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Home Newspaper of Halton Hills Established 1 866 A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited PALI J TULOH Publisher and General Manager Advertising Manager Cliff Rrgittrrct 0943 I Till- Reprieve for old town hall welcome news Youve got to hand it to Ac tons town hall restoration committee theyre persistent Just when we thought am bitions to restore the century- old condemned structure on Willow Street would be put to rest by an official hearing last week new options which could indeed see the hall restored as a multi use com munity centre We thought wed seen the last of Ted Tylers portable signs out front of his Highway business demanding that we Save the Town Hall but there it was again this week at testing to the shot in the arm provided his campaign last week by Employment and Im migration Canada Whats more the conditionally approved y Ottawa for the town hall in volves a job creation program What news could be more welcome even if we are only talking about ten new jobs It was with a tired feeling of resignation that The Herald ultimately advocated demolition of the hall last year Wed stood by efforts to restore the architecturally attractive building from Day One but the failure several years later of Actons citizens to raise adequate restoration funds seemed to nullify the deal that had been worked out with town council But for the apparent apathy of a majority of Acton citizens arguments for the restoration remain valid The town hall was and can again be a focus for community events whether of special activities or the daily variety Guest editorial As such the hall could stand as Actons last bastion to its historical autonomy something consistently denied since While the hall would have no official municipal status other than that of a community centre its corridors and highceihnged rooms do recall an era when Acton was a municipality unto its own and thats something that should not be forgotten only seen its true modern perspective Further the eventual restoration of the hall would bear sound testimony to the ef forts of the restoration commit tee and the Actano lottery established some three years ago for the sole purpose of raising reconstruction funds in itself is an ambitious venture requiring a great deal of effort that has provided many memorable moments since its inception The word reconstruc tion it occurs to us is more than apt in the context of restoring the old hall To many citizens the regionalization of north Halton provoked visions of a civil war one fought not with guns but with rhetoric in stead of North against South it was Acton against Georgetown What followed the American civil war was a period of rebuilding historically known as the Reconstruction Without overworking the parochial analogy the rebuilding of the old Acton town hall can in some way help repair the wounds and provide something of the solidarity Hills has yet to enjoy Negotiations mustnt disrupt childs education EDITOR S NOTE Current negotiation contract between secondary school teachers and the board of involve a number of similarities with dispute The Herald asked former teacher federation president Tom Ram aula a Georgetown District High School teacher to comment on the situation By TOM Kerala Bill 100 made negotiations com puis between school boards and teachers of Ontario In 1375 The Act laid down the steps where previously there were none Tor boards of education and teacher affiliates to follow It is an excellent Act but as time has passed a second look and a The Act Is not a panacea for all times In many cases todays collective bargaining reached a stage where frustrations have begun to develop New changes are needed to prevent the cat and mouse actions the wait and tee attitudes and the confrontation syndrome which are becoming evident The greatest losers are the student who are our most important resource Meaningful negotiation based on facts goodwill understanding and aincer ity are more than ever needed to prevent a disaster in education The framework for negotiation Is certainly positive but there are areas which need Improving In reviewing the present Act weaknesses that can be corrected ore extended for loo long a period and that teachers and trustees can disrupt students education through strike and lockout actions these action have taken place they have proven be very detrimental to the young of Ontario After teachers trustee and administrators are here because they have the same objective which it to provide the best possible ed for our The machinery could tightened up by simply being firm with dates and the elimination of strikes and lockout actions No party should have the right power to Jeopardize the education of the students Children should never become pawns for any negotiating party A child a future can be endangered through the unfortunate actions of trustees teachers and administrators DON TALWAYSWORK The Act provides for a date to start negotiations but It should also include a date whereby all negotiations should be finalized and completed The steps out in in Ihe Act and supervised by the Ontario Education Relations Commission letter of intent to start negotiations assistance by the E C fact finding mediating voluntary arbitration and final offer These are commendable steps but theydonotalwayswork An Improvement will come when both sides having reached an Impasse and not coming to an agreement within a specified time limit Ihe Legislature should take the ate action of amending the Act to enforce a settlement through compulsory tion or final offer A letter of intent to negotiate should be given in January if the contract ends In August by either party and serious negotiations should start by February and negotiations should conclude by the end of March lianyitemsarenot finalized then the remaining items should go to the fact finder who but IS days to give each party a copy of his report Each party board or affiliate after receiving the Fact Finders Report has but five days to agree or disagree with