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»AGE 4, WEDNESDAY, MA RCi I .'7, 1985, Wl HITBY FR1EE PR ESS whitbyf P Iublished every w-dnestia by M.lB.M. Publishing ami Plhotography Inc. Phione i8fi II The Free Press Huildin Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher - Managing EditorBxOfhib, MICHAEL KNELL community Editor VALERIE COWEN Advertising Manager g, 'nt. Second Class Mail Registration No 5351 The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whithy residents. Durham West election has a score of local issues Premier Frank Miller's decision to call a provin- cial election on May 2 wasn't a surprise to anyone close to the political scene either here in Durham West or in Ontario has a whole. AN OORMANOR GLOBAL NEWB M Canadidns won't really know whether they've got the government they voted for until late April or early May, when Finance Minister Michael Wilson brings down his first full budget. If the voters did get the change they were after in Sep- tember, the budget will be a tough one and everyone will suffer. If the Tories are in fact what Ed Broadbent says they are - Liberals in blue suits - we'il get a budget which doesn't hurt anyone very much, and we'il be on our way again to bigger and bigger deficits. Don Johnston, the Liberal finance critic, was on his feet recently, giving the Tories some well- aimed shots for preaching restraint while estimates topped $100 billion for the first time. And he asked if higher taxes were in the offing. Mr. Wilson chose to answer the rhetoric, not the question, and no wonder. The finance minister has been hanging his hat on the hope that the new climate in this country will trigger significant economic growth, and help bail Ottawa out. But with interest rates sliding ever upwards, that hope is becoming ever more remote, and the gover- nment is faced with impossible choices. In the first place, government spending will have to be cut. There is no alternative to that, if the Tories are going to honour their campaign promises, and more important, their own convic- tions about the well-being of the country. But as the President of the Treasury Board, Robert de Cotret, indicated when he presented the estimates, at least two-thirds of government spending is legally committed, and any savings will have tocome out of the third that is not. Given campaign promises for everything from restored train service to meaningful increases for the Armed Forces, the legally uncommitted third of the budget that the Tories have left has shrunk alarmingly. They have painted themselves into a very tight corner and the only way to get out may be to bust a hole in the wall - raise taxes - and hope it doesn't bring the ceiling down. The problem with raising taxes, of course, quite apart from the political one, is that economic growth is already so tentative that a good dose of new tax might well snuff it out. For what it is worth, i think most Canadians will understand if the budget is a tough one. We know instinctively that we can't go on, the way we have been - and if for once the government led us - in- stead of playing a perpetual catch-up game through the public opinion polis - the Tories would have four years to convince us that they were right. No Canadian government in years has had this kind of opportunity to turn a country around. We can only hope the Tories don't flinch when the moment of truth is upon them. In Durham West, which includes Whitby, Ajax and Pickering, the election will provide an oppor- tunity to debate many issues that are facing the people who live in this part of Ortario. We also have four candidates, ail of whom are going to have something to say about the issues. In fact, this newspaper believes that the election of 1985 will be a much more interesting one than that held in 1981. The people who live in this riding have a score of issues that should be deait with. This newspaper agrees with ail the candidates who have said that the primary and most important issues are economic ones. Job creation and real job security in the face of an ever changing and dynamic world market will surely take up most of the candidates' time. Real job creation and economic growth is the only sure key to continued economic prosperity. The government will have to account for the real beating that Ontario has taken over the past decade. We are no longer the nation's economic breadbasket - in fact, our real growth over the next few years is predicted to be amongst the lowest in Canada. By the same token, the opposition parties are going to have to demonstrate that they have the policies and the abilities to do better. It is not enough that they criticize the government on its performance. They have to show that they offer concrete and realistic alternatives. But there are a number of issues that are of vital importance locally. First amongst these is the government's plan- ned closure of the Durham Centre for the Developmentally Handicapped. Not only has this newspaper condemned this plan, but so has Whitby Town Council and a host of other local government agencies and community organizations. This closure will give the people of this riding a chance to determine what responsibilities they are prepared to accept for the care and wellbeing of the developmentally handicapped. This is an important social issue that strikes at the very heart of our attitudes towards those less fortunate than ourselves. Another issue that is going to get a lot of atten- tion is rent control. The arguements pro and con are large and weighty, but-it will be up to the elec- torate to decide whether or not this policy has been of any real benefit to the people in this province who need rental accommodation. Right wing Tories and developers (and even landlords) have said that rent controIs have effectively killed the development of affordable rentai housing in Ontario. They say rent controls make it impossible for them to compete in the market, and landlords question why they should personally be sub- sidizing tenants. Those who favor controis have said that they allow moderate and low income wage earners to spend more of their money for consumer goods and services, which they believe to be a shot in the arm for the rest of the economy. Whitby residents should also take note of On- tario Hydro's plans to transport radioactive tritium through the municipality. This byproduct of the nuclear power generating process has been demonstrated to be both highly volitile and dangerous. We are going to have to decide whether or not our need for energy is greater than the danger posed by the transporation of this sub- stance through our community. This newspaper also believes that the gover- nment is going to have to make a full and com- plete financial statement on the expansion of the GO Transit rail commuter service public during this campaign. If they believe that the proposed Advanced Light Rail Transit system is the way to go, they are going to have to justify their position fully. All three opposition candidates have ex- pressed concerns on this issue - all fear that the Ontario taxpayer may not be able to afford it. Education, health care, transfer payments to municipalities and other issues are also going to be coming to the fore in this campaign and all deserve the attention of the voter. This election is going to be one of the most in- teresting in recent memory and it is this newspaper's hope that the people who live in this area are going to take an active interest in it. ON >4 OUR MARr. - qrL. OkA~FOh4E.you lK4 lac, 1 yV