The site titled "Harrisville on the Web". Some of you might have
already seen the site as it's under the lglobal domain, but if not, it's
worth checking out.
SAVE OUR DEMOCRATIC HERITAG=
E
![3D"Harris"](3D"haris.jpg")
A Super Toronto Means Toronto Citizens will=
be 2nd Class Ontarians
A Super Toronto Government Means Super Spen=
ding
It Means Big Business Democracy =
It Means a Political Snow Job
Government that can't reach the people
is worse than no government at all. I would have thought that if the basi=
c
roots of municipal democracy were going to change, if the way of governme=
nt
in Toronto was to be radically altered, that the decision would be made
by people who are politically active in the current municipal system and
not by Tory Municipal Affairs Minister Al Leach on behalf of Mike Harris.=
Their proposal of eliminating the mayors and boroughs and replacing them
with a super city is just more of the Common Nonsense Revolution. Most
people had thought it was Metro Chairman Allan Tonks and his council that=
would be scrapped, with the powers sent back to local government . . .
an idea that makes more sense than a huge impersonal Toronto government.<=
BR>
2nd Class Citizens: The 836 municip=
alities
outside of Toronto will have local government while we will not. Toronton=
ians
will be 2nd class Ontarians with no access to local government. Citizens
will be powerless and there will be only party machine politics as indepe=
ndents
will not be able to afford the cost of running. In the end it will lead
to social unrest and violence as a frustrated population fights back in
the only way left.
Super Spending: The Harris attempt
to sell the plan on the idea money would be saved by scrapping municipal
politicians is silly since their salaries only add up to one percent of
the total budget. What will happen is that new super government will begi=
n
with appointees that are paid phenomenal amounts with the government argu=
ing
that they have to be paid a fortune because people in the private sector
like the president of General Motors get that much and they want to attra=
ct
talent. It never occurs to them that people that work because of money
and not dedication are people you want to weed out. No money would be sav=
ed,
you can be sure of it. Most municipalities are better with their budgets
than people think so don't be surprised when the new merged services actu=
ally
cost more than the old ones. This has happened already in places like New=
York. In 1987 the U.S. Federal Advisory Committee on Inter-Governmental
Affairs reported that amalgamation of services had proved to be costly
and that they no longer supported the idea. A similar study in the United=
Kingdom found that larger governments weren=92t cheaper.The Tories should=
not consider changing the municipal system even one tiny bit unless they
can prove there will be real savings. Imagine how outraged Mike Harris
would be if the Prime Minister announced he was going to change the struc=
ture
of the Ontario Provincial system. I don't think we can allow Harris to
set an example where Provincial politicians make radical and fast changes=
to the municipal system. If it ain't broke don't fix it - why don't Mike
and his Mechanics listen to common sense?
Big Business Democracy: The Tories
aren't really trying to put this through in order to save money or becaus=
e
of pure and honest motives. It is clear that the Harris Tories don't like=
local councils because mavericks and NDP people get elected and prevent
them from controlling everything. It makes it easier if the premier has
an appointed super-mayor to push around instead of a bunch of small elect=
ed
mayors that are often uncooperative. This is a Big Business Democracy whe=
re
company presidents and others considered upper crust investors will have
access to and control of the government. It will not be a government of
the people because it won't be able to reach them.
Small Town Ontario will find itself=
competing for industry with a super- slick Toronto Super Mayor. Instead
of getting spillover benefits, the communities outside the super city wil=
l
lose industry as the super council promises a new environment where there=
will be no municipal government or opposition to any plans. Small town
residents will see that their MPPs built a super Toronto while cutting
and robbing the people at home.
Political Snow Job: This is being f=
orced
through the legislature without proper debate. We are told it is a done
deal. Done in back rooms I guess. They plan to strong-arm the municipalit=
ies
- but how? What if a municipality like North York for example, refused
to go along and seceded from Ontario? What if the citizens refuse to acce=
pt
it in Toronto? Do we go to jail, or get beaten by the riot squad? It will=
start with Tory PUSH POLLS - a form=
of polling where they ask a question you can't say no to, like, "=
Do
you agree we should lower taxes by eliminating the municipal governments?=
"
Then they will say they have a majority and go ahead. Here
is my poll - Do you think we should be 2nd=
Class Citizens in Ontario? Do you think Mike Harris should be allowed to
destroy our Democratic Heritage? Do you think we need a Super Harrisville=
or Super Politicians that will cost more money than what we have now?
