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"OPi~NON It does our economy no good to generate more jobs if even more peoâ€" ple are permitted into the country during the fragile recovery process. Far better to stabilize the economy, let it grow and then adjust immigration accordingly. Current immigration policy is sentencing Canadians to playâ€" ing employment catchâ€"up and it‘s a game with no winners. We‘ve said before that allowing immigration to surge while Canada drags itself out of a recession was and is a mistake and now Statistics Canada has verified the point. And the Statsâ€"Can people don‘t let emotion creep into their reports...numbers are numbers. And the numbers should be cause of great concern. During the first six months of this year, 139,000 new jobs were created in the country. That‘s about 23,000 per month, up a remarkable 13,000 for the same period a year earlier. Pretty impressive stuff, right? Wrong. For while job creation for our population base, was good, the numbers were completely swamped by the number of immigrants who came into the country over the same period. Immigration continues to be a volatile question for politicians who would rather not face up to critical issues of the day when they can be put off on another government.or another year for that matter. Just ask Cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy about delaying government policy. He‘s the guy who was supposed to have a new social services policy in place months ago, now it‘s anyutie‘s guess ns to when these ‘reforms‘ will come down. ment problems...problems that it can readily blame on just about anyone else. It need not be this way. During the Mulroney years in Ottawa, the, country‘s population boomed as immigration figures hit 250,000 and more people a year. This trend has continued unabated during the Jean Chretien‘s Liberal regime. T he Canadian government has set itself up for continuing employâ€" â€" Unfortunately, the cost of staffing fire stations is high but it must be comâ€" pared to the cost of a human life. Yet council has had to take a pragmatic approach to just what taxpayers can and cannot afford for services. erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for sig the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to c j event of typographical error, advertising or services at the wrong price, goodsoruwnearmynolbosold.MmlsmtyanoflarlosolleybeMmm y time. The issue has already come to a head here in Oakville with the construction of the new Glen Abbey fire station. Despite the fact that the 1993 budget comâ€" mittee recommended it be staffed with 21 firefighters, only 13 were approved by the full council. There‘s no doubt that everyone would like to believe their emergency infrastructure is adequate for their needs and that includes not only police and ambulance personnel but also firefighters. Tan Oliver Publisher to go directly to the public for support of their concerns about what they call inadequate staffing levels at Ontario fire stations. Jim Lee is president of the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association (OPFFA) and he warns that regardless of economic circumstances, emergency services should be the last area facing cuts in municipal budget. The province‘s firefighters are on a mission these days. They‘ve decided Do you support photo radar which goes into effect in some areas this month? How many? 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 845â€"3824 Fax: 845â€"3085 Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 If the voters in Quebec vote for the Parti Quebecois, will they also support separaâ€" tion from the rest of Canada? Cast your ballot by calling 845â€"5585, box 5008 to vote. the nex Beaver. Callers have until 12 noon Thursday to register their vote. Results of the poll will be published in the next Friday edition of the Oakville That makes for a nervous government. Nervous about a lot of things. Drugs for instance. A few years ago heroâ€" in started to show up in Singapore. The government came up with a very simple solution: billboards. Billboards all over Singapore. You can see Well, what do you expect? Singapore is not an advanced, sophisticated nation like Canada. It‘s a tightâ€"sphinctered police state of two million souls crammed onto an island not much bigger than some Saskatchewan wheat farms and surrounded by potentially hosâ€" tile neighbours. hinking of visiting TSingapore some day? Maybe taking the kids along? Here‘s a couple of noâ€" no‘s you may want to bring to their attention before you take off for a day‘s sightseeing. Do not drop litter. Do not feed the pigeons. Do not split on the sidewalk. Do not eat while driving. Do not pick the flowers. Do not chew gum. And lest your kids think these are just wishful guidelines like the DON°‘T TALK signs at Canadian spotlights, you might want to tell them that the fine for, say, chewing gum or feedâ€" ing pigeons in Singapore is a flat $1, 000. No courtâ€"appointed lawyer. No case workers or appeals. Just a thousand bucks â€" pay up or go to jail. And you really don‘t want to go to jail in Singapore. Punishment is a form of medicine.â€" Aristotle Life is great in Singapore... just don‘t chew any gum Predictably, many Americans objected to the harsh penalty. Boys will be boys, they said. Even President Clinton suggestâ€" ed that the punishment was out of proportion to the crime. Singapore went ahead and lashed. Which is Singapore, is more than enough. They use a rattan cane on the bare buttocks, wielded by a martial arts expert. Lashees usually lose consciousâ€" ness after the first couple of strokes. And don‘t expect special attention just because you carry a passport identifying you as a privileged citizen of a progresâ€" sive Western country. Michael Fay found that out in May. Fay is the American kid who went on a rampage in downtown Singapore, sprayâ€"painting parked cars and slinging eggs and â€" bricks around. The Singapore courts sentenced him to five lashes: They mean it, too. Get caught dealing dope in Singapore and all the Melvin Bellis and Eddie Greenspans in the <world will not. come between you and your date with the Singapore hangman. ply: WARNING; DEATH FOR DRUG DEALERS UNDER SINGAPORE LAW. them when you get off the plane. The billboards say simâ€" I am absolutely sure that if d and Michael Fay ever goes on a â€"___ vandalizing binge again, it ..‘ s._ won‘t be in Singapore. : _. So whose system is better â€" Singapore‘s or ours? Well, it‘s hard to deal in absolutes, but let me leave you with one. And here in Canada, taxpayâ€" ers still pick up the tab for a piece of human flotsam named Clifford Olsen, a serial childâ€" killer who sits in a prison cell with a TV and a computer and a telephone on which he chats with anyone who‘ll accept his calls. Meanwhile, Michael Fay hails from a country where John Wayne Gacy, who murdered 33 kids, was recently put to death by injection, 13 years after he was found guilty. Thirteen years. That‘s more time than some of his victims had on the planet. As for crime, Singapore must be one of the few countries in the world that has no â€" repeat, no â€" hard drug problem. Other crimes? Vandalism, robbery and rape are all "caneable" offenses. There hasn‘t been a bank robâ€" bery in years. Perhaps that‘s why Singapore hasn‘t had to increase the size of its police force since 1967. Barbaric? Some folks think so. On the other hand, political corruption is virtually unheard of in Singapore. The streets are spotless and utterly safe to walk on at any hour (unless Michael Fay‘s about). There are no slums and the people of Singapore enjoy a health care system that would bring tears to the eyes of Tommy Douglas.