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THE HERALD Wednesday May 22 Page 11 Opinion Subtle hints indicate election campaign has begun Local politicians obviously believe its too early to officially say one way or another if they plan to run the 1991 municipal election scheduled for Nov 12 How do I know this you ask Halton Hills councillors had all of last week to fill out a Herald survey requesting councillors to indicate if they were running in the upcoming election The week passed without one survey being handed into the Herald At the same time however I also believe at least a couple of the councillors have already subtly started their election cam Take Councillor Marilyn Ser for example The municipal political veteran recently handed out a newsletter concerning some of the issues af feeling the Halton Hills com munity The newsletter was ad dressed to her constituents yet she also felt compelled to pass it around to town local councillors and media during a recent Town council meeting I also noticed she handed out the same newslet ter to her fellow Regional coun during a Regional council meeting 1 cant say for certain if Coun Serjeanston regularly uses newsletters to communicate with her constituents But since I started covering Town and Regional Councils in January the Councillor has never passed around a newsletter to fellow councillors and the local media When questioned about the newsletter Councillor Ser jeanston said she did it to en courage public support in the Towns fight against the Acton dump proposal Its true the newsletter highlights the Acton dump pro- Bens Banter HHIij by Ben Dummett Wi posal but it also highlights the 1991 Town budget described by Coun Serjeanston at the toughest budget in her political experience Ironically when I questioned Coun Serjeanston about the newsletter another councillor in terjected its an election year dont you know that Coun Pain Johnston is another councillor that has recently taken steps to increase her profile in the community Recently she ap proached the local media re questing it do a story on her plan to develop a program to help abused women Her initiative is admirable and given the im of the topic both newspapers ran stones on the councillors plan Maybe Im cynical but its in that Coun Johnston has only started to publicize her ex tensive work in finding ways to help abused women during an election year Both Coun Serjeanston and Coun Johnston were elected by acclamation during the last municipal election And they werent the only two councillors to win their wards unchallenged Councillors Rick Bonnette Norm Elliott Gerald Bowman and Cook all won their wards by acclamation For the sake of the political process hopefully this election all councillors will face at least one challenger And those interested in taking up the challenge should learn an impor tant lesson from Coun Ser jeanston and Coun Johnston The more publicity you can gam in the community the more likely people will remember your name when they go to the polls Those wanting to run in the November municipal election must submit their nomination form sometime between Oct and 11 However to solicit cam paign contributions municipal candidates must first submit a form to the Town indicating they are running in the election Peo ple are eligible to do this any time between now and Oct A battle is shaping up ove coo housing By GIL HARDY Ottawa Bureau Thomson News Service OTTAWA A battle is shaping up over who should qualify or co op housing after the federal government introduced income ceilings and other changes to its funding program On one side is the Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada which says the new rules may alter the fundamental nature of coop housing On the other is the federal government which believes it is simply getting the most bang for its bucks At the heart of the dispute is the concept of income mixing where people with a variety of economic means live in the same housing project Agreements have been reached with all provinces except Quebec and British Columbia to ensure that up to 50 per cent of a coop s units are available for subsidized rent geared to income tenants The rest of the tenants with higher incomes pay market rent This income mixing is seen as a way of avoiding some of the social ills that occur in projects housing only the subsidized poor says Alexandra Wilson ex ecutive director of the coop federation Coop housing got going in the 70s when public housing was rapidly expanding and there was a lot of dissatisfaction with con centrating lowincome people Wilson says The federal program which began in provides loans to build op projects and mortgage insurance It also makes up the difference between operating costs and occupancy charges as coop rents are known This year Ottawa will spend million on coop housing After reviewing the program which produced 12000 units five years the government decid ed to set income ceilings to deter mine who qualifies INDIRECT SUBSIDY One of the concerns was that there were some high income people living in coop projects and they would be receiving in direct subsidy assistance says Grace Thrasher spokesperson for Elmer MacKay minister responsible for the Canada and Housing Corporation The ceilings will better target federal money to low and moderate income people and re tain the mixed income concept Thrasher says Despite the changes 65 per cent of Canadians can still qualify for the federal program she says Jamey Burr a coop specialist with the CMHC says 9 per cent of current coop residents would not qualify under the new ceil ings The figure is 2 per cent for Toronto he says Ottawa Bureau by Gil Hardy Thomson News Service The changes apply only to pro jects committed after 1990 But the coop federation says with less than five per cent of lis members earning more than the program is already doing a good job of reaching low and moderate income earners The ceilings will reduce he number of moderate and above average income earners and alter the income mix of says Wilson The aim of this program as stated by the government is lo provide housing to people who cannot afford to buy their own homes So it s not just low income people it s a mix says Wilson The ceilings range from for Ontario to in Prince Edward Island Wilson says the ceilings are too low especially for housing markets in Canada s largest cities Our position is that at those in come