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the HERALD- Friday July 1991 Opinion View ending of recession in historical perspective The recent numbers provided by Statistics Canada seem to in dicate an economic recovery is under way and indeed we can sec all around us some positive signs The construction industry is moving out of the deep sleep of the past months and so are retailers sales However all those signs are not necessarily an indication of a sustained recovery and some historical perspective should make us very cautious Since the Second World War the Western economies have enjoyed an unprecedented period of growth which has lifted many standards of living For many families the past years have meant gaining access to travel to home ownership to possession of cars and all kinds of home appliances In short we started in with one bicycle in our backyard and entered the 90s with two cars in the garage Our industries dominated the world market and our population was constantly growing In the West we have however probably reached a flat plateau of growth our needs have been largely satisfied and our population growth has subsid Abroad we have seen the birth of new competitors not only Japan but Korea Brazil India Taiwan Malaysia Our recent recession was caus ed not only by the policies of our government but reflected the simple fact that there was no new demand to fuel our economy The fact that we are likely to face a period of moderate and zero growth should not come as a sur F a Another View by Carlo Testa prise Several economists have pointed out to the need to reassess our expectations but naturally they have been ignored in the heyday of the boom of the mid 80s Even I wrote back in the early 80s about the ap pearance of the satiated socie a society where we would mainly replace items instead of accessing them for the first time Also a society where quality would replace quanti If we have indeed entered the era of the satiated society we have to be very sceptical of recoveries fuelled purely by in demand they are simply telling us that we are replenishing the inventory we ran down during the recession Eg we did not buy a new car during the recession but the car is get ting old so now we buy As we act basically as a group in a couple of years Canada will have an in of relatively new cars so we shall have a pause in buy ing and a new recession The only hope for sustained growth comes from abroad and not the USA either It is well possible the excommunist na will become voracious con sumers of our goods and given the necessary political stability we could see some of the Third World nations becoming exciting markets for our products So far this scenario is highly hypothetical but should it come to pass it will require a concreted effort from our government and the private sector to reap the potentially huge benefits Our options are to restructure our industry and public services to live in a stationary economy or to aggressively seek op portunities abroad trating on we can do best and jettison dead ballast If we do neither we can just as well prepare at the dawn of the recovery for the next recession Features Police bicycle patrol program gathering speed By STEVEN The Herald In May 1989 the Halton Regional Police Service established a bicycle patrol pro gram that opened numerous avenues for community based policing in the region Now Regional Police Service is taking this relatively new and ef fective step further Halton Police will now be using a stretch mini van to comple ment the bicycle program Two officers will ride in this van which will be utilized as a mobile office The unit called TRACE Targeted Response Accomplish by Cycling Enforcement will be used in communities on a need basis and will specialize in Food Bank donations Instead of giving Anna Rodd left vice president of the Love In Christ Food Bank at Baptist Church in Georgetown was taking Wednesday afternoon when Rosamond Edwards presi dent of the Optimrs Club of Georgetown presented her with a 35 cheque The Optimrs raised the funds through a raffle they held at Bang Rama In May Herald photo Catholic board reaches agreement The Roman Catholic School Board has signed one new contract agreement with elemen teachers but it still has three to go At a special meeting July the board ratified the new agreement with elementary teachers that gives teachers a pay hike of 5 per cent Sept and an additional 2 per cent Jan 1 The contract which will be ef for two years starting Sept 1 also gives teachers a cost of living increase during the se cond year providing it s no more than five per cent said Steve Balogh senior administrator in human resources for the board He said discussions between board administration and the ap proximately elementary teachers went well The contract was settled before the deadline and the talks were amiable he said The teachers present agreement ex pi res Aug 31 With the wage hike a teacher coming into the system with no experience could earn up to 283 while the maximum salary for a teacher with 12 years experience and additional qualifications will be 303 said Mr While this contract agreement is out of the way the board is still dealing with three other contract renewals for the custodial local the clerical workers and the secondary teachers It s a busy time around here said Mr The clerical workers contract expired June 30 and Mr Balogh said a tentative agreement has been reached with them He would not discuss the agreement except to say a meeting has been planned in July for ratification of the contract The custodial workers contract also expires June and contract negotiations are still in the discussion stages said Mr loitering liquor parks and high criminaldrug areas There are two major ad vantages to the bicycle pro gram said Constable Gary Coles of the Halton Regional Police who developed the TRACE unit concept First ly there is the proactiveness of policing with regards to free flow communication The public is more likely to approach an of ficer on a bicycle than one in a car Secondly the bicycle pro gram allows for very quick and effective enforcement specifical during property checks Constable Coles explained that when the bicycle concept was first introduced for considera tion there were many people that laughed at the idea feeling that an officer on a bicycle could not perform his duties effectively He stated however that the pro gram has been very successful An officer on a bicycle in general is able to do property checks and building inspections up to three times as fast as an of ficer in a car and is able to cover trouble spots much quicker To date there are Halton Regional Police officers involved in the bicycle program three plains clothes officers and three uniformed officers in Burlington three officers in Oakville two in Georgetown and one in Milton Officers interested in becoming involved in the bicycle program must complete a four hour train ing session which includes skid avoidance slow riding techni self defense and obstacle Constable Coles said there are numerous police officers in Halton interested in the program but that spaces are just not available He explained four qualities are essential for an officer to become part of the program they must have excellent communication skills they need to have a bicycle aptitude they must be self motivated because they are basically on their own and they must be willing to make the pro gram work Police Officers use either a mountain bicycle or a cross bicycle The cost for each bicycle including all of the company equipment costs The bicycle can carry as much equipment as a patrol vehi cle Currently the bicycle program has been sent to numerous police departments including Seattle Toronto Ottawaj Peel and as far away as Israel The TRACE unit is the future for the bicycle program It is the way it is going to go stated Constable Coles Georgetown Constable Nick LeonI on bike demonstrates proper skid avoidance techniques while Constable Mike Dunn gives signals during a four hour training session before Constable becomes part of the Halton Regional Police Ser vices bicycle program His cross trainer bicycle was donated by CycleSki in Georgetown Herald photo Secondary teachers have a lit tie longer before their contract expires It ends August