Save our Democratic Heritage: What
will happen is that the roots of democracy will be destroyed in the Toron=
to
region. Perhaps Al Leach, Allan Tonks, Tom Jakobek and other Tories smile=
about this and the rich appointments they plan to get, but I don't. We
have to wake up before it's too late and start a Days
of Action series of protests to save our Democratic Heritage.
How about it? -- A Heritage Revolution, by the=
people of Toronto. Let's throw Mike Harris and his Hillbillies out of tow=
n
and never invite them back.
Harrisville on the Web . . . October 31, 1996 . . . Plea=
se
print copies of this item as a flyer.
NEWS from the Harrisville C=
addy
Shack:
David Moll and others at the school boards
are now campaigning actively against Mike Harris. Doctors
have rejected a deal with Harris, and this is wise because The Tories wan=
't
the power to relocate doctors - moving them about like pawns on a chess
board as they slash hospital and medical spending. In
the Super City news, it is reported in The Star that all this whopper of
a plan would save is 9 million dollars. An amount the new super Mayor wou=
ld
likely spend for lunch. Alan Tonks calls the idea of the super city almos=
t
spiritual - perhaps he was there in the back room when the deal was cut
and saw something ghostly in the cigar smoke.
The Toronto Star continued its terrible covera=
ge
of the Days of Action! march today with another article on the crowd size=
=2E
Now they have a bunch of experts claiming the crowd had to be smaller tha=
n
originally estimated. By next week they will be reporting that no one was=
really there and it was all a hoax. What I dislike most about this covera=
ge
is that you get the feeling The Star
is doing it for two reasons - one is that while you are arguing about num=
bers
you never have to discuss the real issues or what the protest really mean=
t.
The second reason is they seem to want to argue the numbers down to kill
the historical significance of the event. I remember a crowd that stretch=
ed
from the Exhibition to Queen's Park. Later, stopping in font of the conve=
ntion
centre, I tried to better estimate the size, but the people and anti-Harr=
is
chants overwhelmed me. Then something else hit me - from that moment on
I believed it possible that a peaceful revolution of the people could hap=
pen
and we could turf the Tories out. I think a lot of people saw that, and
will keep up the fight against Harris. The folks at The Star seem to fear=
that and don't want to report it.
The Toronto Transit Commission is
reviewing tapes of pickets who blocked the Wilson yards last Friday with
bonfires and vehicles. The commission is also asking people to come forwa=
rd
with evidence that pickets treated them violently. I am skeptical about
just how truthful this evidence would be. It certainly won't stop the lab=
our
movement from taking action and picketing when necessary.
Today's news (Oct 29) is
that lower interest can't get the economy going when it has been so wound=
ed
by cuts. Imagine the effect of more cuts. At the Toronto Sun, columnists
have been breaking away from the pro Harris line of the paper and in the
future they may lose solidarity totally as moderates in the right wing
abandon Mike Harris.
A Sun poll shows that half of Ontarians are
against Tory cutbacks in the wake of the hugely successful Days of Action=
!
protests. Considering it was a Sun poll it likely means that about 80 per=
cent of the people have had it with the Harrissment. John Wright of Angus=
Reed says "These numbers show the beginnings of a movement."
So where has John Wright been? -- The movement was well underway long bef=
ore
Saturday and long before Harrisville on the Web came into existence.
Mike Harris' Tory hatchetman Tom Long <=
FONT COLOR=3D"#000000">is
pushing uneasy Tories toward more extreme policies, so now is the time
to make him Tom Long Gone. The fax numbers of Tory members can be obtaine=
d
through the link to the legislature on this page. People who want to writ=
e
to members, urging them to ease up and defy Tom Long and Mike Harris shou=
ld
send a message. Many Tory delegates - and I talked to a couple of them
briefly early Saturday morning, though I was a protestor and not a Tory
- are fed up with the party's extremist stance and may be ready to engine=
er
a revolt.
