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Times Advocate, 1997-11-12, Page 4• r Page 4 Tin:es-Advocate, November 12, 1997 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord Advertising Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy flews Heather Mir, Kate Monk, Craig Bradford, Chantal) Van Raay, Ross Haugh Production Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray. Barb Robertson Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner Transportation: Al Flynn, Al Hodgert Front Office & Accounting Sue Roflings, Carol -Windsor Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple, Ruth Slaght• Sheila Corbett The Exeter Times -Advocate is•a member of a family of community newspapers • providing news, advertising and information leadership • ' • EDITORIAL Challenging times ome of the biggest challenges area municipal politicians. will ever face could be just ahead. ' Most communities Nye.selected a new team which must be capable of overseeing the routine operations as well as getting quickly._ up to speed bn amalgamation, a topic we will all be hearing a great deal about shortly. The Harris government has already established a policy which will see the number ofmunicipalities in Ontario drop dramatically. - previous local councils have already invested hundreds of hours discussing various ways of implementing amalga- mation. However, the process was called off when it was decided there. was n� possible way of reaching any. agreement. Will there be anew spirit of co - Publications Mail Registration Number 07511 SUBICRtPTION RATES; One year rate for Canada subscrtbers - $35.00 + QST Two year rate for Canada subscribers.- $83.00 +.OST OTHER RATES Outside Canada = $102.00. Published Each Wednesday Moming at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519-235-1331 • Fax: 519-235-0766 G.S.T. *R105210835 operation this time when the same topics are. discussed by new players: : The-amount.of money available tfom - the province is expected to be considera- bly less althotagh Queens Park has yet to come up with .accurate- information to help municipalities prepare their 1998 budgets. . Municipalities are operating in the dark, .although there is growing suspi- cion property taxes will have to jump up to -15 per cent -if the present level of lo- cal services is to be maintained: With 1998 only a few weeks away - there -is nota great deal of time -for mu- nicipal officials to get all the informa- tion they need in- order to make in- formed decisions. We'expect it will be -extremely difficult to hold the.line of taxes while providing the services we all enjoy: Four Views Letters to the Editor Team players . .. "Positive attitudes are warming to the spirit..." Dear Editor: 1 would like -to think -Craig Bradford for the well- written. article in.tbs sports section about Tracy and Jenn's midget 'AA' girls hockey team. in last week's edition (November 5, 1997). ' ' - • I am proud of the girls, especially for always "try- ing their best with heart" attitude. determination and team playing skills. That makes me just as proud as - them actually being selected for a higher calibre team. . • Itis always rewarding when friends. family, other . parents and team members, feel -proud of all of the , players. in any, sport.. - Positive attitudes are warming to the:' pirit: nega- tive attitudes can huit a player's positive outlook. Every player should strive for their own personal best. and.be proud of what they do have to offer. . Sincerely. Sue Wilson Your Views Letters to the Editor Legions thank businesses ...we reflect back on those that gave their lives and service to our wonderful- country... " Dear Editor: • On behalfof the Royal Canadian Legion Branches - R.E. Pooley Branch 167 and Hensall Branch 468 I. would like to take thiS opportunity to thank all the kind and caring businesses that supported our branches. for the wonderful dedication to our veter- . ans.in last week's Times -Advocate. • A very special thank you to Jim Beckett. Mary ' McMurray and Barb Consitt from the Times Advocate for making this possible. As we reflect back on those that 'gave their lives and service to our wonderful country and nation dur- ing -World War I. World Warr [I. Korean conflict. 1 believe we say simply and thoughtfully "Thank You!" ' "At the going:down of the -sun and in the morning • -.we will remember them." - • . Respectfully, • - Paul Dougherty, 2nd Vice President, R.E. Pooley Branch Leadership Chairman , A View From Queen's Park By Eric Dowd 11.11.1111.111111.1 - . TORONTO -- Premier Mike Harris keeps demonstrating that it's' not just what you do that gets you in trouble, it's the way that you do it. Some of the tactics that the Progressive Con-. seriative premier has used trying to achieve his ambitiousprogramof cuts in institutions and costs have drawn almost as much criticism -as 'his goals and have hurt his cause. - - The latest was his unsuccessful request to.a court for an injunction to end a province -wide teachers' strike only two days after it started. on the ground it had already caused students ir- reparable damage. The province traditionally has felt it needed . to wait at least three weeks and often longer be- fore claiming that a teachers' strike was caus- ing irreparable damage, and Hams and his ad- visers should have known of these precedents. The judge cited them in finding quickly that there had not yet been this level of damage, and ruled that Harris's request was "significantly premature." The judge in his rebuke put lJis finger on a Kate's takes By Kate Monk .Help me! It's the dark month! November is the one month of the year when I would choose to leave Huron County. If I could.