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the HERALD Home Newspaper of Hills Established A Dmstort of Canadian Company Limited Georgetown Ontario PAUL J TAYLOR Publisher and General Manager Advertising Manager PHONE A THE HERALD I Arts groups build spirit There is something about this time of year which brings out the best in the towns art com munity Thanks to them there is an abundance of events wor th attending in celebration of Christmas For too many of us the Christmas season is something wed rather be getting out of rather than heading into as radio announcers piously remind about how many more shopping days are left before the 25th Christ mas becomes a blur of crowded shopping malls skinny Santas wailing children and tired old Christmas hits For those of us who seek salvation the arts community has tossed out a collective having worked ear nestly on several seasonal specials most of which will be featured at the John Elliott Theatre The first sing of relief are the Georgetown Choral Society concerts this weekend Under the direction of Dale Wood the GCS has with its uncannily professional flair prepared a Fantasia for Christmas As an added attraction the GCS will combine its musical efforts with a full chamber orchestra Later in the week Productions brings back the joys of an oldfashioned fireside Christmas reading at Oxbow Books in Georgetown with its warmth of Christmas Georgetown Little Theatre and the Peel Panto Players have combined their efforts for the benefit of area youngsters Their production of Hickory Dock is planned for the John Elliott Theatre Dec 11 and The Cantante Singers a young group of musicians have been rehearsing for their Time of Joy production Dec 17 which will also be held at the theatre On the program are several Christmas favorites and no doubt the audience will find it difficult to resist the to sing along at some point in the show The members of these productions have devoted a great deal of time during a season is busy for them as it is for the rest of us We are indebted to them for helping us keep track of some of the non commercial joys of Christmas and we should set aside some of our own time to literally ap plaud their efforts The enjoyment these talented people feel for their work especially at this time of year is infectious And for those of us numbed into narrowmindness by the commercialization of Christmas who see Christmas only as a time in which bank accounts suffer serious injury these performances hold a cure Timely advice Christmas in the home of a firefighter probably isnt any different from celebrations the rest of us enjoy except for one thing the knowledge that at any instant the pocket beeper may alert him to what could be a tragic fire In the euphoria that surrounds Christmas fire is a bitter irony Keeping in mind that many residents will be putting up Christmas trees now the Hills Fire Department has submitted this witty but sagacious poem Twas the night before Christmas and all across town Not a creature was the snow drifted down Stockings were hung by chimneys with little care And no thought to a fire ever happening there Our family was nestled all snug in each bed With nothing to fill our minds with dread Until out on the street there arose such a clatter We sprang from our beds to see what was the matter to the window we flew like a flash lore open the drapes and threw up the sash The moon shining down on the newfallen snow Gave a lustre of midday to objects below When what to our wondering eyes should appear But a Hilts fire truck and six men In full gear With sirens wailing and red lights flashing We caught only a glimpse of them passing To the corner they sped to tlie right made a turn And there before them wus a house starting to burn The driver braked the officer Jumped out Looked over the situation to nil men gave a shout Having dressed quite quickly to the fire we came In lime to hear orders given each man by name Greg to the hydrant Gord grab a line Mike get a ScottPak dont waste any lime Andy gel a ladder and a pike pole Bruce we need help radio control Tell him to call both Truck IS and Truck When 26 conies in have them lay a line With a nod to the hydrant man he turned around And away to the building he ran with a bound We stood on the sidewalk with fear in our eyes For from Inside came several frightened young cries Straight Into the house Firefighter Ron went And never came out until air tank was spent Clutched In each arm was a small child The people outside with happiness went wild The firefighters worked hard In the flaming light It looked like it might be a long fight The outer trucks arrived with men ladders and hose And soon from the building all that arose Were wisps of smoke and an occasional flame This lucky family would celebrate Christinas again All the children toys were lost in the Mate DoUs guns cars and shiny new sleighs Mother end father bad tost presents too But one Important thing both of them knew Was that Christmas without presents turkey and chive Was better than Christmas with childrens lost Uvea All this was caused by one little wire One worn light wire had caused this fire The firefighters cleaned up to their trucks gave a leap This time they were glad for no one would weep officer said Lets take em home boys We want tome time for our own Christinas Joys But 1 beard them exclaim