4 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2003 EDITORIAL with Hartley Coles 59 Willow Street North Acton, Ontario L7J 1Z8 email: thenewtanner@on.aibn.com (519) 853-0051 Fax: 853-0052 Frances Niblock Mike OLeary Ellen Piehl Maggie Petrushevsky Angela Tyler Ken Baker Danielle McIsaac Hartley Coles Publisher Ted Tyler Editorial Advertising and Circulation Composing Marie Shadbolt Bruce Cargill Distributed to every home in Acton and area as well as adjoining communities.ADVERTISING POLICY Every effort will be made to see advertising copy, neatlypresented, is correctly printed. The publisher assumes nofinancial responsibility for typographical errors or omis- sions in advertising, but will gladly reprint without charge that part of an advertisement in which an error may occurprovided a claim is made within five days of publication. A year ago this corner of The New Tanner was concerned about the deregulation of electricity in Ontario. We predicted that the decision of then Premier Mike Harris would have re- percussions for his successor, who was then unknown. We wrote that, Judging by the experiences of California and Alberta, where electricity was deregulated, it could be a disaster. In both the US state and the province, prices went sky high and there were brown-outs and blackouts to contend with. In Alberta, Premier Ralph Klein had to retain his popu- larity by sending large cheques to consumers hit by the huge increases. The inevitable happened and now Premier Ernie Eves is do- ing his best to control the near disaster that struck Ontario in September when hydro bills hit the ceiling. The situation was compounded by slick sales people who got people to sign contracts at hydro rates double what they had been under Ontario Hydro. Like Premier Ralph Klein who sent rebate cheques to Albertans to preserve his government, Premier Ernie Eves has sent $75.00 cheques to Ontario consumers. Credit is to come on hydro bills for prices above the 4.3 cents per kilowatt, which will last until 2006. In any event Ontario, on the decision of Mike Harris, went headlong into almost the same mistakes made in Alberta and California against the wishes of the vast majority of consum- ers. Hindsight is no sight but it is hard to hold back from noting that we told you so a year ago. All that preparation and its all over in one short day, la- mented a lady tired out from the exertion of preparing for Christmas. Its incredible. She said. And it is if Christmas and its spirit is only confined to one day. We need to ask whatever happened to the Twelve Days of Christmas, which once marked the holy day festival. Only churches, which follow the liturgical calendar, seem to follow a festival, which marks the birth of Christ these days. Unlike the commercial aspect where the Christmas season starts as soon as Halloween is over, the religious aspect of Christmas doesnt begin until Christmas Eve, following the weeks of Advent. It then extends to the feast of Epiphany on January 6, the Twelfth Day of Christmas, which commemo- rates the visit of the Three Wise Men to the Christ child, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. At one time Epiphany was referred to popularly as Little Christmas. There has been much speculation about the identity of the Three Wise Men over the centuries. It has generally been be- lieved they were familiar with the course of the stars. When an unfamiliar bright star rose in the east it was like a signal that something unusual was happening. The Wise Men fol- lowed the star until it stopped over the stable at Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Artists portray them riding on camels. Some scholars have suggested they were minor kings of Asia Minor. Relatively little else is known about them because the Scriptures recount they went home to their own countries af- ter they presented their gifts at Bethlehem to avoid King Herod. Since Epiphany falls on Monday, most churches will cel- ebrate on the day (Sunday) previous. The exceptions are the churches, which follow the Julian calendar such as the East- ern Orthodox and eastern rites of the Catholic Church. So carols will be sung and cres will still be in the churches on Sunday as the Christmas season ends. To the editor, I would like to congratulate Mike OLeary for his excellent column, Where does the buck stop? and also your paper for putting it into print. This article is a sad look at the towering in- competence and waste of our Liberal Government. The most vivid example of this waste is the disastrous Gun Reg- istration Program, which is projected to cost over $1 billion of our money. On the surface this is bad enough, but what about the other bucks that will go right down the drain with it? These are the hidden costs that will prob- ably never come to light. i.e. ?What other government de- partments have contributed to this program and how have they cov- ered it up? ?How much have the 2.5 mil- lion registered gun owners in Canada spent on meeting the reg- istry requirements? Even at an extremely conservative estimate of $100.00 per person, this adds up to $250 million dollars. In Ontario alone, with all the firearms safety courses, text- books, examination fees, storage, and safety locking devices re- quired to meet the Gun Registry Laws, millions more have been spent by the law abiding citizen who owns a firearm. This does not take into account the money spent by local police services and the OPP who are required to gear up and deal with gun control leg- islation. This expense comes out of all taxpayers pockets whether they own a gun or not. Many people who have been following the Gun Control farce feel that the bill for every- one could be much higher. Indeed, rumours have it that the cost could be $2 billion and still not working right. Even the Au- ditor General can never uncover all the extra costs that are and will remain hidden. At least two years ago our MP for Halton knew that the Gun Registry bill had gone up to $600 million, a far cry from the $2 mil- lion originally forecast, but Mr. Reed just barked and clapped on cue like all good Liberal MPs who, once elected to Parliament, fulfil their trained seal act with Jean and Paul and the back room boys calling the shots. We all must remember this when it comes time to elect a new MP for Halton. We are seeing two of the most important institutions in Canada being neglected, our armed forces and the health care system. We all know our armed forces are in tat- ters and our health care system needs more of everything. Also, remember that we still have far too many hungry families being fed from food banks, to tolerate any more waste on ill conceived Government Plans. Lets concentrate on getting tough with the REAL gun crimi- nals and stop chasing sport shooters and hunters. Bob Pilgrim Georgetown MOMS TO MOMS: On Wednesday, December 18th, the ladies of Acton Coffeebreak and Moms-to-Moms, in conjunction with the congregation of Bethel Christian Reformed Church, packaged eight baskets for the Halton Hills Community Support Christmas assistance program. The CoffeeBreak Ladies and the Bethel congrega- tion have been doing baskets for several years and it gets more enjoyable every time. As an added bonus to their Basket Day they were entertained by the children in the StoryHour program (ages 3 to 5) with Christ- mas songs and recitations that the children have practised for several weeks. CoffeeBreak is a non-denominational bible study program that meets Wednesdays at 9:30 11:00 am at Bethel CRC. They also offer several chil- drens programs for ages 3 to 5, with a nursery supplied for infants and toddlers, and are starting a new session on Wednesday, January 8th with a craft day and always love to see new faces. Moms-to-Moms is a biblically based parenting program where experienced women teach and encourage younger women in their relation- ships with their husbands and children. Those interested in joining, or have any questions, may contact Jeanne Brennan at 853-3962 for Coffeebreak or Diane Leferink at 853-4493 for Moms-to-Moms.- Submitted photo Gun program papered over Twelfth Night Told you so