Times Advocate, 1995-09-27, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, September 27, 1995
Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett
Business Manager: Don Smith
Production Manager: Deb Lord
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A lost opportunity
he town of Exeter missed an
opportunity to show leadership by nar-
rowly rejecting a motion to reduce the
size of our municipal government by
two elected officials.
After hearing Bill Mickle present his
case for cutting back, the decision was
deadlocked in a tie vote which was
broken by Mayor Ben Hoogenboom.
As is the tradition in Exeter, the Mayor
always votes against the motion when
two sides are tied. By deciding to con-
tinue with the present number of elect-
ed officials until changes are forced
upon us Exeter is sending a clear mes-
sage to other municipalities that they
are not particularly interested in chang-
ing the status quo until it is absolutely
necessary.
Several comments have been heard
that our representatives are all very
busy performing their duties now....and
that a reduction in their numbers would
dramatically increase the workload for
those who remain. Perhaps those who
are not in favor of reducing government
at this time do not subscribe the belief
that "work" expands to meet the time
allowed to get it done and the number
of people it takes to get it done.
We all know the plan of the Tory gov-
ernment in Toronto is to reduce the
number of politicians across the prov-
ince. Some have even suggested that
Huron County will no longer exist with
the void being filled by five municipali-
ties. Strong suggestions have been made
for the amalgamation of school boards.
In fact, more than one message has gone
out from the Harris government that
they will make the tough choices if local
boards can't agree.
Nobody is disputing the inevitable.
Cutbacks are coming'whether we like
them or not. Exeter could have been one
of the first towns to get with the pro-
gram and show they are capable of
adapting to the times. It could have been
done without having a negative impact
on the quality of services taxpayers de-
serve and expect and, it would have sent
a message to our neighbors that we are
ready to face the challenges of govern-
ing in the nineties.
Bill Mickle has just completed a term
as president of the Association of Mu-
nicipalities of Ontario and is fully aware
of what we will be facing very shortly.
It's unfortunate his suggestion was re-
jected.
Tradition continues
f there is such a thing as a list
of Canadian heroes we feel certain that
Terry Fox will be very near the top.
That's why is important that year after
year people show their generosity by
contributing to the Canadian Cancer
Society by participating in and contrib-
uting to the annual Terry Fox Run. Lo-
cally the communities of Lucan, Zurich
and Exeter raised over $10,000 which
will be added to hundreds of other suc-
cessful campaigns across the country as
the battle continues against cancer.
As the 15th anniversary of the run is
marked it is interesting to know that the
run has grown from 800 sites 3,600 in
1994. We all know what Terry Fox has
done to focus the country on the impor-
tance of finding a cure for cancer.
We also kno'v,what cancer can do
which is the main reason to make sure
the battle against this dreaded disease
continues.
There are also some things that cancer
cannot do which an unknown author
noted in the Renfrew Mercury.
Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love,
It cannot shatter hope,
It cannot corrode faith,
It cannot destroy peace,
It cannot kill friendship,
It cannot suppress memories,
It cannot silence courage,
It cannot invade the soul,
It cannot steal eternal life,
It cannot conquer the spirit.
• • • WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND? • • •
The Times Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open
discussion of local issues, concerns, complaints and kudos. WE ASK THAT YOU KEEP
YOUR LETTERS TO A MAXIMUM OF 300 WORDS, The Times Advocate reserves the•right to
edit letters for brevity. Please send your letters to P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6.
Sign your letter with both name and address. Anonymous letters will not be published.
A View From Queen's .Park
TORONTO -- Progressive Conservative
Pretnier Mike Harris and his cabinet have
to be tough to get their job done, but people
are beginning to wonder whether they have
to be so nasty.
Some of the Tory premiers who governed
successfully for 42 years until 1985 partly
by showing a kinder, gentler face must be
turning in their graves.
The Harris government has to administer
strong medicine because it promised drastic
cuts in spending on welfare, health and oth-
er services, which cannot be done without
pain. The gain will be lower taxes and bal-
anced budgets, which also is what people
voted for.
But many will question whether the To-
ries have to be as hard-nosed as they are.
The most offensive example was Education
Minister John Snobelen's musing in a strat-
egy session with officials that he might "in-
vent a crisis" to win support for his views
on changing education.
This would be dishonest when the least
the public is entitled to from a minister is
By Eric Dowd
honesty. It also smacks of dirty tricks and
Richard Nixon's Watergate. Oddly, it was
Harris who predicted in the June election
that the Liberals and New Democrats
would wage a dirty tricks campaign with-
out precedent against him, but it never ma-
terialized and now the major threat of dirty
tricks has come from a Harris minister.
Community and Social Services Minister
David Tsubouchi insulted welfare recip-
ients, in addition to slashing their benefits
by 21 per cent, when he slipped out of a
cabinet dinner in a luxury restaurant and
suggested that they could get by if they
bought bulk food.
