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Times Advocate, 1996-12-18, Page 4• I '1 ( • Th-,Advpate, December 18, 1996 Jim Beckett Pryer : Deb Lord itis; Barb cons t, Chad EAdy dm Heather Mir, Chris Shakes, Ross Haugft, Blends Burke : Alms BaNsnbne, Mary McMu•rtay, Barb Robertson Qt19ce' A�c�rmt brine Roder, Sue RolHngs, Ruth Sleight Ruthanne Negrljn, Anita McDonald, Cassle Dalrymple The Exeter Tifrieit lldvocgte le a meillbar of a family of community nowspapers • providing news, advertising and Information leadership • inion Publications Mall RKlstnuon Number 0386 Ose Year rate forMtMaorlbers -$35.00 + 05T TWe Year rote lir Orlt*M M harsibsrs - $63.00 + OST rtmenatuanatiestaummultamm One year subscription • $63.00 + QST Two year subsedetion - $119.00 + QST Mintfihnli Outside Caneda - $99.00 + QST •%. i,1•0,, , ;• Staged event stifles local input hey came. They saw. But theydid not conquer. This description applies equally to the executives from the Huron•Perth Dis- trict Health Council and to the almost 1,300 concerned citizens who support South Huron Hospital. , In reality, the event was an opportuni- ty for the District Health Council to sell their version of how area hospitals • should be restructured. The council fell far short of convincing anyone their de- cisions will leave this area with ade- quate hospital services. The large number Of local;residents who support SI i: -I. also failed to make any headway with the event organizers. Most people who Were asked on their way out if they believed they had any influence on the District Health Coun- cil used the term "cut and dried." ' The gathering was described as an "open house." The purpose was to give Exeter and area residents the opportunity to learn more about what the future holds for SHH following revelations from the task force that would see the local hos- pital reduced to nothing more than an emergency service with no active beds. Held in the auditorium, which was di- vided into two areas, the format of the discussion was designed to reduce any impact a large show of support from the community would have. About 250 peo pie at a time were allowed to hear a pol- ished message from Health Council members outlining the need for chang- ing the way health care is delivered. Then taxpayers were allowed to ask a few questions that were politely an- swered by the "open house" organizers. Some were emotional, many were logi- cal and others were critical of the think- ing behind the decision to dramatically lessen the services now provided at SHH. After allowing a limited number of questions, those who controlled the meeting would abruptly halt further in- put from the audience and ask the group to leave, allowing another session to be- gin. The "open house" was little more than a staged event. The District Health Council will be able to claim they gave local residents a chance to voice their opinions. It did give a small number of local citi- zens a chance to be heard. We wonder if anybody is listening. 1 • ft • Tips for parade organizers "We put a lot of work into the floats and were kind of upset." Dear Editor: First of all let me say that Exeter had a very good parade again this year. But we were really disap- pointed with the video coverage. Crediton Neighbourhood Watch float was missed except for a small corner at the back of the wagon • and was never mentioned on the video. It had signs on both sides and on the back. • Also the P.A.C.E. float only showed the girls with the banner but not the Nat. We put a lot of work into thefloats and were kind of upset. I thought when the girls went around with their walkie talkies naming the floats in order that they would have had a better list to go by. The commentary was done very well but we don't think it was necessary to show them so much while floats went by and were missed. Last year we won first prize for our category and the only way we found out was when we read it in the T.A. the following week. This year we won third prize at the Huron Park parade and we were told by the end of the pa- rade.We didn't have to wait to read about it. We know it is hard to organize and they did a great job. But maybe by pointing this out it will help in the future. Phyllis Collett and Brenda Morgan, Crediton Neighbourhood Watch TORONTO -- The Ontario Progressive Con- servatives undo Ptomiot Mike Harris, the pit- bulls itbulls of politics, play rough with any who get in their way. ' The government aide, who used confidential health ministry files, to claim that a doctor lead- ; 'mg demands for hetterparbilled the province's health plan more than any other doctor, trying to embarrass him, is just the tip of how the To- ries play hardball.• There is a good liTgirment; which is •now d• o - y gc+owetg; thrlttdoet tsf bi�itess should be revolted try the 'Public, swnieh .'' . But the la* makes biilingy iittiody nonfiden- tial and the aide would have bten aware how N soy14 a- ' *M' minister lost het job for blurting put, clearly accidental- ly,. confidential information; and .Another minis- r ter who held out a threat that she had confiden- tial inibrmation Dabout a doctor almost lost hers. Harris and his Tories hounded both relent- lessly. elentlessly. This latest trespass conjures up visions of staff in a White House under Richard Nixon n - fling the income tax files of opponents for any- thing they could use against them, one of the • lowest points in U.S. history. But Harris's Tories have established a pattern of pulling few punches. There was the case of a lawyer with a large Toronto law firm who was retained by a school parent -staff association to represent its concerns about a government - appointed panel studying 'who does what' on educadon. The lawyer wrote to the panel asking its terms of reference and saying he was thinking of challenging its legality in court. The next thing he knew an assistant to Mmic Affairs 11fnister AI Leach, in dirge of the WW -de who process, phoned hit senior in the kw 9111? and it ordered him to mite w� vb f m t .. tin lawyer te fitffs asoca tioii. complied, beanies he (Wed for 1di job. but quickly quit the fine CO rel ch claimed as assistant called merely to ' Prilsl .d hoh w.r.Ary at 424 Main St., Exeter, Osbabo, NOM ISO te LW. I e Publications Ltd. T.l.ai- 3.