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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-06-17, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, June 17, 1998 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord Adyertising; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy (Yews; Kate Monk, Craig Bradford, Katherine Harding, Ross Haugh Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner Transportation: Al Hodgert Front Office & Account; Sue Roliings, Carol Windsor Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple, Ruth Slaght, The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership Publications Mail Registration Number 07511 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One year rate for Canada subscribers - $35.00 + OST Two year rate for Canada subscribers - $63.00 + OST OTHER RATES Outside Canada - $102.00 4(as ass° of ASS Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519-235-1331 • Fax: 519-235-0766 emau:taeeedy.com O.S.T. *R1.05210835 1)1'I'OR1:11, Cat owners face responsibility 0 ne of the longest -running sto- ries this newspaper has covered in re- cent memory is the saga of the Hensall cat bylaw. Last week the controversial bylaw fi- nally saw third and final reading mak- ing it effective January 1, 1999. From this date on all cats must be registered and leashed. The unanimous decision by council squarely puts responsibility on cat own- ers although Reeve Cecil Pepper said he has no idea how this bylaw will be enforced. It appears Hensall Council is counting on cat owners being educated on the bylaw. Certainly they will be made aware of the new requirement to keep cats leashed...but has anyone actually tried . to go anywhere with a cat on a leash? Most of the felines we have encoun- tered either lack the intelligence or the spirit of co-operation to obediently fol- low their owners while conducting their outdoor activity. A T -A reporter of- fended by that sentence said, "Cats by their independent nature don't take well to being leashed unless trained as kit- tens." Whatever your opinion on cat intelli- gence, enforcement of this bylaw will be a nightmare. The consequences for cat owners who are found breaking the bylaw are vague. Only certain repercussions have been spelled out clearly. For example any cat found to be running at large will be im- pounded at the South Huron Veterinary Clinic until the owner pays a minimum $24 fine and costs incurred at the clinic. However, what about repeat offenders? And will repeat violators of the bylaw actually have to appear in court? We can only imagine the laughter spreading through the courtroom when someone from Hensall is brought up before a judge on a charge of letting his or her cat outside without a leash. Courtroom time is at a premium now deciding cases that appear to have much more significance. Some judges could decide judging cat violations is beneath their dignity and throw these cases out. Somewhere during 1999 some Hensall resident could earn a place in the history books as being the first person convicted under the cat law. On the other hand, if Hensall residents become more educated about how some cats can adversely effect the lives of their neighbors, the bylaw will have some positive effect. It seems to be a situation where the idea is good but the implementation will certainly be a cat-astrophe. Letters to the Efor A conflict of interest ...MPs should not collect any raise in pay or benefits during the life of this Parliament." Dear Editor: Isn't it time taxpayers had a say in MPs' pay? Right now MPs arc ramming a report through the House of Commons that would boost their pay, dou- ble their expense allowance and sweeten their sever- ance package and pension options. MPs say they need the money, but shouldn't Canadian taxpayers have the final word on this mat- ter'? After all, MPs are supposed to work for us. Isn't it the taxpayers who pay them? Certainly MPs had a perfect opportunity to raise the compensation issue during the last federal elec- tion. But they didn't. Not a single party mentioned any form of compensation increase in its platform in the last election just one year ago. They just begged us for their jobs back. And why wouldn't they? MPs earn about $106,000 a year in salaries and allowances and can look forward to collecting a super -rich pension or a generous. severance package, among other employ- ment benefits. On top of all that they now want to vote them- selves a big increase in total compensation. Obviously, when it comes to their pay and bene- fits, MPs are in a conflict-of-interest situation. That's why MPs should not collect any raise in pay or benefits during the life of this Parliament.. Any increase in compensation should not be imple- mented until the next Parliament, after MPs have sought reelection on the new rules. We taxpayers can't give ourselves a raise, and nei- ther should MPs. Yours truly, Stephen Harper, President .National Citizens' Coalition A View From Queen's Park By Eric Dowd TORONTO - Premier Mike Hams says he wants at least one more term in government to complete his agenda and he seems to be prepar- ing to buy one. The Progressive Conservative premier, who recently has looked strong because of his tax cuts, is reducing the odds against him still fur- ther by increasing the amount a party can spend in an election to $10.4 million. This is a sum only he and his party can come close to raising.The previous limit was $7.8 million, which no party ever spent. Hams is able to raise big money because he has forged an alliance with business unprece- dented in recent decades. It works on a tit for tat basis. Harris has done a lot for business including cutting taxes and fees like workers' compensation premiums. He has weakened unions, whom business considers its enemy, by making it more diffi- cult for them to organize and scrapping a law that prevented employers from sending in re- placement workers in strikes. Han -is has cut consumer protection which hampers business and allowed some industries to regulate themselves through their own asso- ciations. He has eroded strict environmental controls which cost business in favor of voluntary com- pliance and is handing business some potential- ly lucrative public operations including produc- ing and selling electricity. The Tory premier is opening new land to tim- ber cutting and does not talk much about inju- ries or deaths in workplaces. Business is saving and raking in bigger prof- its, sometimes to the detriment of