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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-08-13, Page 4PAGE 4 --GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1986 As an event it is a tempest in the teacup. As an item for summ r reading it is ho-hum. Nevertheless, as a c culated expression of certain increasingly re, ressive tendencies in our municipal chambers, the episode stands to be briefly examined. "Council can do whatever it wants, whenever it wants", stated Mayor Eileen Palmer at a meeting last week, allegedly quoting the town solicitor, Mr. Dan Murphy. It was not a hastily dropped remark; toe mayor was, by her own words, prepared r the occasion. The meeting was attended by a number of council and staff members, with a dozen persons in the public gallery. As required under the Planning Act for dealing with official plan and zoning by-law amendments, a public meeting had been properly called (and advertised) for Tues- day, August 5, at 7 p.m. in the town hall. Although any council ruember is free to be present, of course, such meetings are for public. input, for or against an application. The public meeting was not in dispute. Ordinarily such public meetings have been held, separately, just before regular council. meetings. Last week there was no regular council meeting, the town council being on the summer w schedule of one meeting a month. There were some justified i oxengripe j It dsnot enable a powerful and deter - Mayor should 1 ELBA HAYDON questions about the nature of whatever followed the public meeting. If it was a special council meeting, how was it called? The powers of a municipality are exercis- ed by the council at both regularly schedul- ed and special meetings. The council sets (and changes) its regular meetings by mo- tion. Special council meeting may be called in two -ways - either by the head off the coun- cil (in the town's case the mayor) or on re- quest of the majority of council members. The purpose of ,a special meeting i stated and no other business is conducted. All coun- cil members must be notified (at least a reasonable attempt must be made) and in the past it was done by telephone from the town hall and/or by mail or special messenger. The a'equirements are far from splitting hairs; they make very good sense. The pro- vincial legislation covers all of the more than 860 Ontario Municipalities and offers reasonable protection against corruptive possibilities. It does not allow a manipulative mayor to select likeminded members for a' council meeting. mined group of councillors with similar aims and ambitions to ignore and exclude members with different views, by suddenly declaring that their gathering is a council meeting. Readily following good and clear procedures in public business lets the municipal government's honesty and in- tegrity be seen, as much in the interest of the council members as for the benefit of the public. When two or three days before a meeting an agenda is placed in the council members' boxes in the town hall, is that sufficient notification? There is no requirement that council, members empty their boxes every day or even weekly, particularly in the sum- mer when very few meetings take place. Furthermore, it would hardly clarify mat- ters concerning a special council' meeting when that agenda states (under purpose of meeting) that "the purpose of the public meeting is to deal ,with various zoning amendments and official plan amendments and motions of council". As prepared, the minutes change that into "this special meeting of council is called to hold a public meeting under the Planning Act...".. I do not intend to follow the details of several contradictions and discrepancies beyond this point. One could understand 4 y m t authority' that perhaps staff holidays and changes count for the lack of clarity in this matter. Had the ambiguities been frankly acknowledged and plainly dealt with, no doubt the situation would have met with far greater patience, understanding and good- will. To be fair it shoud be mentioned that Councillors Glen Carey and Stan Profit, Deputy, Reeve John Doherty and Ad- ministrator Larry, McCabe were absent from the meeting. Councillors Bill Clifford and Jim Searls made brief comments on some aspects of the meeting which they at- tended. Councillor Searls called the situa- tion confusing and indicated his dissatisfac- tion with the steps taken. It is a pity that the mayor's choice was a hardline declaration and confrontation. I am an admirer of Mayor Palmer in many things. She represents the town well, with diligence. In most cases her ambitions work for the betterment and benefit of the town. Where we part company is when she puts on such mighty airs, as if she could singlehpndedly run and boss everything and everylicidy within reach. It does not work; all it does is create friction. My invitation to Mayor Palmer is to relax the grip, enjoying the modest real authority, instead of wasting good -will on illusions of imaginary powers. Of course, the council has a perfectly good right to deal with its ( written or unwritten) agenda at any legitimately called and clear- ly designated council meeting. On this occa- sion, the nature of the meeting was at least ambiguous. It could have been clarified and corrected more positively and constructive- ly than drawing "battle lines" behind clouds of legal smoke. It is also possible that the town solicitor had not been made aware. of the complete circumstances. It is fortunate that the planning decisions made last week were not more controver- sial. An opponent's solicitor or the Ontario Municipal Board might have taken a dim view of some aspects of the proceedings. Incidentally, one