the findings Both sides should then state their rationale on the points not agreed upon In any event any Items not agreed upon and he rationale should goto a final offer selection or arbitration one member or three member board with one person representing the board affiliate and the government The report should be by May and It should be on both tides Both parties should Continued page BC Cartoon submitted by Joe Stamp of yumneffs almost waters I -f-Mei- Media is often cynical Don but not about economy probe Ottawa Bureau of The Herald Donald Macdonald now best known as the chairman of the new Royal Commission on the Economy it actually has a longer name but we 11 keep it simple blew into Ottawa last week to talk about his new assignment and declare that among other things the press is cynical Its not assessment that gives rise to any disagreement of course he press is cynical but Its his timing thats off What the former finance minister is complaining about right now is the way the press has greeted the new royal commission and In particular his appointment as chairman And if recent develop ment ever begged for a touch of cynicism it seems to me that this la it Even such a type as Donald Macdonald most instinctively feel this way As a veteran politician he should have real I ted how the media would react to the manner in which his royal commission has been established thus far Let review very quickly First of all Prime Minister Trudeau decided to establish this massive commission study with out even consulting his caucus or cabinet He approached and secured his agreement serve chairman without even consulting his minister of finance Marc NO CONSULTATION And in giving this high profile assignment to Macdonald he selected a former finance minister who along with other members of various governments has been blamed for some of the economic problems we face If this werent enough to encourage some cynicism Macdonald Is also a contender Tor the leadership of the Liberal Party when Trudeau finally decides to pack It in Infect the two men discussed Ihe possibility of quilling the commission early if the leadership vacancy should Is it then cynical to suggest that the prime minister may bo boosting his old buddy into the leadership Macdonald naturally is not yet declaring himself a Liberal leadership candidate no one ever does until here is vacancy but he did declare himself In 1979 during brief proposal for retirement and he has made a point of saying he wouldnt close the door on the possibility Given his position and as a critic of media cynicism thats about as close as he could get to declaring himself a likely contender But not only Is apparently clinging his leadership ambitions as his enormous undertaking he is also clinging to the corporate directorships he has collect since resuming his law practice in lie la on the boards of the Alberta Energy Company Ltd the Bank of Nova Scotia Ihe Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Du Pont Canada Inc and McDonnell Douglas Corp He t sec how these directorships would Interfere with his work Well may not Interfere with his work but they along with Mac donald Liberal Party credentials certainly appear to be interfering with the makeup of the commission God forbid that this view be Interpreted as being cynical but what we appear to be getting Instead of a credible and efficient commission of experts is another of those wieldly structures that is expected to reflect every special interest group In the country To offset Macdonald partisan leanings we have the appointment of a couple of recycled Tories Including a Dief en baker cabinet minister who hasnt been politically active for years And as this Is being written talent hunt Is still on for willing New Democrats Then typically we have representatives from labor the media the linguistic groups the regions women industry And don t go away there will be marc coming If pressed even I could probably come up with 100 or bo examples of the media But this would not be one of them Inflation or jobs dilemma reveals two disparate Queens By Derek Nelson Queen Park Bureau of The Herald Lets get Canada working again If the price of is more inflation let have It Those are the editorial words of wisdom In the populist right wing Toronto Sun On the left whig we have the words of Richard Johnston NDP Toronto Scarboro West voiced In the Legislature where he said Jobs are Ihe Issue Will the minister please get up in Ihe House and say Jobs are the issue not Inflation This attitude coming from both ends of the political spectrum is likely to became the conventional wisdom over the coming months if the recess on continues to deepen And even If economy docs begin to turn around it is likely that unemployment or more accurately job creation as it has come to be known will continue to be a major political focus Johnston reason for this when he shouted across at the government benches about a factorythatclosedinhlsriding Does the minister not understand lhat it is his duly to find these people work TIMES CHANGE And Ihere we have It Ihe prevail attitude of this era Governments are responsible for employment It is unfortunately a myth that politicians of all parties like to perpe trate when they get the chance In the Keep real trees green for another Christinas Nothing quite beats the sight of a tree decked out In glistening yule tide fare but some people find waste of real conifers tragedy Local garden nursery owner Art has arrived at a solution polled trees which can be ireplanted in ones yard it would cut down substantially on the waste of cut trees and make a long lasting addillon to the houses surrounding landscape he maintains Mr nursery is on the Sixth Line near the Milton Hal I on Hills Pick chop and drag your own tree If Art Bouwmant potted Christmas tree idea isnt quite your cup of tea there always Ihe Georgetown Kinsmen Clubs ongoing tree sales at the corner of Guelph Street and Sinclair Avenue Prices are reasonable and proceeds help the club Its community projects Or if youre looking Tar a