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fa., WhlIhv Froe Pros, Wednesday, JUIy 31.i1oM The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whîtby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F: Canadian Community Newspaper Association Whitby Chamber of Commerce ISSN#0844-398X Whitby Business in Action Ontano Community Newspaper Association Oshawa-Durham Home .Builders' Association Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. 900 Hopkins St. /Box 206, Whitby, .Ontarlo Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-611il Fax: 668-0594 Doug A nderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Donald G. Hinton -,Sales Manager AlexandraMartin -Production Mana ger Printed on newsprint with* minimum 20% recycled content using vegetable based inks. L -Vi eon Fixing the property tax.system 0 Ail wntten material, illustrations and -advertising contained herein is protectE Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the expresE the newspaper is prohibited and Is a violation of Canadian copyright law. Rej non-commercial distribution should bear à credit lune to the Whitby Freý To te iyedito'r.Th Useless work To th. oditor: Re: Werkfaro A person findathemnselves without. empioyment, wlhout rescurces and dosItuts. Their final dogradation ls te poceed te the local wefare office te apply for assistnce.At least il used Sean people ln ýnoed May gel an additional humilation et attending a workfare program wlth -,the oxpoctatien et dolng activlies that may net help the search fer gainful omployment. Th. actMvties May net b., considered- as useful except for tue purpose et humbling the participants. What vwHif1h. destitute gain? Prebab!y nothlng, but ln the negative world ln whlch they exist, il May prevent a bass; tue wthdrawal et welfare benofits. The govmnment and their appointees MIl make the decislons. 1 What wdi ltue taxpayer gain? Agaln, likely nothlng. mhe ombarrasament et doing menai work May motivate seme participants te talcs any emnpbyrnent, ln excetin te - their slcls and education, but suitable for'temporary subsistonce. Othors m ay lèave the province fer lsas -abusive locations. 1h. wofarerois May decline, but the benefit wili liksly be bast ln the o mmeermnt bureaucracy established to administer the program. Se what la 1he purpose cf tus Ontario Works program? Who la il gelng te help? IR won't change an unemployable persan into- an employable one. il wont motivate a person whe lacks responsibility. IR won't do anything but distract a person's attention away tram the reaity »thal thsy have ne job, and have been rected by scÀely. If they refuse te play the game,ý they wll recelve an addltional rejection tram welfare., At that point, 1h. dejected have Imîted options. They cari Und a way Io steal tram the gomment, or they can* find a methed et stealing tram the plic Ntonly are succeastul clina diiterspectod for th., ed by copyright. Dy Paul Pagnuelo s permission of Propertyý taxes.- We ail pay them wPrdctonfo but few understand them. e ~ ~ t Prs.Ia wdely, been acknowledged for along lime now that Ontaulos r n property tax msyste ,abroken. But unicipal,.Affairs unster AI Leach- with a MtIe -h4elp from Torontos former mayor DaICrombieareor! a mission teflix It Back on July 4. Leach announced that the provincial govemment hadý accepted Crombi&s recommendation for a ureformed property tax system that la provine Wlde and value-based .wlth those values brought up te date and kept up te date. persan, helplng themselves, but, If' don. viel, they Mayb.vyery lucrative. And ne matter :Kat the rest I i l tue taxpayer who ends up paying., The taxpayer tunda the government that la defrauded,' and pays the coa cf Insurance that pays for thett. If tue crlminaI is, caught, the public provides courts, legal services, plus roomn and board. PerhapsRil la-lime for the govemment te get r.alistic about a social program thet wll net go away under the Works Ontario plan. -Instead et providlng uselesa work, why net provude suitable educatlon te ghm e. capable reciplents, a chance for worthwhile employment? lnstead et lnsultlng people by demandlng participation ln menlal actlvities, eatablash co-op, programa for the nowly trained welfare reciplents te give them work experience. lnstead et sending negative messages te people needing heîp, the govemment ahould b. respecting them as potential taxpayers, if given the.,chance. The goverrment dos not owe themn a job, but il must be responslble for .gMvng ail residents the opportunity 'for meaningful empleyment and seff-sufficency. IU that sn't the case, thon what do w. have a govemment fer? Is IR te punish th. unfortunate and »denigrate those in need? IsRteoperate for the benefit et those that need help the least, to keep theclestitute away from those thet cari afford to pay thelr own way? la the purpose ef a government te share tue wealth 1ik. modemn day Robin Heoda, whIle taking a big cut for themseives ln the transition? Or is the purposeto goverrment te heîp' people when they need care and understanding? The impîsmentation et workfars misses the mark if cars and understanding are the objectives. Ià lacks the programai needed te help tue Participants become gainfully, employed and wfiIl become a disservice Io the taxpayers who are forced te fund il. Maybe tue govemment will get il right the next time., Don Young Ajax iisuiugn Ine mîniters. preos releaso was skllfully werded te avold