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6-Te Canadien Champion. Friday, February 26, 1999 6OPINION Box 248, 191 Main Si. E., The Canadien Champion, publiihed eeery Tuesday ani Milton, Ont. L9T 4N9 Saturday at 191 Main St. E., Milton, Ont., L9T 4N9 (Bon 248), ns ont of The Metroiand Printing, Pubiinhing & Distribating Ltd. Q~Q'j341 raup of nubarban companies whIch inciades: Ajax I Pickering (905) 878 234 Niews Advertiser; Aiiiston Heruid/Coarier; Barrie Adeance; Brampton Guardian; Burtingian Post: City Parent; Coiingwoodl/ Editorial Fax: 878-4943 Wasaga Connection; East York Mirror; Etobicake Guardian; Georgetown Independent/ Acton Free Press; Kingson This Week; Advertising Fax: 876-2364 Lindsay This Week; Markham Ecanomint & Sun; Midiand / Pene- Classificd: 875-3300 tanguishene Mirror; Mississauga News; Newmarket / Auroru Era Banner; Northumberlandi News; North York Mirror; Oakviiie Ian Oliver Publisher Beaver; Orillia Tnday; Oshawa I Whitby I Claringion I Part Perry This Week; Peterborough Tihis Week; Richmnnd Hill I Thamhiii I Neil Oliver A.sociale Publisher Vaughan Liberil; Scarburougit Mirrar; Uxbridge I Stouttvlie Bill Begin Generai Manager Tribune; Taday's Seniors. Advtrtisîng is accepteit on te condition tOat, ln the event ni a Rob Kelly 'Editor typagraphicai error, that portion ut te advertising spuce accu- Karen Cross Circulation Manager pied by tht erroneoun Item, together witit a reasonabie atiowançe TeriCam ffic Mangerfor signature, wiii not be charged for, bat the balance af the TeriCaau OficeMangeradvertinement wiii be paid for ut the applicable rate. The pubiiober JO Tim Colea Production Manager reuerveu the rigit ta categorize adeertinementu or deciine. Tense littie gathering It's flot difficuit to see the tensions that siminer just below the sur- face at Milton council. Discussions that seemn to start innocently enough -- about how much counicillors should get paid -- quickly escalate into something much more heated. Counicillor John Challinor has weighed in by saying, in essence, some of his colleagues aren't up to the task at hand. That precipitated a response from Councillor Ron Furik, who stated sharply that the constituents he spoke to were sick of the BS, appar- ently surrounding some of the actions by unnamed people on counicil. Mr. Furik and Mr. Challinor are old antagonists on counicil, s0 it would appear Mr. Furik's comment was directed at Mr. Challinor. Councillor Rick Malboeuf weighed in with an idea that has been near and dear to him since day one -- paring back the size of council. Mr. Malboeuf has also indicated that he's suspicious about any citi- zen's committee set up to examine counicillor stipends if some of his colleagues have a hand in choosing the committee members. This is because he's stili smarting about other appointments made by fellow counicillors that he thought were political powerplays. Granted, the topic of how much counicillors should get paid is always both sensitive and potentially explosive. But nowadays it is perhaps more so, since there are clear schisms and personality issues. What we're seeing right now is a bit of shadowboxing -- nobody is openly critical of anyone by name. Mr. Challinor vaguely indicates others are not up to snuff. Mr. Furik alludes to insincere posturing in some quarter. Mr. Malboeuf is generally skeptical of some people's motives. The question lingers: How well can this group work together? And just who, are the real incompetents, game players and schemers? OUR READERS WRITE- Reader was sadde'U-uned by flower epnjisode Dear Editor: I arn writing to comment on Uic utate of hurnanity. For five ycars 1 went to itigit scitool in Milton. I treaoured the people I knew, and loved every rnoment 1 spent in this town. 1 now live and work in Guelph. But I arn saddencd by Uic ignorance that plagues titis town now. On Febmuary 7, a fricnd's father itad a heaut attack. My itusband and I wantcd to send flowcrs but I could only rernernber Uic name of one flowcr store in town. I called titcm with tite addres and they delivered tite flowers on Monday. The following day I received a cail frorn the flower store saying that thc women whom rny flowers were delivered to did not know who I was. After corne tirne I realized I had given tbe flower store thc