The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

VIEWPOINT by John B. McClelland {LETTERS TO Brot 4 Will somebody please explain to me why Ontario Premier Bob Rae had to drag his Cabinet and senior officials to a posh resort in eastern Ontario for three days last week to discuss ways to cut government spending and/or hit the people of Ontario with more tax hikes. The tab for the three-day chin wag was $125 per day per person (wel below the rates this place would charge you or me for a night's lodging) Curious that the provincial government is crying poor these days, cutting civil service jobs, slashing hos ital budgets, id can find a few for a luxury lodge Bucks what came out of the meeting? Mr. Rae warned Ontarians that tou austerity times are just around the corner. Look, the few thousand spent at this lodge is not going to make or break a Sovernment facing a deficit of $14 illion (give or take a billion or two) That's not the point. But how can they justify a meeting at a luxury lodge when there's no money for RNA's at hospitals Besides, do they not have a meeting room at Queens Park large enough for 50 or 60 le? If Mr wants to force austerity on the province of Ontario, he might be advised to start right at home, Leadership by example is the key to the success of any politician these days. How can the Premier and his Cabinet get a feel for what's happening on the mean streets when they are living in the lap of luxury? I see where the public service employee unions are furious with the Ontario NDP government's threat to cut 18.000 jobs as a cost saving measure This kind of action is inevitable these days. And cutting civil service jobs Seid How have been predicted over the last tion or two ago, paogle uh a jobs knowin be less than comparal the id belo sector. In rtp he were pretty well assured a job for life with a comfortable pension. But over the last 20 years, the apple cart turned up-side-down. Civil servants to earn as m ch if not more than their counter parts in the vate sector, plus all the associated Peete ( job seturity, no 0 latalls hefty pensions, shirt work ete) that came with public employment. They couldn't continue to have it both ways, and now that tough tmes have arrived is it any wonder that governments and agencies like Ontario Hydro haye no choice but to trim the workforce? Sure the unions are hopping Wade and accusing the NDP of betrayal and treason. But the unions should take a look in the mirror. It was threats of publié¢ sector strikes that caused politicians to yield to the excessive wage demands over the last 25 years. Today, the chick are home Pro-life supporters have right to picket at clinics To The Editor: (The following letter is a response to the March 24 column by Toronto Star writer Rosie Dimanno on abortion clinic ickets.) to roost. But as everyone knows, cutting jobs to save budgets is a double-bladed sword. What happens to those people who lose their jobs? What chance do they have to find other work? Invariably, many will end up on Ul until the benefits run out and then find themselves on welfare. This is a double drain on the public coffers because if they are not working they aren't paying taxes. And people on Ul or welfare do little to stimulate the economy through consumer spending. THey are not buying houses, cars, furniture or appliances. As much ds one hates to see any jobs eliminated (public or private sector) the pendulum has swung too far in one direction and has to be nudged back. Of course a major part of the problem with governments is that they have taken on more and more programs above and beyond their mandates. There is duplication at the federal and provincial levels and millions are spent on outside consultants despite the armies of civil servants who could do the work. A few days have passed and many prayers have been said before I could bring myself to respond to an article so full of misinformation. One of your opening statements at the very beginning and I quote, "They defend the fetus but applaud the murder of human beings" is so far remo any pro- lifer that it becomes slanderous. Any of us. who know and love God are committed te the protection and respect of all hufhan life. The person or persons who act out any form of violence in the name of Jesus, have a very twisted and distorted view of scripture. Doctors, nurses or anyone else have nothing to fear, except perhaps from their own conscience, from true pro- lifers, who march trying to keep our so- called avilized world, from going down the path to total destruction. | have been on these peaceful marches, and to date have seen none of the behavior portrayed in your article, not to say unfortunately it has not ever happened. We, exercising our rights, avd been Sadly enough, the job cuts i now are just tip of the ice-berg as governments follow the private sector in serious re-alignments to get spending under con Going deeper into debt or adding new tax measures just won't work anymore And that's the bottom line. IN CLOSING......... Kim Campbell is now officially a candidate for the leadership of the national Conservatives. She pledged to try to develop a new direction in politics designed to bring average Canadians i, Lather than keeping them on the iw an admirable goal, to be sure. But wi the level of cynicism at an all time high in Canada, one that may be tough to attain Most average Canadians want their politicians to do a few basic things for them: control spending, create a favourable climate fe new jobs and investment, and stay out of their faces, Fond see how Campbell does in this . a", fingered, sh at and harassed as we've stood or marched before many places. As for the statement we are frightening children, just who are