Ontario Community Newspapers

Port Perry Star, 17 Mar 1998, p. 7

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"A Family Tradition for 132 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 17, 1998 - 7 LETTERS Right must unite to preserve country To the Editor: In 1989, when the Reform Party was formed, there was no federal conservative or right- wing party in Canada. Of course, there was the Progressive Party, but 1t was conservative in name only. The PCs had been infiltrat- ed and taken over by oppor- tunists, like Brian Mulroney (Please read "On The Take") and liberals masquerading as con- servatives, like Jean Charest. In fact, Canada had three left- wing parties: the Liberals, the (liberal) PCs and NDP. Each party was trying to out-spend the other to prove it was most compassionate and caring. Of course, without caring or giving a hoot how to pay for it. Level headed people with com- mon sense warned that this mad spending would ruin the country, but were ignored and when they persisted, were accused of lack- ing in care and compassion. Look before you leap To the Editor: Before Jean Charest decides to run for the Libetals in Quebec, he should insist on taking away those hated English language police, and the Quebecois immigration board. Jean could probably be the premier of Quebec, but the Mulroney ghost will never go away. Like a spoiled child, Quebec has been given what they wanted far too long at the expense of the rest of Canada. We are all Canadian with no special status for any- one, and that includes Quebec. Jean should have spoken up then to Brian Mulroney when he got Lucien Bouchard's job when he became the new Environment Minister. He should have a chat with Don Cherry before he decides his move. Herman van der Veen, Oshawa The early Reformers first tried to work within the existing polit- ical system, but their foresight and common sense were not wel- come. It became clear to Reformers that these old-line parties were out of touch with reality. There was no chance whatsoever that these parties would ever voluntarily reform Canada's political system. Reformers were proven right. Canada's debt is now around $600 billion. One-third of federal taxes go to pay for interest charges. Our income tax is the highest of the G7 nations. Our Prime Minister is still a semi- dictator, the appointed Senate can still block the decisions of an elected Parliament where, in a typically undemocratic way, the largest minority overrules the majority. This beautiful country is close to breaking up, possibly because we never gave ourselves, our children, our fellow citizens of Quebec any reasons to be proud of our political system. Now, Jean Charest 1s shed- ding his Tory blue skin and drap- ing himself in Liberal red. Red becomes him better, and we wish him success in Quebec. During the last election, he only won a few seats in Quebec plus his own. Just like his mentor, Brian Mulroney, Charest leaves behind him a party deep in debt, but with a beautiful opportunity to elect a true conservative leader. With a true conservative leading the PCs, all conservative minded Canadians can form a united front against the Liberals and bring about political reform. If not, Canada deserves the present system. Evert Vroegh, Hampton The folly of federal spending continues To the Editor: Our federal government gave away some $20 million of Canadian flags. We were told fly the flag for national unity. The flag is outlawed in the Quebec National Assembly. Now the Bloc complains in par- liament that there were too many Canadian flags at the Olympics. The Reform Party countered with a minuscule rally around the flag demonstration. All five parties have failed to agree on how the flag 1s used in the house of commons, so it's now up to speaker of the house parent to rule. The Francophonie games set for Ottawa and Quebec in 2002 sees Ottawa picking up the tab for some 2,000 athletes. Plus all the wining and dining of the Francophonie officials. Air fare and accommodation could cost millions. Last year Canada contribut- ed some $4 million for the Francophonie summit in, of all places, Viet Nam. The year before the summit was held in the West African country of Benin. Canadians are waiting in line for health care while Ottawa fritters away hundreds of millions on Francophonie countries. Despite the drastic cutbacks and no new relief from Ottawa in Martin's budget, the Harris government is spending over $18 billion on health -- that's $1,638 per capita, 3.5 per cent higher than the rest of Canada. Billions for bilingualism and Francophonie games, but noth- ing added to the $7 billion cuts in health care and social pro- grams. The folly continues, despite pleas from the sick and health providers. Dean J. Kelly, Port Perry Editor's Notepad by Jeff Mitchell GIVE 'EM ENOUGH ROPE CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? ...It's been tough to decide whether to laugh or grit one's teeth in rage this past week, as the flag debate