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or AA ET TAT Oa BE Np x A CR A ERR SN SCV Fe Editorial Comment a » PEEPS, te rT att " FA en Scugog Meets The Monster For those who think that big government depart- ments are becoming monsters that feed off their. own jargon and regulations, the case of the Ontario Home Renewal Program will give cold support to your thoughts. The" program, established by the provincial J "22 Ministry of Housing in 1974, would provide up to $30 LAY \ ) A aR i million over at least three years for residents of the N a RCA Sa province on low and fixed incomes to Improve and ATIONA HARMONY A Re La Q up-grade their homes and properties through grants ~~ [ -- { Ji : and loans based on family income. It sounds simple enough, and the intent is certainly a lofty one that would seem to provide benefits both to the homeowner, and the local contractors and servicemen who would do the work. As Scugog Township Council has found out twice i In the last five weeks, however, the simplicity and : worthiness ends abruptly if implementation of the : program Is attempted. : ! 7 : Based on population, about $33,000 would be : : ): available to Township residents. But the strings and = 5 : regulations attached to the program make it hardly worth the while. + First of all, while the province Is putting up the Ro8A RTS PEPIN money, the entire administration of the program - PIANO TUNERS --- including loan repayment that could extend as long as 20 years, becomes the responsibility of 'the local municipality. Ministry guidelines suggest 13 respon- sibilities the municipality would have to bear ranging from searching title to the property, obtaining credit reports if necessary, inspecting the work on comple- tion, inspecting property for necessary and eligible Sd a BN 3 repairs, and (of course) making quarterly reports to £47 the ministry. - ey NE : Secondly, the program Is only offered to munici- i 4 a e I' (1 ] x : = palities that have adopted a minimum standards A by John McClelland bylaw for residences, which Scugog does not have. AY : y Whether the Township should indeed have such a 2 7 November 15, 1976 is destined to take a front row victory has been gained, as the pre-revolutionary bylaw Is not the point here (it probably should) but as X60 place in the history of this country. It will in time momentum must be sustained. # was rightly pointed out at the Council meeting last ONY if exceed such traditional dates as July 1 and May 24 as Secondly, the appeal of the Parti Quebecois is a i: week, passing and enforcing a standards bylaw in : 7) i days for school children to remember. broad one, its ideals aimed at the masses, who for one i order to qualify for the program could create EA i November 15, of course, was the day when Rene reason or another at least perceive that they are : financial hardship for people whose existing homes Al © Levesque and the Parti Quebecois achieved political suffering suppression under the existing system. The i could not meet the standards. victory at the polls in Quebec. And since then movement does not appeal to the corporation, the Canadians have been bombarded from all sides with small business man, or the middle and upper i It is no wonder that in the past five weeks Scugog the repercussions of that election win. Indeed, any managers. It does appeal to the working class and # Township council has twice failed to decide on Canadian who can read, or at very least owns a radio also to university and college students. An alliance whether to take part in the program despite pressure or TV set would have found it most difficult in the last between workers and students is not an uncommon from local residents who could derive benefit from seven months to escape the discussion and the debate one in revolutionary movements. . the loans and grants. on national unity, or the Quebec "problem", as it is Thirdly, studies have shown that pre-revolution- ) sometimes referred to outside that province. ary activity includes a kind of artistic, intellectual and The. problem is that the Ministry of Housing The debaté has sometimes been intelligent, literary fervour. Quebec certainly has experienced wants to have it all ways: provide the money, have rational, and appealing to the better judgements of this since the early Sixties with the blossoming of the municipality do the "dirty work' in administer- reasonable men and women. And sometimes the Writers, poets, singers, film makers and artists. Ing the loans, and then demand quarterly reports debate has slipped into mindless hysteria. And lastly, contrary to popular notion, revolutions from the municipality. Nobody would argue with Before offering a few personal thoughts and do not happen during times of extreme oppression. ~ § good cost control these days, but if the provincial observations on this issue of Quebec and Canada, i Rather, they are most likely to occur when a period of government bélleves a local municipality Is able to should like to say that I am a Canadian, probably as gradually increasing prosperity suddenly and dramat- administer this complicated loan ram, it should loyal as the next guy, and would feel a sense of ically comes to an end, and the expectations that rose Pe A program Y ", and loss if the country should brealk up. with the prosperity cannot be maintained or fulfilled. ve enough confidence in the municipality not to iiss however, are sentiments of the heart, and Quebee prospered in the Svlies 3 ad early Seventies demand an accounting every three months. are in direct conflict with and was suddenly caught in the nation-wide stag- : Ca Hi) yey mind. nation that started in 1974. Jobs were lost, money few iets Aare huss Se a simpler way to loan a became tight, and most important, expectations were { ow income homeowners to allow Jashed. © them to make necessary repairs to their homes. In REVOLUTION Had the same progression of events occurredina {; SCUg09's case, where only $33,000 is available, it Shortly after Levesque gained his victory he went country whose political and societal infrastructure = §i Would be easier fo ust give the money on a "first to New York to address the captains of banking and were less sophisticated that Quebec's, the result may i: come, first served" basis to homeowners who can Business, and in the Jrocess he likened the $3053 price have been revolutionary violence. The revolution in show need. m Ameri ution occurred 4 : 3 ala wh a gan 5 Quebec November 15 at the ballot bys. Or possibly, the province could turn the money on happen to think that the analogy is one well taken. In No matter how Quebeckers vote in the planned local councils decide how it is to be spent and repaid. fact, I would suggest that the events leading to referendum, or even if the provincial Liberal Party A system whereby the homeowner borrows from the November 15 and Levesque's victory represent an should defeat the Pequistes in the next general bank with the province making up the difference In almost classic example of popular revolution, minus election, November 15 represents an historical turning interest charges and guaranteeing the loan might one ingredient; violence. point for Canada. If Quebec says "yes' to separation, also prove easier than the present system. First of all, many of the men close to Levesque fit the country will break up. If the first feferendum 3 the elite mold of revolutionary leaders: highly fails, there may be a second, or a third, and in the It seems that a noble intent that could provide educated at the best schools in North America and meantime the stion of national unity and Quebec's real benefit to those who actually need it, Is, In Europe, intellectual, idealistic, and motivated by a place will slowly consume Canada. I think we are Scugog's case anyway, going to be lost because of sense of some high and noble cause, already seeing examples of this. Our viability as a bureaucratic regulations and restrictions. If that Their. political philosophy, aside from indepen- trading nation in the tional marketplace is happens there will be two losers: the local people dence, is a mix of nationalism and progressive worsening, and instead of real political effort and who could use a break, and th : » i e municipality, which josialisy, which, wile appearing ctor: as decisions 10 Light. | the economic wrongs, all eyes through no real fault of its own, wil look bad when 3 EE iyeleless, the Sxsen ig oe Ln 15 Ju Québec a watershed in Canadian Secides tha} the administration of the program Is ee the Slegtion oH viEtory ory Jes Bane Novemper history 2 popula F revalieion with thout he viclensé hat ~ simply not worth the benefit. Fit 15, and a Ja either lead to the indeps of Quebec : But the province won't lose. The Ministry of to become slightly obscure and without specific referendum, or the slow, pairiful strangulation of a "© Housing will claim that fhe money was available and timetables for implementation. All classic revolution- country obsessed with events in a province that were © nobody took advantage of it. Reading fhirough the aries face the same problem of what to do once the both predictable CA regulations, It's litle Wonder. can on »