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Page THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday November 18 1989 the HERALD OUTLOOK is published each Saturday by the HALTON HILLS HERALD Home Newspaper of Hills A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited at Street Georgetown Ontario L7G 877 Second Class Mail Registered Number CHI David A Beattie EDITOR Brian MacLeod AD MANAGER Dan Taylor STIr Donna 111 spouts olm Diane Smith I 1 Joan Jeannine Vjlois Slant Itoberls PRODI NT Hastings Supt Susanne Wilson IIK Or PT Marit Shadbolt Is man the centre of the universe SNAFU by Bruce Beattie Is man guilty of Some people think so Speuesism is another wonder of modern philosophy like sexism or racism Speciesists hold that the man is superior to other animal species By this definition most of us are guilty We hold an anthropocentnc view of the universe which means we believe that man is the central fact or final aim of the universe The Earth the trees the animals even the sun and moon and all the distant galaxies were made with us in mind Anthropocentnsm has given philosophers nothing but trouble over the years trying to explain why if God made the world with us in mind it seems so indifferent to our needs and desires Religious philosophers in particular have been dogged by this question Worse things than religious perplexity spring from the notion that we are the centre of the universe The belief that everything is at our disposal has led to the attempted conquest of Nature and all that it implies It has led to environmental destruction near extinction of wild birds and animals and thoughtless treatment of domestic ones This is what gives the environmental movement pause and leads some of its members to accuse man of speciesism a prejudice ranted by the natural facts AS CANCER We are just one of many species on this planet part of the natural flora and fauna these critics argue Yet we are the one that can bring about the world destruc tion Man is a cancer cells gone mad critics of man centredness say We could counter by pointing out that we alone among the birds fish and animals are possessed of reason Then we blush Our reason is not apparent in the way we live our lives The difficulty concerned people are having with the growing en vironmental movement is in separating the wacky notions from the sensible ones What may seem unreasonable at first often makes sense after reflection It seems unlikely that we ac the notion that we are one with the beasts all brothers one big natural family Egalitarian as we maybe there are limits To accuse man of is not to say much To accuse him of reckless disregard for his environ ment and the creatures that m habit it is another matter Being rational creatures we feel we have to define the problem philosophically before we do something about It if indeed we can Yet most of us are paralyzed by a sense of helplessness Humankind is spreading over the planet like a virus Cities sprawl into suburbs which devour farmland in turn Rivers lakes and streams are sick with pollu tion The water is undnnkable the air unbreatheable Our food is poisoned with chemical sprays Fish are dying birds and sea creatures perish from oil spills It s a grim toll Berrys World BECAUSE 3F PERIODIC REPETITIVE ANNOUNCE MENTS up on this mornings program RUN Of TIME Art WU To THE SI ISSObyNEA Plans for emergencies are needed Rennie MacKenzie V Ottawa W Mm The last three lion tamers have been reported missing Michael Wilson has been with us longest Vic Parsons Ottawa Bureau Stmt Not long after he took over as finance minister in Michael Wilson was asked if he feared his new job might be a graveyard for a promising politician Sure it may be a graveyard he smiled But 1 have fun going to my grave Last weekend Wilson became the longest serving federal finance minister since Liberal Douglas Ab bott who held the post from to Despite an abundance of hot water over the five years and two months he has had the job Wilson has stayed the course Early on Wilson had a reputa tion for integrity the steadiest rock in a shaky cabinet Ministers fell all around but there was no question that the finance minister would stay on Who else indeed could do the job That was true even though Wilson had shaky moments from the outset When the government backed down on proposed cuts to pensions paid to the elderly a lesser being might not have surviv Indeed it was Prime Minister Bnan Mulroney who looked bad on that one Who can forget the coun trys leader beating an undignified retreat before the wrath of pint sized pensioner Solange Denis and her famous phrase Goodbye Charlie Brown Lately Wilson has been facing one of his greatest tests the In traduction of the goods and ser vices tax GST Cnticism abounds Take the report that surfaced Wednesday as federal and provincial leaders gathered for their am meeting The report prepared for the pro vincial governments said the GST could mean up to 434 lost jobs and provincial revenue losses of 9 billion Wilson dismissed it as a ridiculous distortion of reality GAINS Wilson had predicted gains of 95 jobs with the GST and a boost to the economy of billion Only Alberta with no provincial sales tax will lose out his officials claim Meanwhile Wilson has sug gested the provincial opposition is merely a front Although he refuses to name any he says premiers secretly back the GST Ditto for business The GST dust up is not the only one confronting Wilson these days Critics delight in noting that Wilson took office promising to cut the deficit and slash taxes This year the deficit is likely to rise over last years total largely because of high interest rates Moreover the national debt about 160 billion when the took office in 1984 now ap proaches 350 billion As for taxes when Wilson became finance minister the federal sales tax on manufactured items which he has descnbed as a silent killer of jobs stood at nine per cent This year he bumped it up to per cent That led opponents to ridicule his pledge that the GST which replaces the old tax would be revenue neutral By raising the tax 50 per cent they argued he was making a mockery of his own claim SOME CUTS What of tax cuts Wilson brought in a new personal incometax regime providing for lower taxes for many Canadians But income surtaxes called a tern deficit fighting measure have now become permanent Initially universal social pro grams were called a sacred trust by but Wilson in traduced the socalled clawback of benefits from richer citizens and partially de indexed payments OTTAWA The lack of plans to deal with national emergencies like the tragic 1984 release of poison gas in Bhopal was a major grumbling point last month for the auditor general However what Kenneth Dye may not have known when he presented his annual report to Parliament is that plans will be gelling later this month when representatives of industry and government meet to compare notes and thoughts on preparing for disasters The fledgling Major Industrial Accident Coordinating Committee struck by the federal government after concerns were raised about the likelihood of a Bhopal type accident occurring here is at a critical point says its directors Over the past year a steering committee and eight working groups have been meeting under the umbrella to develop guidelines for the prevention and handling of disasters The group was organized by the transport and environment departments and Emergency Preparedness Canada at the ing of former environment minister Tom McMillan Its first months were spent attracting in participants from the pro vincial governments municipalities industries and a number of organizations that represent fire police emergency medical services and volunteer groups Now with the basic research complete and options in hand the chairman of the group s steering committee Jean Belanger declared that MIACC stakeholders must agree to a permanent form and structure for the disaster planning organization More than of the stakeholders as refers to them are ex pected to attend the Toronto meeting has been a good vehicle so far getting the process started but we re now at a crossroads Belanger president of the Canadian Chemical Pro ducers Association stated We must decide what is the most appropriate vehicle from this point on There is no doubt in my mind that has an taut and ongoing role to play The question is how best to structure the organization BUFFER ZONES The task as MIACC sees it is formidable Much of it will require the unanimity of the provinces in adopting zoning standards for municipalities As an example Michael Salib recruited from the Transport Department to serve as MIACC s executive director pointed to the need for uniform buf fer zones around chemical plants The provinces will have to be lob bied to adopt standards as part of their municipal planning acts he said Its a big complex field Salib said