has unfurled on Parliament Hill. It's also tough to believe it's happening at all, really: Who would think that the presence of the flag in the Commons would ever be a point for debate? But this is Canada, where we spend so much time bending over backwards in an effort not to offend that we don't realize we're piddling away our nationhood. Where a bunch of detestable sissies called the Bloc Quebecois can spark this kind of nonsense by -- this too is hard to fathom, until one considers the source -- whining that the flag is too much in evidence during the the Olympics. But it's this kind of thing that throws the separatists in a bad light, even among Quebecers, I'd wager. The Bloc members are like religious loonies, compulsive liars, and shoplifters. Give 'em enough rope, and they'll hang themselves. THAT WAS CLOSE: Well, it appears we can all breathe easy, and start making the mortgage payments once again. Seems the asteroid that's hurtling toward earth isn't going to smash into the planet and snuff us out like the dinosaurs, after all. A little recalculation by the folks at NASA reveals the rock will speed by, about a million kilometres away, in 30 years. It was interesting to walk around for a whole day, though, knowing exactly when the world was going to end, wasn't it? WELCOME ADDITION: Although | failed to make any mention of it last week, hope you noticed and enjoyed the first installment of Hilltop News, a new column that's being written for us by OAC creative writing students at Port Perry High School. Last week's submission was by Mandi Yake, and today's contributor is James Campbell. The students have committed to making regular sub- missions for the remainder of this semester, so keep an eye out for them. The aim is for the young people to provide us with their perspective on issues in the com- munity and around the world. And that's important; because while we often address issues that affect youth or are actually about young people, it can be hard to nail down just how the young people of the community feel. WHAT'S IN A NAME: If, as speculation has it, Jean Charest's departure precipitates a new, unified right, what's it to be called? ...Regressive Conformatives? Repressive Reservatives? Conformist Regressionists? ...Better send it to a committee. Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten responsible for this dire prediction found egg on their faces the next day when they had to retract the state- ments as being inaccurate. It appears now that the asteroid will miss Earth by about 600,000 miles, a distance almost three times the NEAR MISS? distance of the moon to the Earth. | guess we're safe for a little while yet! WINTER DOWN SOUTH THEY SAID... WHAT? The following statements, taken from authentic resumes from prospective employees, makes you wonder why people are so honest... * | have lurnt Word Perfect 6.0 computor and spreadsheet progroms. » Wholly responsible for two (2) failed financial insti- tutions. Did you catch the news last week that NASA researchers pre- dicted an asteroid was headed towards Earth and could possibly hit our planet.... 30 years from now? It must have been a slow news week, since the media decided this was one of the top stories of the day. | just can't figure out what earthly value is there in a story about an asteroid that might, or might not, hit Earth, 30 years from now. Surely there was some other important news taking place around the globe that day which had a little more significance than a prediction from NASA about a looming disaster. And to make the matter worse, the researchers As expected, winter has returned to the area justin time for the spring break. They estimate some 85,000 Canadians packed their bags last week to head to warmer climates in Florida. Well, big surprise! Florida has been almost as cold as parts of this country recently, and the cold snap was expected to continue. With temperatures in Tampa ranging from 40 to 50 Fahrenheit last week, it isn't much colder right here at home. So if you're one those who is disappointed to have to bring out your heavier coats again, don't despair. Thousands of Canadians will be wrapping themselves in heavy sweaters and coats and long pants as they enjoy the spring break along the "not so sunny" coast of Florida. * It's best for employers that | not work with people. * Let's meet, so you can 'ooh' and 'aah' over my experience. * Note: Please don't miscontrue my 14 jobs as 'job- hopping'. | have never quit a job." * Reason for leaving last job: They insisted all employees get work by 8:45 a.m. every morning. Could not work under those conditions. * The company made me a scapegoat, just like my three previous employers. * Reason for leaving lastjob? Maturity leave. * "| was working with my mom, until she moved. » References: None. I've left a path of destruction behind me. Makes you just want to pick up the phone and hire one of these beauties.... eh?

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