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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-03-19, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, March 19, 1997 Publisher & Editor. Jim Beckett Business Manger. Don Smith Production Manager Deb Lord Advertising; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy tiara; Heather Mir, Chris Skalkos, Ross Haugh, Brenda Burke Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner Transportation: Al Flynn, Al Hodgert Front Office & Accounting; Elaine Pinder, Sue Roliings, Ruth Slaght Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers ►""'t A" 404 w+, providing news, advertising and information leadership ,,,• COW •sso F1111(WI ‘1. 4 Publications Mail Registration Number 0388 One year rate for Ontlidesubscrlbers - $35,00 + GST Two year rate for Ontario subscribers - $63.00 + OST CANSMINADDRENInilliniMnfilini One year subscription - $63.00 + OST Two year subscription - $119.00 + GST OIHEBBATES Outside Canada - $102.00 Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontade, NOM 1!41 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1.519-233-1331 • Fax: 51.9-235-0766 *moll mines= advoc id .eas O.S.T. IR10521O$35 No one wants low income housing T hey don't call them low ren- tals anymore. Now it's social housing. No matter what you call them, you know what they are — publicly owned townhouse and apartment complexes constructed for poor people. Some are administered by the prov- ince, and some have been looked after by the federal government. Neither wants to be in the housing business. Under the new provincial system, the problem is being passed on to the mu- nicipalities to look after. Municipalities don't want social housing either. Subsidized housing units (rent geared to income) have offered affordable housing to needy people over the years. There aren't frills like swimming pools but the units tend to be clean, kept in reasonably good repair and fairly com- fortable. So why doesn't anyone want them? Money is one reason. It costs a lot, both in terms of money and in terms of - labor, to be in the business of providing housing to thepoor: There have been proposals to turn housing completely over to the private sector. Let the house construction peo- ple build the houses and look after them. Needy, people would locate their own rental units and would be provided with rent subsidies. No leaky faucets to worry about, or marijuana farms in the basement. Just sign a cheque. • Some say low rental complexes have become veritable "ghettos" of welfare moms and their children, that the chit-. dren growing up in these places suffer from the stigma of living there. By leaving housing to the private sector, people could choose where they would live and there would be no stigma. It looks good on paper, unless you happen to be a single mother with three or.four children and a bank balance of zero. Then you'd understand the reali- - ties of life, that there aren't many pri- vate landlords who'll rent to you. You' Il ask how you're supposed to come up with the deposit, usually first and last month's rent. Welfare will reim- burse you a hefty part of the $1,500 ($750 per month for a three bedroom) later? How nice. "Social housing" does indeed attract a lot of welfare moms and their children. Why? Because there is a need. A woman trying to raise a bunch of lively kids on an inadequate income is about as popu- lar a tenant as is an eccentric gun collec- tor with a pet boa constrictor, a couple. of dozen live mice to feed the snake, and a' fondness for bonfires in the living room. - The government got into the housing business in the first place because the private sector wasn't filling that need. The private sector was providing hous- ing for the sort of tenants it preferred — employed, white adults. Wealthy people bought houses. Poor people lived. wherever they could. Rather than ghettoizing single, moth- ers with children. "social housing" has provided a haven of sorts. There is a cer- tain comfort in knowing your neighbors are in the same situation you are; in . knowing you don't have to lie about the number of children you have or get a male friend to pretend he's your hus- band, just to get someone to.rent you an apartment; in living where special needs are acknowledged and can be accommo- dated. One must not forget that public housing provides units constructed for people with mobility problems, for ex- ample. These units are built with wheel- chair ramps, larger doorways, kitchens designed with low counters and easy -to - reach storage spaces, and large bath- rooms. Would the private sector provide the same'? Perhaps, if it were profitable. Will the government. be it municipal, . provincial or federal. provide a generous enough rent subsidy to make it profita- ble? Not likely. So far. publicly owned rent -geared -to - income units appear to be the best op- tion. Saugeen City .Vrws Speak Out Letters to the Editor The Times -Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open discussion of local issues. concerns, comf taints and kudos. The Times -Advocate reserves the -right to edit letters for brevity. Please send your letters to P.O. Box 850 Exeter. Ontario, NOM 1S6. Sign your letter with both name and address. Anonymous letters will not be published. /U .'s7 ACCORDING MY CALCULATI ONs, You\/ DISTANCED YOURSELF As FAR AS P0s516LE FROM BRIAN MULRONEY, MR. U-IAREST.. dimple Cruelties Brenda Burke Travelling turmoil. Italy, Australia. British Columbia. Zaire. - travelling .is great but - beginnersmay be unaware of the little twists and turns that make a luggage lifestyle less than bearable. - It's true, travelling by plane is pretty much as smooth as travelling by bus. unless you can't equalize your internal air pressure and it feels like your head will explode while the plane dips into the sky, gaining speed at three,million miles per second. Morsels of food arrive in wee containers. washrooms are tiny and located way at the back of the plane, the air is really stuffy and unless vou.ride first class. you're squished in with other people. literally like- sardines in a can. And when air turbulence hits. get ready for a ride. I always like to watch the crew_go through