we frightening them against, pray tell? Is the violence we see on television tame compared to the broken bones of aborted babies? A civilized society you say? Perhaps "bully" has not been assigned to the right people You talk about choices, you're absolutely right. God gives us the choice to choose between what a society without God will allow, and what God himself has proclaimed through Scripture. We make our own choices as to whether we will spend eternity with God who is pure light, pure love and pure mercy where no trace of sin can exist in His Presence, or continue in the sinful ways that lead to eternal punishment, to the delight and glee of NDP economic plan for Canada To The Editor: 1 would like to take this opportunity to share with you the economic plan to put « A National Investment Fund, which would Si to 200,000 jobs through investment in innovative Canadian: owned, Canadian-based people back to work, recently rel by the New Democratic Party of Canada Our plan is designed to increase the number of jobs created in Canada 0 16 million during the next five years That's half a million more jobs than most analysts are projecting under existing economic policies Our plan would also reduce the unemployment rate to 7.1 percent, lower the deficit dnd bring down inflation, without increasing taxes for low and middle income Canadians Our plan would create jobs by moving to a smarter economy #5 that we are better prepared to meet the challenges of the future Let me share some of the highlights of our plan « A National Infrastructure Program, which would create 130,000 jobs while rebuilding our physical infrastructure « The elimination of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and introduction of new tax measures, which together, would create more than 50,000 jobs and lead to & tax system that is fairer Wo low and middle income Canadians - A National Childcare Program which would provide direct employment to 70,000 childeare workers while providing care for 600,000 Canadian children and opening up training and employment opportunities for their parents « The abrogation of the Free Trade Agreement and non-implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement to assist in the creation of Canadian jobs through resource maximization and value-adding. These agreements would be replaced with a new trade strategy As New Democrats, we have developed # plan that gets Canadians back to work and Canada back on track We believe in investing in people by ensuring that our workforce has the skills needed in a changing world. We believe in a decent child care system so that working families have the support they need to make a go of it We believe in preparing for trade with a trained workforce, high quality services and products, and decent dard the human healthy working rights and safe, conditions We believe in helping communities help themselves with support for co: operative proj and local, industries We believe in helping rural communities get back on their feet, with assistance for farm families and help in diversifying the economic base Sincerely, Lucy Rybka Becker Durham Federal NDP Candidate Satan, who will be only too happy to inflict unspeakable torture upon lost souls. God condemns no one, nor do we. We comdemn ourselves when we will not allow the love of Jesus to change us. Remember compared to our short span of life, forever is a long, long time. You see, Miss Dimanno, the battle has alréady been won for us in heaven. The Father sent His dearly beloved Son, Jesus, who paid the price for our sins and opened Heaven to all who would believe in Him and follow in his ways. When we make the statement to anyone "That we are praying for you" believe me, this is so true, for no one should be lost to the powers of Satan for eternity. There will be many who will retort against this article and of course this is your right, but it is also our right to be able to proclaim and march as Christians in the name of Jesus and what he teaches. Read St. Luke - Chapter 19 Versus 39.44 which can be applied to just situations and times as now The days are coming when scripture teaches that all believers and non. believers alike, for Jesus says there is no excuse not to know Him, will bow down before Him, their Lord and Savior either in love and adoration or in fear and trembling. | pray that all will be there in love and adoration. Miss Dimanno we pro-lifers are flesh and blood, we live, love, most of us have a good sense of humour and why not? We are all God's creation. Our only crime is we care about all life from beginning to end and on into eternity May the Divine Mercy of Jesus bring you comfort and peace Anne Davies Port Perry, Ont. Turn out small for Video night To the Editor: Although the turn-out at Scugog's third monthly Video Night was a little disappointing, it was good to see Mayor Howard Hall and Regional councillor Yvonne Christie there We all learned about the problems with incinerating garbage and also about some innovative waste management possibilities Thanks to both our local Zero Garbage group and as recent Durham Environmental Network (DEN) project, the Scugog Library now has nine good videos from the WOW (Work on Waste USA) series These range from one called Europeans Mobilizing Against Trash Incineration (a must see for those who think Europeans love to incinerate trash) to one about Waste Wise, the wonderful Reuse Centre in Georgetown. The videos are well worth a look for those who suspect we could be doing a better job combating the garbage problem Scugog's next Video Night falls on April 28, which is Earth Day, '93. Please watch this paper for details of & special evening or call 988.3225 or 985.4524 + Janet Banting Greenbank, Ont,