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economist sun stouffville tribune saturday aug 21 1999 3 federal affairs returning tnli money ri by patrick casey staff writer he federal government has listened to canadians plea for tax relief when finance minister paul martin releases his annual budget early next year he will divide the more than 5billion surplus between income tax cuts l and debt reduction last weeks announcement arrives less than gne month after the canadian chamber of commerce released a detailed tax reduction strategy creating 9 bil- lion in tax savings over two years with no cuts to social programs and provincial leaders followed that lead earlier this month when they agreed to ask ottawa for 45 billion in immediate tax relief but vaughankingaurora mp maurizio bevuacqua said despite the recent hue and cry his liberal partys commitment to lower taxes dates back more than three years when you think about it we have been talking about this issue before the premiers were ever talk ing about it our recommendations are written in black and white in our reports he pointed out the chambers have been quite supportive of our agenda for tax cuts canadians have helped to defeat the deficit and create this surplus some of the money should bvretume relief they deserve our first tax cuts were targeted to lowincome canadians and now everyone will benefit up to the middle class r the liberals have already com mitted to 165 billion in tax cuts over the next three years resulting in a savings of 305 this year for a family of four with a dual income of 75000 but oak ridges mpp frank klees said ottawa has witnessed the courage of provinces such as ontario and alberta which provide ed tax relief long before it was fash ionable there is no doubt the role of the provinces is becoming more and more significant and as provincial leaders gain a stronger voice oh- national issues the federal govern ment has to listen to that explained klees the conservative party whip this is hot revenue generated by a business it is money taken from their paycheqtie unfortunately we still hear the rhetoric from some of the politi cians at the federal level who want to spend money on social pro grams vlmjsurprised because most people who were stuck in that j philosophical rut have been forced out by reality the only way to sus tain social programs is through a strong economy this is not revenue generated by a business it is money taken from their paycheque he addecl if there is a surplus it simply means the government hastaken mqr2 from the taxpayers than they need tt only stands to reason the i right thing to do is return the money ruth burkholder president of the markham board of trade said thetiberlsjdid not go far enough oh tax cuts especially when the middle class those earning between 30000 and 60000 a year already pay a federal tax rate of 26 percent and canada pension plan pre miums will increase by 114 per cent on jan 1 and the federal debt still stands at 540 billion we are not getting the response we warited to hear from the federal government but its still better than nothing at this point she said they just havent gone as far as mey should have the liberals are still concerned more with new programs and that is just hot necessary when the debt is so high canadians shdutdfeel that these tax rebates aire sufficient and not just a token adding to the growing list of tax- cut proponents is the federal conservative party which planstb release a report later this year proposing aj5rbmontax cut included ui theyrepowwiubea recommendation to raise canadas top tax rate from 60000 to 90000 cutting the tax rate on capital gains to help small businesses create jobs and raising the basic personal exemption from 7000 to 10000 in an effort to remove more low- income canadians from the tax rolls entirely crime york regional police step up watch after jews beaten sports carl myers award most prestigious on alert for ripple effect dawe miller coach of 99 by mike adler staff writer police and jewish institu tions in york region are onalert after violent attacks against jews in north york and california were not an island up here york regional police deputy chief armahdxabarge said yesterday rv eventslike the aug 10 shoot ings at a jewish community cen tre m los angeles and the beat ing of two elderly men beside a bathurst street synagogue last priday tend to have ka- ripple effectohe said i 4cihrio3brki the two seniors aged 66 and 79 were ambushed and beaten by two young men who made no attempt to rob them staff insp paul sorrel said all york region police districts wentfdii alert after the los angeles incident fi he said police cant reveal siiow they have stepped up secu rity to protect the i regions jewish community canadas third- largest c- the canadian jewish congress representing many institutions in the region is said to be arranging a meeting on security next month but though the organization has publicly asked its members to be more vigilant and take more cautious measures its public affairs director danny roth added this week it never talks about security measures jfor obvious reasons haterelated incidents chieflyyerbal confrontations and vandalism do happen in york region said const andre crawford investigated many during his six years with the yrp intelligence unit he suspects many moire were never reported to police two or three years ago crawford recalled a thornhill man was horrified to find his mercedes totally covered with spraypainted swastikas and death threats such crimes can terrorize neighbourhoods and they are often frustrating for investiga tors because the vandals are rarely caught he said v gramord advised victimsof hateinspired vandalism to call pouceright away or at least get a photo taken before repainting a lot of timespeople just want jtp get it out of sight the evi dence is gone in january when a swastika was discovered on a door behind temple har zion in thornhill there wasnt much that could be done a senior staff member there rsaid this week we try not to keep ourselves locked in because we should be an open place were a house of religion h messages of hate are not oniy- directed at jews grawford recalled when a man returned to his car in richmond hill and found it defaced with a sltir against pakistanis bnai brith canada main tains a hotline 18008922624 for anyone to report anti-semi- tism and hatemotivated crime or harassment this week the group urged anyone wffoftnemdtjdi batiist street attack at vlewmount avenue- around 7 pm friday or any suspicious activity in the area to call the hotline or contact 13 division of toronto police labarge said the force does not have enough haterelated incidents to keep a fuurtime unit going but it does have pro- cedures and specially trained personnel td draw on during investigations in general a hate crime is a criminal offence motivated by hate or bias toward the victims race religion ethnic group sex ual orientation or disability in such cases judges may give criminals a stiffer sentence by bruce stapley correspondent veteran stouffville softball coach- dave miller has been honoured with the whitchurchstdufrville softball associations carl myers memorial award the associations most prestigious award goes armuauyid the wssa coach who best exempmes me virtues of sac rificial dedication to his or her players along with leadership and sportsman- ship ro w v miller is a 12yeaf veteran girls soft- ball coach wh fed the 1998cablefech stingers to a berth in me provincial womens softball champi- onshfinair c t 4bl xhym this season he is assisting with the towns bantam girlsrep team v he regularly offers his yolunteerser- vices whenever a provincial level boys or girls tournament is held in stouffville v tjaveisjustadear sonf5praisedcliff tjiinkeldi who has had a long r gommuhity ball association which decides me winner of the memorial award each year v i believe he took a group of players whdhad a certain amount of ability and got them to come through when it meant me most thats the sign of a goodcoach miller received the award at memorial park during last nights open ing ceremonies for the ontario amateur softball association midget a championships the award is a tribute to the late carl myers a longtinie rep boys coach who led the vandprf- stouffville juniors to an oasa title in 1988 1 took a grouip of players whc had a certain amount of ability and got them to cdmethroiigh wrien itmeant the mpstftiaft theigri of a good coach he alsohelped fpundthe stouffville merchante v team tbat yvdri the f oasa junior mens eliminations in 1990 and 1991 c last nights ceremonies also includ- ed the preseriratiori pf the 1999m underwood memorial award to- jay nesbitt anid mark french the award jgdes to the member of trie stouffville midget boys rep team who best exem plifies tiie qualities of sportsrhahship ariddedication to the game midgets coc6ach ken wood said nesbitt apitcher and french a pitcher and catcher have combined a high level of talent with unmatched dedication thisseasori im very proud of them wood said they came to all the practices arid they do aiiything to get to the games despite their work schedules its hard to find ahybne these days with that dedica tion