ere drove out of sight Credibility problems haunt new economic commission By Stewart MacLeod Ottawa Bureau of The Herald When Prime Minister gets through appointing members to the new Royal Commission on the Economy perhaps that investigative unit will gain some of Ihe credibility it sorely needs But right now Its somewhat lacking in that respect It was bad enough that the prime minister was embarrassed into announcing the formation of the royal commission before even his cabinet and particularly his finance minister had been consulted But its even worse that the new chairman of the commission former finance minister Donald Macdonald mentally toying with leadership of the Liberal Party while he should be devoting all of his considerable talents to the econom ic Job at hand In the two weeks since Trudeau announced that such a commission would be established to conduct one of the most Important studies ever undertaken for the government the reaction has been entirely political There has scarcely been a question about the economic Implications FEW QUESTIONS Under normal circumstances the government would be intense pressure to divulge details about the study The daily question period In Parliament would be chockablock with inquiries about the terms of reference the scope of the studies the probable witnesses Interim reports etc But in this case these questions have been at a minimal Instead everyone is preoccupied with the way the commission was formed in apparent haste and the fact that the chairmanship was handed to a possible successor for Pierre In fact many think that Donald Macdonald is Trudcaus choice as the next Liberal leader since Its conventional wisdom that the prime minister would do just about anything to prevent Ihe Job from going to John Turner In any event says when he was approached to accept the chairmanship of the royal commission he made it clear that if the prime minister retired he wanted to be free to consider a run at the leadership And he said Trudeau acknowledged that condition He also predicted that the commission will require only two of Its allotted three years to complete its work DIFFICULT BIRTH And naturally when makes a prediction like this its viewed in Ottawas political circles as another Indication he Is trying dear decks in time for a leadership conven tion Obviously Vancouver Tory MP Pat Carney was politically inspired when she said that Canadians are having difficulty deciding whether this is a commission on the economy or a stage for Ihe Liberal leadership but her point cannot be ignored At the very least the prime minister has once again displayed singular lnsensltivity Apartment fiasco means more property controls Queens Park Derek Nelson Queens Bureau of The Herald Two truths will eventually emerge from the complicated and controversi al sale and resale of 11000 Metro Toronto rental apartment units that Is being called the Cadillac Fairview- deal One is that the pressure exerted by tenants on politicians will mean great er and greater controls exerted by government over the property rights of the owners of all apartment buildings The second is that the deteriorati on of the rental accommodation hous ing stock in this province will continue the slide of the past decade and may even accelerate For the Conservative government the political ramifications have already been felt During the Nov municipal elections apartment blocks where people of general Conservative tendencies lived overwhelmingly voted the bashlhelandlord Tenants were scared that major rent increases to pay for mortgage financing of the sold rental properties INTENSE PRESSURE The result was that Consumer and Commercial Relations Minister Robert retroactively changed the rules of the buying game so as to keep the value of the land from escalating Let us be clear on what he did It was the equivalent of rolling back the fantastic profits singlefamily homeowners received In both and 1080 when the value of their properties soared sight There is a subsidiary question in the specific case of the Cadillac Fair- view deal hat has also set out to address This Is whether all the trans actions that saw Iheae 11000 units end up in Saudi hands fitted ministry rules regulations and lawa Bullying by opposition Liberal and members to make sure follows through on investigations along this line is fair enough SOCIAL CLIMATE What is not legitimate however is the moral undertone that has come more and more to the foreground as the Greymac story unfolds There is an assumption lhat tenants right to underpriced accommodation while hose who own the properties should run them at a loss Unfortunately the social climate today Is such that the sleaziest anti- landlord nonsense receives wide backing with the result lhat effective Statistics indicate that ActlVan the towns transportation service for physically handicapped resident Is being well used as it enters the sixth month stretch before it second anniversary According to bar graphs of records kept up to September passenger trips were taken on AcUVan since last May It was most heavily called upon in March when passenger trips were taken Between ActiVans inauguration in May and the end of that year passenger trips were made by The busiest month last year was December in the way he has set up this all- important group No doubt he was caught offguard when