Ontario Community Newspapers

Acton Free Press (Acton, ON), August 21, 1974, p. 4

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Complete denial of natural justice Area citizens ask Premier for impartial hearing on hydro corridor The Honourable William Davis Esq Premier of Ontario Toronto Ontario Dear Mr Premier Re Ontario Hydro Bradley Georgetown Transmission lines as to routes bore the caption Unique public review of Hydro a planning Invited by Our group has now recovered from the shock of what was actually being an nounced in the McKeough letter dated July Just sufficiently that now give you our preliminary criticisms before proceeding the next necessary step in dealing with province wide response 1 respect our pointing out the absolute need to understand and correct Hydro planning in for steps com mcnclng immediately we and the remaining public hove been promised instead an opportunity look at and criticise the generalities of fardistant general planning The concepts ore In tangible the date or any hearings on them is projected for sometime in 1973 and the opportunity speak distant possibilities on a theoretical level leaves Dad taste as the far me and properties of our area are being cut or destoyed by actualities Longterm planning is necessary and we arc considering the recruiting of In dependent skills to take a useful part in such a process Mr McKeough speaks of proceeding to a vast Increase in the nuclear I lies Bruce thereby Incurring capital costs of many millions of dollars at that facility and multiplying now and forever Ihe need to proliferate more and heavier amission lines across the prime agricultural nnd scenic areas of south western Ontario It would appear sensible to end any increase in capacity Bruce and to install nuclear generating capacity closer to the actual and projected load centres eg Lake Ontario for Toronto Hamilton and the Golden Horseshoe while generation could service Norm Western Ontario and Northern Ontario It is recognized however that a connection must be made to other networks Again the Bruce line under con by Hydro does not appear to have been linked Into the disclosed plan It Is indicated that no enquiry or investigation the empty ex post public meetings of this spring are intended to be held for Ihe Orangcvllle area or the patch from that area to Bradley Junction while oil other areas would now appear to have some independent hearings The stales that hearings necessity will nc retained for thli area This apparent concession democracy is In substance no more than a sop to the appearance- or useful participation is understood hearings of necessily are traditionally matters of form without effect and lhal case law Indicates lhat Is only mi lo find if the Inking authority considers work necessary The fin dings from hearing are llicn left cynically to Ihe expropriating authority itself as the body deciding whether or not to carry out its already stated plans Looking at the overall decisions an It would Hydro made Its plans then held Us superficial hearings and then has simply received Iho deliberative approval of Cabinet to go on do practically exactly what had always planned lo do and In Iho way and in places first intended If It Is correct that the hearings of necessity themselves would be limited to local conditions I lien you combine mockery of empty procedure with Ihe fact of providing forum where neighbour will pitied against neighbour In order lo avoid Ihi direct Impact of the lines 4 It Is perfectly clear lhal hearings were on ioniums of those people directly by east well corridors and concessions were made which affected a negatively A curious aspect or Sol mil report Is his refusal lo accept and highly expensive- riporl of the in Hewlett cnnctriilng Mr organisation was selected by to Intensive study Ilia areas concerned and lauded by him as being outstanding In the Hi Id Mr was lo mi 1 Crowing able In the thousands or concerned people rcprcm riled in llio briefs submitted hut Submit a conflicting views and Mr llnwtetl dirstandable for clinics has appeared In spite of Mr McKeough a on 13 of his July Wi statement Based consideration of iho evident to him Or made recommendations route of the corridor W mum further Hint misunderstood the Implications of Bruce to rnnte since ho suggested an additional escarpment crossing was required This of course would not bo he case but one less crossing could he en In flharu contrast to the Intensive study of Nonllcoke dickering routu the Bradley Georgetown study was conducted by Hydro officials themselves The very name Bradley Georgetown Indicates the conceived assumptions wllh which and the findings that Obviously Hydro Intended from first in cross he hostile Georgetown and their refusal to give serious consideration to such as the Bruce route as advanced In hearings Is This Is why concerned In area from Bradley Milton are Justified In heir Tellings hat the pel form an of the socalled public in nut force and lhal the contrast between consideration given them wllh those along the Nantlcoke Pickering route Is highly discriminatory 1 complete of natural Justice The continuing put tern of Hydro acquisition people dealing with landowners In other projects shows hut Hydro feels itself obliged In take any approach In discussions will lintl lo actually gelling land Hit y want It Is therefore simply lulling fox chickens tn lauvti It to Hydro to make Ihe land rnulo In Iho very with which wo pressed concern and In which there has been no meaningful public Input beyond undisclosed private arguments to line placement and line switching Die most significant observation that have respect to ho proposed Hydro corridor Is lhat contravenes ol Hydros first priorities slated as recently as heir report No Long Ilangc Planning of Electric Power System dated February 1 Page IS in which generating station sites must be close a major load centre Throughout all of the Bradley Georgetown conducted the Hydro they continually stressed that the transmission lines were being built to service local area and provide power specifically to Kitchener which Is the closest motor toad centre megawatts by 1W3 MOO megawatts by IBM Needless say all of these remarks by Hydro must lie construed falso or Government has erred in lis route selection since present projected line makes no