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t toe tribune thursday feb- 13 w75 4 r i i i i dov i i- i i i i- wht wtiiunt established isfts charles ii nolan publisher bfrvarn iiblhwevtry tbirkuy at 54 main s slouffvilm out tl m02i0i barrb beacock pjl toronto shon mlio siagmcopics jot wbtcrlptioas moo pr yur in adtwlisine manam- tc caiaiitjljwmrmmbrolauat8ruojeircuuiioicimdun 5 s comoiimity nfwspprs association and ontario weekly ncwspapers- amociatioa scow class mall rtgistratiea number mh the tribune h one of the inland publishing co limited group of suburban newspapers which includes the alaxwnitbywckenng news advertiser brampton guardian burlington post etobicoke caiette markham economist and sun newmarketaurora era oakville beaver ottawa this week and mississaug news i i i 1 i i i i editorials indoor pool first priority ahd fdr te kllltetlhgqlefnolo how about ulhagoeiilenf ujould ww reelect for fearl le4tertilp and i 70 peqpplbd utahft does stouffville need a 29 million recreation complex thats the question the residents of the area must ask themselves now that a feasibility study has been prepared the proposal calls for a combined complex that would include indoor swimming pool arena curling rink library and day care centre it would form an addition to stouffville dist secondary school no one would argue that the facilities are needed and desireable for the town it would certainly be convenient to have the facilities here now people have to travel some distance to swim in the winter time in fact the project could be phased in with perhaps the swimming pool first and other parts added on as the need arises and as the area grows but that is the crux of the problem if stouffville grows substantially in the next 10 year as it probably will then the project would be realistic but if things slow down then it is too grandiose for a town of this size the tribune advocates careful examination of the feasibility study and then a breakdown of the costs of the swimming pool that would seem to have top priority the arena should come later as stouffville already has an arena the whole total scheme should be held in abeyance until the growth of stouffville justifies such a large expense it may be that the town will grow quickly but if it doesnt the taxpayers could be stuck with a white elephant that could put a heavy burden on local residents thirty r years ago this week j- jj- excerpts front the tribune from feb 15 1s45 s tjgte snow harvest a record breaking shortage of water has made snow number ooe item in the business jnf keeping house on many farms boilers and old milk cans are steaming on stows day and night and family washes should be literally snowy white a this winter female drunks beer rooms for women are a disgrace to ontario and a reflection on the governing bodies who tolerate them the old hotel days were better we had no female drunks at least transgressor a former employee of the oil controllers office at hamilton was sen tenced to nine months in jail and a fine of 3500 for trafficking in stolen gas coupons sugar and spice beefs that bill can 9 stomach by bill smiley hitch in fairground sale markham fair board has got itself into a jam with the sale of the fairgrounds property at highway 48 and main st the prospective purchasers will not close the deal until the town of markham agrees to a rezoning on the property the zoning is presently agricultural the problem has developed because the fair board and the markham council have been working at crossedpurposes regarding the deal there has been a singular lack of communication between the two groups when the sale was announced in the first place over a year ago it was presented as a fait accompli there was no consultation with the townion what plans the council might have for thefairgrounds the sale was approved but council gave no assurance that the land could be rezoned no assurance was asked for in the meantime the fairboard completed a deal to buy the stanley watson farm on 18lh ave the money from the sale of the old fairgrounds would go toward acquiring the watson farm as a new site both deals were supposed to close jan 29 now the closing date has been extended to aug 1 1975 the purchasers hope they can persuade markham council to rezone the property before that date the whole deal was poorly handled the fair board was buying a pig in a poke so to speak because the matter was never discussed with council instead of going on their own the board should have consulted the council and worked toward finding a solution the fair needa new sitethere is little question aboutthat it has outgrown the present grounds the deal however could have been handled in a more business like way and more investigation into the potential pitfalls might have prevented the present situation dump stand is unequivocal last week the tribune carried an editorial that was somewhat critical of the local council for the manner in which it has handle acquisition of a new dump for local garbage the tribune would like to restate its position that it supports the councils original decision to close the highway 48 dump there is no question v about that the dump should be closed until the en vironmental affects can be fully evaluated