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THE HERALD April 17 Page Opinion Sometimes lawyers can confuse the issue Its no wonder the general public doesnt always hold lawyers in the highest regard Lawyers judging from those in volved in the ongoing hearing at the Halton Hills Civic Centre on the proposed Niagara Escarp ment Commission Amendment 52 appear to confuse rather than clarify the issue at hand to prove their point Amendment if approved would require applicants wanting to establish a waste disposal facility on the escarpment to first obtain an araendement to the Niagara Escarpment Plan Cur rently an isnt always required Those who oppose the amend ment include Miltonbased Reclamation Systems In corporated and Walker brothers from Niagara both waste management firms It should be noted RSI currently has a pro posal before the provinces Ministry of the Environment to convert the Acton quarry into a dump The quarry is located south of Acton on the escarp ment It appears given the line of questions posed during Mondays proceedings that the lawyers for RSI and Walter Brothers are try- ins to prove dumps are essential and as such no possible dumping area should be ruled out in cluding the escarpment RSI lawyer Richard Hazard questioned two members of the public Monday from and St Catharines who both support Bens Banter by Ben Dummett Amendment on whether they agreed dumps are essential Not surprisingly both agreed Its not news that Southern On tario is experiencing a garbage crisis Mr Hazard then posed a series of questions that centred on the Idea that if a leakproof dump could be established on the escarpment and there were no other available sites would they accept a dump on the escarp ment Mr Hazards point being the amendment if approved could hinder a solution being found for the garbage crisis This line of argument makes sense if the amendments sole purpose is to prevent dumps on the escarp ment Mr Hazards questions confuse the amendments meaning Amendment isnt being psed to add to the garbage crisis Its being proposed maintain and enhance the escarpments natural environment Walker Brothers lawyer Cyn thia questioned members of the public on why they support Amendment 52 when they may not object to other types of development such as housing on the escarpment The Niagara Escarpment Plan allows for housing development on the escarpment that doesnt detract from the escarpments natural features By associating dump proposals with housing development the lawyer is lessening peoples focus on dumps per se Amendment only purpose is to consider landfills and whether they detract from the escarpment Why dont the lawyers involved tackle the amendment head on in stead of trying to associate it with side issues Peoples Forum- Not seeing the whole picture To the Editor Re Food Bank being abused There is a saying along the lines of believing only half of what you see and in the case of the author of the above letter I believe that she may not be see ing the whole picture I have put in a few hours as a volunteer at the Acton Food Share My own economic situa tion is such that I cant spare anything but my time so I try to help out whenever I can I made that point to show that I am talk ing from experience First let me explain that the Acton Food Share is located in the back of the pro perty Anyone who is familiar with the is aware of the very steep hills on the proper ty especially to someone who is walking When packing the groceries we take that into con sideration and try to distribute the load evenly Potatoes a package of rolls diapers and a few canned goods can easily ac count for bags Add to that a jar of peanut butter cereal baby food juice powdered milk nee and extras for a school lunch or two So yes some people do come out with 10 bags of food The second point is that people who use the food bank do not simply come in and help themselves They sit in the waiting area while volunteers like myself fill the orders based on the size and individual needs of each person and family That woman whom you saw pushing around a cart could very well have been me as I bring my pre school age children when I help out as do some of the other volunteers who by the way in clude many males In closing I would like to say that I have been touched by the very people we serve From the sincerity of their smiles and thankyous to the man who hand ed us a couple of dollars saying that he was starting to get back on his feet again No System free from abuse which Im sure does take place but it is so rare why make those truly in need suffer Sincerely S Acton Town workers praised Editors note The following letter was released to the Hills Herald for publication Works Department Attn Frank Morrette Dear Mr Morrette The recent storm snapped a very old beautiful sugar maple and it fell over our property As there was no hope for survival you sent three of your men to take it down My husband Dave and I just had to write to you and make a very favorable comment Norm Thomhill Terry Campbell and Bob Clark took that tree down like the pros they are and raked up the debris delivered the wood dowfl our long driveway and dumped the requested chips ex actly where we asked them to Their professionalism and friendliness however was not all they portrayed In that tree was a mother racoon and her five little young whose eyes were not open ed yet They carefully took the section of the tree containing the little family and placed it over by the ravine propping it up with a stick so it wouldnt roll Before