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the HERALD Wednesday August Political Forum Pagel Ottawa Report Post office should be more accountable As I write this Canada Post workers are on rotating strikes A settlement between the union and management is I hope close at hand But it also could be a longer and troubled strike For many MPs me included the operations of the post office Are sometimes tough to deal with wrote about this a few weeks ago saying Canada Post is no more responsible to individual Members of Parliament than say Canadian National So when a decision Is made to change a rural route operator in Terra Cot- ta or alter the post office hours in Alton Canada Post does not con sult Garth Turner first In fact I often learn of the changes after postal users themselves do There are people who dont like this They think the post office should be accountable to local MPs There are others who refuse to believe the statements have just made and still others who are just plain angry It is your government has created this mess by not embed ding the necessary safeguards in to the legislation and regulations governing Canada Post one man writes me It is incumbent upon you to respond to the people who have elected you It is incum bent upon you and your col leagues to correct the deficien cies that exist in the current legislation in order to respond to the shareholders of Canada Post Well I agree office should be more Garth Turner MP Conservative accountable and I have tried to influence the government into making that happen I was chairman of the House of Commons committee which con ducted the biggest enquiry ever into Canada Posts operations And I was the one who authored the report which asked the government to make big changes Among them End the illusion that politi cians have control over the post office and privatize it by selling shares to the 64000 employees and other individual Canadians Canada Post is profitable it would be a good investment for people Then create an agency to regulate Canada Post a wat chdog with real teeth like the CRTC which regulates the broad casting and phone systems Then wed have an agency people could appeal to ensuring good postal service And if Canada Post and the unions cant work together then postal users should not be held hostage I recommended that during a strike the post office should lose its monopoly over delivering letter mail There were other recommen dations dealing with every aspect of the way Canada Post does business Some were ac cepted but many were not in cluding the three I have just outlined When Parliament resumes in a few weeks 1 will push once again for these kinds of fundamental changes I dont think its right that small business and others who rely on the mail should have to suffer when union and manage ment bosses cant get their act together I dont think its fair that a town can lose its post office and have absolutely no mechanism through which to res pond I also dont think that business decisions taken by the postal service should be subject to political interference Canada Post is vastly better than the old postal department run by the government But it could be better still If you agree with any of these recommendations of mine your letters of support could help a lot in Ottawa If you dont agree Id appreciate knowing your posi tion And as for this strike maybe common sense and good faith will end it soon If it doesnt Im sure that Parliament will Ill be in my place to voteonit Queens Park Report New location for constituency office ByNOELUUlGNAN North Last week I told you about my decision to move the Milton con stituency office to the downstairs unit of the present building to allow for easier access My staff are almost settled into the new location but they ask for your continued patience while they finish setting up the office I managed to miss most of the con fusion because I had to travel to several Ontario cities as part of my committee duties as an The Standing Committee on General Government has been holding public hearings on Rent Control Six legislative commit tees in all have been par ticipating in hearings this month to receive your comments on various provincial matters Meanwhile in Toronto Municipal Affairs Minister Dave Cooke announced the establish ment of a sixminister steering committee to guide the province through a realignment of provin cialmunicipal roles and respon sibilities He made the announce ment during a panel discussion at the annual August conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Stating the issue as good effi cient and accountable govern ment the Minister indicated a commitment toward finding a better way for the province and the municipalities to deliver the services that communities de mand and deserve The new com mittee must work through the funding and program problems between the two levels of govern ment so that services are delivered efficiently with a fair and understandable sharing of responsibility Ongoing federal cutbacks to social program payments have made the challenges facing the committee even more difficult The steering committee will con sist of six municipal represen tatives who will be appointed by and six provincial cabinet ministers Municipal Affairs Minister Dave Cooke Treasurer Floyd Environment Minister Ruth Grier Community and Social Services Minister Zanana Education Minister Marion Boyd and Transportation Minister Gtlles Pouliot The members will rethink local and provincial roles and contemplate which level of government should be responsi ble for designing delivering and paying for the programs and ser vices people want and need Disentanglement the term used to describe the realignment also addresses questions of accoun tability to taxpayers The process should result in a clearer understanding of which level of government provides what program or service which level will be responsible for it and what source of revenue should fund it Our will be establishing a Secretariat to provide policy and ad ministrative support to the com mittee A few of you have inquired about the proposed changes to provincial labour legislation so I would like to clarify a number of issues Building on a commit ment outlined in the Throne Speech of last November Labour Minister Bob Mackenzie asked a group of six labour experts three management three union to put forward and assess a number of suggestions for review of the On tario Labour Relations Act The Act has not been updated since 1975 This preliminary Step resulted in the completion of two reports in April 1991 which made up the first phase in the policy develop ment process These suggestions are not yet in the firm of legisla tion before the House The Ministry of Labour is still at the stage of policy development and will be issuing a consultation paper in the fall that will be used as the basis for a provincewide consultation process involving business labour municipalities and all other affected groups In the Throne Speech our government stated a commit ment to make it easier for workers to have greater workplace participation For too long Labourmanagement rela tions have been characterized by confrontation and antagonism and we hope to improve produc tivity and competiveness through greater cooperation between the two parties I hope that this information answers some of your questions about the process ECOLINE Burning mora fossil accelerate global warming Glactors and the South polar Ice cap mail and sea rise l as floe up 3C by yea tea level would rue 2 and a third of Florida would bo under Trees help prevent global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide a major greenhouse gas Plant a tree and help save your favorite beachl Nells DRIVING SCHOOL NEXT COURSE Oct 14th Until Mon Wed Evenings BY ONTARIO SAFETY LEAGUE For Information About Courses or Private Lessons phone 8772671 A tillage A DAY CARE CENTRE FOR CHILDREN ON THE GROW REGISTER NOW FOR FULL PART DAY PROGRAMMES FOR CHILDREN MONTHS 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