different approach to selecting your tree and dont mind driving to Caledon East you can help an International charity by buying at Murray a Christ mas Tree Farm where the Newfoundland Dog Club of Canada and the St Bernard Club of Ontario have Joined fore for the annual Christ mas Tree Drag this Sunday from a to dusk All trees are Pick your own chop it down yourself and hire a dog to drag it to your car where It will wait patiently for your tip All proceeds go to Sleeping Children Around the World through which Mr and bis wife have slumber It to children In 17 Third World countries over the past ten years Each kit mil lira a mattress a rubber sheet two pain of cotton sheets two blankets a pillow two pillow cases two pairs of pyjamas and a mosquito net Vlsil the Dryden farm this Sunday by following Airport Road north through Caledon East Four miles beyond the village turn left at the flashing light proceed another four mile to the Second line East and turn left again There will be signs Carllng OKeefe Breweries will provide Chnatmu music and the Andersons of Georgetown will provide a Johnny onthespot Legislature Ihe Liberals and the Tories for unemployment while the Conservatives like to take credit for Job creation True governments can create Jobs of a temporary nature as the province docs every summer when it hires students for short term tasks or enlists crews for specific jobs like fighting forest fires It can too hire more people to provide social services or to push paper around office planning but these are services rather than product tasks And it could disguise unemploy ment as some countries do with makework projects or job- retraining schemes that tally t BAD THING To be unemployed when you do not want to be to be unemployed when no work is available rather than because you don like to do a particular Job is soul destroying And unlike a few years ago when most people who were unemployed were so by choice this recession is hurting badly per cent in Ontario So accepting the tragedy of Hie situation should we then ignore and stimulate the economy by having governments borrow more money to actually physically create Jobs for people response of the Suns and the Johjtslons is ye but it is a response that Kays half of society can be forgotten about There are really two as former Liberal Leader Stuart Smith usedtopointoutrolhcreloquenUy One is composed or those people with assets that grow In value raster than inflation The other contains that part of the population that have no such assets NO ASSETS I suspect Sun editorial writer and I know that like Johnston ore In large measure or even totally protect against Inflation with hefty dollar Increases annually because wage hike are calculated in percentages and the higher the salary bet ter you do every time around Indexed pensions Most people don t have that luxury But those who do inflation is actually a benefit because It keep bumping up their relative spot on the Income heap To suffer this recession and yet allow inflation to continue to soar would be truly obscene from our mm EARS AGOCounctl agreed Monday to the new building program of North high school district which will provide a four room addition at Georgetown one room at Milton and a new eight room school in Acton Mayor Armstrong said solicitor KM Lang don has received a letter from the Municipal board authorizing the town to proceed with construction of sewers along Highway from Harrisons Garage to the town limits This ends a long delay In installing sewers which residents have been demanding and which have been held up because of objections by Dominion Seed House which owns all the properly on one side of the highway to sharing in the TWENTY 1 EARS Ingenious version of Santa workshop dreamed up and entered by Georgetown and District Scout Council was judged the best float In the Santa parade Saturday and as such received the Lions trophj The Herald trophy for the but commercial entry went to Ihe United Gas float Jack Frost 1 will be six new faces on 197374 County board of education as a result of last week elections The member board will receive three new trustees from Burlington and one from each of Milton and East Halton Board chairman Ernest Bodnar of Georgctownwos reelected He defeat Ian Barrett an high school teacher and Diane a former secretary with the York and school boards YEAR AGO The offensive strength of the Georgetown Chrysler Raiders proved too overpowering for the struggling Barrio Flyers last Saturday n I in Barrio as George town knotched their opponents lone goal came Just one minute Into the second period to make the score Four goal performances by ihe Raiders in the first and second periods caused havoc for the Barrio defenders Flyers tender Dune slopped shots during the course of the contest while George town s Doug Drogaiovich held back shots POETS CORNER The Last Candle old Dad was Out of work It was everywhere The poor children Wire hungry and cold They mutt go the were told All the cupboards lust empty and bare Clothes ragged holes I Broken window with card board plugs Worn out flooring and holey runs I Was no furl and old We huddled together brave and hold II was our last candle burning bright thai cold cold night Out of candle came a treat Christmas il told us KB To Christmas tie answer seemed no How much poorer could a family Outside on the door came a big As misery it is so open lock Stood an old friend thai used lo be Had strange feeling and came II help and he went sway lump back with a team and Brought us fuel clothes and On Christmas he dated our lives Then Rood friend droteauay Bins him did say There are others on your Victims of mean cheat must help them all you can wj1 sent live In man Albert Halloa Mills Friends Don be at goodbye or meeting again after minutes or years I certain Tor those who are Cheryl Youth Forum Ml Georgetown An Inch from Hunger Oh lord you can be bell Itself What all hi cost me but my health please grant me a to food My sou screams out Is this so Today Is another day And another Inch from Rocky Bartholomew Georgetown