A single mother with one child, now told
she has to live on $957 a month, is prob-
ably better acquainted than the minister
with bulk food shelves and fade tables.
When he advises her to snap up 10 cans of
tuna while they are on sale, she may not
have even $7 or $8 to spend on one item.
Tsubouchi also shows he lives in a differ-
ent world when he urges that welfare moth-
ers who are forced to work but are unable
What's news?
Brenda Burke
s the bike helmet law fair?
What's news these days? The
soon -to -he hike helmet law, of
course.
I purchased a shiny, new, black
bicycle helmet last summer. I've
worn it twice - once in the store I
bought it from and once while at-
tempting to rollerblade for the first
time.
I prefer. I'm not ashamed to ad-
mit, to ride my bike with the breez-
es blowing through my hair.
Since I was a kid, bike riding has
always given me such a rush of
freedom. Pumping uphill, racing
downhill, feeling the wind, prob-
ably not unsimilar to the way dogs
feel when they hang their heads out
of moving car windows.
But alas. law is law and it will
soon he time to dig out the helmets.
But when? It's interesting how this
law, issued under the Highway
Traffic Act, was to be reinforced in
October, near the end of biking sea-
son. Was this done in an effort to
allow bikers one last full summer
of helmet -free days?
And now the government needs
more time to get the regulations
straight before the law is set in
stone. October r is not longer the
big day. Interesting...
Now, seriously, it is time to think
about safety before we get carried
away with freedom here. With most
cyclist deaths due to head injuries,
many preventable. by using hel-
mets, it seems silly not to caution
ourselves in this area.
We're supposed to wear helmets
while operating motorcycles, sea-
doos and many other contraptions
capable of high speeds, so why not
while riding bikes?
The bicycle collision that claimed
the life of a man in London during
the summer is enough to scare me
into wearing a helmet. But, (and
this I don't like to admit), you
won't catch me wearing it until law
requires me to.
Many people, since news of the
helmet law first came 'round, have
written newspaper editors countless
articles both in favor of the helmet
law and against it. Those for the
law, of course, are concerned about
basic bicycle safety.
Those against the law often want
to protect their personal freedoms.
In their view, why can't they be al-
lowed to choose whether or not to
receive their own head injuries
while riding their bicycles?
I suppose in theory, the right not
to wear a helmet is similar to the
right to smoke. Does the govern-
ment have the right to force people
who may, by choice, be putting
themselves at a health risk?
Okay, so the smoking thing goes
a little further. Besides, smoking in
public was largely banned because
people surrounding smokers are
forced to breathe in contaminants
they might have a distaste for.
But whether it's smoking, wear-
ing helmets or taking sky diving
lessons, it still boils down to the
same issue. Do we have the right to
take our own health risks?
Once everyone is forced into hel-
mets, what's next? A helmet for
tots riding in wagons and teens on
skateboards? Knee pads for pedes-
trians in case they stumble? Protec-
tive finger pads for those who
spend a lot of time pushing cross-
walk buttons?
As we become increasingly
aware of 'the right thing to do' for
safety's sake in this health and safe-
ty -conscious era. we may he losing
our freedom to enjoy activities
once unfettered by laws and regula-
tions. But in the end, we will be
safe and healthy, the way a good
little society should be.
•
Harris has meaner style
to afford licensed daycare should get neigh-
bors to babysit. Most women neighbors
also work and there is a danger he will push
children into substandard care and even un-
safe homes.
It reminds one of Transportation Minister
A'I Palladini, asked if he felt bad about tran-
sit for the disabled being cut while he rides
in a chauffeur -driven limousine, scoffing
insensitively that in the winter he will
"hook up my two huskies" and be pulled on
a sled to the legislature.
Harris has gone half -way to confront la-
bor unions angry at his plan to scrap NDP
labor laws, arguing that the NDP gave them
all they asked for and that the reckoning has
come, and unrealistically that the $6.85 -an -
hour minimum wage is appealing because
"many millionaires started out with mini-
mum -wage jobs."
Harris's Tories have a meaner style than
those who governed with remarkable public
support from 1943 to 1985.
While earlier Tories were not as far to the
political right as Harris, they generally fa-
vored business. But they went out of their
way to avoid gratuitous comments that
would offend other substantial segments of
the community.
Premier William Davis had regular cosy
chats with union leaders and when a presi-
dent of the Ontario Federation of Labor
was pushed out, found him a post with a
government agency.
Davis would not allow ministers even to
use the word 'Mafia' when discussing orga-
nized crime in case it offended the Italia,'
community.
John Robarts' proudest boast was that he
brought "calm and balance" and the OFL
president of the time was a pallbearer at his
funeral. His predecessor, Leslie Frost, once
apologized for slighting an opponent, say-
ing his wife Gertrude told him he had got
out of line.
Harris's Tories are in danger of forgetting
that voters like politicians who also are nice
people.
t