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Page 6, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, Ueoemrber 22, 1993 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby resîdents for Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F: ONTARIO CANADIAN ?zU COMMUNITY f*iehIACOMMUNITY .I NEWSPAPER j+C.4I NEWS PAPER -MASSOCIATION cASSOCIATION I3M I CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X 26,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario lmc. Box 206, 131 Brook St. N., Whitby, Ontario LiN 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimumr 200/ recycîed content using vegetable based inks. Q Al written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright aw. Reproduction for non -commercial distri bution should bear a credit line to te Whtby Free Press. mo the ed itor. MPP responds To the edîtor: Re: 'Pathetlc vate-getting' and 'White male criminels,' letters in The Free Press, Dec. 15 ,< When I wes elecfed in September of 1990, my job then, as it is naw, was ta represent the iding of Durham Centre <Whifby and north Oshawa) as best as I cen. On many occasions that invalves fighting against proposaIs thet are naf in the besf interest of aur community. Allow me ta restate two positions I have teken and believe fa refîecf most fair-minded people. I support feirness in hiring and employment. Candidates shouîd be hired on the basis of their skills rather than on the colour of their skin. Employment equity is designed ta gradually elirinate discrirninatory hiring practices. With that Iaw, we should have a more competitive warkforce within a couple of decades -- quite a long time in which ta adjust. IR is a law that shauld promate the inclusion of aur entire communify, not the exclusion of any of us. On the other hend, I am opposed ta affirmative action, positive meesures or any. other farm 0f oreverse& discrimination. Any form of discrimination is unacceptebie ta me. Na group or individuel should have special rights or be denied the rights that others enjoy. We have ail heard someone say that a police farce of a fire depertment wes flot hiring white maies. As your MPP, I have heard numeraus such complaints and pursued meny of them. To date, no officiai has edmitted excluding white maies or purpasefully hiring wornen or visible m inorit ies ta f ilI a quota StilI, we should alI be viiatabout such abuses of aur community vaiues. We cannot end racism by reverslng R. Secondly, I recenfly urged people ta take part in a consultation pracess regarding OHIP services. The stories that constituents toid me of their lives and the importance of certain medice services drove me ta take a pul*>ic stand. Elirintion of eny health services should be done only with the greatest degree of scrutiny. After The Free Press published the article on the proposed cuts ta OHIP-funded services, rnany elderly people phaned my office ta get the telephone number they needed in arder ta register their concerns 1-800-461-2036). They will be taking part in the oonsultaion process and directly lnfiuencing gaverniment decisions. I arn pleased that coverage of my concernis had this eff eot. In aur democrafic community, we should take every opportunity we can ta participate fulîy. Particularîy, at a time when we must contain costs, I hope as meny people as possible will fake part in the decisian-making procesa rather then complaining from the sidelines aft er the decisians are made. I will continue ta influence that goverrnent on behalf of our community. Thaf mey include publicly speeking out on issues and even oppasing provincial governrnent measures. Drummond White Song sheets appreciated To the edîtor: The Volunteer Association would like ta extend aur thanks ta The Free Press for donating several Christ mas carol sang sheets for distribution ta aur various patient areas. We would also like ta say how pleesed we have been with your coverege 0f aur events throughout the year and most particularly with respect ta aur recent Christmas gîft drive, tree lighting and Wassail event held Dec. 8. Thank yau on behaif of the Whitby Psychiatric Hospitai, Vlunteer Association. Joanne H. Ashley Dlrector Volwiter AssocIation By Paul Pagnuelo They stoad in absolute awe, mesmerized by its sheer size. The scene was one which repeated itself in Barrie, St. Catharines, Toronto and Delhi. The event was the unveiling of a national'debt dlock by the Ontario Taxpayers Federation. The dlock which measures eight feet' high and twelve feet long, is owned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federatian, the OTFs parent arganization. What captured the attention of people was not sa, much the size of the dlock, but the size of the message it displayed -- the combined debt of the federal and provincial