The Windsor Star from Windsor, Ontario, Canada • 1

Promised -7 retail sales tax to cost $1 billion CORNWALL, Ont. (CP) Liberal Premier David Peterson made his first billion-dollar election promise Wednesday when he pledged to lower Ontarios sales tax by one percentage point to seven per cent to offset the effects of the federal goods and services tax. The sales tax cut would coincide with the Jan. 1 implementation of the federal tax, Peterson said while campaigning for the Sept. 6 vote.

THIS IS NOT the time to raise taxes, this is the time to reduce taxes, put money back into the pockets of Ontarians, and stimulate investment and the creation of jobs," he said, adding hell also ask Bank of Canada Governor John Crow to lower interest rates. An average Ontario family would retain $350 to $400 a year as a result of the tax cut, a news release from the premiers office said. Peterson said it would also create or save 15,000 jobs, increase the provinces economic growth by .2 per cent, lower inflation by .4 per cent and reduce unemployment by .3 per cent. Provincial Treasury spokesman George Cook said the cut would cost the' government $275 million in the 1990-91 fiscal year because it would take effect more than half way through the year, which ends in April. However, the cost could soar as high as $1.1 billion in the next fiscal year, which would be fully affected by the reduction, Cook said.

But Nixon refused to rule out program cuts. "I cant make any particular promises, he said in a telephone interview from his campaign office in Paris. I can certainly say that essential programs will be maintained." Nixon said he supports a sales tax cut because there has been no federal relief from high interest rates and a strong Canadian dollar. It puts $1.1 billion in purchasing power back in the hands of the people and we think this will have a stimulating effect on the economy, he said. However, Opposition NDP Leader Bob Rae called the promise a "total act of bribery" and said it will never be fulfilled.

Peterson, who raised the sales tax to eight per cent from seven per cent in the 1988 budget, has often criticized the goods and services tax, which would cover everything from haircuts to taxi rides and some kinds of food. BUT THE PREMIER has stfld the province would slap its own sales tax on top of the federal levy, although it wouldnt be expanded to cover the range of items to be taxed by Ottawa. Opposition parties say the tax-on-tax plan would rake in millions of extra dollars. But the Liberals maintain they would lose money since the provincial tax would no longer be applied on top of a 13.5-per-cent manufacturers tax, which is being replaced by the GST. Related stories on A2, A3, A5 Asked how the province would replace the lost revenue, he said: Well make every effort to find it from within.

The province might have to borrow money but social programs would not be cut, he added. THROUGHOUT THE campaign, Peterson has promised millions of dollars in new initiatives but the sales tax cut is among the largest. A Liberal government would be able to slash the tax because Treasurer Robert Nixon has balanced his last two budgets, Peterson said Wednesday. Weather Low tonight 17 High Friday 26 Details A2 45 Cents THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 1990 TT i 'b flrV i IJK 1 i m. 3 i Iraq continues to get supplies from Jordan -r- 'V 1 A 12-year record 4 I 4 jtfw I I I 7 I vb 1 V' K7'V 4 U-ci From AP-CP Trucks laden with supplies rolled from Jordan into Iraq today despite UN sanctions and Jordans closure of the frontier to stop the exodus of refugees from the Persian Gulf crisis.

The United States called out its reserves to duty, sent minesweepers to the Persian Gulf region and pressed Mos 1 -r I i it 7 4 1 i-f K. 1 fw- T. j' V1 I11' 1 4 4 4 f' 1 1a MWIk 4 Itsifp la 'A Ms -i I i'1 ills fj A 4 '1 A r. ih -I OTTAWA (CP) The Canadian dollar closed Wednesday above 88 cents US for the first time in 12 years, providing a mixed blessing for the faltering economy. The dollar climbed to 88.11 cents US, up more than a third of a cent from 87.73 cents US when it closed Tuesday.

In U.S. funds, the Canadian dollar today opened up 11-100 at 88.22 cents. At 1 1 a.m. it was trading at 88.46 cents. BANKS IN WINDSOR this morning were buying U.S.

dollars at $1.1 175 and selling at $1.1510. Money traders said lofty interest rates and turmoil in the Persian Gulf carried the dollar sharply higher despite Bank of Canada efforts to restrain the rise by selling the currency. The last time the dollar closed higher was Aug. 10, 1978, when it finished the day at 88.22 cents US. SINCE THE END of June, the dollar has jumped more than 2.5 cents against its American counterpart.