the evening came the mother had come for two of the young and before dark set in she had come for the other two One did not make it and as I pondered the Lifestyles enjoyed Dear Editor I just wanted to wnte and say how much my family and myself enjoyed the Healthy Lifestyles of Hills at the high school on Saturday We all came away excited and a lot more knowledgable I hope that Healthy Lifestyles of Halton Hills becomes an annual event in Georgetown Shelley Georgetown wonder of that little deceased ra coon in my hand I was so grateful for the kindness of Norm Terry and Bob whose caring had saved the others As a wildlife artist my feelings run very deep toward all life and I and my family want you to know Mr that your men aic OK with us They really are In a world where the oclock news gives you nightmares it is a breath of fresh air to see outdoor type men who care for all living created things and we just want to say thank you on behalf of the racoons Sincerely David and Shirley Georgetown Bylaw criticized Dear Editor Did you hear the joke about the small company that set up shop on Guelph St about a year and a half ago offering the consumer a bit of culture and a touch of class Business was steady for a while then it quietened down a bit The owners decided it was time for a special so they went out and got a portable sign so the public could see what sort of goodies and services were on special Hopefully business would improve and allow the company to keep the employees pay their share of GST Workmans and any other BSt that had to be paid The sign was positioned just behind the pedestrian walkway on the crest of a small knoll the ideal spot for passing masses Everything was going fine then one day the owner had a visit from the S S Sign Enforce ment Squad informing him that the sign was contravening the by law and it would have to be removed Now wouldnt that give you the boak Here we are up to our eyeballs in plant closures lost jobs bankruptcies and a recession that will be around for a while yet and some yo yo who has obviously nothing better to do starts preaching some idiotic bylaw about what kind of sign you can put up I am a great believer in abiding by the laws but in times like we are having right now surely cer tain rules could be bent a bit Some joke eh Name and address withheld by request Service clubs thanked Dear Sir I would like to take this op portunity to thank two local ser vice clubs in our community who provided a valuable service The Acton Rotary Club and the Georgetown Optimist Club spon sored free skating at the three arenas in the Town of Halton Hills In total residents took advantage of this generous op portunity On behalf of the residents of Hills and the Recreation and Parks Department thank you for your continuous support and for the contributions you make to our community Sincerely Cecil Peacock Facility Manager Georgetown Memorial Arena Food bank defended Dear Whomever Re Article in the Hills Herald Wednesday April Food Bank being abused After reading your article and having volunteered at the Acton Food Share I felt it necessary to write First you made reference to a woman pushing a buggy that was dressed very nicely and had a hat on that you could never af ford to buy Have you ever heard the ex pression Dont judge a book by its cover In short just because a person appears to dress well does not mean that the person is not in need of assistance from the Food Share Second you made reference to the amount of groceries carried out by two persons and that they should not be allowed to take so many groceries at once What you do not realize is that the food that is given out is weigh ed and this information is kept on the recipients application Perhaps the grocery bag cou ple was feeding a family of six Was that their only trip to the Food Share that month Do you know that volunteers fill the boxes or bags with pre determined amounts of food per person I understand your frustrations Which assistance program isnt infallible There are always those who try to defeat the system and get something for nothing The Food Share in Acton or anywhere was set up and pro vides for those who require assistance temporarily or per manently Next time please direct your concerns or enquiries to those who volunteer their time working at the food share and perhaps you will better understand and relin quish your belief that your dona tions werea big mistake Sincerely Martin Acton Agrees with editorial Dear Editor I agree with your analysis of the Reform Party I might add that the Reform Party sporting a mixture of popular control western influence and conser vatism is often praised by the major media for having abandon ed the value stuff prin ciples and policies on difficult issues for more popular posi tions ie saying what people want to hear Of course the ma jor media love to print what peo ple love to read So the loop closes with more support for the RP What is the difference between this new party who would use referenda to solve the divisive issues and the old parties gover ning by polls One might ask where is the meat Why would Canada need another party which is converg- ing towards the centre of the political spectrum in its struggle to quickly gain power The other parties lasted for many years before compromising their prin ciples and losing leadership This one seems to have a head start in the same direction Sincerely Executive Vice President Family Coalition Party of Ontario Editor Colin Gibson receives another letter from a concerned reader