and safeguards assurred for both the residents surrounding the landfill site and those in stouffville who fear the towns drinking water might be contaminated our position is however that council was shortsighted in not acting sooner to close the dump and find an alternative dumping site it is possible that the town will have to use the highway 48 dump past the april 1 deadline i that could be very embarrassing as council has passed a bylaw closing the dump by april it would be inconsistent forthe towns garbage to be dumped on the site in violation of its own bylaw earlier action in seeking an alternate site would have prevented such a situation with beef the price it is most of us dont see much of it on the table these days however theres one type of beef that is as cheap as ever if you cant afford the real thing have a good beef about something that annoys you its not as tasty as the genuine article but its good for your blood pressure even though there isnt much protein in it i havent had a good beef about anything for a while so here goes first of all supermarkets many of them are becoming more impersonal more inef ficient and more sleazy from day to day the change has been most noticeable in the past couple of years a until then there was a crackling ef ficiency in most of the big chain stores the manager and staff would bust their necks to help you find what you wanted the girls on the cash registers nearlyalways had a smile anda greeting packaging boys bagged your z groceries and would carry them to yourcar if you wished- as a result the stores were pleasant places to shop what a change the only time you see the manager is on a television ad try to find a clerk during busy hours to tell you where the salted crackers areand you might as well be in the sahara with an empty water canteen looking for a nice fresh spring the girls on cash dont smile enough and are obviously overworked the packaging boys seem to be an extinct species and when there is one around hes just going for his coffee break and he wouldnt think of carrying out your parcels it must be that management is deliberatelycutting back on staff and service why to increase profits yesterday i went into a supermarket to pick up a few groceries about 10 worth or one bag i did my shopping in five minutes and spent 20 minutesvaiting in line to pay for it of six checkout counters two were open one girl was frantically punching buttons and bagging groceries no packaging boys in sigh the other counter open was the express counter 8 items or less and theres another thing that makes my hair stand on end and my temples throb with outrage the express counter the very name is a laugh they should be renamed the snail counter they are sup posed to be for the people who pick up a can of beans a loaf of bread and some bologna they are supposed to zip you through smartly they dont i stood in line for about eight minutes wondering what the holdup was as there were only two or three ahead of me when i was close enough to see i realized what was going pnitwoplacesaheadjofmewas an old i gal with a nearly full shopping cart about 30 bucks worth of grubli started to burn eight items is supposed to be the limit in that line- t up when she finally got finished and mud dled around having a cheque endorsed another woman took her place and started unloading her cart after shejiad placed eight items on the counter i began counting aloud in a clear penetrating voice do you know how many items that old biddie had thirty- six i remarked loud and clear to the cashier i thought this was the express counter eight items or fewer she had the grace to blush ihalf expected the old bat to turn and pulverize me with a salami but she kept eyes front and her ears were red- i have a feeling there is room right now for some oldfashioned neighborhood j groceries where you get personal service and your purchases are delivered if you want to phone in an order the big supermarket must be hell for little old ladies with arthritis who have to walk blocks with a couple of heavy bags of grub speaking of which why do the baggers at supermarkets always put all the canned goods in one bag and the kleenex toilet paper and rice in the other so that the customer goes out the door with a list like the 1 titanic going down r another sore point with me and its sore where it really hurts in the hip pocket is the ripoff at big city hotels it was necessary that i spend a few days in one recently and the prices nearly drove me into bankruptcy a home for paupers and insanity v j single room 3100 a day plus 250 tax parking 250 thats t thirtysix simoleoris i before you lay your head on a pillow i was slightly stunned to say the least but my fauii i hadnt checked the rates oh well i thought its only once in a blue moon and ill enjoy the luxury and the terrific service it is to laugh luxury it was a hotel room like 50000 others except that this one was so draughty you had to turn the thermostat up to 80 to keep from shivering service oh the service was great especially room service tired and frazzled i decided i didnt want to seek out a dining room ty and eat alone thought id stay in my roomj have a sandwich read the paper watch the news on tv x that news was the only