their . emergency response demonstrations. With bored expressions. they stand in the narrow aisle where they methodically hook up their life jackets. blow puffs of - - demonstration air into them and tug expertly at the straps. all the while praying for their next - coffee break. Luggage is -another story. Don't lose it: t once lost track of a big suitcase that contained all - my party attire and ended up • _wearing a pajama top when 'every'thing in my little suitcase was used up. Two days before the end of the trip. the big • suitcase arrived complete with skid marks: burn holes and - various yellow tags proving it had been on -its own little holiday. • ' •- Buy bright -colored luggage. That•way you'll recognize it when it crawls past on those conveyor belts at airports. If you let it slip by. you often have to . wait until the entire shipment goes around. What about motel rooms'' I've been in, ones that pull your covers back and leave chocolates on the pillows. I've also seen my share of seedy spots you swear Mafia members have been brushing their teeth in. Food'' Don't eat anything if you don't know what it is. Stay away from stuff you're not accustomed to. Even little bananas and Pina Coladas made in coconut shells can send your stomach into an aerobic streak of its own. . Learn the language. That way you can communicate. Be prepared for all kinds of - weather. It's a great stress on • - the body when you step off a plane wearing your winter coat • in Dominican Republic heat. It's even more of a shock arriving home in Canada in mid-January wearing sandals and shades. - And don't forget. in some places it will rain. A lot. In other spots the humidity's so high. clothes hanging in the closet Will wilt. • Transportation. If someone pulls up on the side of a pot -hole ridden road on a run-down moped and offers your gang a 'taxi ride.' say no. Drivers pack so many tourists on those bikes and ride like mad along streets where they strategically hit every bump and rock. . Bring lots of money. And - change the currency before those big noon -hour lineups grow in front of some shack in the sweltering sun. Don't travel in large groups. I've spent many company trips being ushered along long bus excursions and escorted to duplicate dinner parties behind fancy motel walls that separate you from real culture. The most important advice' Pack early for the next trip. A View From Queen's Park By Enc Dowd TORONTO - High among those humbled in the debate over amalgamating Metropolitan To- ronto, along with Premier Mike Harris. have been two of the country's biggest newspapers. The Toronto Star and Toronto Sun threw vir- tually all their resources into urging residents to support the Progressive Conservative premier's merger plan in plebiscites organized by the mu- nicipalities slated to disappear, but failed dis- mally, with 76 per cent of those who voted op- posing the merger. The Star, the country's biggest paper, pub- lished no fewer than 31 editorials in three months pleading for support for amalgamation under headlines like One government for Me- tro, not seven, Unifying is just good sense. Huge savings possible and Ten reasons for Me- tro unification. The Sun, which has only one editorial a day, managed to run 24 typically urging Come on Metro, think big, One big city equals big sav- ings and One citv for the future. The Star's municipal affairs columnist showed ingenuity..if not independence. by churning out.20 columns in praise of amalga- mation including Unified Toronto would be a better place to live. Amalgamation's a big step, but worth taking, Neighborhoods will be better protected under one city and Why we shouldn't fear the big, bad megacity. The Sun's provincial affairs columnist may have impressed her bosses even more by pro- ducing 22 columns like "It's time for Toronto to grow up, All hail the power of one, Amalga- mation's overdue - let's just do it and Let's take a leap of faith. The newspapers had reporters searching dili- gently for news stories to help their editorial cause. Those the Star came up with included Megacity's clout could get us the 2008 Olym- pics, which ought to have attracted sports - minded voters except it had no worthwhile evi- dence to support it. On the eve of the vote two men were shot dead in an ilkgal drinking den and the Star found 'outraged local residents say problems in Humble pie the area have been neglected by area council- lors because it is on the border' between two municipalities in Metro, which might have pan- icked people to vote for amalgamation except again the story failed to bear it out. The Star rushed twice to portray embattled Municipal Affairs Minister Al Leach, the abra- • sive architect of the merger. as a nice guy. a difficult task after he told one mayor 'i'don't want even to talk to you - you're gone.' But one of its supportive stories revealed Leach 'absolutely adores' his dog and the other had him proclaiming bravely 'when they can- not beat the policy, they try to beat the man and make my life miserable, but I'm convinced I'm right and that's what keeps me going.' • When anti -amalgamation views gained strength, the Star dampened them with Megaci- ty favored, poll funds and -the Sun with Majority favors merger. The papers insisted there was simply no point' - in voting against. The Star said Megacity is in- evitable and the Sun that Supercity is unstoppa- ble. The Star dragged in not one. but two profes- sional pollsters to denounce at length the mu- nicipalities' plebiscites as unscientific (and therefore not worth participating in.) The papers created diversions like naming the chairman of the merged city. Who will be meg- acity czar? asked the Star, while the Sun ad- vised Pick mel Lastman. They pulled no punches. The Star complained the mayors are fighting their turf, jobs and perks and are petty, self-serving, whining fear - mongers while the Sun called them hysterical, stupid, dumb pipsqueaks. This is the same Star that said the situation needed 'a statesman to rise above the clamor' obviously caused by someone else. The voters' rejection of the two major papers may be seen as a sign papers have no influence. but more likely they recognize extreme bias and it turns them off.