6 -The Canadian Champion, Fniday June 27, 1997 SOPINION TH E CANADIAN CHAMPION Box 248, 191 Main St. E., The Canadin Champion, pubished twice weekly at 191 Main St E, Milton, Milton, Ont. L9T 4N9 Ont., L9T 4N9 (Box 248), is one of The Metroland Printing, Pubtishing & Distri- buting Ltd. srnup nf suburban companiet which includen: Ajan / Pickering News Q~7Q1241 dvertiser; Allinton Herald/Courior, Barrie Advance; Brampton Guardian; (905)878 -2341 Bursngton Pnst City Parent; Cnlngwnnd / Wasaga Cnnnectin, East Ynrk Fax: 878-4943 Minror Etobicuke Guardian; Georgetown Indepentent! Actun Free Prets; Kingston Tis Week, Lindsay This Week; Markham Econmist & Sun; Midland / Classified: 875-3300 Penetanguishene Mirror; Mississauga News; Newmarket I Aurora Era Banner; Northumberland News; North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Orillia Tnday, lan Oliver Publisher Oshawa I Whitby I Claringtnn I Port Penny This Week; Peterboruh This Week; Neil Oliver Associate Publisher Richmn Hill I Thornhili I Vaughan Liberal, Scarbnrnugh Mirrnr; Unbridge Stoutlvilte Tribane; Tnday's Seniors. David Bos General Manager Advertising s accepted nn the cnndition that, n the event nI a typographical Rob Kelly Editor errnr, that portion ut the advertising space nccopied by the erroneous item, Karen Huisman Circulation Manager together with a reasnnablo attowance Inn signature, wiII nnt be charged for, bat Teri Casas Oflice Manager the balance of tne aanertisement wili be pulO Inn at the applicable rate. The pab- Tm Coles Productie Manager i amer reserve p t ine pugbst t catego tize adwertieements or dec EMne . Just another unfair tax grab Looking Back ... Many of the services funded by development charges would never see the light of day if local politicians had to face voters and justify why property taxes are going up. It's true that user fees are a fairer means of funding certain types of govemment services because ail taxpayers are not burdened with hav- ing to subsidize specific beneficiaries. However, the line has to be clearly drawn as to what types of services can be traced to specif- ic beneficiaries. Services which benefit the gen- eral community cannot be characterized in this manner and the suggestion that the owners of new properties should pay extra for them is fun- damentally wrong. Building new schools is an ongoing pressure with a growing population, but no govemment flinches in asking senior homeowners or busi- nesses to fund general education. In other words, it is inconsistent to link new capital school con- struction to new subdivision homeowners while ignoring the lack of a link to other ratepayers without school age children, who are asked to pay for education funding for the general good of society. And where is the consistency in asking the owner of a new property to pay for the capital costs of a new police cruiser or firehall, when that same owner will be billed, as will every other property owner in a municipality, to pay for the replacement of an existing firehall used in another part of the municipality? And what about the inconsistency which exists in the tax treatment of the purchaser of an existing property and that of a new property? A family with two children that purchases an exist- ing home, where the current owners have no children, pays nothing in development charges Let's Ta/k $ Taxes wvith P A UL PAGN U ELO for new community centres and libraries, even though they may be adding a burden on existing services. That same family purchasing a new home would. Further, why should the existing owners of that property, say a retired couple, be expected to pay development charges for down- sizing to a new seniors development in the same community? Those who equate the use of development charges to the user pay principle are wrong. Development charges are, for the most part, nothing more than a tax grab disguised as a user fee. Development charges are also a backhanded way of committing ail property owners to future tax increases to pay for the ongoing operating costs associated with capital expenditures. They're a classic example of taxation without representation. Rather than spend unproductive time creating innovative new tax schemes to suck even more out of taxpayers disposable incomes, municipal govemments should be directing their energies towards reducing local tax burdens by providing cost-effective and efficient services to their citi- zens, thus making their communities an attrac- tive place in which to live, work and invest. Last week we goofed, In citing this photo as a group of ladies who shared a 4-H award. In reality, they are: Employees at the Milton branch of the Toronto-Dominion Bank holding a $10,000 cheque from a Wintarlo draw In February, 1979. Standing (from the left) are Judy Thring, Randy Bowsher, Millie Lowe, Eleanor Swanson, and Joani Timbers with Debbie Bradley seated. They, along with Rosemary Harris, Kathy McDonald, Wayne McDonald, and Frances Bates, shared the prize. Rental cleaner than my own Ah, a weekend at the cottage. Relaxing? Nope. It was not one of those put-your-feet-up-and- bask-in-the-sun occasions. I had a mission - get the rental cottage ready for the summer guests. Although I have developed a strong aversion to housework over the years, I found myself in a domestic corner. As usual, I was totally unpre- pared to scoot up to the cottage late Friday after- noon with hubby. He flew home from work and within 15 minutes was on his way. That guy is disgusting. Did he plan the meals for the weekend, pack