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Times Advocate, 1995-02-15, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, February 15, 1995 Publisher: Jim Beckett Editor: Adrian Harte. Business Manager: Don Smith Composition Manager: Deb Lord &diking; Barb Consitt News; Fred Groves, Heather Vincent, Ross Haugh Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Robert Nicol, Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner, Marg Flynn Transportation: Al Flynn, Al Hodgert front Office & Accounting; Norma Jones, Elaine Pinder, Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple The Exeter Times Advocate Is a member of a family of community newspapers IA,providing news, advertising and information leadership inion It keeps going, and going... f brevity is the soul of wit, then Grand Bend council• is becoming very dull indeed. It's a good thing the council has noth- ing major in its plate to contend with. No legal battles over the ownership of the beach (at present); no boundary ne- gotiations with neighbouring munici- palities to deal with. They do have to concentrate on sew- age system expansions, and the feuding of developers over a large parcel of property on Highway 81, but these are minor issues compared to those of the past few years. So why then have council sessions lately grown into major affairs of state? Former mayor Tom Lawson set new standards for Grand Bend council ses- sions - keep it short, keep it simple, and keep things moving. The last council was accused of going behind closed doors a few too many times, and often met earlier to hash things over out of sight of the public and press, but they did manage to avoid making regular sessions shorter than the four hours plus that they are now. Grand Bend is, after all, a village - not Toronto City Council. , The new group of five at council this year are spending large amounts of time on trivial issues. They recently spent 20 minutes alone on a minor vari- ance of a few inches. Naturally, every new council is inex- perienced at working together as a group for the first few sessions. But is this group trying to overcompensate by beating every small point to death with a word stick? • Onlookers, regular observers, and those of us at the press table are all hoping this will pass, but have yet to see an inkling of brevity. While it can be said that it is mostly their own time they are wasting, there are deeper issues at hand. If council ses- sions degrade into long-winded, boring, indecisive wrestling matches, then pub- lic attendance will be discouraged. Del- egations will also be reluctant to wait out the wrangling for their turn at the ta- ble. And the real danger is that circular arguments can easily lead to the loss of vision and insight into the issues at hand. As in all municipal councils, the new- comers do well to take cues from the veteran members. Unfortunately, there are only two left in Grand Bend after the last election. Councillor Phil Maguire, for instance, is quick to make his point and move on, and he shows respect for the opinions of his opponents. Councillor Bob Mann, a former Lon- don politician, still seems 'to be address- ing the non-existent radio stations and television cameras. And councillors Shirley Andraza and Barbara Wheeldon show some need of being better ac- quainted with the issues before wading in. Mayor Cam Ivey has to draw on his experience at council and play a bigger part in directing council's verbal ping- pong to a more purposeful end, a get embroiled in it all. In a few short weeks, t new council will face its toughest task to date, setting the 1995 budget. This promises to be a painful process, and one wonders if it at this rate it will be ready by July. Can council step up to the table with a clear picture of the village's finances, or will it end up stuck in something like a debate over the costs of pencil erasers or toilet rolls? Your Views Letters to the editor Legion hospitality They made a very comfortable and safe haven for those of us caught in the storm Dear Editor: Please convey our sincere thanks and those of many others around the area to the Exeter Legion Branch 167. They made a very comfortable and safe haven for those of us caught in the vicious storm. We arc indeed indebted to that organization for providing hospitality and warmth in an emergency situation. Lorne and I wish personally to thank another very special couple for taking us into their home on a very stormy night. Our thanks to all Lorne and Helen Kleinstiver A View From Queen's Park By Eric Dowd Publications Malt Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: CANADA Within 40 miles (65 km.) addressed to non letter carrier addresses 033.00 plus $241 0.0.T. • Outside 40 miles (65 km.) or any latter terrier address 633.00 plus 630.00 (total 63.00) • 4.31 GALT. Ougslde Canada 099.00 plus 66.93 GIT (Includes 088.40 postage) WFIoA! LooI( AT THF ON co.' Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 156 by 1.W. lay Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-5192351331 • Fax: 1112350760 GALT. Nt30sa14eie AND IN REVERSE ,Toa„ ...and anyway By Adrian Harte When reality bites back Back in my high school days, which doesn't seem all that long ago (but in other ways it was), the powers that be announced they would turn an empty room into a student lounge. There ensued a big hullaballoo over who would use it. The old- er students with spares truly be- lieved it should be for their use exclusively - to keep out the younger riff raff. Tired of hang- ing out in the cafeteria or li- brary, they wanted a place of their own. There was even a contest set up to name this new room, and somehow the best idea was "The Room". I think our crea- tivity was suppressed back then. But whatever we imagined this lounge would be, it wasn't. It was quickly taken over by a contingent of grade 10 students, who used it for nothing more exciting than frequent games of chess, cards, or ping pong (on a good day). It just wasn't the most hip place to be, and the cafeteria and library continued to rein supreme. Reality sucks, I