The rise in the currency makes it cheaper to go to Florida or buy American oranges at the grocery store. But it also makes it tougher for Canadian exporters to compete in U.S. markets. Analysts said one thing is certain the big rise in the currency wont prompt the Bank of Canada to sharply lower interest rates today. After a steep decline last week that prompted major banks to cut a wide range of loan and deposit rates, the bank rate is expected to fall marginally to about 13.05 per cent from 13.07 percent.

Finance Minister Michael Wilson served notice Wednesday that the government has no intention of declaring a truce in its battle against inflation, despite mounting evidence of a weakening economy. IN HIS FIRST comments on the economy in several weeks, Wilson acknowledged during a luncheon speech in Sudbury that the government's campaign against rising prices has incurred real costs and hasnt always been fair. i 4- cow to co-operate in isolating Iraq, whose forces invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2 and annexed the tiny oil-rich sheikdom six days later. Another source of tension loomed with Iraq's Friday deadline for embassies to close in Kuwait.

Iraqs information minister said in an interview published today in the French daily Le Figaro that keeping the embassies open would be considered an act of aggression. LEBANON CLOSED its embassy in Kuwait today. ABC News, citing Iraqi sources in Baghdad, says troops will surround each open diplomatic mission in Kuwait when the deadline expires. The unidentified sources said the troops may prevent food from going into the buildings, which will be put under virtual siege. Heavy trucks and other commercial traffic flowed normally through the Jordanian-Iraqi border today.

The traffic indicated Jordan has not implemented the mandatory Security Council decision imposing sanctions against Iraq. THE IRAQI news agency said today that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will address an open letter to President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, who urged an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. Egyptian troops have joined U.S. and other forces to protect Saudi Arabia. The agency also said Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz told two UN envoys visiting Baghdad that the U.N.

Security Council had become an American tool. KING HUSSEIN of Jordan said he was closing the border with Iraq as of midnght Wednesday night. He said the flood of foreign refugees, mostly Arabs, from Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait had strained the resources of his small desert kingdom. He said 42,000 refugees entered Jordan on Wednesday the greatest single-day total since the invasion. The king said about 185,000 had crossed into Jordan since Aug.

2, and only See IRAQ, A4 Lawyer probing Agnews finances By Chris Vander Doelen Star City Hall Reporter Windsor lawyer Clifford Sutts is investigating finance commissioner Ed Agnews personal money troubles, Mayor John Millson confirmed today. The finance chief, who has been on sick leave since being sued by two financial institutions over defaulted personal loans of about $60,000, was to have appeared before City Council on Monday to explain his predicament. Sutts, the citys legal adviser on the Agnew affair, told council the hearing should be postponed in favor of a third-party investigation before his fate is This is the proper way of handling the situation from a legal point of view, Millson said. Council then voted to have Sutts conduct the probe. "Its already started," Millson said, adding it will be finished within four weeks.

Because Agnew is an officer of the city corporation his conduct and the legal effect it might have on the city does not fall under normal guidelines. Agnew, a chartered accountant, has said he encountered personal financial difficulty after a Toronto real estate deal soured. He has been on sick leave since April 30, when he was hospitalized after a car accident. 1 I I Canadian Press photo SI EVEN BONN, 4, with help from his mother Theresa, ties a yellow ribbon to wish sailors good luck Canadians setting sail on a sea of controversy human shield against Western attack. The mobilization doesn't do much to help the Canadians trapped in Iraq and Kuwait because it gives the impression were in lock-step with the U.S., said Tariq Rauf, senior researcher for the Canadian Centre for Arms Control and Disarmament.

Beyond the immediate fate of trapped Canadians, Rauf said Canada may in the long run risk its traditional immunity to terrorism and hostage-taking in the Middle East by aligning itself with the U.S. in the current conflict. On Wednesday, the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade urged Canada to abandon its "haste to back up the U.S. intervention. By postponing deployment of the ships, the group argued, Our fellow citizens in Iraq and Kuwait may not be kept as hostages.