a newspaper first leaked the fact that such a commission was going to be established and had leak not occurred the prime minister would have consulted his cabinet and caucus before revealing anything But still it was passing strange that he had already decided on a chairman without even talking things over even with his finance minister particularly since Ihe commissions terms of reference were scheduled to go to Government House later lhat day And one would think that such a potentially controver sial appointment as that of Donald would have merited cabinet discussion yes even lengthy cabinet arguments before Ihe matter was settled a unquestioned ability aside one wonders whether this immense undertaking should be head ed by a former finance minister who is not only responsible for some of tho governments present controversial economic policies but who Is obviously Interested in winning support for a leadership bid And this Is not to suggest Macdonald would compromise his principles In any way Its a question of bow the commission beaded by the former finance minister Is perceived by the public because without cooperation from all segments of society the wont be worth And so far the birth of this royal commission has not been without some curious complications Trudeau as a midwife leaves something to be desired thihti Te J ce hate caused an unusual amount of interest to The beautiful blooms known as anlhurium were brought from the Barbados by McGowan who was vacationing there for her mother Mrs brought them to the office where everyone could enjoy them The medi um rose waxy flowers and huge light green leaves lead one on a casual glance to think they are artificial The Dominion Seed House says there are COS varieties of growing In tropical countries but only two dozen are cultivated in North America TWENTY YEARS AGOTbere will be an election in township this year but only for council and school board Reeve George Leslie and Depu ty Reeve Wilfrid Leslie received acclamations In addition to the present councillors George Currie Robert Lawson and Walter linham newcomer Mervin Barber was nominated for council All signified they would try for the three council scats Shirley Armstrong and Stanley Brown the two Incumbents and a third nominee Harry are running Tor two school board seats TEN YEARS addition to the library which would give two and a half times the present space yet preserve the characteristics of the present building its old stone work and stained glass windows was propos ed to the Library board Tuesday night by architect Paul Martel The preli minary sketches and estimate were requested by council in September and Ihe results will be presented for their consideration at the first opportunity after the election The square foot addition costing an estimated will partially surround the end of the present building and extend toward Knox Church The addition will have an extra storey the upper half a mezzanine overlooking the present adult library housing rare books a large reading room and study carrels ONE YEAR AGODow Jones position regarding the Impending closure of Its Irwin Dorsey Ltd subsidiary remains unchanged the Georgetowns firms president Dick Willis told The Herald Tuesday ownership of rental units Is passing more and more to tenants who know a good deal when they have It and also carry the voting clout to ensure they keep it The end result essentially will be and moves are part of the process the nationalization of the rental housing market BAD TROUBLE But this shortterm fixation by politicians on winning votes Is in the long run dooming this province to even greater shortages of new rental accommodation and deterioration the existing stock Cadillac one of the landlords around bailed out of business because It couldnt deliver a decent return on its Investment Thanks to the Liberals and HDP it becomes even tougher now to make money In fact private sector rental apartment building has probab ly taken a body blow from which it wont recover The record is plain everywhere in the world When housing becomes social capital and decent profit forbidden nothing can stop the spread of key money corruption homeless families and an eternal backlog of POETS CORNER Seek for your South The brawn dappled Fawn Son of the doe Shivers In the shadow Knee deep hi the mow His whole world Is bright The glaring snow hard Diamond white TurqnlMe barred The trees they are black The needles dull gold Boughs break and crack la the keen cold The brawn dappled Fawn Bereft of the doe Trembles and shudders Lays down In the snow Brown agate eyes Opened round At the cold ground At the cold lies en Enamaled pale At the thriven earth By the saowy gala Fawn Fawn Seek for your south For dawn With her warm month For green sad With gold and blae Dappled as God Has dappled you For ease Firm turf to ran Through fruited trees Into be inn The Fawn Paws at he snow South and dawn Lie far below The sleet streams The snow flies The Fawn dreams With wide brown eyes By CAROL A MERTEN GeorgMowa Wee Wee smiles are Re lifts your spirits Warm freely he algh Hes a wee Utile tyke Bat his heart is as a One he rears a Ilea The next he squeaks a He area the aMSt day lata Oiled with Joy Bless Us Hes sack a perfect IlUk toy As he sad aaat Ids years pray be sever alters Hes en the way happy years I hope be never falters ay Marlew tea