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Pae6, WNhy Free Pree, Wednesday, Apri e, 1994 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Wtiltby residents for Whltby residents! MEMBER 0F: - ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER + NIA NEWSPAPER - ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION ~ CANADIAN Im - CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-â98X 2 6,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published évery Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N, Whîtby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pif her - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager SPrinted on newsprint with minimum 20%/-4M recycled content using vegetable based inks.%l V Ail written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permussuon of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian 0opriht Iaw. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit line to the Whitby Free Press. Alberta juggernaut MPPs took pay cut To the Edîtor: A quote from a school principal in the article 'Workers protest social contract,' The Fre Press, March 16, was recentIy brought ta my attention. Rhetorically, the gentleman asked haw much MPPs' salaries have been reduced. f is noted that there was loud applause ta the question, on the assumrption that we were asking mare of others than we were wiîling to accept ourselves. I would like to answer that question. MPPs took a 5.5 per cent reductian, with no days off. We taok a leadership roI. in assuming aur responsibility in dealing with the caste of gavernment. There was no camplaint and no objection from the 170 affected members. Iranically, the commissianer on election exponses has repeatedly recommend.d that MpPPs pay b. raised ta the same level as school vice-principals. Our total pay is a matter af public record, and we earn f ar less than school principals, even before the reductian. At the time, I was not a big fan .ither af the social contract or of taking a personal pay cut. Later I saw that tens of thousands of jobs have been pr.s.rved as a resuit, and I reluctantiy saw the wïsdom af that sacrifice. Sometimes some af us have ta give a littIe so that ail of us wilI have a little more hope. Drummond Whbite Durham Contre MPP Give fuli coverage To the Edltor: I found the article 'Chiropractic should b. fuîîy insured under OHIP: Manga' (The Fre. Press, Feb. 23) very informative. Its about time the profession received coverage. I have seen a chiropractor for many different conditions, incîuding low back pain. My choice of health care, in my opinion, is more effective and safer (no side effects, etc.). The results corne faster, and I arn always given an answer for why 1 amn feeling the way I amn. I'm told how chiropractic can help me and how 1 can help myself prevent the prabîern from retumfing. The one and only drawback ta chiropractic for some people may b. that they have ta take from their own pockets each time they visit a chiropractor. Scenario: Persan with back pain -- person visits an MD, will probably b. given a prescription (treating the symptoms), yet b. fuîly covered by OHIP. The persan could go toaa chirapractar, get ta the cause of the pain and b. helped without medication. Yet this treatment would anly b. partiaîly covered. Chiropractors are the back experts. The article stated that more money would b. sav.d du. to fewer worker compensation dlaims, etc. The answer is so obvious -- give chiropractors ful OHIP coverage. The public needs and deserves ta b. educated sa, that they, too, can make the correct choice when Rt cornas ta their heath care. Lisa Hancock Oshawa The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters to the editor on any subject of concem to out readers. Letters should be brief and to the point - rarely more than 300 words. Ail letters must be accoempanied by the name, address and telephone number of the writer. However, on request, your naine may be withheld f rom publication ut we agree there us a valud reason. The newspaper reServes the rîght to reject or eduit ail letters. Send to: The Editor, Whitby Free press, Box 206, Whitby, Ont. LUN 5SI, or drop through out mail slot at 131 BrockçSt. N. By Paul Pagnuelo, Ontario Taxpayors Federation From Victoria and Regina to Toronto through ta Halfax the news for elected off iciais is terrible. Alberta is cutting government spending. Not two per cent from provincial Big time. prai ected increases. Not with a 'smoke and mirrar' budget f illed with rhetoric and na action. Not with cuts in 'positions.' Not with a five-year plan and a naïve mix of hope and good intentions., For other provinces, the details are grlm inde.d. No new taxes. The na sales tax poîicy that sucks retail sales, sales tax revenues and economic activity from other provinces remains intact. Investment and job-f riendly income tax rates remain the Iowest in Canada. Somne minor fees go up because the gov.rniment is maving to, cover its coste. Health premiums (gasp) go up by 20.per cent, while high-income seniors las. some grants