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Conservative member of parliament addresses big adUience~ at I ownI hanI 'Time Capsules' are gems of information extracted from past issues of The Champion and other publications to pro- vide a window into Miltons past. Explanatory comment is sometimes pro- vided to place the situation in context. June 1896 The town hall was well filled on Tuesday evening at David Henderson's (Conservative Member of Parliament for Halton) meeting, Liberals being about as numerous as Conservatives. Mr. Henderson spoke for about two hours on the trade question and the Manitoba Coercion Act. He said that be was opposed to separate schools and pledged himself to vote against coercion if re-elected. He was given a good hearing and a fair amount of applause. He was followed by Lieut.-Col. Kerns, MPP, who had time for only a short speech. According to the retums received on Tuesday evening. David Henderson has been re-elected by a majority of 115. When it was found about 8 p.m. that Mr. Henderson had been elected, be and his supporters proceeded - headed by the band - to the bandstand near the town hall (present site of Miliside Restaurant) where speeches were delivered by Messrs. Henderson, J.W. Ellion, E.W. Boyd and Owen Robertson. Charles Wilson of Milton voted in Haldimand County on Tuesday, drove to Hamilton, voted there and then drove home, getting here in time to vote for Mr. Waldie, the Liberal candidate. The frame of a fine new ban, which is being built by Greenlees Bros. on the Thos. Dempsey farm north of Milton (north of Woodward Ave.), was raised on Tuesday evening. It was well fitted and went nicely togeth- er the work of the contractor for the fram- ing Jos. Peacock, having been well done, which was al the more credible to him as it was his first contract. Wm. Peacock super- vised the raising. James Murray of Esquesing and Wm. Dixon of Trafalgar were the captains. The former's side won with one-and-a- quarter minutes to spare. After the work had been fnished about 250 persons sat The Canadian Champion, Friday, May 10, 2002-7 + OUR READERS WRITE Milton's smoking bylaw is discriminatory Milton .to local bars a Dear Editor: The recent smoking bylaw, with Capsules certain exceptions, is discriminato- down to an excellent supper prepared by order of Greenlees Bros. The corner stone of the new St. George's Church, Lowville was laid last Thursday by Ven. Archdeacon Houston of Niagara Falls with the usual services. There was a very large attendance from ail parts of the country and Messrs. Massey, Motherwell and Morton were listened to with particu- lar interest as ail three had been in charge of the parish at different times. After the conclusion of the addresses an excellent supper was served in a shady orchard close by. The receipts amounted to about $135. The new church will be built of stone, will seat 250 people and will have a basement for the Sunday School. July 1896 Solomon Hannant has been appointed postmaster here on the recommendation of David Henderson, MP to succeed Isaac Cartmer who died last March. Applicants for the position, more or less influential, were numerous, but Mr. Henderson evi- dently considered the claims of Mr. Hannant the strongest. The new postmaster has been a resident of Milton ever since his boyhood and has many friends among Liberals as weil as Conservatives from whom he has been receiving congratulations during the last few days. The appointment is perhaps as satisfacto- ry as any that Mr. Henderson could have made under the circumstances but the dis- appointed applicants and their friends are naturally dissatisfied and some Liberals object because the position was not filled as it should have been shortly after Mr. Cartmer's death instead of being held over for Mr. Henderson's purposes until after the election and the defeat of the Tupper Govemment. Mr. Hannant began his duties this morn- ing. This material is assembled on behalf of the Milton Historical Societv by Jim Dills, chair of research, who can be reached bv e-mail atjdills@idirect.com. ry. If councillors had the true con- victions of their belief that smok- ing is dangerous to our health, they would have passed a total ban for ail institutions - with no excep- tions. In the April 23 issue of The Champion, there was a front-page article on how the casino has given the Town of Milton $1.4 million as its share of the first quarter revenue for 2002. Did this have any influence on the vote at council? Did the fact that the regional and provincial govemments also share in the windfall act as a deterrent on a total ban? The bingo hall was given a two- year reprieve on the ban as a result of showing the negative effect such a bylaw had on a similar business in Kitchener. A couple of years ago, a restau- rant/bar in Hamilton, with a great deal of fanfare in the media, both print and television, declared they were going smoke-free. A short time later they were