thing for which they didnt extract blood viewpoint big not necessarily better by don bernard trees with snow weighing down their air gives the eerie feeling that somehow jack- branches have analmosl ghostly appearance ost is sulking through the forest with his just after a fresh snowfall a stillness in the magic- paintbrush john montgomery big government is not necessarily good government rather an interesting statement but one that has come to be only so true when applied by the way government acts in relation to the people that it is supposed to serve if we look closely at some recent events it is clear that government has become a force to be fought rather than one to behave in the public interest over a year ago the federal government appointed a commission to do a detailed inquiry into the feasibility of the proposed international airport in pickering the hearings took the odd form of the ministry of transport and its experts against the people very odd indeed the town of whitchurchstouffville felt strongly about the threat posed by the airport and decided to hire sis own expert to do a study on possible noise levels that would in trude on the former village and to some extent the rural areas nearby it was a considerable expense to the town the total cost was in the neighborhood of 25000 but miracles of miracles the inquiry commission listened to the towns expert and rejected information supplied by the ministry of transport officials on the basis of that information the commission recommended that more land be acquired and that homeowners in stouffville and claremont should be allowed to sell their properties to the government if they so wish the expert hired by the town was listened to because he had solid credentials in the aircraft noise field and would not be budged at the hearings i the commission findings could very well alter what would be done in pickering and throws out the governments own expert in formation of the noise levels that will be ex perienced in this area if whitchurchstouffville had not spent the 25000 the evidence would never have been presented to the commission in other words the governmentexperts were actually not interested in the affects of the noise surrounding the proposed airport they were only interested in justifying the decision to build the airport in pickering so much for government representing the people another example of this same kind of thing has occurred recently but the fault in this case lies with the provincial government hearings have been going on for over three monthsinto the operation of the york sanitation dump on highway 48 the residents near the dump fear the continued dumping of uncontrolled wastes could contaminate their wells and ultimately the water supply for the former village of stouffville the provincial government has allowed the environmental hearing board to conduct hearings into the matter but the battle is uphill for the residents york sanitation is owned by a large american firm waste management inc which represented by a smooth sophisticated highlypriced lawyer the town of whitchurchstouffville has its solicitor and two different citizens groups also have their lawyers at the hearings but the ministry of the environment the arm of the provincial government that is supposed to be a watchdog over problems in the en vironment has not shown much desire to stand up for the rights of the local residents the spectre of fred munroe a retired chemical engineer clashing with murray chusid the york sanitation lawyer shows that the deck is stacked against the people and in favor of the large corporation mr munroe by the way has stood up to mr chusid amazingly well the government here has played the part of observer in the battle the hearing board will make a recommendation and then the minister of the environment will have to make the final decision meanwhile the residents of the town and the town council are out considerable sums of money having to defend themselves when as i have said earlier government should be the defender of the little guy as well as the rich and the powerful it is no wonder that people are discon tented with government no wonder people feel that government is unresponsive the fact is that government has become insulated from the problems that affect ordinary people other problems can be pointed to york region had a teachers strike last year at this time the problem was more than just financial but salary levels were at issue this year the newly elected board of education voted themselves a 100 per cent pay increase the timing was bad and it sets a poor example teachers after all must feel that they deserve a considerable increase if the trustees can get one it all stems from being insulated from the people regional government while it is the level of government that most affects us in many respects has little orno impact on the people when councillors at york region gave themselves a 1000 raise recently most people probably asked what is york region anyway j government of the people for the people by the people thats the only way our i system can survive right now we are swamped by big government and from my point of view that is the greatest threat to democracy in this time t j