levels people have other options in the housing market and those units are valuable enough that they should be directed to those who are more in need Burr says According to CMHC figures an income of is needed to buy a starter home in the Toronto market Wilson says people with incomes above the ceilings but below what is needed to buy a house will be excluded by the governments decision But Thraser says coop housing exists throughout the country not just in large cities So the ceil ings reflect provincial income distribution she says Some 200000 Canadians live in coop housing almost all of which get federal funds More than 65 units mostly apartments or row houses have been built or are under way SURCHARGES The co op federation is equally concerned with a new system of surcharges linked to the ceilings If a coop resident s income rises above the ceiling a 30percent surcharge will be applied on the difference A family with an income that exceeds the ceiling by for example will pay an extra per year on top of its rent The surcharge is based on pre tax in come which means the financial impact is even greater The change will alter the security of tenure which at tracts people to coops says Wilson Thats because coop residents rot receiving government assistance pay full market rent which is the amount the local market can bear Piling subsidies on top of that will drive some co op tenants away and discourage now residents Wilson says Its hard to see why you would stay You would be able to get the same quality of housing anywhere for less money and what this is going to do is discourage the family from mov in in the first place she says Wilson calls it an invisible ceil ing that will work against ting two income families to coop projects She says even childrens incomes will be ap plied to the ceilings The surcharges will apply only to new projects Thrasher says the ceilings are set for this year but will be reviewed annually Meanwhile the coop federation plans to pressure federal politicians and housing minister until changes are made Other provincial ceilings are Newfoundland Nova Scotia 47000 New Brunswick 45000 Quebec Manitoba Saskat chewan Alberta and British Columbia Peoples Forum Monarchist League takes umbrage To the Editor The Governments aboh of the Oath to the Queen taken by Ontani Police Officers and Commissioners has properly aroused wide public resentment The foolishness of this move has been compounded by arrogance Beverly Morley the Premiers Appointment Secretary informs the League that this isnt an issue outside Toronto an asser certain to be rejected around the Province The abolition of the Oath is wrong for a variety of reasons first it is insulting to Her Majes ty the Queen whose service dedication and stable influence are widely respected and ad mired by most Canadians Se cond by taking this step alleged ly in the name of making police forces more accessible to our ethnic communities Mr Rae in sults their loyalty to the Crown Many immigrants and new Cana dians have come to this land precisely because of the freedom and prosperity we enjoy here under our parliamentary monar chy In addition the Premier has succumed to the cafeteria Theft gained nothing Dear Sir Picture the Scene In my seniors residence family visitors from Scotland Food and celebrations Phone calls to others in Georgetown arranging a meeting of the Clan Where Mohawk Track Grandchildren agog with an licipation of clowns petting zoos to culminate with a fireworks display Off to my parking lot kids at high dough Everybody filed into the car I check tires doors etc I dont believe it Someone has removed my rear licence plate How do you placate kids To whomsoever What did you gain George Mitchell Georgetown dianism of Susan and those of her ilk This is the dangerous position that suggests Canadians have the right to opt out of any part of the country which hap pens not to appeal to them Such an attitude can only further con tribute to the disunity of our land Further shows gross lnsen- sitivity by adding the Monarchy one of the few unifying forces In a divided Canada to the already emotional debates about the Con st i tut ion We need to take immediate ac tion to condemn republican Initiative Ontanans who would like background information and a petition form which they can circulate to friends and neighbors urging the reversal of this wrong insulting decision should write the Monarchist League of Canada at Box Oakville Ont L6J 5E9 Lets send the Premier a message he wont forget whether we live close to or far from Toron to Yours faithfully John Aimers Dominion Chairman Monarchist League of Canada MOE figured out Dear Sir Well its taken years of meetings letters phone calls and research but I think Ive finally figured out the roles of the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Natural Resources The MOE has a mandate to clean up a mess afer a disaster occurs penalize the offender when it is far too late to compen sale anyone adequately for the resulting harm that has been caused to the environment health and find ways to engineer a potential disaster into an acceptable risk MNR is responsible for turning all or most our natural resources into money making propositions This is why your drinking water is not considered a natural resource and the Wetlands policy has been on the drawing boards for years but has not been passed The Mineral Resource Policy by contrast has been given top priority by governments at every level Considering these findings Im not surprised that has been able to engineer a technically acceptable solution of making the UAL quarry safe for garbage Of course the company will be ex pected to comply with conditions latd down in their contract will be responsible for monitor ing Pity that past violations have gone unchecked and that history is bound to repeat itself as the proponents admit the site will leak Us a small wonder then that when citizens through court ac tion insist that the law be upheld the government responds by changing the law As an example MNR in the Royal Paving case of was found guilty in the On tario Supreme Court of violating the Pits and Quarries Control Act Three months later this form of violation was removed from the Act I ask you should this govern ment honor a companys right to apply for an environmental assessment when past transgres sions have not been addressed Where is the protection for the public Sincerely Acton