guess. And reality is what has caught up with the Exeter Drop -In youth centre. I helped out there regularly up until last year, until demands on my time meant I could only take on the occasional shift. I was there to see how enthusiastic the kids were about it four years ago. They loved the idea of be- ing able to come and go, choose their own activities, just hang out. So why did it die this year? I suppose there's many reasons. I saw the enthusiasm dwindle slowly. The first year, they couldn't get enough of it. They gladly helped clean up at the end of the evening, even helped cook in the kitchen. By the sec- ond year they wanted nothing but take-out pizza, and managed to come up with dozens of ex- cuses why they couldn't stay to the end when the brooms came out. Like any of us would, they began to take it for granted. The first year, there would be kids lined up to get in at 5 p.m. By the second year they didn't really start showing up until six. When we began to open at six, they wouldn't arrive until seven. When we opened at seven, they didn't come at all. The youth centre; well sup- ported by the service groups that believed in its survival, had ceased to be new, daring, or cutting edge. It became some- thing that your older brother used to do, and you know how uncool older siblings are. Last year, we noticed kids were showing up just long enough to sign in and then out, only to show up again much lat- er in the evening when unsus- pecting parents would arrive to collect them. For the most part, I don'tthink they were up to any harm, they just didn't want to be somewhere their parents knew about and approved of. Keeping a youth centre going is probably something lilt nu- clear physics. You negd a criti- cal mass to keep the reaction going. As soon as a few key players stop showing up. the rest of it fizzles quite quickly. If a few visionaries can get a youth centre going in Grand Bend, they are guaranteed to have a roaring success on their hands - for the first while at least. Their challenge is to keep it alive in the years to come. That doesn't mean Exeter's program is dead and buried. Quite likely a new group, una- ware that anyone played good music before 1993, will redis- cover it, proclaim it new, and run with it again. You can't blame the kids. I don't, for I still remember what it was like to be 13 or 14, al- . ways looking for something you don't already have. And how is that different from any of us still? A lot of people are anxious to get rid of the Ontario New Democrat government in the elec- tion within months and willing to pay for it. The Progressive Conservatives led by Mike Harris have reported that their supporters last year generously donated $3.9 million toward the task, the most the Tories have collected in a non -election year. The Liberals and New Democrats have until May to report how much they raised. But the ' Tories were well ahead in 1993, raking in $2.7 million compared to the NDP' $1.7 million and Liberals' $1.4 million. A trend seems to be developing that those who want the NDP out are giving more finan- cial support to the Tories than the Liberals led by Lyn McLeod, although the Liberals consis- tently have more support in polls. This trend could have significance for the election. One question has been whether busi- ness, which is monolithic, will give more sup- port to the Tones or Liberals in its anxiety to get shut of the NDP. One-third of the donations to the Tories were from companies and two-thirds from individu- als. But business heads commonly donate as in- dividuals, as well as through their companies, so that overall the business community is con- tributing a substantial share of the Tory war chest. Business over the years has found the Tories a more natural ally. But Harris also more than McLeod has made pitches that appeal to it. The Tory leader promised that his first act as premier would be to abolish the NDP law giv- ing more power to unions, which business argues tips the balance unfairly in favor of un- ions and discourages investment and jobs. McLeod has said merely she will make chang- es. Harris has said he will cut premiums employ- ers pay toward workers' compensation and abolish the employer health tax payable by small businesses. Cashing in on unpopularity Harris has promised generally deeper cuts in taxes and spending than the Liberals, including reductions of 30 percent in provincial income tax and 20 percent in `non-prioriy' government spending. Harris also has promised to privatize 'non- essential government assets and services such as the Liquor Control Board' and recently as- sured business leaders: 'We are on your side'. He has sounded more like the Ralph Klein much of business admires. Some in business may simply have donated to the opposition party they saw as more likely to push out the NDP and concluded that the ag- gressive Harris is more capable of a strong fin- ishing spurt. • Hams has even attracted donations despite some Conservatives' concem that he is too far to the right and out of step with an Ontario tra- dition of moderate conservatism. The Tories used to collect two or three times as much money as the other two parties com- bined in their heyday in government from 1943-85, when their party solicited funds while sometimes leaving donors to believe the Tory government would grant favors in return. There was, for example, the $50,000 received in the 1970s from a development company which explained in a memo to head office it paid off the party because the government was to spend millions of dollars renting space in its new building. The Tory government investigat- ed and naturally found itself blameless. Then there was the $35,000 from a waste dis- posal company which described it in its books as payment to ensure the government approved its request for land to be used as a dump. A Tory bagman by coincidence destroyed rele- vant documents before investigators called and the Tories a n were exonerated. The law noow forbids parties accepting such generous gifts, but the Tories and business money again could be a f ridable alliance.