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Letters to the Editor: LAST MINUTE COMMENTS TO THE ELECTORS From the Retiring Reeve , Delbert McLaughlin Page 4 The Colborne Citizen Nov: 27, 1974 citizen editorial Let's get on with it It is evident from the interest shown by those attending the recent Meet The Candidates night held in the Colborne Public School, the providing of sewers for the Village is one of the major concerns of Colborne citizens. . According to some citizens who spoke up during the question and answer period, there is raw sewage in some parts of the Village. Some of the Council candidates also said the same thing while one claimed there was none. One thing that was agreed to by everyone was the fact the present lagoon is operating over capacity and that something must be done as fast as possible to correct the situation. Much of the discussion centered around two proposals; a government proposal and one from a private developer, Tri-Homme Incorporated. The Tri Homme proposal which appeared to be under discussion was one submitted in May, 1974 and concerned the provision of sewage treatment facilities for a subdivision proposed on Lot 32, Concession 1, in the Village of Colborne. However, there is another Tri-Homme Incorporated proposal for financing of a sewer system for the Village of Colborne which was prepared by Philips Planning and Engineering Limited in August, 1974. This report was not mentioned at the meeting. The Introduction section of this August report states, "Council for the Village of Colborne has expressed a desire to provide sewer servicing to areas outside of the Let us know what you think. Address your letters to Box 399, Colborne Colborne Citizen MEMBER OF THE CANADIAN AND ONTARIO COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION Simon Conolly, Publisher Ted Forder, Editor Subscription Rates: per year, payable in advance anywhere in Canada. $7 in advance in the U.S.A., $8 to any other country. Both old and new address should be given when change of address is requested. Advertising: Rates upon request. Although every precaution will be taken to avoid errors, The Brighton Independent accepts advertising in its columns on the understanding that it will not be liable for any error in any advertisement published in its columns. Otfic .<.-&: Main at., Brighton, in the lower floor of the Brighton Public Library. Drop-off depot Simpson Sears office, Colborne. Phone 475-0255. Second Class Mail Registration No. :t:«i2 presently sewered central core of the Village. The extension of the sewer system would not only raise the level of municipal services provided to many residents, but would also reduce potential and existing problems with' private waste disposal systems." "In a report dated May, 1974, prepared by Philips Planning and Engineering Limited, for Tri-Homme Incorporated, a method of providing increased sewage treatment capacity for existing and future development was outlined." "It is the purpose of this report to outline a method of providing sewer extensions into areas of Colborne not presently serviced. Of course, the provision of sewers for the proposed Tri-Homme Incorporated subdivision is not included, since this is entirely the responsibility of Tri-Homme owners, who have authorized the preparation of this proposal." The August report outlines, in detail, the whole plan including the costs to home The question which comes to mind regarding the provision of sewers to the whole Village is, "Why was this August report not mentioned by anyone, candidates or citizens?". Is it a report not known to the public? In any event, there seem to be enough reports in existence on which discussions and ultimate decisions could be based. Surely Council can now go ahead with serious study of all the plans and come up with one which will be of the utmost benefit to all the citizens of Colborne. Jv I'm fed up - I'm fed up to the eyeballs with those people who think they know so damned much about local affairs and sound off on the subject without studying facts. They end up with biased views, personal fantasies, jealousies and grievances. Surely it is not asking too much of these people to stop and think and obtain facts. This information is not available in the comfort of an easy chair at home, or from gossip on the street. That proper knowlege is only available at the Council Chambers. I have sat through many, many hours of council meetings trying to assist in resolving problems on your behalf. Very rarely has anyone from the public been interested enough to attend and find out for themselves what is going on.' However, if a decision is made which may not satisfy someone, who, in his ignorance sounds off, then council is subjected to harsh criticisms and rude personal attacks. How much better it would be if council members could be assisted by constructive public comments from "Concerned Citizens" who by their past interests in public affairs were honestly able to comment sensibly. Council members are elected BY YOU to act FOR YOU. By council's choice, never is council business conducted behind closed doors, and if you are interested in your business, come out and learn facts before you sound off. If you. are still reading, carry on to see how many answers you have to these questions about your own business: What is the total assessment of our Village? What is the mill rate (residential, commercial, industrial)? What total tax revenue? What rebates and grants? Percent of Tax Dollar education, county, What does recreation and arena cost us and how is it distributed (Colborne-Cramahe)? Is our library satisfactory and what does it How much is spent on roads, sidewalks, bridges? Do we have proper by-laws to protect all? How are by-laws enforced? What does policing our Village cost? What is our debenture debt? What is our borrowing power? How much control does higher level government have over our spending and debentures? Have our taxes increased or decreased over the past six years? What affect does our present industrial assessment have on our tax bill? What is our present sewer rate (frontage, usage, hookup, mill rate)? What will be the total rate under the proposed government proposal and how is it broken down? What development is presently planned and approved? What is the present status of the Official Plan? Is the designation of land in our land use by-laws satisfactory? At what stage is the study by the Task Force? How will the results of this study affect the development of our area, especially Colborne and community? etc. etc. etc. The answers to all the above questions, and many more, are known to most of the present council members. It is to be hoped that new council members will be as well informed. It is most important that at least the two top men of our council, who represent us on County Council, Planning Board, Task Force, etc., are capable of studying problems and making impartial, adequate decisions for us. As one of my last efforts, I implore you to consider carefully your choice of candidate for office. He may never be a "Pierre" or "Stanfield" but if he will try to the best of his ability to be fair, impartial and knowledgeable he will have done his duty and you have done yours. If I have annoyed anyone, I have no apologies and am not sorry. "If the shoe fits, you wear it." lOne foot in the furrow'** -.....:....... Readers of this deathless prose -- and a few do exist because a trickle of letters keep coming -- will recall that at least two years ago. this faithful farm writer predicted that food would become a bigger political weapon than either energy or money. The prediction became fact this month. And the biggest wielder of the weapon is your friendly neighbor, the Hew Hess of Hay. I've never been a Yankee-baiter. I've always felt that, if Canada has to have a niegh-bor. it is comforting to think that the U.S.A. is the best kind of neighbor to have. But during the world food conference in Rome, the only nations with the apparent political guts to take big steps were Canada. Australia. Sweden and Norway. No one has to be told of the massive aid the United States has given Europe since the Second World War nor the great gobs of food aid and technical help given hundreds of other countries by the U.S. for 30 years or more. Much of this food has been given with political strings attached and maybe that isn't such a bad idea. But right now. United Nations figures indicate about a billion people need food and 75 million more mouths must be fed each year. Now is not the time for President Ford and Henry Kissinger to link food and politics inextricably. As I see it -- and maybe somebody can clear up my thinking -- the U.S. position is abominable. It has about as much morality as the rape of a five-year-old girl by a 200-pound wrestler. Why else, for instance, would U.S. Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz leave the world food conference to fly to Egypt and sell 200.000 tons of wheat while Democratic senators in Rome were trying desparately to increase international tood aid by one million tons? American help, it seems to me. will not be forthcoming. I cannot see that country increasing food aid; in fact, it appears a reduced role is what the world can expect. One of the reasons the food conference was a near failure was because the U.S. failed to take the lead. It can be said ad nauseum that the Americans have been leaders in this area for 30 years. No one questions that the European Economic Community came to the conference with little to offer. Japan can offer little help because it is beset by its own political and food problems. Russia and its collective farms has failed to feed its own people. China is having trouble feeding its own 800 million people. The Group of Seventy Seven and the oil-producing states are the only countries where aid can be found. But the group of Seventy Seven is not a united group. The only united group at the entire conference were the OPEC states, the oil producing nations. The obvious politics being played by the Ford administration to force them into paying for thie aid pushed them into a corner. They were obviously not going to make any commitments when being pressured by Ford and Kissinger. In any event. I still think the long-term problem of bringing the developing nations into the 20th century cannot be solved by continuously handing out food. Certainly, the more affluent countries of the world have a moral obligation to provide food to prevent people from starving. But in the long run, intermediate technology is needed to teach them, eventually, to feed themselves. I still can't understand why every nation must take one huge leap into producing the great crops that are grown in Canada and the United States. Agricultural development in poorer nations must start with the small farmers in those nations. These people must be brought into the mainstream of agricultural development. It won't be done solely with huge dams, networks of roads, vast irrigation projects and millions of tons of tertilizer. Or even new varieties in the green revolution. These are important but not nearly as crucial as what it takes to induce these millions of small farmers to produce more for themselves and their fellow countrymen. This is a monumental problem because what it takes may vary from nation to nation, province to province, even from village to village. - And that. too. is where the conference in Rome failed.