- I'd leave at 12:01 a.m. on • November 1: .What bothers' me so? Lake Huron, our best friend in the summer. turns'on us in November and covers our county with -a shroud of cloud .. day after day. week after week. Add to that the wind. rain and cold and I've got aching knees and a depressed soul. . In general. I'd say November weather is useless. It's too cold for summer sports but there's no snow for winter sports. On top • (If all that, the weather is generally pretty poor for flying. November is a month that lacks, hope. The memories of the warm days of summer have faded. and the excitement of Christmas is in the distant future. It's like wading through'the • Slough of Despond. The muck pulls me deeper and deeper. Deer flies and mosquitoes buzz around my head. And just when I think I'm making progress. , something snags my hip waders. 'and cold water seeps in. ['tri not theonly person who feels this way. In my family, for generations; November takes such a toll that the first week of December has been dubbed "Disaster Week." People die. . bones break and sickness takes over. Somehow, the weather leaches our strength and will to live. This November is especially- dismal. No one is happy about the impact the Bill 160 protest had on our town — not parents or teachers or merchants. not even reporters.. The Toronto Maple Leafs are losing. but even worse, the Montreal Canadiens are winning. Yes, 'know I'm whining. I can be a positive person for 11 months of the year, but my sunny outlook on life abandons me the month the clouds roil.in. As we reach the very core of the sinkhole.of life known as November. I believe that we. as • a community, should pull . together to make the best of the month. support each other and work side-by-side' to survive the darkness. - .- Here are the top 10 things I propose to make the month better. I. Close the blinds, light candles and watch summer vacation slides. - 2. Curl up with a good book and hot apple cider. -. 3. Sneak in an afternoon -nap. 4. Invite people over for dinner. 5. Bundle up and go for a walk in a'woodlot (it. - conservation area. 6. Go out for lunch with friends. 7.. Eat clementines and drink gallons of orange juice. • 8. Spring for specialty coffees and chocolates. 9: Leave tittle gifts for family. friends and co-workers. I0. Leave the country.. I'll try to hang on in Exeter but if I'm missing from the TA for a few weeks. check out my articles in the Cayman Island Daily News. practice of Hams that has become routine, , rushing without thinking in his haste to get his program, which many agnAp with, completed before an election. The earliest major example was when he in- •troduced his omnibus bill, which crammed into one piece of legislation more initiatives of sub- stance than many, governments would move on in four years, so hurriedly that some of his min- isters did not understand enough to explain it. Other examples include the Tories proposing to merge Metropolitan Toronto into a single municipality and acting as' if legislatioh creat- ing it was already approved rather than still be- ing debated hotly in the legislature, so that both an earlier court and the Speaker rebuked them for it. They also have had to retreat on announce- ments which they had not fully thought out. if Harris was a runner (and sometimes he seems to think he is Donovan Bailey) he would be called back constantly for jumping the gun. In trying to end the teachers' strike Hams also took the wrong route by going to court. A Harris took wrong route by going to court more suitable process, as the judge noted, would have been to apply the Ontario Labour Relations Board, which rules on complaints about acts by employees. But Harris, who has little time for unions and a driving ambition to cut their powers, chose to try to bring the full might and majesty of the law down on them because it would have deliv- ered a more crushing blow than a mere govern- ment board. Harris's tactic of taking the teachers to court backfired on him also because it prompted an unreceptive judge to go out of his way to praise teachers as law-abiding people deeply commit- ted to educating their students, reluctant to strike and doing so peacefully. The teachers had been getting a lot of criti- cism, much of it deserved, so they will be heart- ened by these plaudits from a respected, inde- pendent source, which all their advertising money could not buy, and Harris inadvertently has given them ammunition for future wars with him. Another Hams trademark has been to keep his backbenchers in the dark about what he is do- ing and his fight with teachers provided one more example. it prompted several Tory MPPs to complain that Hams has now been drawn into saying that one of his aims is to cut funds for education, and their constituents are worried how much, but Hams has never told them and he should. This squabble cannot do much to boost party morale. . Another Harris tactic had been to refuse to meet unions, as earlier premiers did, but he caved in recently after opposition parties and news &media said he had a duty to hear them. This was a first, minor capitulation to unions but set a precedent, and later Harris backed off legislation to put new restraints on broader pub- lic sector workers during reorganizing and downsizing and helped give unions the heart they have for challenging him today. A lot of Harris tactics have been counter- productive. .