wrong addreus. I phoned the people wbo 1 had mistakenly sent the floweru to, hoping that once they reud Uic card, which said "Wishing you a speedy recovery" and read rny naine, Uiey would realize the flowers were not for Uiern and rcturn Uiern. They did not When I phoned thern the man who answered Uic phone told me in no uncertain ternis that il was not bis fault, and hung up on me. I take full responsibility for rny mistake but 1 arn deeply hurt by Uic intentional disregard for rny feel- ings Uiat Uiese atrangers uhowed. I can only hope Uiat Uiere are fewer people in Uic world like Uiern. My friend's father neyer received our flowers and I could not afford to send new once. I hope that rny flowcrs have bmought these people joy - sornie- Uiing they obviously don't have too rnuch of in their lives. Kathleen Guardiero Guelph In the good old days, I worked in underwear Listen: If Uhis colurnn doesn't skip rigitt along like a weli-womn pcbblc lcapfrogging a lake on a warrn eurmcr's day, it'e because of Uic jinx. Reason il rnight liirp right out of Uic gate je because I plagued a few people with thte idea before weiting anytitng down. Titat je bad karma. Conjures up Uic skanky rnists of itovering cvii luck. Wcli, rnaybe anyway. You neyer know. Tirne for a scamiese transition. Seen Uic new Sports Illustrated swirnsuit cdi- tion yct? Spcaking of underwear, or witat looks like underwear anyway, ever itad a job you could do in it? 1 have. Didn't hold it down for Eoo long. Wasn't intcrestcd in getting up chat carly, even for undeniabie convenience of working in ekivvies. Most guys like itanging around in titeir under- wear. Can't say whetitcr it's sornetiting tbat appeals to wornen. Most guys wouidn't mind if more womcn did it too, Uiougit. Radio forrns ideai cnvironrncnt for underwear- only type job, if one je an allcgcd guet expert bcing tappcd frorn borne to offer questionable insight via telepitone. That's what I did. Was guet on Andy Berry CBC radio show a few tirnes. Had to get up carly, since tey calcd before 7 a.rn. for live chat. Answcred pitone and tcndered quarrelsome opinions in briefs, each and cvcry finie. Aftcr a few rounds of titis Uiey began to offer me appearance moncy, whicit pointu toward corne sort of substance abuse problerni on tite part of show producer, as far as yours truly can tell. Turned down cash, begged off witole deal, due to aforcmentioncd lack of intereot in doodiing notes at 5:30 arn. in preparation for oieepy six- tbirtyisit sot on show. Echoes of regret sitade above course of action, ait least to somte extent. If for no other reason titan vicariouo thrili of passing self off as authoritative voice, ail deep intonations and sombre critiques. Tihis wbile clad only in undershorts, au commuters nod in agreemnent or pound dasitboards angriiy. Speaking of anger (seamiens transition two), Rob Kelly itad one wornan cornte in office after a Berry interview. Site was weeping in counterpoint to icy disdain, over sornie comment I made as an aside to end a piece. Dcrnanded I go on CBC radio to make ".national apoiogy" for it. Could not do that, but sEull rernember bier obvi- ous pain. Hopefuhlly site finds a little solace in thte foliowing: The opinions expresned on titis broadcast are those of the guenrs only and do noz constitute a position adopted or endorsedl by the CBC. Oh, and thse Milton guy spouting ail tisat staff is standing around in a pair of grey lianes More fakig, please Ran into a woman Uic other night who eaid site couldn't watt to read sequel to, "fake orgasrn" colurnn frn a whilc back. Wbat je suppoed to be Uic follow-up to a fake orgasrn colurnn? One about srnoking a fake cig- arette? Actually, wc wcre srnoking.takc cigarettes not long ago. An RCMP anti-terrorist guy had Uicm. They were supposcdiy made out of vegetables. They srnelled awfcui but tasted okay, especially afier a few becro. We were in a pub but had to go outuide to fire up thte noxious littie weeds since people who weren't smoking tem couldn't stand tite aroma. 1 don't knovObwhere the RCMP guy found Uic thinge. He wiscly lefi thte quasi-ornokes behind to be consumed by titose witb leos choouy palates. Maybe ie confiscatcd thte veggie-rcttes frorn corne terrorisE, who couid have brougbt Uicrn in Uic country just to be annoying.