effort approach Ihe closes load centre Kit Is left without now supply and the oilier mules are misplaced as a result Another load centre although large could be considered be tho southern Georgian Hay where Hydro arc now in lha planning singes to acquire fuither expanded Iruiinmlsslon rights of way between Bruin and I ssa Curiously no attempt has been made to service either of these loud areas but the power laken directly lo Toronto Hamilton area Wt must also ask if going lo Kitchener Is no longer priority why a route of less could ml hot eg lhat being from Bruce tot lo Toronto This could II has been continually suggested that the corridor must be reserved for 1leasc consider that has a minimum capacity of megawatts of which Bruce mid require only one third The remaining capacity Is equal o half the power now being used In Ontario Hydro has not demonstrated that this amount of capacity will bo required in the future Wo must resume that other than minimum must have directed decision Since all of these points have been fully answered and reposals have been made which would satisfied the needs of Bradley Georgetown sludy area In mosl part is avoiding prime agricultural land following existing corridors minimizing distance between en era Hon and load centres we iclp feel that the key question Is Why did Or change his consulting engineers recommendation and permit a Clan which was acceptable lo our area killed by a handful of people wllh support of Ontario Hydro This becomes more difficult to understand when the Hydro Environmental for the Bradley Georgetown area even In lis present form did not demonstrate any benefits for alternate It appears absolutely essential for application of uniform standards of Justice and fair play lhat Iherc lie public hearings result If your Government la willing move voluntarily satisfy such an obvious and established need hen It appears necessary lhal facts be put upon the floor of the legislature and that a formal public enquiry under Ihe terms of the Public Inquiries Act 1970 be demanded Yours truly Interested Citizens of North Ballon Wellington John Schneider A Smiley wife hates shopping of any kind Most women I believe rather enjoy it especially for clothes She detests it Therefore she hand me a list as long as a fool and off I d go to the supermarket Walking Into that aircondi Honing on a sweltering summer day was like going cool swim off redhot beach Picking up your empty grocer cart was tike getting into a boat to go fishing or finding an empty cornucopia to fill Then here was the pleasant leisurely stroll through the maze of goodies Past the counter where the contents were sprayed with water to make them took garden fresh Poking through the meat counter with the red light over head to make the meat look fresher Along the frozen food section where I always did some wild impulse buying like or fresh shrimp in a gourmet sauce Into the fruit section where I snatch up a basket of apples that looked as though they came from the Garden of Eden and tasted like wet tissue Or grab a bag of oranges that looked si though they just been plucked off a tree and had about as much juice In them and a lot more seeds as a wizened little old lady of Pondering over the cheese counter and selecting a ripe Ca member forgetting the cheese slices which were on the list encounters The bowing and stepping back and smiling when jou almost ran into a little old lady wllh her cart The making friends with sticky babies riding in the baskets The brief interchange with a friend and the inevitable We must get together one of these days The polite and friendly clerks who would gallop a quarter mile up and down Ihe aisles to find you one small Kern t locate And finally a pleasant chitchat with the cashier and the cheery willingness of Ihe packers your stuff in bags and then carried it to your car even in a blizzard refusing a lip once then taking it with thanks Those were the days But they re gone Oh the same comes over the speakers The signs and banners are there more misleading than ever But by gosh the price is NOT right the service is lousy and the old courtesy and leisure Is a thing of Ihe past The vegetables are still hosed down but now the customer is being hosed as well Fifty cents for a head of lettuce We now walk past the meat counter ith until we come to Ihe section and surreptitiously snatch up half a pound The frozen food department is enough to freeze the blood In fruit raspberries at a pint bananas that look beautiful at ten cents each and rot overnight And on WILDFOWL on Fairy Lake in crease monthly as ducks geese and swan raise broods of young Sometimes the north arm of the lake resembles a harbor as lot lUas of fowl congregate for a daily feeding by Esther Taylor Cheese must be made of angels Service You might as well be in the Sahara looking for on oasis as in a super market looking for a clerk There seems to be a big cutback on staff Hit for the door with full shopping cart on a busy Friday or Saturday after noon two or the five or six checkout counters will be closed You can stand in line for half on hour The cheery boys who used to do the packing are almost existent and you re lucky If they put your groceries in jour cart let alone take it to your car The cashiers are as friendly as computers Inside the store don turn jour back on that sweet little old lady once ex changed smiles and apologies with Shell run down from behind with sixty pounds of groceries trying to beat to that superspecial on aged turnips Don try make friends with that cute kid riding in the basket Hell probably throw a halfempty pop can at or sling a chocolate bar onto jour clean Oh dear reader we are being mani by the supermarkets Who do you ihink is paying for lhat free parking those full page or doublepage advertise all that fancy packaging It is you and it is I fellow sucker always knew I was being taken in a supermarket But It used to be sort of fun Now it s a nightmare 4 The Acton Free Press Wed August Answers letter from jean buyer Abandoned pup Sir In answer the poor little girl from last week who know who to trust anymore Wo think girl who bought leans and the girl who wrote and signed the letter arc two different people I myself gave the buyer a bill How else would she be able to return after three days and have It ex plained far