The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

i ") We a ow SAL 7% Xf ER 0 3 x ddr) § > AA FR. LoS, £70 ~N we ry fas LS ed 4," 1a an ae hd SEES, SG) RE vm fa i et SS dh me > PI pe ma Sv JHC 3 oh Yon >, CRARESS SRR 7% ARATE Sas 2) a a os i i i -- -~ a ~2 0 Sed YR BOA TIT AY BB FATA AU XLT) Linde I RIS MEAL APTLY A StI ach, Tht | » £ WE a ys 3 Conservation Folly Durham Region council made the right decision when it said unanimously that Durham wants no part of a Kawartha Conservation Authority, despite the yells of protest from Lindsay and other municiapli- ties in Victoria County. The establishment of a Kawartha Authority was scuttled last Thursday at a meeting in Lindsay when four of the five-member voting delegation from Durham cast their ballots in the negative. + Durham got five votes at the meeting because about 85 per cent of Scugog Township was to be included within the borders of the new Authority. Durham Region, which would have wound up paying for more than 27 per cent of the operating costs of a Kawartha Authority, wants Scugog Town- ship included in the Central Lake Ontario Conserva- tion Authority (CLOCA) which stretches south from the Great Pine Ridge to Lake Ontario. While it is true that the delegation from Durham, including three members of Scugog council, were instrumental by their votes in having the authority turned down, one should also keep in mind that four municipalities in Victoria Country also voted against' the establishment of the authority. Listening to the Mayor of Lindsay making his pitch last week, one got the impression that he was putting all the blame on the Durham delegation. Which simply is not so. Scugog Township wants to be included in a Conservation authority - CLOCA - and has asked that this be allowed. After all, Scugog"s political, economic and sociological ties are south into the rest of Durham, not north into Victoria County. : But the provincial legislation says Scugog can't go into CLOCA because the Scugog watershed flows north into the Kawarthas. If Scugog goes into any conservation 'authority, it must be the one to the north. That may be what the legislation says, but it seemed a little strange at the meeting last Thursday when Frank Shaw of the ministry of natural resourc- es was asked why the Gull and Burnt River systems were NOT included in the boundaries of the proposed ~ Kawartha Authority. His answer? Those two river systems were left out because it was felt there would be too much opposition from municipalities in those areas. That is the point. Scugog Township could also have been excluded for exactly the same 'reason, and today there would be a Kawartha Conservation Authority, something which everybody agrees is necessary. (The Kawarthas is theWast area in southern Ontario not to come under such an authority.) . And Scugog could get into an authority as well; editorial poge whi "WELL, IF THEY RE saT15F1ED Wirt AN 85 cENr BUCK | ---- THEY'RE OFF JO A st4Ky START." > ASSES WY ™ 8 SERN SY NC ANNE N SSN \ ¢ Nay N \ NN Y N Nd N ) i! NIN Na) - AN & NSN NS ONIN aaa CLOCA, which has been working for several years, and would in fact get the desired results much quicker than if the watershed was under the new Kawartha Authority. If Kawartha had been approv- edit will be at least a year, maybe longer, before the operational framework can be put in place. Indications are that there will be yet another attempt to put an authority on the Kawarthas, which is just fine. But let's get Scugog into CLOCA, or at very least have it excluded from the Kawartha authority. It would be a pity to go through the same fruitless exercise again. The Chase Is On A week ago, the number of declared candidates for the up-coming municipal elections was just about anybody's guess, but the close of nominations Monday indicate that with a couple of exceptions, all positions will be contested. Regional councillor Reg Rose and School Board trustees Yvonne Christie and Gord Goode will go back in by acclamation. : While a lot has been said about the lack of ang hot issue to catch the fancy of the electorate in Scugog, the number of candidates assures that issues will be generated as the three-week campaign moves into gear. It is healthy to see as much candidate interest in the seats up for grabs on Scugog council, it is crucial that the general voting public in the Township also shows some interest in who will ultimately represent them. In the last election, the voter turn-out was estimated at between 35 and 40 percent, which is not bad for municipal elections. Hopefully, that figure can be increased this time around. ° For the next three weeks, it is up to the candidates. They can shake hands and come out fighting. But let's try to stay away from low blows. OK guys? "» bill Voting Time About this time of year, reporters for community newspapers are