IT HAS occurred to me that

I would make a better

finance minister than Paul

Martin. So would my old
Mum.

1 know little about the mysteries

of high finance and she knew even
‘Tess. But f know about low finance
and can read a bank statement.
Even if Tcoulda'’t my bank manag-
er would read it for me.

“Doug,” he would say, “we love
you, But there is a limit to our
affection, Look at the bottom line
on this here account and you will
see what that limit is.”

Finance ministers don’t do that.

’ Hence the disappearing dollar.
Hence also the tax hikes that will
hit you come the next budget. plus
the GST they promised to get rid
of, and all those “ternporary™ sur-
taxes.

_ We are ruled by the halt, the
lame, the blind and the crazy, And
there is no Saviour to cure our ills.
So nothing will be done until we
‘meet the financial brick wall.

Which is what happened in New
Zealand.

When B.C. had its first billion-
dollar budget, Wacky Bennett
thought it was a great thing. It was,
too, because although he was

“. Spending more we were paying our
. way. And you could buy a bottle of

:. plonk for two bucks.

_ .’ What is the B.C. budget now?
Never mind. The NDP probably

_ Spends more than a billion on paper
‘clips, while the federal debt is com-
-prehensible only to computers.

But still the spending goes on.

-| -In December, Ontario got the glad

_“news that all families earning up to

“', $60,000 a ‘year will be eligible for
“ subsidized day care.

“The deal was cooked up by
-Ontario socialists and those Ottawa
socialists who claim to be Liberals.

: All it will cost is $300 million over

- three years.

In Edmonton, the feds are giv-

ing $12 million “‘to,develop the
French community in Alberta.’

‘+ These days that's peanuts. But
as my old Mum used to say, ‘‘Look

after the pennies and the pounds

_Will look after themselves.”

. Politicians are like bank rob-
bers. They grab and spend.

oug
Collins

ON THE OTHER HAND

They have spread money around
like confetti. Now they have run
out of the stuff, But you can bet
they still won't touch things like
equalization payments to the “have-
not provinces,” which include
Quebec.

Don’t ask me why Quebec is
seen as a “have-not.” Not unless ‘
you want a rude answer.

“Equalization” is a case of rob-
bing Peter to pay Paul. and Martin
should tell those beggars to root,
hog or die.

Would that be tough? A 10-cent

‘ dollar would be. tougher.
On top of equalization there are.

the endless support programs the
Atlantic provinces get. I once did a
TV program on them and staggered
under the list..

Then there’s Canada’s “social
safety net.” It is seen as sacrosanct.
But in the harsh world of bank bal-
ances and bankruptcy nothing is
sacred.

The alternative to reducing the
size of that net is what happened in
Mexico. When I was there a couple
of years ago they introduced the
“new peso.” They were the old

pesos with three zeroes knocked off
* the end,

Now, their mess is being seen as
our mess, loo, So it may be time to
re-write that old song.

Altogether now, let’s sing, North
of the Border, Up Mexico Way.

. The safety net keeps the unem-
ployed where they are instead of

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obliging them to do a bit of rooting
and hogging.

And it is partly responsible for
our immigration iness. [fil weren’t
so safe more people would be out
rooting, and they certainly wouldn't
Want immigrants competing with
them for jobs. As things are they
don't mind.

And do TL have to mention the
billions still going down the drain
to keep Zimbabwe and other basket
cases happy, not to mention the
army of bureaucrats in CIDA —
the Canadian International
Development Agency?

My old Mum always said that
charity begins at home.

We the people are also to blame,
Mention cuts of any kind and we
start bleating. Hit the other guy but
not me.

Seniors bleated when
Mulroncy’s regime wanted to
reduce the rate of old age pension °
indexing.

Now the “snowbirds” v. ho bog
olf to the U.S. have got up a peti-
tion aimed at keeping Canadian

medicare benefits for months while
they snooze in the sun.

Uf they can afford to spend their
winters in Florida they can afford
private inedical insurance.

I said long ago that we were on
our way to becoming a Third World
country, And now the Washingron
Post and the Wall Street Journal ave
saying the same thing,

As my old Mum used to say,
you can’t have your cake and eal it,
tao,

KEN BAXTER

LAWYER
24 Years
Experience

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