$a1 • Fax: 50766 wawa ibasoethisios.olveosteesely.osat GAT. flt1012 0831 Have fun with your shopping Those lovely lists of gift ideas make great reading, if you are in need of some light and amusing entertainment. There are pages upon pages of clothes for children. Now, in all honesty,, ghildreniipiawont, -,r•: clothing •fbt Chrisitnas,"• '• especially not socks Or underwear. "Oh, gee, I wonder what Santa left in my stocking... it's nice and soft... oh, thank you very much, mother dearest, just what I wanted, a training bra." Depending on their ages, they want toys, or they want money. A cheque will do. Don't bother with the card. There are pages upon pages of "cute" items for the home - mugs and teapots shaped like little Victorian houses, brass fireplace tools (also shaped like ittle Victorian houses), and a vast array of Christmas tablecloths, decorated with little Victorian houses. Granted, there must be people out there who have the space to store all that Stuff, and who ovingly clean and iron those decorative tablecloths all season ever notice cute doesn't come n perma press?). And there must be people who truly appreciate a set of place mats in a virulent fushia despite the fact the room is decorated in various textures of beige. Those people are out there, somewhere, but one suspects it could well be in : another dimension. there ate the re4,11y,scfli pages, the'ones which show noisy gifts. There are dolls which produce a maniacal giggle when tickled, "just like a real baby". This one had to have been invented by someone who has never seen a real infant, or more to the point, has never heard its heart rending (and ear shattering) cries as some sadistic relative squeaks, "Coochy-coo." There are model cars and aircraft which roar, talking bears and musical play ovens. There are super powerful tape players, strong enough to deafen an arena crowd. No matter that they'll only be played in Junior's bedroom. To go with them, there are music tapes of chipmunks singing Christmas carols. You can only listen to Alvin, Theodore, and the other one, whatever his name is, so many times before you go insane and accidently drop the tape in the dish washer. For the genuinely nasty, there are musical instruments. Nothing beats a good drum set for creating dissension in the family unit. •-And then there are witty cards `w iich play a Christmas carol every time you open them. Of course, the little gadget which makes the music eventually goes berserk and has to be killed, violently, with a hammer. That makes the neighbors look at you strangely for months after. This is one of those gifts which keeps on giving. Lest one sound like Scrooge, the holiday gift guides have accomplished one useful purpose over the years. They have persuaded the public that there are alternatives to the traditional presents like homemade fruit cake (weighs a ton, has to be watered liberally with rum and wine on a regular basis, and nobody really likes it - not unlike certain recipients of this particular gift, come to think of it); strange ties shaped like trout; and Santa Claus coasters. Have fun with your shopping. Pitbulls of politics ask what the complaint was and whether the firm's letter was "serious," but it was notewor- thy the Tories called his boss, not the lawyer who wrote the letter, squelched the parent -staff legal action and cost the lawyer his job. During protests against Harris in October, the Ontario Labor Relations Board ruled that dem- onstrators could picket the Toronto transit sys- tem and therefore shut it down, and David Johnson, chair of management board and gov- ernment house leader, was quoted in a newspa- per as saying he was disturbed by the decision and there would be a reassessment of the board. The board rules on disputes between labor • and management and is quasi-judicial. sod gov- ernments nonnalf*► keep their hands off its *xi- dor*. But the Tories had already fired some of its members before their terms were up and monied to be warning that more heads would roll if k did oat get on side. ,A union+Mainers at the legisla- ture has since asked tie board to ride whether it feels able to make adjudications independently because of the threat by a powerful minister, the first time any such fears have been raised about the board" independence. There also was the principal of a junior high school in Scarboro who wrote to parents outlin- ing the effects she felt the Harris government's spending cuts would have on school programs. She was legally entitled to do this and her school board, her employer, had no quarrel. But an aide to Education Minister John Snobelen phoned her saying she over -stepped her bounds as a principal and had no business revealing in- formation to het community in a partisan man- ner. The aide warned, "I am going to report you to your board and to the Toronto Sun," a newspa- per which enthusiastically supports Harris. Some Harris Tories are so sure they are right ww��11lt use confidential information to embar- rass�critics, call their bosses, cost them their Viand even sick an unfriendly newspaper on