back in the news, closing their doors due to a the lack of business. In an April 23 letter to the editor, Councilor Rick Malboeuf made a number of statements that i have a trouble comprehending. He said, bars and restaurants don't have slot machines or horses running around, and this is why they're different from casinos and bingo halls and why smoking should be banned in them. If bars and restaurants are allowed siot machines by the gov- ernment, will smoking be allowed? If bars, which make their living selling alcohol, don't allow persons under 19, can they allow smoking? If bars and restaurants limit the areas for smoking, can they allow smoking? Mr. Malboeuf stated in his letter that "Mohawk Raceway has installed a multi-million dollar air nd restaurants, says reader ZOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM E&IEMUEM THE THMILL 0F (E3rMoTION? M&À POep OCOmA*O2A ss #X14 "2À'ZDA 0 - - - Cash Price From Cash Price from A'cilles 4 m$ $22,985 $16,495 Starting from n $19,895 2.OL 4 Cyl • AM/FM CD Stereo • Power Windows • Power Locks • Power Mirrors • ABS Alloy Wheels * Keyless Entry • GFX Package • Fog Lights • Cruise • Sport Interior 2.OL 4 Cyl A/C • AM/FM CD Stereo • Power Windows• Power Locks• Power Heated Mirrors • Cruise Controi • Keyless Entry • 60/40 Folding Rear Seat 1.9% Financinf for 36 Ms. ' 0% Financing fer 36 Mas. i PAIYMENTS FOR 90 DAYS!! 0 PAYMENTS FOR ouDAYS!! 3.OL V6 Engine • AM/FM CD Stereo • ABS Brakes • Limited Sip Diff. • Dual Airbags • 15" Wheels • Sliding Rear Window Block Heater • Tachometer • 60/40 Split Seat er 1.9% Financing far 60 Mos. $0 PAYMENTS FOR0 DAYS!! 8 mEEDJ 357 Oueen St. (Hwy 7) Acten, On 519-853-0200 n1f 1 @ achillsmazda.ca *Call for details / Prices Plus Freight/PDETax ventilation system. There's not a bar and restaurant in Milton with a ventilation system anywhere near as efficient." The casino has given the Town of Milton $1.4 million, which repre- sents 5 per cent of its revenue for the first quarter of 2002. Simple math shows revenue of $28 million for the casino for that quarter. If the bars and restaurants in Milton made that kind of money, I'm sure they'd be able to put in any ventilation system council wanted. The bingo hall has been given two years of status quo before upgrading the ventilation system. Were the bars and restaurants given the same opportunity? Mr. Malboeuf went on to state that 'Few people visit casinos and even less play bingo, but almost everyone goes to a workplace or frequents a bar or restaurant." If few people visit casinos, then how do they generate so much income? He then wrote, "As for the pre- dictions of lost business, lost jobs and bankruptcies - these are the same crocodile tears cried years ago when non-smoking sections were imposed." If Mr. Malboeuf believes this, why was the bylaw watered down by a total ban - why were the casi- no and bingo hall allowed their "crocodile tears?" If Mr. Malboeuf and council believe there will be no loss of business or jobs, they should stand behind their convictions and offer any legitimate business entity of a bar or restaurant compensation for their loss of investment due to the enactment of this bylaw. Surveys show 75 per cent of Miltonians don't smoke and 80 per cent want to see tougher smoking bylaws. If these statistics are true, why do people need a bylaw to force busi- nesses to change? If this number of people, about 26,000 of Milton's 32,000 popula- tion, refuse to go into an establish- ment allowing smoking, you don't think the business people running the bars and restaurants will notice? As chairman of the smoking bylaw committee, Mr. Malboeuf had an obligation to conduct all meeting and inquiries with an open mind. As a town councilor, he had an obligation to fairly represent all his constituents equally, whether he agreed with their individual stated position or not. In bis past statements, at local and regional council, he had been vocal on his personal feelings regarding smoking and i believe this bas become evident in this bylaw. The casino and bingo hall are in competition with bars and restau- rants for the entertainment dollar expended in our community and, they have been given an unfair advantage through govemment intervention with the passing of this bylaw. I'm a non-smoker and have been one all my life. What I don't like about this bylaw is its inference. Now I can't make the decision as to what's good or bad for me, I need council to protect my welfare. Here's one last argument on the overuse of the tern "the right" of people to have a meal in a smoke free environment. Many years ago a police chief made a statement at a gathering that, "We have 'the right' to live in freedom, to vote, to free speech and many men and women have died to give us these rights, every- thing else is choice." We have "the choice" on where we eat a meal, get a drink, or spend our entertainment dollar. We don't need a bylaw. Marshall Horner Sunnyvale Crescent