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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1996-11-13, Page 4�Yenea-�, Novissbar.13,1996 PUbillItOf& t JNn Wen 10400111111111 MMI r: Den Smit' Production Miner. Dab Lord kbadialosesibC9nottt. Chad Eedy Nom Heathsr Par, CM. Ska$tos. Ross Haugh. Brenda Bunte &MAIM= Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray. Barb Robertson Brenda Kern, Joyce Weber, Laurel MIner .ToosoadatiNKAI Flynn, Al Hodgen IV V r i Exeter TNnes•Adraoete Is a member of a family of community newspapers A,bboadons mew Re.itietion Number 0388 news, advertising and Information leadership 1111111108,1101LBUISI Ons >ear rats for Ontario srnbsabsra • $38.00 + SIT • TWo year rata far *dada aub;absrs - $13.00 + OW GallitaiNAROISSIMUTIOLDEAMO « Ona year subaorirflee - $113.00 + Y8T Tow risr subscription • $110.00 + OST IIi1dER M/B$ T 12 Outside Canada - 00.00 + OST Published *soh Wedneedsy at 424 Mit it., S _ 1 Exior, Ontsdo, NOM in by 1.W. rtrMaadens Ltd. ii1331 • Fax: N P,i i,!�I r 1, v 4 /\ ` (� q r Hiss *Mona GAL..11.6210881l I�' I c L._J 1 -J f • Elaine Pinder. Sue Rolling., Ruthann Negri)n, Mita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple i':I)1•I OIZI:\I, Right decision was made The decision by Exeter Council to withdraw from the amalgamation talks has probably delivered a "knock out" blow to the process, but the deci- sion comes as no surprise. In fact, it confirms many people's feelings the provincial government is expecting more than is humanly possi- ble if the minister believes elected rep- resentatives from different municipali- ties can agree on much more than the time of day. After all, doesn't amalgamation mean cutbacks, layoffs, downsizing, sever- ances, terminations and many other nasty terms that must be used before we hear words like: streamlining, cost- effectiveness, savings, sharing assets etc. Municipal politicians are not any dif- ferent from the rest of us. We're all in favor of making changes until it affects us directly. It seems logical for the Town of Bo- sanquet to expect some type of com- pensation if it surrenders a portion of its tax base to whatever new communi- ty will exist at the end of the amalga- mation talks. Bosanquet doesn't want compensation and will fight annexa- tion. The argument will be made, rightly or wrongly, that.Bosanquet, Mayor Fred Thomas„detailed the talks when he stat- ed the town is not interested in handing over a part of the municipality for mon- ey. Wouldn't this, in effect, be like sell- ing a part of yourself? Any appearance of a united front with all the participants in the amalgamation talks cooperating vanished (if it ever ex- isted in the first place) when Grand Bend Councillor Bob Mann accused Exeter of following its own agenda which has been discussed in what he described as illegal in -camera meetings. Mann stated the process is falling apart. This was confirmed by Exeter's decision Thursday to pull out of the pro- cess. At the moment Exeter can see no other solution if the participants remain en- trenched in their positions, after all, it would take a miracle to have that many municipal politicians working in uni- son. Exeter's departure has serious impact on the financial analysis of the study re- port When the Mike Harris government left it up to local representatives to imple- ment the vast changes amalgamation will bring it may have misjudged how bitter the fight could become. Perhaps it's time for the province to show some leadership. With so many fighters in the ring, a. referee is certainly. required,, v Letters to the editor Community praised "Members of the committee re- ceivecl many compliments from our out-of-town visitors...” Dear Editor: The Exeter Minor Hockey Association hosted the annual Bill Batten Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Exeter and Hensall arenas from November 8 to 10, 1996. We had 40 teams participating from all over southwestern Ontario, including of course, our own Exeter teams. The tournament committee would like to ac- knowledge the support of our sponsors, community and the many minor hockey volunteers who helped to make this tournament a great success again this year. We had many competitive games with excel- lent sportsmanship exhibited by the players and coaches of the teams participating. Members of the committee received many compli- ments from our out-of-town visitors on the friendli- ness and hospitality shown to them. These compli- ments not only were directed toward our many volunteers but also to the staff of the many local businesses they visited. These comments were well deserved and reflect very well on our community. Once again, thank you to everyone who contribut- ed this past weekend to a memorable tournament. Yours truly, Exeter Minor Hockey Tournament Committee TORONTO -- One of the best measures of how much Ontario's Progressive Conservative party has changed is that Premier Mike Harris has been awarded and happily accepted a med- al from the National Citizens' Coalition. The ultra -right wing conservative group, not- ed for its large and costly newspaper advertise- ments, has attacked politicians for nearly three decades and these have included at times the provincial Tories. The NCC always calls itself non-partisan, but its targets have been mostly unions, Liberals and New Democrats and it has never met a right-wing Tory it didn't like. It called a Liberal prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, pro-Communist and NDP federal leader Ed Broadbent "very, very scary," which offended even many non -New Democrats, tried to replace moderate Tory leader and former prhne minister Joe Civic with righttwinger John Croebie and aced another Tory prime minister, Brian Mulroney, of "e ubsidi Ing so- cialism." The coalition's most consistent demands have been to reduce government and taxes and priva- tize parts of government. It was beating that drum long before Harris became premier and started doing these things and even before he was elected to the legislature. These policies meant it did not always see eye -to -eye with Ontario Tory governments. While the NCC kept calling on governments to balance budgets, the Tories of the 1970s and 1980s piled up debt. The NCC complained about unusually gener- ous pensions given politicians, but these in On- tario were established mostly under Tory gov- emments and now Harris has cut them beyond recognition. The NCC railed constantly against unions ob- taining money from workers and using.it to sttppottleft-wing causes, but it was the Tories who introduced the checkoff forting employers to deduct dues for members of a union and bar - Simple Crue Heaps of clothes Many people collect personal treasures. Baseball cards, stamps, dolls, caps, model airplanes, even cats. I collect clothe& Mounds and mounds of theta: Alt diffcrentcolots, sues, ' shdpes and 'textures. When it was announced there would be an addition to our family and we would need space for other things, I stared at the bulging closets and piles of garments and realized my passion for fashion had grown way out of control. After hours of making ruthless decisions, I packed up 17 garbage bags full of the stuff and sent it off to the most recent Exeter rummage sale. (In the process I gained a few bags back but that doesn't count in this challenging endeavor.) Then, when I heard about the trial run of the textile recycling program, I unloaded another four bags. Now when I peer into the closets I can see what's there. Things are still a little crammed together and I have some big boxes of 'to mend' items to ignore, but I feel I've slightly overcome my obsession. Still, tiny pangs of sadness spread through me when I realize I am now limited to one white shirt instead of five or six. Thirty sweaters instead of 200. When it comes right down to it, I miss every item I gave away. I just can't remember what they looked like. You always hear about that age-old problem about women having closets full of clothes and nothing to wear. Is it really true, or do they just get bored with the things they have? I think they should just feel lucky they're not a member of the male species and generally limited to pants and shirts, shirts and pants. Imagine it. No high heels, daring mini skirts or pantyhose. Although those things don't exist in my wardrobe vocabulary, I could never do without the female options of climbing into a flowing skirt, wearing a flirty hat or snuggling into a short, peach -colored sweater. Unfortunately, there is a down side to every obsession. The simple cruelty of clothes is that they seem to take a lot of effort. Washing, drying, sorting, ironing, fixing, buying. And Friends gaining unit it represents and hand them to un- ions. Harris is now trimming unions' power. The NCC was highly critical of a Tory feder- al government admitting boat people from Viet- nam, saying each individual immigrant would quickly be followed by 15 relatives who would take the jobs of Canadians. A Tory premier, William Davis, was among those who helped boat people settle, but Harris seems more on the NCC's wavelength, recently singling out for criticism visible minority immi- • grants who demonstrated against him as if they do not have the same rights as others. The NCC got into a bitter shouting match with Davis, who rarely sounded off in public, after the premier supported Trudeau to obtain the agreement by which Canadians for the first time could change their own Constitution. The coalition accused Trudeau of grabbing power and creating a dominant central state and Davis of abjectly maundering. It even suggest- ed Davis resembled Neville Chamberlain, the British prime Cminister who bowed and then there's the hassle of pet hair. It's frustrating to see little white hairs all over your funky new black dress. Think about how much time could potentially ,go into an average wardrobe, or worse yet, a family's wardrobe. And with clothes, short-cuts often don't pay. You buy a cheap quality skirt and it falls apart during an interview or those towels you got on sale fade from deep navy to moss green in the washer. One of the most popular non -short-cut clothes practices of all time has got to be the clothesline. I tend to hang clothes on the line and forget about them until it rains. Just recently I peered out my back window at the sorry, soppy mess of clothes hanging there. Of course I'd thought of bringing them in days earlier...but they were damp. And now before me were soaked towels that stretched down to the ground and clung onto nearby trees. But as much of a hassle as clothes are, I don't think I'll ever give them all up. scraped to Nazi Germany thinking mistakenly this could avert the 1939-45 war, a distasteful comparison. Davis, maintaining his dignity, re- torted that the NCC position was incorrect, full of misconceptions and distortions and lacked understanding of the efforts federal and provin- cial leaders were making to strengthen Canada. The NCC also attacked Larry Grossman, a Tory leader in opposition in the late 1980s, as "more socialist than the socialists.It was an- gered particularly by his support for pay equity to help women, rent controls, which had been brought in by Davis, and banning discrimina- tion against homosexuals in employment, which the NCC said alarmingly arta untruthful- ly would prevent a parent from refusing to hire a homosexual babysitter. Harris is now weakening pay equity and rent controls and has won votes by taking strong stands against more concessions to gays. • In such circumstances, the least the coalition could do was give him a medal.