item was rather lin- 4eresting to follow. By a 5/4 decision the council recently bought approximately 47 acres at $160,000, after annexing the land from Goderich Township. The reason stated was shortage of industrial land. Last week the council changed a parcel of industrial park at the town entrance on Highway 21 South, from industrial to a commerical area, to accommodate a large furniture store. Nobody promised the councillors that politics is easy. Opinion THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 1848 the, oaencI _ EIGNAL-STAR P.O. BOX E20 HUCKINB 9T. INDUSTRIAL PARK t OOERICH, ONT. N7A 4B6 OCT ALL POUND COMMUNITY NaW0PAPUR IN CANADA (Grcdauon 01.13500 450010 0 5 A 0ottnr Nawapoper Compoubon 1904 PUBLISHED BY SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED , Founded in 1U0 end published every Wednesday at OoderIch, Ontario. Member of the CCNA end OCNA. Subscriptions payable In edvsnoe 022.00, (senior Citizens 018.00 privilege card number required) In Canada, 080.00 to U.B.A., 000.00 to all other' countries, Bingle copies 000. 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Shrier FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES...please phone (619)824-2614 Second class mail registration number 0716 Member:►CNA CCNA Pain Strike highlights health care issues The" doctors' strike wlasted .. .. lith lastt ed 25 days was the longest medical strike in Canada's. history. Many people were inconvenienced and some were turned away from hospital emergency departments, but despite a major cutback of standard medical services, few serious problems were reported. The strike has underlined the problems in health care and indicates people coped without medical services. This raises the question whether we really need as much service as we demand. Studies on the use and organization of emergency departments suggest the majority .of people who go to them should be sent to a general practitioner -or sent home with advice on self-help such astaking ice from the refrigerator and applying it. Doctors have angrily denounced patients -who misuse emergency services, calling doctors to the hospital on weekends to perform procedures which should be done in the doctors' of- fice during regular hours. The events of the strike suggest we have all used the health care system more frequently than we should. When we have the technology, we expect it to relieve discomfort. We almost fear neglecting something that needs early attention. If we have_a pain, we wonder if it may indicate something more serious. It has become part of our culture that doctors be consulted on every ache and pain. We no longer use nor do we know about the home remedies which once treated so many problems so successfully. A generation ago, people looked after many of their health care problems themselves. Doctors were only consulted in true emergencies. The strike suggests reforms are required that would shift the health care system away from high cost, institutional -based care. While some things must be handled by health care professionals, the present system focuses too much on illness. Indeed, Dr. Michael Watts stated in a letter to the Signal - Star: "I don't provide health care. I diagnose and treat disease." Community based care, counselling and education about health should take a higher priority. The elderly, for example, can be maintained much more effectively and at less cost in their own homes with support services. The Huron County Home Care program is providing such support services at minimal cost compared to the cost of keeping seniors in ,institutions. The elderly are happier in their own homes which reinforces their well being and their health: Doctors are concerned about these health care issues. They repeatedly stated during the strike that the issue was not money, but their concern about these health care issues and who would have control over the health care system, doctors or the politicians. Doctors may have to change, however. They must be prepared to share the provision of health care services with other health care professionals including chiropracters, homeopaths, midwives, nurses, nutritionists, natural healing practitioners and physiotherapists. There should be a multi- disciplined approach with each; health care pro- .vider having an equal part and contributing their own skills. Education will also play an important role in changing people'sittitndes t^o health care. People should learn self-help so they become better equipped to °look after themselves, enabling doctors to treat true emergencies. Doctors have talked about the holistic approach to health care for some time but they must work with other health care professionals to pro- vide holistic care and their must be prepared to refer their patients to them. They must also educate their patients to the fact that total health care is not provided by one professional, , the medical doctor. Health care providers have not done enough to explain the services they can offer. People think they must go to a physician. Perhaps most important, people must accept responsibility for their own health are. Maintaining one's health is a priority every day of our lives. We cannot continue to abuse our bodies with lack of sleep, overwork, poor nutrition, smoking and drinking and then run to a physician for a.cu,re when the body can no longer cope and falls victim to disease. , Preventive health care is also a must if we are to reduce the ever increasing cost of health care, which is burdening society and crippling our future. Withdrawal of services during the doctor's,strike heightened people's awareness of pro- blems in health care. In the aftermath of the strike, issues