and ather benefits. The big picture remains: balance the budget by trimming spending, not raising taxes. Revolutionary. No tiny, artfully crafted, insig nificant cuts here. The budget slams the sacred cows hard. Sp.nding at the average government departm.nt gets chopped by 29 per cent. Spending falîs by $958 million this y.ar. Over the next few years health spending wiIl fall by $749 million, education by $255 million and social services by $328 million. Cities wilI restructure. Why? Municipal grants get trimmed 37 per cent or $120 million. There are no phantom job cuts (i.e. positions), either: 800 goverrnent jobs disappear now. In total, about 1,800 jobs go away over the next two years. Yes, this is a gavernment at the beginning of its term in a province with a strong work ethic. But the significant development is the budget's focus. It targets awaste and duplicat ion." The treasurer asks, wDo Alberta taxpýayers need hundreds of boards and committees? Does it need expensive bureaucracies ta administer layers of rules and regulations? Should they pour money inta administration instead of front-fine services?w The Alberta answer is na. More significantly, the budget intraduces the concept of especific, tangible performance measurement,w or getting value for money, measuring resuits, focusing on effici.ncy and triniming averheads and unneces- sary administration. Unbelievable. What about the Iost jobs? ln describing the traditional, spending- orient ed, multi-layered bureaucracies that dot the land, the treasurer talks of agood people that are trapped in bad systemsu Government will focus on resufts, not' spending pails of money with littîe accountability. Departments wili operate in a uperformance-orientedu framework with business plans that define measurable resuîts. To sum it up, departments are ta become wIow..cost providers of high-quality servnce.w Radical. The gomerment is confident that ths will produce the highest level of economic growth ln the country. Higher growth will absorb the afected gomerment employees. Meanwhiîe, there wiII b. retraining and assistance provided ta them just like the hundreds of other large or ganizations across the country adjusting ta today's new economic realities. Aîready the deficit is below projections To the Edîtor: Many years ago, I was involved wth bunga ta rais. funds for a service club. When I arrived for my first visit, 1 was taken aback by the smaîl crowd. The jackpot had been won the previous week. There was no way w. could rais. the funds needed with such a drastic drap in att endance. The resuit was the rebirth Of canned bingo!' For each item of cannedlpackaged food, the player receives one bingo card for a special bingo, one ine any direction or four corners. Our attendance flot only grew, it was larger than ever and our service club reached its goal. If this were permitted at every bingo in Ontario, locals could help church food harnpers/ emergenciei; heîp with donations ta children's carnps/p rog rames/day care/breakfasts/lunches; heîp with stocking the local food bank.. whose shelves wouîd neyer b. bar.. When there is a special need (rnost-needed items), two cards could b. given foi each item that day. The bingo winner or-winners would take homne 50 per cent of food received. 1 have beén tryîng ta abtain because growth is higher than expected. Surprise. SFor Ontario and the other provinces, the Alberta focus on resuits and tax competitiveness creates a rather spectacular ernergency. Like the tidal wave of cigarette sales ta places with rapidîy colîapsing cigarette taxes, Alberta je creating a tax vacuum based on a foundation of performance-oriented government. The investment, jo b and tax base in other provinces that support services and constant, increasingly unsustainabîe bar- rowing wiII g ravitate sharply to results-oriented Alberta. Unles some folks wake up fast. Time is running out. The houses of carde in ot her provinces buift on false revenue hopes and more borrowing wili crash down fast if polit icians don't react faster than their stunned bureaucracies. You have no choice. Get going, Mr. Ra.. Opinions expressed are those of the author. permission ta again hold canned bingo, but ta no avail. William 'Sam Mages Klds for Klds Oshawa Lots of support To the Editor: On behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Durham Reg ion, we would like ta express our gratitude ta the Whitby Free Press staff for your ongoing support and co-operation during aur February fundraisîng cam paign. We would also like ta say thank Sou toalal the local residents and usiness owners for their generous donations during such diff icult ecanomic times, and a special thanke to our dedicated volunteer canvassers. Community support means everything ta those of us who have ta star. heart disease in the face every day of aur lives. Thank ,you, Whitby residents, for your -kindness and generosity. The Heart and Stroke Foundatiôn wish you aIl a healthy year. Martha Godmnan Communications chair Whltby chapter, Heart and Stroke Foundation No need for shortage