A rare opportunity exists for an anti-Harris c=
oalition.
Now that municipal groups and mayors have
been angered a coalition could put just about every municipal and provinc=
ial
campaign organization out knocking on doors. Labour groups, womens groups=
,
students, arts groups and many others could aid in a campaign against the=
Tories. Now is also the time to press the two main opposition parties for=
guarantees that they will not follow the Tory cutback road again. They
shouldn't get any support they don't earn.
Mike Harris now says protests
aren't enough, he needs ideas. Perhaps it doesn't occur to him that if
he has no ideas he should resign. Many of the groups protesting are tryin=
g
present ideas to Mr. Harris, but he will not listen, so his initial respo=
nse
was insulting and lacking in honesty.
More Tory tax relief is
on the way in the form of new legistalion allowing libraries to charge
user fees.
Gerard Kennedy, a Toronto liberal and a=
former director of the Daily Bread Food Bank has emerged as the top candi=
date
for the job of provincial liberal leader. and this means the end of Mike
Harris in the next election, as a strong Toronto liberal is what the Tori=
es
most fear. If NDP leader Howard Hampton also rises in popularity it will
be anybody's guess as to how close to the bottom of the polls the Harris
Majority will go. The problem is that people want Harris out now, not som=
e
time in the future.
The Photo at the top of this page is of=
the provincial education minister - John Snobelen -- taken as a poster
of a clown Mike Harris was dropped by people on the balcony above, and
just before he got chased off the grounds of York U by angry students.
Days of Action! Reports
Ontario Rises: A Peaceful R=
evolution
Begins
I arrived at the Princess Gates=
fairly early, having roller-skated down the protest route from Queen's
Park. In the park the trees were surprisingly green, and against the back=
drop
of the sun-sparkling lake they helped make the spot look the proper place=
to begin the main march of the Days of Action! Toronto Protest.
A lot of union people were already at work, speakers were taking to the
podium, and at the time there was a small-town feeling to everything. The=
se
were people from small town Ontario, the people from the place where I
grew up and the people Mike Harris is supposed to identify with . . . tho=
ugh
that seems hardly possible now. A short while later a flood of mostly Tor=
onto
folks began to arrive, Buzz Hargrove took the podium and I walked over
from the lake and was looking at a Screemers trailer with a lurid vampire=
painted on it. Though it belonged to the Exhibition and not the Days
of Action! it got me thinking of Mike Harris. Hargrove was saying --'=
This
country produces more wealth than it ever did, so why do the Tories say
we can't afford things like unemployment insurance, health care, and so
on' -- I thought of Mike as that vampire, waiting with his convention del=
egates,
in their coffins up the road behind tinted windows at the convention cent=
re.
The news Mike was hoping for was a low turnout so they could come out at
night and create new policies to suck more of the life blood from Ontario=
=2E
October is often dark and gloo=
my,
a time when depression sets in and hope diminishes. Our government really=
lives only in that gloom and not the sunshine that can emerge for those
who try. Mike calls his government a majority government even though ther=
e
never was a majority that wanted massive cuts that affect nearly every
aspect of Canadian life. No one really believes in or votes for a world
financial system that only skims the wealth of nations and returns povert=
y.
Perhaps Mike believes that way, but it is only his people that love to
dwell in the gloom. They are spiritual people, like vampires are spiritua=
l
and will not be satisfied till they hear only the weeping, the wailing
and the gnashing of teeth.
The rest of the people came ou=
t
in the sunshine and in numbers so large it was hard to count them.=
At one point the marchers stretched from the Exhibition to Queen's Park,
and there were still more to come. Filling a two mile route and the large=
avenue that is University Avenue. Natives, teens, costumed people, ordina=
ry
people, disabled people, teachers and union people. From Mike Harris' per=
spective
at the convention centre it could have been nothing less than shocking
to have two hours worth of chanting, whistling, hollering people passing
by. Noise that began when the first marchers started chanting Harris! Har=
ris!
We'll shut you down like Paris! A parade that never seemed to end. And
that wasn't even all of them because another crowd of people opted to jus=
t
skip the march and gather at the legislature. click
this for a photo of the legislature crowd
For me part of the joy =
in
participating was in forming my own view of the event and not getting it
second hand from the media. Our papers and television stations tend to
package everything as quick entertainment. They've created a society so
commercial that the view of things the Tories have isn't unusual. Mike
Harris and his cronies see themselves as businessmen selling a product
- massive cuts to social services and benefits. And they like to see prot=
est
as only the work of unions trying to hold up distribution of the product.=
A businessman that sells you a product that is really nothing is quite
a con man. And a guy who takes things away and makes you think you're get=
ting
something is a crook. The Tories promise a tax cut, which isn't all that
honest to begin with since they are buying votes. Then to pay for that
tax cut they sever whole parts of society, like closing school boards and=
laying off nurses. It is a situation where one half of society is being
fed the other. Society gets turned to ecomomic cannibalism by a governmen=
t
that is also working to kill its own revenues. It's only fast money, beca=
use
massive cutbacks hurt the economy and cause revenues to drop. Most damagi=
ng
of all are the social consequences of it all. If our economy wasn't getti=
ng
a boost from President Clinton's election-year low interest rates we'd
really be in the pits. The Tories are really producing a product called
pain without gain.
Tonight the Tories are =
also
trying to produce another product called damage control. So likely they'l=
l
have their allies at the Toronto Sun or the police department fix the num=
bers
lower, say there were only union jackboots present and so on.
=
What they can't fix is the rea=
lity
of the situation, a million Canadians (525,000 is my revised count=
of today's march -- and still think it may have been more because high
crowd density can quickly double the numbers) are willing to protest rath=
er
loudly, demanding their Tory hides for what they have done already. None
of Mike Harris' press releases can kill the nightmares that will come int=
o
the dreams of his conservatives. That is because the protest was heartfel=
t.
Whether it was Billy Bragg accusing them of lacking family values because=
they don't want to care for their own family -- the people of Ontario .
=2E . or whether it was the two young high school ladies at the podium ac=
cusing
them of cutting their future. . . or whether it was teachers concerned
about such a radical restructuring of Ontario taking place without foreth=
ought,
consultation or care. . . it was heartfelt and it was the real feelings
of the people and not the packaged entertainment the media presents.
So if the government still won=
't
listen, then were the Days of Action! a success? This write=
r
has to say Yes! because an anti-Harris culture has emerged that
will only grow and definitely not die. Yes! because the people are=
saying they just won't lay back and take more of this. . . . and Yes!<=
/B>
because October had some rays of sunshine, and not just the Tory gloom.
**As I mentioned in my early report, th=
e
other papers report lower numbers than I do and their counts vary widely.=
I travelled from one end to of the march to the other. When the marchers
were flowing into the legislature, I was at the front. I then skated slow=
ly
all the way back to the Princess Gates and found that the route was fille=
d
all the way back and there were still marchers coming out of the grounds.=
You try and calculate it -- I have gone over my figures -- two miles of
marching people on a wide avenue like University, plus a crowd at Queen's=
Park, people on the sidewalks and a small crowd still left at the Exhibit=
ion.
One thing that becomes clear is that estimates like 80,000 from some of
the police are totally wrong. I stand by my own count which is much highe=
r.
Apparently the police used a grid system that could not have worked becau=
se
it only measured the crowd around the legislature. So their count is real=
ly
only a guess at how many stayed at the legislature. I took into account
all those who marched and left without hanging around for speeches. The
march lasted for two hours with people from the parade entering and leavi=
ng
through Queen's Park, the University Grounds and down College to Spadina.=
There never was a time when most of the people were gathered in the grid
area the police measured and that is why their count is low. The Days of
Action! people estimate 300,000 which is closer to what I saw.
**The Toronto Sun gives moderate online coverage:=
Breaking away from their usual tough stand against Days of Action! protes=
ts
the Sun's coverage of the Saturday affair appeared favorable and accurate=
=2E
It is unfortunate to have to report that The Sun gave better overall cove=
rage
than The Star or The Globe.
**The Toronto Star Online gives lackluster covera=
ge:
Immediate Star coverage of the event was uninspired and it looked like
they relied on police for info more than they investigated it themselves.=
Rather than report anything positive, the Star print edition continued
to feature a dispute about how many people attended. It was a disappointm=
ent
for me when the Star refused to give Harrisville on the Web its events
listing for Days of Action! events, and a further disappointment to see
such lousy coverage. It almost looked like Mike Harris was the reporter.
There may be a hidden agenda in the Star newsroom. The Days of Action!
coalition has been bringing the union movement (I am not a union member)
a little too close to the people for the Star's comfort.
**The Globe &Mail Online:
Five winos with a bottle, holding a unity singsong on the log brid=
ge
to Hooterville could've got better coverage than the Globe Online gave
the large Days of Action! Saturday rally. Coverage in the print edition
was better, but it was also buried back on page ten.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <=
/B>
Friday in Autumn: Summer is=
over
for Mike Harris
Autumn and sunshine fell like gold on
300 protests across Toronto today (Friday October 25th) as the Days of
Action! protests took on Peace Festival airs. Queen's Park with its Harri=
sville
tent town and the streets leading to the Bay and Wellesley Education Mini=
stry
were like an outdoor mall with protestors strolling, chatting, having a
general good time as they quietly aired their dislike of the Harris Gover=
nment.
If there were loud speakers at some protests, well -- they really weren't=
needed as everyone present knew the reasons. But it is one thing to know
the reasons and another thing to know the government will not answer or
listen. This is a government that grins like a skull as it attacks everyo=
ne,
hitting the weakest and even some of the strongest, wherever it will hurt=
most. It is a Tyranny of the Majority that follows an election strategy
called single-tracking - a strategy where a conservative party plans to
hold power by appealing to 45 percent of the popular vote that may swing
its way while attacking and totally ignoring the outrage of the rest of
the people. These are calculating and heartless politicians that do not
govern for all of the people. They are undemocratic, they make a mockery
of the democratic beliefs our system is founded on . . . and the truth
is that if a government will not represent or govern for the people then
strong action taken to throw the government out is fully justified.
Looking one way I saw some young men and women from High Schools, the oth=
er
way I saw their teachers, mothers and ordinary workers, and police mingli=
ng
with the protestors because they were also a part of it. The Toronto Sun
would have us believe that only steel workers and union radicals protest,=
and it's true they were there -- but only as one group of many. Seems the=
goons and the violent men weren't at the protest, but were up in ivory
towers -- Allan Tonks and Mike Harris -- hollering that they'll huff and
they'll puff and blow our houses down and catch us on hidden cameras if
we dare break the law. But the subways, the streetcars, the city shut dow=
n
and closed up tighter than a drum, in spite of threats from these men.
Tomorrow it'll happen again and protests will happen again. Perhaps Harri=
s
will hide behind numbers and say there weren't enough, perhaps there will=
be so many that won't be possible. But it doesn't matter - I have seen
enough. Canadians in general are quiet and don't protest, but now they
are doing so in large numbers. By tomorrow most of the leaves will have
fallen, and that grinning skull that is Mike Harris will be as obvious
to all as Halloween. <=
/FONT>
All sides have claimed victory after the Frida=
y
action so it makes you wonder if most people thought it was a foot=
ball
game. The point is that the majority of the people now know how deep the
resentment of the policies of the Harris Government is . . . they now kno=
w
that if they continue to support the Harris government they are supportin=
g
widespread social unrest. Today this will be clearer. Winners and majorit=
ies
aren't what this is about . . . it is a long day by day action that will
in the end bring down the government. The Rebels likely had majority supp=
ort
during the American Civil War, but that didn't make them right. Fifty per=
cent
against fifty percent is a civil war, and that is why you must govern for=
all and not just a single majority group in society. In our society that
means you have to address and try to satisfy many often competing interes=
ts,
and Mr. Harris is not doing that. Perhaps some things are illegal, democr=
atic
protest began with illegal acts and most protests border on being illegal=
=2E
The fact that the government has to use hidden cameras in order to find
violations shows how desperate they are to gain some kind of victory of
law or morals.
Big Brother is watching: Allan Tonks has a=
nnounced
( and in a rather nasty tone of voice) that hidden cameras will be used
to catch and convict protestors who break law.