such as the over -use of services 'must be solved. Solutions require the co-operation of all health care professionals working together with the public and government. Egos will be disniantled in the process and it will - not be easy. S.D. - To four-year-old Lee Cranston,.of Lucknow, the water balloon toss balloon, he decided to step out of the way rather than attempt. o at Dungannon's Family Fun Day on Sunday was an interesting new. catch it and possibly get soaked. (photo by Susan Hundertmark) challenge. While he had no problems throwing the water -filled Increasing � the drinkingage to 21 could create more problems than it solves " To raise or not to raise, that is the question. A task force about to study Ontario's li- quor laws has been urged by the "public" to raise the legal drinking age to 21 from the current 19. If this is the recommendation for the province, will it create more problems than it solves? One has to acknowledge the merits of each side of the argument. Douglas]�rinkwalter, head of the liquor license board, Mid recent- ly that the tone of letters he has received for, the task force indicate people are concerned about the drinking age and drunk driving.. Many student groups have written relay- ing their opposition to an increase. Some have even stated a return to pre -1979 days when the legal age was 18 is ample. They all "perhaps legitimately conclude. anyone who votes or is eligible for war service should at least be given the opportunity to imbibe. At a Toronto high school forum on drink- ing and driving the majority say most kids who want alcohol will get it anyway, regardless of the legal age. Police, and government officials in attendance there agreed a higher drinking age will not solve the problem of impaired driving accidents. Statistics show drivers under 21 ac- counted for only 6.4 percent of alcohol- related driving charges in the city of London last year. By comparison, drivers aged 21 to. 25 were charged irr,26 percent of the cases last year, giving their age group the largest number of charges. by Mike Ferguson Why then is there such a paranoid fuss be- ing made to raise the drinking age? The legion of doubters on the other side of the coin also cultivate some interesting perceptions. One of the ludicrous things about raising it to 21 is this:. How can you tell a university student in his first year of medical school that he's old enough to handle the profes- sional requirements of his school but legally can't drink? Popular taverns would not relish a return to pre -1971 days', when identification checks were conducted of nearly every university patron. Moving the age to 21 makes it more difficult to monitor drinking and check proof of age, say many restauranteurs. Nobody's going to just wave a' magic wand and say the 19 and 20 -year olds are going to stop drinking. One could say these are knee-jerk reac- tions to a very serious problem facing this province --that of drunk drivers. Psychologist over reacting Dear editor, "Stop Blaming the Correctional Centre." I have always believed that the most im- portant thing in the world is caring. It is for this reason that democracies spend more money on Social and Welfare Programs. Democracies believe not in vindictiveness, tortures, eye for eye, but in ways to find out how a misguided and disturbed person can best be helped. Canadians talk .a lot with sarcasm and disgust about the way the peo- ple are treated in Afro -Asian, Latin and Authoritarian -Countries. Drinkwalter has said people believe much of the drinking and driving in Ontario occurs when licensed premises close for the night. But a higher drinking age wouldn't necessarily . put a dent in the statistics, because drivers under 21 don't account for many charges. It could then be argued one charge is too many. Conceivably, the current ideological tus- sle over whether to raise the drinking age is only a trial balloon lofted by Drinkwalter to gain responsible responses for his task force. The number one public relations technique , to acquire attention is create some controversy. Hes doing a good job of it. With the United States in close proximity to Ontario, and President Ronald Reagan's designated intention of requiring each state in the union to have 21 as their legal drinking age, the effects of this rampant conser- vatism are being felt in Canada. Society has indeed become more conser- vative in style, if not in fact. But itis a sober- ing thought to some tavern owners and youth aged 20 or under to comprehend the notion of raising the legal drinking age. The task force hearings conclude in Lon- don on October 29. And possibly the quintessential solution the task force will Submit to Ontario Consumer Minister Monte Kwinter at that time is to leave well enough alone. It could be timorously stated an in- crease in the legal drinking age to 21 may breed more problems than it solves. suggests people stop to Bluewater escapes LETTERS There has been only one incident of escape froth the correctional centre and in my hum- ble opinion it has been overly exaggerated and everything is blown out of proportion. I wish to remind the people of Goderieh that those young people at the correctional centre are human beings like us. If we take account of all the crimes that are committed by young people every day in Huron County and in Goderich the one incident of the cor- rectional centre may not constitute even one percent of. the total, Is it fair to make so much noise on one percent and ignore 99 percent? 1 even heard last night the most negative remark as the centre to be taken away from here. It is not only cruel but most irrational. No matter where the centre would be, there kt'l Turn to page 5