivity not occasional absences from the workplace on the other hand if an employer wants to enforce pay deduction for sicktime off with children fair employees will agree perhaps the absent employ ee could work at home or make up lost hours once the child is well either after regular work ing hours or on a weekend there are so many options for companies to consider children and adults get sick its a fact of life nobody should be penalized because of this when there exists so many alternatives to ensure that productivity remains unaffect ed short of demanding that peo ple refrain from having off spring which would eventual ly lead to zero prospective employees in the future to keep these businesses run ning corporations as well as small businesses must restructure their views on family brainstorming with employ ees for instance would be a start to discovering functional solutions that would lead to a fair workable balance for both employer and employee its time for employers to wake up and get with the times because the only threat to workplace productivi ty is a persistent 50s inflexibil ity toward the dualcareer cou ple of the 90s donna marrin markham