For John Wilkinson describing the various layers of government is a piece of cake.
Straight from a local meeting with business people regarding the HST, the Perth-Wellington MPP?was at St. John School in Arthur to talk to grade 4-5 and 5-6 classes about various levels of government.
Many students had already studied about government.
He quizzed them, joking, “We’re just going to see how good your teachers are.” He described the various layers of government using the analogy of a three-layer birthday cake.
Wilkinson worked with students to name the three levels – federal, Canada; provincial, Ontario; and municipal, Wellington North Township.
Wilkinson noted that every layer of government has a capital – Ottawa for Canada, Toronto for Ontario.
He then asked, “Where do all the politicians hang out when they have meetings?”
After a few tries students were able to name Kenilworth as Wellington North’s capital.
“Why is Kenilworth the capital of Wellington North … because that is where the people we elect do their work.”
He mentioned the difference between the Canadian parliament, the Ontario Legislature and municipal town halls.
Wilkinson also described his own job, in part as both representative for the Perth-Wellington riding and as a cabinet member and Minister of Revenue.
Wilkinson explained the differences between the three layers of government,
Every layer has its own purpose, and each has its own capital, he said.
He also focussed on the meaning of democracy.
Wilkinson said there are two ways of making decisions with a group of people.
“The one way, is the meanest, toughest person who’s the biggest [to make the decision]. He’s happy, but no one else is.”
However, Wilkinson said that about 5,000 years ago, a group of people decided it would be better to take votes.
“Here’s the most important thing to learn about a vote. A vote is not supposed to make people happy, it’s supposed to be fair.” He used the example of bringing a lunch to school for a specific day – but students had to make a choice between hamburger and pizza if a vote was taken and 10 kids voted for hamburger and 20 voted for pizza.
“Votes are not about making everybody happy, it’s about making a decision that is fair.”
Decisions made in a fair way, he said, “is what makes Canada such a great country,”
He added that decisions made by governments “are about two thing – money and rules.”
Wilkinson explained that even though the layers of government have different responsibility, they all have to make decisions about money “how we get money, and how we spend it.”
He said governments also have deal with the rules – laws.
In explaining about the rules he asked students if murders happen, then asked if it is against the law.
He explained rules “do not mean something can’t happen, but that if it does … There is a consequence. If you murder someone, you go to jail.”
He said there are consequences for bad behaviour.
“We also have rules as to how old you can be to have a vote.”
Society decides how old people need to be before they can make their own decisions – “such as being mature enough to drive, to drink, or to vote. Those decisions are made through democracy.”
As Minister of Revenue, he asked students whether or not they pay taxes.
The answer was yes.
Wilkinson said many young people do not think they pay taxes, but they do.
“There is a lot of taxes,” he said. He cited the example of buying a chocolate bar at the store.
“It’s right in the price, he said of the tax.” He explained the receipt shows the GST?and PST on that purchase.
There’s all kinds of taxes, he said.
“If you’re an old guy like me, there’s taxes on what you make, taxes on your houses, taxes on your business, taxes on what you buy.”
He said the provincial government spends $100-billion each year.
“So we have to have that much come in each year in taxes. So we have to decide fairly, who pays, how, and how much, and how the money is spent.”
That decision is the same type of decision made by Mayor Mike Broomhead and the councillors in Wellington North, at Queens Park in Toronto, or in Ottawa.
“It’s all decided by democracy.”
He said the reason there are three layers of government is each has its own responsibilities. He used the example of a local responsibility is the fire department.
“If your house is on fire, do you pick up the phone and call Ottawa?
“When you call the local fire department and say your house is on Isabella Street, they know exactly where to go.”
He said it makes a lot of sense for the fire department to be the responsibility of the local government.
As for responsibility of provincial governments, he pointed to schools. He said the government spends $17-billion a year to educate students is almost the equivalent of $1-billion per grade.
Much of the gathering involved a question and answer session. When asked about the education required to become an MPP, Wilkinson said there is no requirement to become an MPP?or mayor, “but it helps when you are asking people to vote for you.”
All you have to do is be old enough to vote, he said.
He encouraged students to do well in school. “The better you do here, the better kind of job you can get later on.”
He was asked if being an MPP?is his dream job.
“Yes, it is the greatest job I’ve had.”
He said he has had a number of jobs over the years, including his own business.
“The thing about it is that you get to help people. There’s certain things you can do as an MPP?that other people can’t, because you’ve been asked to represent them.” The part that he doesn’t like is that he’s away from his family a lot.
His job takes him away from home about four nights a week. “It’s hard but my family supports me. They think I’m doing the right thing.”
Wilkinson later said he enjoys doing presentations to students at this age partly because they are not afraid to ask questions.