See CANADIANS, All The Canadian Pressand Southam News Three Canadian ships will hoist anchor Friday for the Persian Gulf, amid concerns that their presence will jeopardize the lives of 800 Canadians trapped in Kuwait and Iraq. The two destroyers and a supply ship will set out to join the U.S.-led multinational force in the Middle East just as diplomats are working feverishly to negotiate the release of Canadians detained since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2. By mobilizing the ships, some peace activists and analysts fear Canada is abandoning its traditional peacekeeping role, aligning itself with U.S. policy and, thus, consigning its citizens to the same fate as trapped Americans many of whom have already been rounded up by Iraq for use as a 1 Activist fighting or seat in power I ZiK vl J.

-i "i Firm denies its concrete caused deadly collapse By Elaine Della-MattiaStar Staff Reporter The president of a Windsor-area concrete company says his product doesn't fail and didnt cause the collapse of a building wing of the new Pittsburgh International Airport. Maidstone Township's Pre-Stress Ltd. and Collavino makers of fabricated cement trusses for buildings, bridges and other large structures, are working on the airport project as a subcontractor for Anjo Construction of Plum, Pa. A construction worker was killed and another injured last week when one of the four wings of the X-shaped structure collapsed. An investigation is under way by the U.S.

Occupational Safety and Health Association to determine the accidents cause. Mario Collavino, president of Pre-Stress says his company which was also involved in the construction of Detroits People Mover isnt to blame. "That product doesnt fail. It was never a failure on our part, he said. See FIRM, A4 VifVvi -A vivo fit VJ'T i'T7r-sV- w-iV'LV' an activist for the disabled she has made a name for herself like few others have.

Beaches-Woodbine has been an NDP fortress since 1975, with the keeper of the gate MPP Marion Bryden not seeking re-election. In Potters favor is the changing face of the riding. The once solidly blue-collar riding is more upwardly mobile now, especially the Beaches area, which outsiders call "Yuppieville." BUT DOWN AT Lick's hamburger emporium where customers vote with their burgers, NDP Leader Bob Rae is maintaining a constant 200 hamburger lead over Liberal Premier David Peterson and double the meaty votes served up for Progressive Conservative Leader Mike Harris. I know its not going to be easy to beat the NDP, but I think people will agree n's time for a change, Potter says cheerily. If Potter has a distinct election platform its an unwritten one: not sympathy, just votes.

I was a little concerned there would be that sort of patting me on the head with people saying 'you poor dear but there has been none of that at all. They simply dont see the wheelchair." Two and a half decades ago, Potter was working in a bakery office when See ACTIVIST, A4 By Richard Brennan Star Toronto Bureau TORONTO On a hot humid August day. Beryl Potters motorized wheelchair is bumping along the boardwalk in Toronto's trendy Beaches. Potter smiles easily at passers-by, handing them election pamphlets that have a picture of her and Premier David Peterson on the front. Few pay much notice to the stumps where there were once healthy legs, or to her empty right sleeve.

I'm as capable of being a politician as anyone else," says the prominent provincial activist for the disabled to a visitor walking with her. After speaking with Potter a few moments, a man in a shirt and tie, says: I'm a Tory, but down deep inside I hope you win." Twenty-five years ago, the 66-year-old's world turned upside down when she slipped on a piece of paper and bumped her knee. Now she wants to turn politics on its ear. POTTER SEEKS to be the first Liberal elected in the riding of Beaches-Woodbine and the first MPP confined to a wheelchair to sit in the Ontario legislature. Potter is no stranger to a challenge.

Since the freak accident, she has battled with thoughts of suicide, drug addiction and a broken marriage. As 4r I I fj Inside Coming Friday Director Sam Raimis Dark Man opens today with as many blasts and chases as money can buy. The man who dreamed up Dead Evil describes his new baby as a big comic book brought to life. Star movie critic John Laycock believes the action-packed film is much closer to the mess of comic books than Batman. See the review in Entertainment.

255-5774 255-5544 Home Delivery Classified Derek OUverSpecial to The Star LIBERAL BERYL POTTER campaigning in Toronto's Beaches riding.