the consu- mer, and repaying Harris. At one fund-raising dinner in April 3,000 people mostly from business paid up to $1,000 each and produced $2 million profit for the Tory party and were rewarded by hearing Har- ris promise his pro-business policies will con- tinue. When Harris showed up at the annual meet- ing of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, he basked in stanch, g ovations before and after he spoke and thanked the businessmen for their Missiles and musings By Craig Bradford Doing the right thing in Lucan and Biddulph Seldom do I take the time in this drop 'Lucan' from the proposed column to commend the efforts of new entity that will he called The politicians. It is titled 'Missiles and Township of Biddulph. People in Musings' for gosh sakes. west Elgin cried bloody murder But Lucan and Biddulph Town- when a similar name game was ship councils deserve some credit tossed about during an amalgama- for finally pressing 'play' during lion there a couple of years ago. the Harris government's long Lucan councillors have realized the 'pause' when it comes. to down- 'Welcome• To Lucan' signs that loading numbers. The two councils should be up some day soon won't have agreed to sit back down at the be torn down come Jan. 1, 1999. negotiating table to hammer out an But besides the strides the two amalgamation agreement. councils (and their staff) have ac - The .two councils could've sided complished so far, there are many .with caution and waited for Mid- challenges ahead with one in partic- dlesex County to fast-track their of- ular looming quite large. Though ficial county -wide restructuring the two have been discussing a plan. But Lucan and Biddulph have merger off and on essentially been on the same page for many months, when it comes to a potential merger they have yet to — they just had to stop getting decide how staff side-tracked by' pesky things like will be affected by the Farm Tax Rebate dilemma so a merger. they could start crossing those is They should and dotting those i's. also be open to the The Lucan-Biddulph merger idea of welcoming makes complete sense. Biddulph another municipal Township engulfs Lucan, with the partner to their village serving as its urban centre. merger — the The two municipalities have a long province may mandate it. history of sharing resources and Elected officials are right to ac - staging events together. Most of the cuse us hacks of jumping the gun service clubs and other groups when the first question out of our there have 'Lucan and Arca' some- mouths about mergers is "who and where in their names or mandates. how many will be laid off." But it And although one is a small urban is the first question because it has a community and the other is a rural direct impact on the community. one, both face similar issues when And the issue comes with a human it comes to provincial download- face, something we can all identify ing, policing, the influence of Lon- with. don and other concerns. The two councils may decide to Lucan council has even become preserve all staff to save face, but so forward thinking to agree to that would, be a mistake — the pur- pose for municipal amalgamations is to end duplication and heighten efficiency, not to stay bloated like so many other public sector bodies. Lucan's and Biddulph's elected officials have some hard decisions in front of them, decisions that not only forever change the face of their communities but could end some of their own political careers (at least for a while) with half as many councillors getting elected this fall if the proposal as is is ap- proved by both councils, the county and the province. That's why they get the not -so -big bucks, to make those type of decisions on behalf of their taxpayers. There are those that say municipal amalgamations aren't needed and are in fact dastard- ly in nature. The fact is that the bat- tle for grants from the province and feds has become so competitive that communities like Lrcan and Bid- dulph, and the whole Exeter region for that matter, are being clobbered by bigger entities. It's time to bite the bullet and get on with the business of finding our path to a bright future through breaking out of what's been and embracing what will and has to be. Lucan and Biddulph councils have decided to make that break ahead of most of their peers in Mid- dlesex and Huron counties. Keep up the good work. It's time to bite the bullet and get on with the business of finding our path to a bright fu- ture through breaking out of what's been and embracing what will and has to be. Harris wants one more term support and assured them he will not forget. Harris has gone further than even the Conver- satives of a decade or two ago in co-opting business and its cash. William Davis, premier from 1971-1985, was master at persuading business to donate. The discovery a developer, awarded a con- tract to build a government office, noted in its books this was in return for paying Davis's fund-raiser: $50,000 led to the first limits on donations in the 1970s. But Davis was never so in tune with business that it queued to hand him donations on the same scale as Harris. Davis annoyed business at times, such as when he barred it from hiring professional strike-breakers, whom he consid- ered troublemakers. Harris never offends busi- ness. The millions a pouring in from business have enabled Harris to campaign earlier than pre- miers normally do. They paid for TV commer- cials showing Harris in a hockey arena, saying cutting services will assure a better future, and 30 -minute 'infomercial' in which Harris de- scribed his great programs. Harris also has used millions of dollars of tax- payers' money, more blatantly than his prede- cessors, on ads attacking 'union bosses' and pamphlets supposedly informing of govern- ment programs but praising himself. The oppo- sition parties have no access to these funds. But Harris is not content with all his financial advantages and is giving himself one more by reducing election campaigns from 37 to 28 days. This helps a govemment because it provides opposition parties, which are not noticed much outside campaigns, less time to make their mes- sages known. Harris knows this from experience, because he started in opposition far behind in the 1995 campaign and wound up with a massive majori- ty he might not have won if it had been shorter and the New Democrats also came from no- where and won during a campaign in 1990. Harris is determined not to give his opponents the same chance.