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st tribune tuesday may 20 1997 p 5 tuesday may 20 1997 vol 109 no 23 the tribune comment op imons send your letters to the editor to the address below editorial workfare plan improved october is the date touted by the provincial government for some york region social assistance recipients to begin con tributing to the workfare program ontario works where those welfare recipients will be placed is a question that is still up in the air the plan would see welfare recipients directed into communi ty services employment opportunities or training programs most will be placed in minimumwage jobs says john mackin non york regions manager of the ontario works program for those who earn more on social assistance than minimum wage some salaries will be increased through a plan called steps which is already in place most of those registered mckinnon says will be single employable males single parents will not be a target unless the youngest child is more than six years old the gov ernment has been tinkering with the workfare program since coming into office tying to make it less ominous since the uproar over the plans introduction by minister of community and social services david tsubouchi the tories have been qui etly setting it up in various regions under the direction of the far- moreinconspicuous janet ecker ecker assumed the role of min ister after tsubouchi was shuffled by premier mike harris since that time the pickering mpp has been putting the gears into place to get workfare running with very little fanfare the plan is obviously less extreme than when first proposed and although still poison to many community groups and social service providers the new program is easier to swallow by tar- getting those most able to contribute the plan has a better chance of success however steps need to be taken to alleviate the unemployment in this province especially among young people there- theyll be kinder tca i a pregnant weather forecaster j im taking a stand like it or lump it its time to revisit my stands like it or lump it heres what i think about b capital punishment its a bar baric act and should never be rein stated legalizing murder sets a country back a century or two as a canadian im proud that we dont have executions i can name three people whod agree with me donald marshall david milgaard and guy paulmorin life prison terms for first degree murder life should mean life there should be no exceptions first degree murderers should never be released they should all die in prison of nat ural causes war dont go canadas military get rid of it unless its restricted to building dikes in manitoba see war h the reform party get rid of it see war b the bloc get rid of it see war abortion if a fetus isnt a baby off the record joan ransberry what is it the thing i notice most about people who support abortion is they were born come to think of it they were born to chose canada is a very affluent country its a country that can well afford babies it sad dened me to realize that since its tips for homeworking procrastinators youre perfectly healthy but unfo cused when i laughed cynically at this diagnosis my ophthalmologist insisted he was merely referring to my eyesight but he had inadvertently summed up my personality in one neatly turned sentence selfhelp books on organiza tional skills notwithstanding my abili ty to stay on task as current parlance would have it is more or less nonexis tent this is because one after 50 years of absorbing all kinds of rubbish my brain is full and two i cannot retain a thought for the time it takes to get from my office to the basement thus i have no idea what i am doing down there when i arrive the only way i can find out is to go back to where i started from and repeat the process also it is an incontrovertible fact that whatever task i am engaged in is less i appealing than one i encounter en route from office to basement this is both a blessing and a curse for instance there i are times i am obliged to write a rather 1 dry piece of prose and it is then that the laundry gets done when i am on a creative roll on the other hand family members have to i wear the same socks for a week work- kates corner kate gilderdale ing at home means cooking dinner at 10 am and slaving over a hot comput er keyboard at midnight it also means entertaining the duct cleaner the gas person arid a persistent seller of alu minum siding instead of getting on with the task at hand figuring that i may not be the only person in this predicament i decided to suggest some coping strategies for the chronic procrastinator working at home when everyone else has left for the real world force yourself to ignore the tottering pile of dirty dishes abandoned on the counter by the under20s in the household who have not yet learned how to open the dishwasher and insert the crockery within if you do manage to train them in this delicate art they will nevertheless fail entirely to remove large pieces of debris from the plate and all your glasses and mugs will end up with tx t a o m a- u bakedon spaghetti shrapnel and other unsavory souvenirs of last nights din ner when creative inspiration fails to strike do not wander aimlessly about the house rolling up foil balls to amuse the cats or making disgusting cups of fake coffee in the microwave grit your teeth and step over the assortment of homework binders magazines anddis- carded socks on the stairs and make a mental note to demand their removal when your darling children come home never ever do it for them this will narrow down your circle of friends the more fastidious of whom may never return when they come for dinner and your darling children have still not got around to the chore at hand not only will your friends be aghast at the mess there is a good chance they will break their leg falling over the dis carded items and end up suing you keep a regular work schedule and dont fritter away office hours chatting on the phone to others who are similar ly undisciplined id like to continue dispensing my pearls of wisdom but im running out of space and besides my stomach just sent out for a cup of nuked water and gran ules cheaper to kill babies than to raise them we take the abortion route theres no such thing as an unwant ed baby in canada i can support this with one word adoption h homosexuality some people are gay some arent my homosexu al friends accept my being heterosex ual so i follow the golden rule and grant them the same respect if a homosexual was teaching one of my grandchildren id be concerned with what was being taught in the class room i wouldnt give a hoot what the teacher does in bed the only sex life im interested in influencing is mine b sex education you cant learn too much about sex sex education belongs everywhere especially school immigration open canadas immigration doors wider we can always use the talent the skills and the money that comes from other lands marijuana while grass will never be as harmful as alcohol we should be careful about legalizing it it might result in more heavy users pot heads are lazy weve got enough lazy people divorce sometimes its the only route still ive never met anyone who got a divorce without suffering a great deal the breakdown of a mar riage is such a sad sad experience racism theres no place for it in any country in any town in any public place or in any home guns an all out ban on all guns is long overdue marriage its societys finest- institution if a certain man asked me to marry him id say yes in a heartbeat laughter we need more of it stouffville tribune patricia pappas publisher andrew mair editorinchief alan shackleton editor debra weller director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of distribution vivian oneil business manager pamela nichols operations manager retail sales 905 8404100 oassmms 905 6402100 fax 905 6405477 emml ffv3 hetribistarca 6244 main st 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