as price changes ore eon please compare with the Officials scramble for cover Dear Sir In response to an article in your paper last week This part of Ihe pvovince must be In a sad stole of affairs when its residents have to travel to the far north Ihe and to the Rockies to find clean and sparkling lakes with trout lhat Jump and clean country We have our Health Departments Health Units Government Departments Water Resource Commissions and Conservation Authorities These ore a lot of departments con stfucted of a lot of people costing us a x They are also great at spending our money on signs and equipment to keep our country clean and our waters sparkling but when a pollution problem is reported to them have ever watched them scramble for cover By the time they figure out responsibility it is things are really in a mess enough personnel to do Ihe job If the residents of this part of the province would stop allowing sewage pig manure and sows to live In creek bottoms plus all the other things that are dumped in our waterways on our land our fish would jump and our waters would sparkle again and our country would look as beautiful as it did years ago when I was a Just THINK of all the people who could be doing something constructive for this province and saving us a lot of tax dollars Just think for a moment THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE Business and Editorial Office same brand names and you sec that by golly the price is right It s been a long hot summer these poor kids are running out of Ideas on how to amuse these Ives By the way we arc not a boutique A J Place is a jean store ClickyDicky He a super energetic guy He s right there with news When councils meet and drag their feet He gives us all their views God bless the little newshound Who pops up everywhere Out In the sticks his shutter clicks At every county fair his tricky box of lenses To make good pictures certain 1 vc even heard he gets Ihe bird Behind bathroom curtain He used to get in places No one else could go He tells news and gets the views With the of our Show But times are really changing They are kicking him about To hide the news from public views They lock the out There should be no private meetings For which Ihe public pay It theirs to know who spends their dough In a democratic way So Let s keep CLICKY DICKY his pencils and his pads We wont news and picture views Just like we always had Victor Smith hits home Dear Sir One hears tales of puppies and kittens abandoned in obscure places dumped off in driveways left to die It fills me distress Its not until the act to committed on one own doorstep thai the is realized Last weekend a pup was hurled screaming out of a car window into our hedge row along Side road as the car sped away into dark We tried to con vince ourselves pup was a frightened stray but the sound effects were too ob vious Fortunately pup was physically responded to loving car He now has a happy home our neighbors In this case the act was a kindness The pup is better off in his new home But what of the thousands who suffer and die Is il not kinder to have a vet put them mercifully lo sleep Or better still avoid all unwanted births by sterilization Concerned Budget reports accurate Dear sir I have reviewed the reports of the 1974 of Hills in several newspapers found your comments and editorials be accurate and very in formative to the general pumllc Therefore on behalf of the Finance Committee and he Department Heads concerned please accept our sincere thanks May your excellent standards of reporting be continued in the future since progressive newspapers play an important role In knitting communities of Hills together Yours very truly Pat McKenile 3 720000 more in grants for Haton Re Provincial Grants to the Regional Municipality of Halton I have read with interest over the past weeks the comments of the press and the municipal officials relating to financial assistance provided by the Provincial Government to the new Regional Municipality of Halton and the four area municipalities Many of the comments have related to the socalled start up grants which were approved for the Region of Halton in the amount of 000 or an amount of per capita Similar grants in other regions that have been approved to date this year amounted to per capita for the Region of Durham and S3 22 per capita for the Region of Hamilton I believe Is the increased financial assistance made available to the new Region and the municipalities by way of increases in unconditional provincial transfer payments These increases have been substantial and for the most part are a permanent feature of the reformed municipal structure and will give the Region a greater capacity to provide services to its citizens in 1974 and future years In addition to the special assistance to the Regional and area municipalities for the development of regional services and start up costs in the amount of there is the ongoing increased per capita and general support grant to the Regional Municipality which this year shows a sub stantial increase In the amount of In addition there Is estimated transitional grants to area municipal in the amount of You will note that the total increase In the financial assistance to Ihe Region and the area municipalities over and above what would have been available under for structure amounts to In order to more fully explain the assistance made available to the Region this year Iain enclosing herewith a copy of a letter written by Mr A Dick Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Treasury Economics and Intergovern mental Affairs to Mr Allan Masaon Chairman of the Regional Municipality of on August 1st outlining the approved financial assistance to the Region which I believe is selfexplanatory hope the information assist in explaining the additional monies made available to the municipal govern through the Treasurers policy of sharing the provincial revenues wllh the municipalities In addition to the grant monies mentioned above are the many other provincial payments made for the provision of financial assistance for the municipalities road programmes public libraries conservation authorities the educational system etc With kindest regards I remain Yours sincerely James W Snow Minister

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy