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CUtting through red tape Constituency offices By SHEILA coo Remember when the only time you ever saw or heard from members of parliament was just before an election Then theyd go around gladhanding and making pro mises after they got in to office youd never see them again until the next election rolled around thNo more though Consituency offices have changed all at Now your member is as close as your telephone Or if you want to see the member personally just stroll down the street and theres good chance youll find him or her if the house isnt sitting To find out just how easy or difficult it is to get in touch with member either federal or provincial The Examiner this week attempted to contact four of them George Taylor MPP Simcoe Centre George McCague MPP Dufferin Simcoe Dr Rynard MP North Simcoe and Sinclair Stevens MP YorkSimcoe QUICK ATTENTION We had them all in jig time Or at least the ear and at tention of their respective secretaryassistants those super capable women who man the Watts line and constituency of fices while their bosses are down at the store passing laws and such George Taylors constituency office is right on the main drag of downtown Barrie There Mrs Marlene Ret tinger Taylors secretary when he had the law office is on duty five days week Taylor is listed in the phone books of Simcoe County so if you cant drop into the office just phone Mrs Rettinger She will do her best to answer your questions if George is in Toronto and the legislature is sitting CRASH COURSE Members secretaries are given crash course in Toronto before manning constituency office And while no one could possibly learn all there is to know about governmental departments in such short time the secretaries are also supplied with special book called KWIC index which tells them where to find information Taylor was in his office the morning we called He ex plained that after the 1975 election the provincial govern ment advanced funds for constituency offices all over the province Each member has $5000 year allocated for constituen cy office This covers the costs of rent furniture phone heat light water supplies snow clearing The secretaries salaries are separate and paid by the legislative assembly also If member is in an area where there are no clearly defin ed geographical boundaries and constituents are scattered over wide area the member may choose to install Watts line telephone instead of having constituency office George McCague does this SPECIAL NUMBER He can be reached at special Zenith number without charge to his constituents Dr Rynard has constituency office in Orillia and Sinclair Stevens maintains one in King If your are unsure of who the member of parliament is you can find out just by calling The Examiner the local radio stations the library chamber of Commerce or In formation Barrie Once you receive the phone number of the member its THE QUIZ CANADA AND THE WORLD worldscope 10 points tor each question answered correctly Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark said the federal government CHOOSE ONE should should not negotiate the question of sovereigntyassociation with Quebec Canada and the United States are still trying to resolve fishing and boundary dispute which began in 1977 when both natiOns extended their territorial limits to miles offshore a50 b100 c200 lndian leaders have been protesting the decision of Health Minister CHOOSE ONE Barney Danson Monique Begin to reduce health services to indians North Korea announced it is ready to reopen talks with South Korea about the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula Korea has been divided since a1927 b1945 1960 According to the Task Force on Canadian Unity the federal government CHOOSE ONE shoulci should not use force to keep Quebec in the confederation newsname to points It you can identify this person In the news Enrico Berlinguer is the leader of the largest com munist party in Western Europe Recently his par ty withdrew its support for its countrys ruling Christian Democratic government in what country is Berlinguer the Communist Party leader matchworcls points for each correct match 1haggle abargain dicker 2harbor bspeech tirade 3harass ctrouble irritate 4harangue domen sign 5harbinger eshelter protect only seconds before you are talking directly to the secretaries all of whom are the good right arm of the member SOME ADVICE word of advice here For quickest action dont try to jump over the secretaries and insist on waiting to talk to the member directly Theres better than even chance that you will only delay action on your complaint or request by doing so The member may be enroute to Ottawa at meeting or otherwise occupied It could be few hours before he gets back to you and the secretaries may have the information you are looking for right at their desk They are specially trained highly professional adjuncts to the members of parliament whose skills and knowledge are instantly available Mrs Rettinger says the greatest misunderstanding occurs among people who are not aware of what government pro grams are Often people will ask for assistance on obtaining old age pensions veterans pensions or unemployment insurance from Taylors office not realizing that these matters come under thejurisdiction of the federal government at Ottawa Usually though Mrs Rettinger will explain the dif ferences and refer the caller to the right source LETTERS REROUTED The Ottawa secretaries have the same roblem It is not unusual to have piece of mail address George Taylor House of Commons Ottawa rerouted to the Barrie office or the Toronto office at the legislative buildings Taylor says people sometimes fail to understand that member of parliaments power is strictly limited For instance if someone has been turned down for welfare they often come to me very disgruntled he says All can do is to make sure the person gets fair assess ment of his case If he fails to qualify according to the regulations as laid down by the government there is nothing can do to change the regulations Taylor lawyer as are many members of parliament also faces the same type of conflict when his constituents re quire legal advice Because he can recognizes problem may uire legal action he tells the person so At the same time advises them to get their own lawyer because Taylor cannot act for them WORKLOAI MPPs workload just doesnt allow time to act for peo ple individually he says Mrs Rettinger says great deal of her time is spent just explaining the various programs such as Wintario and how it works Ontario Housing Senior Citizens Housing Provincial Benefits Workmens Compensation late welfare cheques are other areas requiring great deal of time and exploration provincial or federal member of parliament cant do anything about getting your city street being plowed or put ting you on county welfare Thats different level of government entirely and youll have to fight city hall on issues such as these But theres no harm in asking if youre not sure The women who staff the constituency offices will be hap py to advise you of the right departments if your are not sure PART OF THIS NEWSPAPERS SEE THINK SCHOOL PROGRAM newspicture 10 points if you answer this question correctly Millions of people greeted Pope lohn Paul II on his recent trip to Mexico where he attended the Latin American Bishops Conference True or False Mexico does not maintain diplomatic relations with the Vatican sportlight points for each question answered correctly Veteran defenceman Ted Green ended 19year professional hockey career recently when he retired from the Winnipeg lets of the CHOOSE ONE National Hockey League World Hockey Association Rookie center Wayne Gretzky of the World Hockey Associations signed record 21year contract to play with the team through 1999 aNew England Whalers bQuebec Nordiques cEdmonton Oilers Osvaldo Ocasio scored unanimous decision over jimmy Young and will fight World Boxing Council heavyweight champion CHOOSE ONE Ken Norton Larry Holmes for the title next month Phil Esposito of the New York Rangers recently became the fifth player in National Hockey League history to score 800 career assists Only has scored more points in the NHL than Esposito aGuy Lafleur bGordie Howe cBobby Orr In what professional sport was Willie Mays the only playerthis year to be elected to the Hall of Fame Irate callers are few though they do occur occasionally Taylor was wakened recently at 130 am by citizen who ias burned up because snowmobilers had disturbed his eep He told Taylor Since its the provincial government who ggt through the snowmobile act thought you might as well wakened up too Theres the odd anonymous letter of course giving the member plenty of abuse usually for situation over which he has no control The expectations of people very frequently are raised above the level of what we are capable of doing Taylor says LEGISLATION For instance the government brought in legislation governing the travel industry So many people had been rip ped off over cancelled charter flights or charter companies that went bankrupt We forced them to set up fund to pre vent this kind of happening But if person went to Mexico say on tour and had poor accommodation and didnt en joy themselves there is nothing the individual members of parliament can do about that Another thing member cant do is find jobs for people Most civil servant jobs are competitions open to everyone and widely advertised They are absolutely outside the jurisdiction of any member Taylor said not too many new people are hired anymore because of the freeze on jobs WATTS LINES McCagues Watts line is manned by Mrs Ruth Miller She receives between 40 and 50 calls each week from counti tuents with problems involving all three levels of govern ment In addition there are untold numbers of bills requested and voluminious correspendence on varying topics Mrs Miller has most of the answers and can answer the bulk of the inquiries over the phone What she doesnt know right off she will find out for you in few minutes PROBLEMS If the problem has been lengthy one with an extensive background its better to write it all down in letter and then mail it in In this way the member can address himself to the total problem properly informed Mrs Miller says At the federal level of government we contacted the con stituency office of Sinclair Stevens and Dr Rynard Mrs Lissie Pedersen is Sinclair Stevens secretary at the constituency office She handles between 100 and 200 telephone inquiries month as well as numerous letters Top priority items include unemployment insurance Canada pension old age pensions cheques not received and how to apply for the various grants programs She gets fair number of in uiries about passports im migration and citizenship regu ations as well Its busy phone line and you may have to wait few minutes but your call will be answered efficiently and courteously IN ORIIIIA At Dr Rynards Orillia constituency office Mrs Joyce Calverley is the secretaryassistant in charge She has been his medical secretary for years and served in the dual role of constituency assistand and medical secretary for years before the federal government officially set up the riding offices Shes soft spoken and kindly and you get the feeling that Mrs Calverley could tell you what to do for your sore threat at the same time as she is advising on say when to apply for your old age pension Shes in the office from about 830 am and its not unusual for her to still be there at 830 pm She handles between 25 and 30 inquiries each and every day as well as bulky file of correspondence FINEI TlNIII Even though Dr Rynard works out of Ottawa when the house is sitting he is really only about an hour away in terms of time His Ottawa secretary has worked with the Doctor for about 27 or 28 years and she too is finely tuned to the con stituents needs Mrs Calverley says some people claim they get run around when they call constituency office but she doesnt agree We have good rapport with the provincial government of fices and help each other out all the time she says dont promise that we can get an instant answer to every problem but we do the best we can and will get back to the person said Mrs Calverley Dr Rynard reads all his mail and works hand in hand with all levels of government At times when he cannot attend function go out into the riding to represent him This is good because it lets the secretaries get to know the consti tuents as well as the members do she said ELDERLY ALL As well as the usual inquiries about pensions unemploy ment insurance and immigration Mrs Calverley says quite few elderly people call the office Mostly they are just lonely and looking for reassurance she says talk to them and listen to their concerns Its all prt of the job Just the government of Canada at your ser Vice The editorial page of this newspaper carries the names and addresses of all members of parliament federally and provincially If yours is lengthy problem we suggest you write to the appropriate level of government at the address given But if the problem can be solved quickly and theres good chane it can with such efficient people in the constituency offices try phone call first If they havent got the answer right away its practically certain theyll get one for you soon Mimic support staff hurt retarded TORONTO CP The inclu sion of handful of teachers of mentallyretarded children in strike by support staff at On tarios 22 community colleges caused problems for about 25 Toronto area families The teachers who instruct severelyretarded children at Humber Developmental Centre at Humber College are specialists university graduates with special training or graduates of diploma courses in early childhood education with missing two or terview Tuesday For eightyearold about the Humber teachers MOTHER FEELS LOST Michelle three weeks parent said in an in retarded child its shattering Marcia Ceresne 35 whose daughter Michelle attends the centre said she cant say enough is retarded and hyperactive Affectionate and pretty she cannot sit still even roundtable Family discussion no score Should the federal government negotiate with Quebec over the question of sovereigntyassociation between that province and the rest of Canada Why or why not YOUR SCORE 91 to 100 points TOP SCORE 81 to 90 points Excellent 71 to 80 points Good 81 to 70 points Fair is VEC tnc2579 Answers on Page But they do not have teaching certificates and are members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union About 4300 union members went on strike at the colleges Jan 24 The union voted Tuesday to accept contract agreement with the colleges and all workers are expected back on the job by Thursday relief to parents of children at the Humber centre normal child can cope after full day at school but when she goes to school her mother can cope Without the school Mrs Ceresne is lost couple of times Michelle went down to the basement and just cried She missed school and the teachers She knew something was wrong but you cant explain it to her Mrs Ceresne said there always was the fear Michelle would regres as she had bCIL ie was going to other the examiner Thursday Fob 1m Dr RynOrd and his secretary Joyce Calverley Examiner Photo College proposal meets opposition Hy LORI Olll Of The liviniincr Big Bay Point rcsnlcut do not want Allnndah lioll ouisc rcplaccd by till ill olli1o About 40 conccrncd lllttll and mcmbcrs of thc big tin Point District Sil£tlltill llltl recently to voicc tlicu oliicc tins Thc sitc of thc proposod training ccntrc is mml It tlic ministry of giwcrnmcnt scr vices report prcpnrcd by tc association opposcs tlic destruction of tlic arm The golf coursc contours 7o acres bctwecn on llll tho lakeshorc and has cxtstcd since 1932 PEOPLE ISIC OI RSIC lot of people usc thc that golf course Iaul Michacls Big Bay Point resident said The other ones courscsl in the area are either too crowdcd or private Residents say loss of thc golf course will ltllittl from tourism within thc pro inti and causc Innistil to low nu jor source of rcvcnuc Lon Icncak dircctor of pro gram managcmcnt for thc ministry said tlic proposal on volvcs 100000 squnrc tch and includes administration facilities classrooms dor mitory dining and rccrcutionol facilities and training areas such as swimming pool mechanical arm and firearms section SHOOTING RANOII DANGER possible outdoor shooting range would posc an clcmcnt of danger to rcsidcnts tho association says People arc prctiy upset by the thought of an outdoor firing range michaels said ihc farthest away from rcsidcnccs it could be is 1500 feet Pencak said there could be an outdoor range buthc isnt sure yet Weve got 70 acres to work with and as result of the con figuration of the centrc nobody would be aware of it hc said Residents arc also worried about canine training pro grams riot control cxcrciscs and powerboat training PROPERTY VALII DROP The association says thc col lege may lower thc market value of neighboring recrca tonal and rcsidcntiul propcr llt l1 nsscssmcnts wcrc llll it would inan reduced Ln icicnuc for thc township lcnczik says ipponcnts oi thc collcgc also do not litlicic jobs for local rcsidcnts will be created in the building or maintcnancc of tlic tollcgt lhc my local contractors probably wouldnt be com pctitm enough to win the in itinl contract and the jobs that may be created would only rcplocc cxistmg jobs zit the golf otltst lcncnk says thc ministry is conrmccd thc lnmstil site is good onc llc says the rcforcsta tron arm to the south is It natural buffcr zonc The ministry already owns the pro pcrty and there is easy access to thc iakc for water training licsmd STAFF NICEIHCI Pcoplc will be hired during construction and staff is needed to rtm hc building hc said Moncy will bc spent in the communit by students at the collcgc so the scrvicc industry iill licnctit pcrsonally dont sec any problcins and if wcrc rcsi dcnt ld iclcomc it Icncak sold lhc ministry has been plann incI this project for several years and thc lnnisfil site was idcntificd about six months ago lcncuk said ltrkm Mctann operator of thc golf course said he found out about thc plans only after ministry official cullcd him last summcr and said an irchitcct was looking Ill thcsitc MINISTRY RICYIICW lwo architects arrived and when qticstioncd by Mctann said thc ministry was review ing all the land they owned across thc provincc It wasnt until McCann con tacted Gcorgc Taylor Conser vative MP SimcoeCentre that he found out about the pro posed collcgc Mctann inct with Lornc llcndcrson ministcr of govcrn rncnt scryiccs in licccmbcr Ilc told llcndcrson hc had 15year lcnsc on tlic property with the ministry with it years still re maining Mcann said he pourcd thousands of dollars into the business in anticipation of 15year stay He said the minister sym pathized with his position but dcclincd to comment on the situation YEAR WAIT training college is the last thing we McCann and his wife want he aid stand to lose lot Pcncak said it will be at least year before technicalities can be ironed out and physical plan ning of the site can begin Con struction will take approx imately two years ere planning for it to go in he said Crime victims suffer WASHINGTON AP The victims of crime even such relatively painless offences as pursesnatching may suffer weeks or months of emotional trauma and of ten have nowhere to turn for help say two spe cialists in victim psychology The sudden arbitrary un predictable violation of self leaves victims feeling so shat tered that they cannot continue to function the way they did be fore thc crime write Morton Bard and Dawn Sangrey in The Crime Victims Book being published this month Things fall apart and victims are unable to pull themselves back together right away The authors contend that crime victims are the forgotten people in the criminaljustice system Police officers and prosecutors seldom have the time or training to deal with the victims emotional suffering Bard psychology professor and director of the Centre for Social Research at the City Uni vcrsit of New York has been consu tant to the New York City police department Sangrcy writer is member of the National Organization of Victim Assistance