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PAGE 6 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1994 imion Tax & spend must end First, the Liberals. Their track record under David Peterson, a real taxâ€"andâ€"spend artist, is absolutely atrocious. His government put us on the road to ruin by spending like drunken sailors in the 1985â€"90 period when it should have put money away. Remember â€" these were some of the province‘s most prosperous years and the Liberals didn‘t save anything; we have nothing but debts to show for it. Peterson‘s government doubled expenditures by spending 11.5 per cent more each year for five years. That, in turn, sabotaged the Bank of Canada‘s inflationâ€"fighting efforts. Result? The Liberals left a totally unnecessary deficit when they were tossed out of office. Next, Bob Rae‘s NDP. They have ruled through some pretty bad economic times and they‘ve shown some common sense and courage by passing the social contract legislation, but don‘t ever forget that they‘re the ones who‘s piled $3,800 in debt on to the backs of every man, woman and child in Ontario during the past three years. You may not know it, but the combination of David Peterson‘s Libâ€" erals and Bob Rae‘s New Democrats have ruined Ontaric‘s financial That‘s $15,200 for a family of four. And guess where they borâ€" rowed the money? From the Americans. As a result, they‘ve now adced about $1,200 per family of interestâ€"carrying charges. Now, one in six tax dollars goes to pay interest, up from $1 in $12 when they took power And that‘s not all. Before he started atoning for his sins by cutting public sector salaries, Mr. Rae gave massive increases to these very same people, then he realized that this just couldn‘t continue for much longer. . His debts have doubled from $42.2 billion in September of 1990 to an estimated $79.5 billion by March of 1994. Deficits have been bigâ€" ger each and every year than all five deficits run up by the craziness of the taxâ€"andâ€"spend Liberals before him. The Tories, before both of these irresponsible crews, governed well. The provincial Liberals, by the way, were far more reckless than the NDP. They were just plain lucky that the economy was in such good shape when they went on their wild spending sprees. If they tried to do do today what they did then, they‘d make the NDP look This isn‘t an issue that is rightâ€"wing or leftâ€"wing. It is about misâ€" management. Plain, simple mismanagement. The NDP has run up debts like drunken sailors and borrowed to make interest payments. It‘s outrageous. The sad thing is that, by the time the election rolls around in 1995, people might actually forget how badly the provinâ€" cial Liberals ran the province and try to vote for them again. That would be a pity The current Liberal leader, Lynn McLeod, does not have what it takes to tackle this province‘s problems. If you think Mr. Rae is bad, just try Ms. McLeod on for size. She‘s a leftâ€"leaning, taxâ€"andâ€"spend politician who knows little about economics and is now courting the union vote. Any party that curries union favor, like the NDP, should be avoided. That leaves the Conservative party in Ontario. Although Mike Harris is no rocket scientist, his people do have sound policies. They are designed to try to get Ontario back on track again. And, unlike Brian Mulroney, Mr. Harris is no Liberal sheep in Conservative wolf‘s clothing. He is capable and deserves a chance. The Conservaâ€" tives should also have experience working for them. Although their caucus is weak now, many ableâ€"bodied and competent Tories who lost in the federal election may well run in the provincial contest. By the time the taxâ€"andâ€"spend Liberals in Ottawa are finished with their game, Ontario will need a counterâ€"balance at Queen‘s Park. That may well help reverse the disastrous Liberalâ€"NDP poliâ€" cies on welfare, health, big union power and pay equity. Just think about it. Bill Davis and John Robarts ran pretty compeâ€" Waterloo Town Square 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario NZJ 1P2 Telephone 886â€"2830 News Line 886â€"3021 Fax. No. MEANWHILE... Feed Sze! News Editor: Pete Cudhea (Sports Editor) Deborah Crandall Tom Brockelbank Maureen McNab Teresa Brown inuk "Is coumnizay‘s aillion‘s ml peey arip you co ape over an bea overpRary ?" So here we are in 1994. Gosh, it wasn‘t until yesterâ€" day that I got the day of the week sorted out and it‘ll be March before I get used to writing 1994 on my But what a great holiday season. Just for old time‘s sake and those glorious hamburgers, I paid my holiâ€" day visit to the Harmony Lunch. I may stop burping onions by midâ€"February. Hey, it‘s been a long, long time since I‘ve been so optimistic about a new year. And no, I‘m not going to parrot what the stockbrokers say: Asking a stockbroâ€" ker if you should invest in the market is like asking a dog if it‘s hungry. fio,andl‘nffiotgoingtonotathatthingsmreally turning around in the Excited States and that, as we exâ€"matelots well know, a rising tide lifts all boats. . What I think is more important than that is that Canadians are regaining confidence. The Chretien government may work no miracles but it‘s served notice it‘ll cut down on abuses in our social programs and end the profligacy that characterized the PC But you can‘t say that Brian Mulroney spent money like a drunken sailor, A drunken sailor always spends his own money. Gee, I almost forgot a major reason for the revival in Ontario of confidence. This time next year, at the very worst, the Rae government‘s end will be only months away. Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The tree huggers have got it all wrong once again. Or at least the way I figure it. They say that artificial Christmas trees outâ€" sell the real ones because many buyers assume the artificial ones are more environmentally correct. But hold on: In the manufacturing process, the artiâ€" ficial trees consume a load of energy and they degrade more slowly in landfills. By contrast, natural trees have a variety of recycling uses. You could say it‘s six of one and a halfâ€"aâ€"dozen of another but spare us any diatribes against real trees. And let the record show that at our house, we have a Let‘s hope that all the Kneeâ€"Deep MPPs are staying in shape so they‘ll be ready to work for a living. _ By the way, a neighbor has had his problems with an artificial tree. His guests think it‘s plastic and his Convicted child molester doesn‘t deserve such tender treatment Andrew Pearen Mary Baj Heather Mitchell Rick Campbell Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the newspaper "c3> SNM‘@\coa Stet cce DP s <¢ @ The Fairway Group Incorporated _ Subscription rates | 215 Fairway Rd. S., $45 yearly in Canada, Kitchener, Ont. $90 yearly outside Canada. President: Paul Winkler +GSTI. dog thinks it‘s real. Time Zone: What is it that all of us have seen but will never see again? Why, it‘s yesterday, natch. Chalk Talk: A dedicated teacher who‘s devastated that phonics have been taken from the schools is an ohâ€"soâ€"distant relative of mine. How sold is she on phonics? Well, maybe this tells you something. At home, she‘s using phonics to teach her own daughter how to read. I‘m sure that teaching phonics isn‘t easy and that some teachers are glad the labor is gone, but I suspect that more than a few teachers feel the way my relaâ€" tive does. T‘ll confess though, that I‘m not enthused at some of the popular concepts in modern education. Take Show and Tell. That‘s a device created by schools to commuâ€" nicate family secrets to 30 other families before 9:30 in the morning. From the Bench: Justice Ron Sills of the general division court imposed a publication ban in the case of a former Kitchener teacher found guilty of molesting young girls. Now the Record has asked him to reconsider and crown attorney Peter Speyer has joined in that urging but Sills has stuck with the publication ban, one that flies in the face of appeal court decisions. He sided with the defence counsel‘s contention that the complainants "could" â€" repeat "could" â€" be idenâ€" tified if the child molester were identified. By the way, the teacher has now been transferred to an administrative position at the Waterloo County board of education. Isn‘t it heartâ€"warming that a child molester can get such tender treatment all round? Of course, I go back to the days when a higher stanâ€" dard of conduct was expected from teachers than from us ordinary folks.