Religious Leaders back Days of Action:
More than tewnty leaders including Anglican Biship Rt. Rev. Terrance Find=
lay
and Cheryl Curtis of the United Church have stated they support the funda=
mental
right to protest cuts to social progams even if those protests involve
civil disobedience.
Health Care Workers including thous=
ands
of nurses, technicians, physiotherapists and others soon to be fired by
the governent will be in the forefront of all future protests against the=
Harris Tories.
Toronto City Council supports Days of Action.
but this may exclude Mayor Barbara Hall who voted to support Days of Acti=
on
while still making statements opposing it in the media.
The Toronto Transit Commission and the Gov=
ernment
have applied for various legal injunctions to block prostests at the TTC,=
airport, etc. This is despite that fact that previous protests have been
peaceful. The riot squad may be hidden behind this as the Harris Governme=
nt
needs a law enforcement issue as an excuse to bring in and use brutal rio=
t
squad tactics. (It is suggested that people planning to protest wear prot=
ective
clothing.)
Environmentalists including government env=
ironment
workers about to be scrapped will be protesting the Harris Government's
elimination of all laws governing corporations in regards to pollution,
etc.
Tory Social Services Minister Janet Ecker =
was
swarmed this week by angry parents and daycare workers. Ms. Ecker walked
into the crowd after a speech, intending to use a child as a photo-op bac=
kdrop
when an angry grandmother shouted at her to get away and the crowd began
to chant "Ecker, Ecker, child care wrecker!" Perhaps daycare
workers aren't taking closures and the proposed $5000 a year cut to indiv=
idual
salaries lightly. I guess this is more Tory tax relief like the same mini=
stry's
22 percent cut to welfare benefits was tax relief.
Postal Workers will form picket lines at t=
heir
stations Friday the 25th and there will be no mail delivery, Garbage Coll=
ectors
will stop work and many Teachers are expected to walk out.
Athough Early protests have been successfu=
l
and peaceful ten anti-hunger Protestors were arrested Today -Wednesday
23rd- for planting winter wheat at the Legislature. The government's use
of police to forcibly remove these peaceful protestors cannot be justifie=
d.
Judges have so far refused to grant injunc=
tions
prohibiting protests at the Pearson Airport and the Toronto Transit Commi=
ssion.
Days of Action co-chair Linda Torney has a=
nnounced
that coporate supporters of Mike Harris will be picketed - including the
Food Terminal, the Molson plant, Honeywell Ltd., Nestle, Laidlaw Transit,=
Loomis Courier and Air Canada, Metro Reference Library, ATT Canada, CN
Tower Restaurant.
The Wellesley-Bay area was closed by a lar=
ge
early Days of Action protest against health care cuts. People in wheelcha=
irs,
pensioners, mothers with babies in strollers, Indians, office workers,
unionists, businessmen and office workers turned out by the hundreds.
=
A small army of Provincial Police will be
hiding in the basement of the legislature of Queen's Park in case any of
the 250,000 protestors expected Saturday try to enter.
An earlier Days of Action! protest took place
in Hamilton, February 23 to 24, 1996: 135,000 people protested aga=
inst
Ontario government cuts.Rallies followed in London, Kitchener-Waterloo
and Peterborough, involving a total of 80,000.
Background Essay:The Tyrann=
y
of The Harris Majority
*Note: Though I criticize The Harris Governmen=
t,
I really am critical of the way all political parties have handled=
the debt crisis. They look at it as a national or provincial problem that=
can be solved by cutbacks. The debt is an international problem and has
to be dealt with at that level. Any financial system that allows half the=
world to sink into poverty is not an acceptable system. Only prosperity
can bring countries out of debt -- cutbacks are only part of the cure and=
no cure at all if they are too large. Governments like the Harris governm=
ent
take too much out of the economy with cuts, cause it to spiral down and
thus their own revenues decrease and that means cuts again. There have
been other methods of raising revenue proposed such as the financial tran=
saction
tax. But governments don't look to new methods, instead they look to the
same conservative thinkers that caused the mess in the first place with
their high-interest-rate induced- recessions.
