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p 4 the tribune thursday june 5 1997 st thursday june 5 1997 vol 141 no 28 the tribune send your letters to the editor to the address below editor a b election signs have to go candidates had a lot on their minds monday night but that does not excuse them from their responsibil ities one of these that has been sorely neglected is the removal of election signs the area is still littered with them and they were supposed to have been removed before election day jean charest leader of the progressive conserva tives was soundly rebuked in the media for arriving at his polling station on monday in his campaign bus emblazoned with his photograph how are we to sup pose the local candidates will see that all their sig nage is down when the leaders are oblivious to the laws there are actually stiff fines associated with election rules however the sign regulations are bla tantly ignored certainly a majority are picked up but all the campaigns leave the odd sign standing for that last minute appeal some are on private proper ty but most are still on the roadsides we in the media were restricted from pubhshing poll results three days before the balloting yet the signs restrictions were obviously ignored not only are the signs left up a breach of election rules etiquette and fair democracy there is another reason for their removal theyre an eyesore cohgitulatlons donovan pe entire country united behind you in 15 second one womans story the fight to get off welfare to our government at all levels politicians and any who feel at all concerned it may perhaps be especially beneficial to those who do not feel con cerned 1 am writing as a representative of the financially meek and as a recipient of social assistance i will not waste my wordage defending how i got into this position simply for the sake of the narrowminded individuals who choose to follow the mass con sciousness of stereotypical dogma instead of expe riential truth i instead wish to broach the subject of what this government intends to do about correcting this seri ous problem of poverty that plagues a large portion of our population and furthermore hope to inspire a spark in the restoration of consciencefor humani ty the government mandate as always is money and the budget specifically indeed the budget is a reflection of years of poor management and the abil ity to see clearly into solving apparent problems however when will a government understand that they cannot continue to sweep problems under the rug and expect to come up smelling like roses the current government chose to make drastic cutbacks to the social assistance programs not only did they cut monthly cheques but they cut off the very few opportunities that were available to assist people off of the program these programs were not very effi ciently designed nor were they promoted by social workers one would have had to already know about a program and then push their way through red tape to participate in one so conclusions were made that their inefficiency suggested that they were disposable unemployment insurance recipients are still privy to some support retraining motivational self- employment and educational programs as are work mans compensation recipients uic recipients also have extended benefits options while they are participating in such programs why because the government knows that the next step for these indi viduals would be welfare yet what of those of us who are already on social assistance- many of us who never even had the option receiv ing unemployment insurance prior to being in this situation the government says sorry its our job to cut back families should do a better job of supporting guest column each other and neighbors should show more good will etc basically what they refuse to say is that they really have no clue and that they will only choose goals that they know they can attain from their limited beliefs sure it is easy to cut the bud get when you put your conscience on the shelf so let me give you a clue you cant know what is required to reduce the dollars spent on social assis tance until you know us you cant conclude that any of us are satisfied by remaining on this system yes it does appear that some are very happy to take advantage i encourage you to be less superficial and look deeper if you have never had to live with the humil iation of this experience or the daily fear for basic survival you cannot know the truth neither can you know the disempowerment of this situation so disempowering in fact that a great many have lost the belief in the value of their own vote you cannot know the helplessness of a mother who watches her children suffer this experience with an ever growing feeling of worthlessness of self and the repercus sions of this as future adults nor can you see how the children of those who do have suffer the repercussions of a materiallydriven society and sacrifice their own conscience and natural state of caring and giving when my children are not wearing 150 running shoes and brand name designer jeans or cant afford the opportunities of very expensive school excursions and extracurricular activities they are ridiculed and humiliated by other children my heart goes out to the children on both sides of the tracks for they have been taught by society that val ues are dollar based figures rather then fundamental principles of decency i propose a dare to our government i dare the government to prove that they are not thriving off of the dependency of others and help facilitate empowerment of the people of all walks of life i dare them to give up their stereotypes of what we the financially meek are truly about i myself am an educated individual in an effort to climb out of this situation i went back to college to study advertising and since graduating as an honor student 4 years ago have not been able to find sta ble employment to support a family of three i now struggle to pay off a 6000 student loan and can only afford to pay the interest off each month i have been harassed by a government enlisted collection agency and even told by the credit collector that i should stop watching soap operas and drinking beer get a job and take care of my responsibilities to this debt i hardly watch any television at all nor do i drink i spend my time looking for employment and hacking away at an old computer so that i may hopefully upgrade my skills to an employable level i am constantly working towards selfimprovement and conscientious living i hardly ever slip into self- pity or apathy and always try to consider those even less fortunate then myself i volunteer my time to assist others with motivational counseling and am also volunteer board member of a registered charita ble organization so here is my offer to help decrease the debt and the expenditure to social assistance hire me i have the experience necessary that would help the government to better understand how to resolve this problem you wont even have to get your hands dirty for i have enough valid personal experience to milk some wisdom from already i also have the vision and drive to reach for goals that others would think unat tainable this is the flower that i have cultivated out of the manure of life and have the experience and will to help others do the same i dont want your handout dollars it is not a gift given in kindness but an enforced and therefore resented tax on income which feels more like a penalty to those losing it then an opportunity to learn and feel the value and joy of sharing yet until myself and others like me are given the opportunity to contribute we have no choice and we must eat our children must eat even if their food is tainted by the resentment of others and they grow into resentful adults there is an ancient mayan saying in lakech which translated loosely means i am another your self may this letter help you to remember the part of yourself that has been forgotten and deprived of the right to live and love life with dignity free of the fear of survival it is that part in each of us that makes the highest contribution to the whole janice dye mayaswebidirectcom stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper patricia pappas publisher andrew mair editorinchief julie caspersen 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 about us news 905 6402100 retail sales 9050402100 classifieds 905 6402874 distribution 9056402100 fax 905 6405477 email thetribistarca 6244 main st stouffville ont l4a1e2 tha stouffville tribune pub lished every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distribution group of commu nity newspapers which includes ajaxpickering news advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance brampton guardian burlington post cityparent collingwoodwasaga beach con nection 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