tagging the new system as AVA Flags stolen To th. edîtor: Thanka te aone patrlotic thievea, four Canadian flags have been stolen from my fiagpole. I arn a Korean. war veteran Ivng on a Imited pension and cannot afford to supply flags te others. Whoever aloIs Il, fiy the flag proudly as YOU Shoul, as I fought for IL rm a pmud Canadian but toc poor te ksep buyinig flaga. By the way, you car gét a flag free frcm the govemment. Just phone 1- 800-359-3524. Hugh G. Mackintosh Whltby Appreciation' Tro th. èMtor: SWe would Ike te extend aur sincere thanka te the many people who heîped te make the Durham Region Sexual Assaut Cars Centre's rocsnt clothlng and yard sale such a succeas. Cbthes Rends and the Wardrobe Exchange, two clething stores In WNhy, denated many clothing Items, members ef the public donated ether Items for the sale. ln addition, we wouxld 1k. te thank* the Whitby Legion Branch' 11l2 for the use of theïr tables and the, Iaw, firm cf Johnston, Burch, Frayne and Montgomery for aibwling us te use theirparking lot tor 1h. day.' Adthank you t101h. many people whosopebytosupportuso1h Shily Bunitt Pmogram mmagsr 1(tuaivalue-assossment)1 -ho lot Ns guardý down at a news conferonce' ,when -,he sald Actual value1 laa kinder,- -gentler-,version cf 'market' value. Undor AVA, the assoasments are updated every year. "MDre rocently, Leach acsod the, Cly of Tarante ef wastlng $50000 cf taxpayerse> money te flht- the province's plana fer AVA. Th«eyire apending tena cf thousanda cf taxpayers dollars on a lest cause,n sald Leach. Unfortunateiy, aur municipal affaira minlater is wrong again. Prasthe tWninsters warnln rg waslsednth ho pe that the City eft*Toronto wo»uld quletl fold ils tent. But in Our view, the money the City la apendlng on behal cof ail Ontarlo property owners ls.money-.welI spent te fIght a-hîgh- cost sysâtem wihne evidence ef taxpayer acceptability. Abeut $30.' 000 oetRI la te go towarda a conference later thîs year designed te, increaae the pubîic's awarenes about the options the Harria govemment chose te Ignore, options such as actual prise acquisition, the Brish Councll Tax, "unit ý-valu e asseament -and- unit assmsment Leach -wants a rmal exampic lime nd mney elngwasied. he need look ne turther than the $60 mllon hes. spending. on an armny cf 1,500,--provincial- asaesaors and outsldeappralsers who aremseeping acroas he province te update the 30 Per cent et propertles that were Lst assessed before 1970. And' that excludes *th. $130 million -'. now. takes te mrn. Ontarlo's property tax assesament systern. and the tens or miNonstha wlI . aprtannuaîly ln th ftue.justsAodcoop 1h. enew aystem current. How are 'property taxes, determineâd today? What la tue' difference between -market vaje- assesament <MVVA) and AVA?,What, alemative systems ln use elsqewhere dld'tue Crombis panel'look.at. And why dld Leach: talc. amarter, more coat-efficlent options off the table? Ail are good questions whîch hopefully the CIty et Toronto conference wlll anawer. . PauIPanueb Is a membereofthe Ontain nt r exprFeteten HeIp, yourself By Alex Shopiherd Just because the federal govemment has reduced ils size doesn'l mean Canadians should tolerate a reduction in service. Although some ýiuld suggest govemment services ouldin'tget any wre1 onItthlnk thils tshe case. 1 h. use cf, technok>gy ln the federa govemment has provlded Canadlans with a sustainable level cf service while the oeat cf govemment is belng reduced. Technokogy has caused job reductions and redieflned the nature of wod. But~ as I sald, Rt Is aise making the cost cf running govemment affordable. 1kl Durham, Human Resources Centres cf Canada is a prime example., W. have relied on HRCC tc prcvide Information'on avilable lobs, the labour market and what indJustries are hct and the cnes that are not.. Andln some cases whfle people wated te see counseîlrs and fll l n frmis, the whole process udtae h botter part ef the day and sill not. b. completed. New HRCC has gone online and developed its own website. Rl allows te o help themselves by prcving tlmely lnformat1ýonrlndustrles g for workers. Ths tochnobgy MlIl e a boon to small and medium- buinses mwho canifeed thiiformaion intothe system from their own offices. Y yvu donl hae acxcess lb the Internet, counsellors will show y ou how to he1p youraelf find Information In the job market uslnigthis technokigy. YouAwll have a comploe data bank avallable te you. Tisa Is oniy one Instnce where the federai govemment Is worklng smarter wMt less rescurces, there are others.: I have mentioned the SIakgb se-aiso on the Internet - which allows businesses to aoeessÏ Information from export trade te govemnment procurement.te services. SSoan-te be added Ila another service which WHl albow businesses te, malch wlth people seelclng te invest ln markets wordWlde. 1 lk. this Idea- because il:sho)ws that bancs are nothing more tha nmiddîlemen between peopi and cqpitl aM they cari b. clrcumvented.,8cm. businessesàwlI, bear botter off wlthout banks. Aex Shepherdis W fo r Durham dfcng whlch Includes Whltby, north. ef Taginton. Road. To rmch Is constltuencyofffcea, cati723-7670 (Oshawa). The Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes in -Whltby, Broolin, Ashbum & Myrtle as weII as numerous public1 and commercial -outlets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 28,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE- Canada $36 + GST - Outside -Canada $85 + GST