governments in Canada. ft's unveiling intentionally coincided with the Ontaria leg of a cross country tour by Sir Rager Douglas, New Zealand's former finance minister who is credited with bringing his country back f rom the brink 0f bankruptcy. Bath events were designed ta drive home ta Ontarians the seriousness of aur fragile econamic position and consequences -- if, we continue ta beave the situation unchecked. The overcapacity crowds who turned oufta see the dlock and ta hear Douglas' message ta Canadians were stunned by the chiîîing reality of aIl. As of the beginning of December, the country's federal and provincial governments were in hock ta the tune of $812,691,000,000. And if that scares the living pants off you. consider the even mare frightening tact that the number excludes the debt of municipal gavernments, school boards, crown corporations, and unfunded liabilities like the Canada Pension Plan. Add in the rnissing numbers like $36 billion for Ontaria's Hlydro's IQUs, $11 billion in unfunded liabilities at Ontario Workers Compensation Board, the Unemployment Insurance Com- mission's accumulated deficit of aîmost $6 billion and what do we get? A debt dlock which would have short circuited as it raced ta climb ta a dizzing height somewhere in excess of ti trillion. lgnoring these add-ons, the sobering fruth is aur national credit card is growing at the rate of $2.204 a second or more than a $132.000 a minute. As Canadians rise every momning, it means by the end of the day we'il be another $190 million deeper in debt. Nf we wanted ta clear the slaf e, every Canadian would have ta have coughed up $28,230 baeok on Dec. t. For a family of taour the bill wouîd have been $112,920 -- sigificantîy more than most of us could corne Up wth if we sold off everything we owned, including the family dlog and cat. The message which Douglas wanted to beave with Canadians is i's time ta bite the bullet. For the Iast three decades we've been living in a fool's paradise. We've treated aurselves ta a standard of living that the nation can no longer sustain. Cunning politicians have deluded us inta believing we could afford t. Instead of making us pay at the time with higher taxes, they To the edîtor: My congratulations ta Doug Anderson on his Viewpoint colurn about the DBIA in the Dec. 15 issue of The Free Press. In one calumn he said exectly what sorne cf us have been trying ta explain for years. Now ta add ta his viewpoint on haw council helps merchants downtown. AIl day long Whitby Transit buses potential customers to the OshawaCenfrefo shop. Then the DBIA suggests downfown merchants stay open until il p.m. for Candlelight Shopping or unt il midnight for the Midnighf Madness Sale. The lest Whitby Transit bus leaves tram the fire hall at 720 p.m. Does Whitby cauncil or the DBIA board really care about created a taise sense of wealth by borrowing. The greatest gift we can ail give aur children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews this Christmas is ta insist that aour governments stop playing Santa Claus and start pîaying Sorooge. That's because the so-called overnment freebies Wth the bills for ail this madness about ready ta came due, it won't be you or I who get stuck paying them. Those wha had no say and who received no benefit from aur reokiess spending will be the ones picking Up the tab. downtown Whitby. Gene Peacock Whltby Can Fox run in centre ward? To the edîtor: Councillor Fax deserves congratulations for supporting the wishes of the people he represents in their ward. We business peu)ple in the centre ward have a pet ition signed by an overwhelrning mejority paying a BIA fax ta, put if on hold for two years and cennot get a deputation. Mr. Fox, wauld you consider running in the centre ward in 199a4? WillIam Brant Burtlnsky-Brarît Florlst 200 at scial evenlng To the edîtor: The Durham Association for Family Respite Services recently had a wondertul social evening open toalal volunteer and clienf farnilies essociated with fthe agency. Almost 200 people atfended the cornbined western-holiday therne dinner and dance te> help honaur aur volunteers. Special thenks ta the members of Moose Lodge ernd their frieridly, eff icient staff who made It al possible, DJ Don Osborne and line dance teacher Brenda Hencock. Mary'L Wilson Coordînator of Volunteer Services $3,OOO raised by tiret ighters Tc the edîtor: The Whitby Fire Departmenf would like ta thank the citizens of Whîtby for their generous donations dluring aour 'F111 The Boot' cempaign along the Sente CLeus "rade roufie. Mare then $3.000 was confributed for Musculer Dysrophy. We et the Whftby tire depertmenf wish ail citizens a very happy and fire safe holiday season. Captaîn William Plouha Fîre Prevention Viewpoin 1 *o h edio, , e Buses to Oshawa