You might call it the tyranny of
the soft underbelly of society. A soft underbelly of middle-class folks,
mostly white males who voted for Mike Harris and his Conservatives with
the idea of getting a tax cut. A quick look at their platform in the last=
election shows that they have no mandate for the radical changes they hav=
e
made and are instituting. No mandate to eliminate all school boards, co-o=
p
housing - to close hospitals, centres for battered women and lay off nurs=
es
by the thousands - no mandate to attack the poor on welfare, and the sick=
and disabled as well as native groups, universities, artists, labour, stu=
dents,
tenants, the environment . . . a list that goes on and on so that the Day=
s
of Action protestors are from nearly every respected group in society.
And many are even from that soft underbelly of a majority that voted for
Mr. Harris - having believed his hoaky promises without realizing a dange=
rous
and radical agenda was hidden behind those lies.
Promises of a tax cut hide the new fees cha=
rged
everywhere by government. People in wheel chairs have just got a new $25
fee for using wheel trans, and the poor must pay $2 dollars per prescript=
ion.
Some have been cut off competely and left without housing or a mode of
travel. Tax relief that was promised is no relief for the poor whose inco=
me
has been cut and taxed indirectly through fees. It is not hard to see why=
many of these people are protesting loudy at Days of Action! events. Some=
have no where else to go. Once the municipalities face the reality of the=
cutbacks the end result will be taxes and fees and taxes and fees. These
government-off-our-backs conservatives are a monkey on our back more than=
any other government has been. No matter where you go - from school to
your doctor's office, etc - they are there doing damage and causing strik=
es
and protest. More cutbacks lead only to more cutbacks, lower revenues and=
more debt. Closing all school boards and building smaller regional counci=
ls
is a Tory trick to create a new place to dump overpaid Tory hacks while
they oversee the collapse of public education and the beginning of an Ont=
ario
with only private schools. It is unlikely that they will actually save
any money. Our aging population will suffer from hospital closings and
hospitals are parts of local communties and simply can't be shut down at
will without consultation in the community. A government that won't suppo=
rt
reading and libraries will give money to poisoners. That's right - if you=
want to poison the environment with all sorts of pesticides the Ontario
government will pay you to do that.
Many nations face debt, debt caused by the
long term effects the tight money, and high interest rates these conserva=
tive
radicals instituted at the international level. The recessions they creat=
ed
caused more debt, misery and suffering than any government spending. Now
they have returned as our saviours - saviours who help us by shutting eve=
rything
down, killing all the worthwhile and human things in society, and replaci=
ng
them with nothing. Nothing but some vague and silly muttering about the
private sector. I think the Days of Action! people are right to try to
shut the Harris Government down before they damage Ontario beyond repair.=
If they haven't done that already. Ontario is nearly unrecognizable now
- we have government that has declared war on the poor, education, the
sick, women, the arts and the environment.
Sure the Tories promised some cuts and they=
did announce that they would hurt people on social assistance. But here
they did it because they are demagogues who exploit the hate and ill will=
of the people. They are not good democrats who harness the good will of
the population with new programs and incentives. It should be noted that
there has never been a good government that simply destroyed things . .
=2E this is a form of Tory vandalism that is wicked in its cruelty to hum=
an
beings. It is even cruel to many of the same people who elected these rec=
kless
goons. It is not government. They knew that in tough times people worry
someone else might be getting a free ride and used this to get elected.
They are the champions of our hate for one another, and now their policie=
s
have seeded a hatred of them they fear rally leaders may not be able to
control. They need the riot squad and injunctions and police all to block=
a protest before it has even begun. Perhaps most of our politicians have
failed us - witness Metro Chairman Allan Tonks and others - who worry tha=
t
journalists attending a horse race during the protest day may give Ontari=
o
a bad image by reporting the protests. I guess some of our leaders are
people who think it would be nice if we could just sweep the victims of
this Tyranny away - like warts that have fallen from the body. But the
lesson to be learned is that they don't go away, they get angry. In the
long run it is Mike Harris and his Tory vandals who will be sent away .
=2E . sent away but not forgotten -- not forgotten and hated for decades,=
if not forever.
G. Morton, 1996
Harrisville on the web at http://www.magic.ca/grim/action.htm
And http://www.lglobal.com/~command/action.htm
Feedback
The Caddy
65 Front St. W. Suite 0116-199
Toronto, Ontario M5J 1E6
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