sniffing around the town hall, trying to drum up a hot story about the coming municipal elections. It's about as rewarding as looking for diamonds in the Arctic. All they come up with are pompous cliches, evasions, and half-truths. Almost invariably, the Mayor, unless he's been caught with his hands in the till, or been discovered in flagrante delicto in a motel room with somebody else's wife, is going to run again. "Yes, I believe I owe it to the people of our fine town to carry out the many progressive programs inaugurated during my years in office." Translation: Ilike having my name in the paper every week, and if those jackasses of councillors would stop arguing with me, we might be able to screw enough money out of the government to start building that new community centre, which will be called after me. Reeve Dimlylit: "What we need in our smiley fair town is leadership at the top, something we haven't been getting. Yes, I will probably be a candidate again for municipal office, but I do not know in what capacity." Translation: If that turkey, the Mayor, has a heart attack, I'll go after his job. He gets the chain of office, the cocktail parties, the headlines. I want them. Deputy-Reeve Dumly: '""There seems to be a strong ground-swell, among the voters, for new blood at the top, a vibrant leadership that would make Pokeville the thriving community it could be. But I have not decided yet. Let the people speak." Translation: If the Mayor makes a terrible boo-boo and the Reeve succumbs to cirrhosis of the liver, which he's working hard at, I'll go for the top, if I can find two guys to nominate and second me. Councillor Doaks: "Yes. Well, as the voters of Ward Four well know, I have been their ardent representative whenever their best interests were at heart, and I know they are behind me 100 per cent. Translation: I voted against every improvement in town, unless it was in Ward Four, and I squeaked in the last time by four votes. Councillor Blank: "Well, I just don't khow whether I'll run again. The position takes a terrible toll of your time and energy. I'd like to spend more time with my family. But you do feel a sense of responsibility to keep Pokeville progressing." . Translation: Jeez, I only missed three. committee meetings last month. Moses, if I'm turfed out, I'll miss that year, and I'll have to stay home with Gladys and those rotten kids every night. lease, Lord, don't let Joe Glutz run against me. He'd wipe me out. Councillor Klutz: "I honestly! haven't decided yet. I have served the g people of Ward Two for twenty-eight yegf's, in- tingly, regardless of race, creed or c our, and I believe, with all due m at I have served them well. Look at the new sewage line on 11th St. Remember the maples I cut down to accomodate a fine new service on 8th St. And don't forget the modernization I brought to Ward Two: a barber shop, two pizza parlors, and a chicken palace. I stand on my record." Translation: Some of those dang com- munists are still sore at me for cutting down those 25 maple trees. Some of them others is mad because they get pop cans and pizza plates all over their front lawns. If anybody runs against me, I'm dead. Otherwise, I'll be back on the band-wagon. But we must avoid being cynical mustn't we? Those municipal politicians are more to be pitied than scorned. If they fail to be elected, it's a serious blow to the ego. If they succed, they are stuck with two years of mind-numbing meetings, and the constant obloquy of the public they serve. Unlike their brethen in provincial and federal politics, they cannot put a certain distance between themselves and t#ir masters, such as a secretary. They are apt to be pilloried in the local paper, belligerent- Holy, ly confronted in a coffee shop, or phoned at a two in the morning to settle a drunken argument. Such is the lot of the municipal politician. Nor can we blame them too much for being shifty when asked whether or not they are going to stand for election. They have learned that shifty footwork, that sparring for advantage, that gouging and butting in the clinches, from their provincial andy federal counterparts. And they have, of course, the great master of the ringing phrase, the double talk, the double think, the swift change of course, - Pierre Elliott Himself: the man who was going to wrestle inflation to the ground; who abhorred price and wage controls, then clasped them to his bosom; who steered through the end of capital punishment, and now might, just might, hold a referendum on it, provided enough people vote for him in the next election which might, just might, be held next spring. Or next summer. Or next all. No, we can't blame our local politicians for issuing evasive or cowardly statements to the press. They've been too well trained from the top. a --, -- a a CM a J ER -- w---------- NR ---- Dr ------ _--