the groceries, make arrangements for the cats to be fed? No. Meanwhile I had another concern. The 13- year-old had invited three of her friends over for Friday night, with our 19-year-old in charge, so to speak. She had expected me to be well gone by the time she and her crowd invaded the house. And I had not expected to see her flanked by five friends. The tittering females barely noticed my departure for the two-hour drive at 7 p.m. Of course, it made no sense to charge into housework that late at night, so instead, I curled up with a romance. But there was no avoiding Coping when your teenager is taking drugs Many parents are shocked when they find out their teenager is abusing drugs. It happens in the best of families, rich or poor, white or black, sin- gle-parent or two-parent households. Kids experiment with alcohol and drugs for many different reasons - because of peer pres- sure, to relax, or just for kicks. They may also try drinking because mom or dad drinks. Once a child does try alcohol or drugs, other factors will immediately come into play to determine whether they continue to use that drug. If a teenager has fun, he will do it more often. If friends are doing it with him, he is likely to do it again. If it relaxes him when he is upset about an exam or his girlfriend broke up with him, he will use it again. Kids can abuse alcohol or drugs without even knowing it. They may at first drink only at par- ties, then drink when they're alone, then use it to relax, and so on. Each new function of drug-tak- ing is added gradually - no one is addicted when they start. So, you find out your child has been taking drugs. How you react is very important. If you are holier than thou - lecturing your child on Psychology in the '90s the evils of drink, berating him, demanding that he stop - you risk alienating your child or worse, turning him into an abuser who also lies about it. The first thing a parent has to understand about alcohol and drug abuse is that it is usually accompanied by another problem. Rarely is drug abuse the only issue. About 70 per cent of all people who seek treatment for substance abuse have an additional psychological problem above and beyond the substance abuse. In most cases, the treatment of substance abuse is virtually doomed to fail unless the other problems are dealt with too. Unfortunately, people who treat substance abuse are not working closely with those who treat psychological problems. Fifty years ago, alcoholics were consider mentally ill and they were institutionalized. Then came Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which showed that these peo- ple could recover. That set the table for a whole new addiction-treatment industry, one run by recovered or recovering alcoholics. This entire industry was completely divorced from the psy- chiatric field. This dichotomy continues to this day. Recovering alcoholics and drog addicts are not trained to treat depression or panic disorders, while psychologists and other therapists can't bring to the table the unique insight, understand- ing and support of a recovering alcoholic. There is a movement afoot to provide cross- training as a matter of course, so anyone work- ing with substance abuse has training and insights from both the AA and the clinical per- spectives. Parents and teens must understand that the treatment of substance abuse goes beyond detox. To help your child, you must get some assistance for the psychological problems that were feeding the substance abuse. On the Homefront work Saturday morning. Hubby had already set up the scaffolding when we three others dragged ourselves outdoors. The males donned old clothes and proceeded to brighten up the cottage with a fresh coat of satin. I was relegated to the kitchen. Was this sex-role stereotyping or did I overreact? The 'boys' completed their outdoor job in one day, while it took me two to work my way through the inside of the cottage. I decided that I would do a thorough job, not one of those week- ly once-throughs we do every Saturday during the summer. I vacuumed, cleaned light fixtures, scrubbed the toilet bowl, laundered the curtains, and mopped the floors. But gosh, I ran out of week- end, so hubby still has a list of jobs to do, not the least of which is window washing. I also left him those tasks related to plumbing, electricity, carpentry, and motor mechanics, in this case, the tune-up of the rental boat motor. Saturday afternoon, our two teens finally arrived. Our daughter begged off chores because she had to study for exams, while the 19 year old was put to work spreading gravel on the drive- ways and adding a protective coating to our big boat before it was launched. No sooner was the boat in the water than that same big guy was standing at the end of the dock, slalom ski in his hand. Man's work is never donc. Before I re-entered the rental cottage on Sunday, I spent most of the morning doing the mailing for the 150 members of our cottage association. I dragged our international friend into that paperwork until hubby called upon him to help carry a secondhand, non-functioning dryer into the cottage. When hubby wasn't working his way through the chores, he stood by the dryer, puzzling over how to repair it. Sunday night, he finally discovered the answer - a faulty door switch. And to think that our friends had thrown out this machine for a new one. Collectively we achieved our goal. The rental cottage is (almost) ready and most definitely cleaner than either our home or cottage ever is.