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Tuesday December the HERALD Opinion With a little hope well get through the tough times Regional Chairman Peter Pomeroy predicted during a recent address that the next six to eight months will be the most difficult period that all levels of Canadian government will face since the depression Part of the reason for this dire prediction is based on Federal government cutbacks the effects of which are trickling down to the Regional municipality of as well as to municipalities across the country The trickle down effect unfolds as follows the Federal government cuts- transfer payments to the provinces who in turn trim their funding aimed at municipalities Not surprisingly HaltonPeel MP Garth Turner was questioned during his recent phonein show about the trickle down effect and the resulting difficulties municipalities encounter in providing necessary services Mr Turner responded by saying if the Federal government is ex pected to cutback why shouldnt the other levels of government The response makes sense since people want lower taxes The lower government expenditures the lower peoples taxes However another way of looking at the situation is to consider that the more people the more revenue the Federal and provincial governments collect In turn the more grant money available for municipalities This logic implies the greater amount of money people spend the more revenue all levels of Bens Banter by Ben have access to without being forced to increase taxes However there is only one catch tq this idea and its a big catch everything hinges on increased spending And thats something people arent doing now As a result governments are for ced to cut back thus Mr prediction But the experts say only when consumer confidence returns and people start spending again will the economy climb out of the recession Therefore the question is should the Regional Chairman be comparing the next eight months to the In doing so he certainly isnt doing anything to restore peoples confidence to spend more money and thereby kickstart the economy Granted many people have been hurt by the recession so they couldnt start spending money even if they wanted too But there are also many others who still have money despite the hard economic times These people may be willing to put more money into the economy but then again they may not upon hearing predictions similar to that of Mr By the same token the Chairman is obligated to be truthful with the public Where does that leave us then With nothing more thanhope Hope that all three levels of government wont cutback ex penditures so much that people in desparate need of help because of the recession dont receive it and hope that government predictions of tough times ahead based on the current economic reality dont discourage those with money to spend it People must strive for the best to achieve results With the Premiers meeting out of the way we should all feel a huge sense of relief It is unfortunately easy to get cynical about the doings of our political leaders So much is done for the name of Polities giving a bad name to a word which after all means dealing with the public and so little is done for the Nations well beingl But cynicism is not terribly productive and indeed many politicians ar still trying to put in an honest day of work And anyhow we do not have any valid alternative to our way of doing things We must also remember that even with recession and a veryhigh level of unemployment we Canadians ar still better off Something worth remembering particularly at this time off estivity But soon will come New Year and with it the need to make some good plans for 1992 According to the forecast of the OECD the club of the industrialized na tions we should see a 31 per cent economic growth in Which with an inflation of close to two per cent should make for rather good year The danger here is not cynicism but undue optimism A three per cent economic growth is not bad at all but with a population growth of 250000 souls level of this year it meanslittle in personal terms We are hardly in a posi tion to roll over and let the leaders get on with the job Our major weaknesses have not been tackled our education system still fails to produce the kind of people we need At the Another View university level we have reached and passed the point of satura tion We need more and better teachers more and better in stitutions Our welfare networks cope with the stress of unemploy ment but do little to bring people back to a meaningful productive life Even our physical in frastructures are aging and need expansion Sure we are better off than most but we cannot be com placent Is there something we the average Joe Citizen can dp to help ourselves and Canada There is and it is not glamorous and it goes a lot against our nature We are pro bably too good and too willing to accept what is given My favorite suggestions go in tow directions First let us recognize that government cannot solve our problems The solution comes from us and from us only Government on our age can at best provide a positive environment for our ef forts We have seen many com panies prosper even here in Hills during this reces sion They were not just lucky they had some good plans and the guts to go with them And damn the government On the other hand let us keep our politicians under constant scrutiny and pressure We want an honest day of work out of them we want some leadership and initiative Sure we like to be consulted we even want the right to make decisions see the referendum on a new constitu tion but we also want some ac tion and leadership Just to hire somebody to be a conduit to Ot tawa Queens Park or Town Council is not very productive After all if all that our represen tatives can do to carry our messages we could even use Canada Post So let us not rely on Govern ment but let us demand the most It does pay to strive for the best Sappy best describes Christmas ditty about Rudolph I sometimes fear I have a cer tain Attitude Problem This thought occurred the other day when I read about the shock ing Christmas display in a Vic toria store window It seems the owner has put up a large caricature of Santa holding a gun to the head of Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer Underneath is the warning Shop here or Rudolph gets it Just imagine Here at the height of the Christmas Season some store owner shows Santa himself menacing the life of beloved ol I love it Obviously this reaction places me among the minority Because apparently there has already been a considerable public out cry One angry mother is quoted as saying this display flies in the face of efforts to teach children to be kind to animals This is fair enough However the mother also charges that the display con tradicts efforts to teach children they mustnt use guns as toys And this really isnt true I mean this particular Santa is not using his gun as a toy Hes using it to off Rudolph Theres a difference In any case Ive been trying to figure out why I like this display so much At first I wondered if this is because is makes a blackly ironic point about the commercialism of Christmas But I dont mind the commercialism so much anyway Sure it can be depressing- particularly so when the kids get caught up in it and start believ ing that the True Spirit of Christmas means receiving all those wretched toys that are advertised during cartoons On the bright side however this leaves you with kids who can be effectively threatened Theres a certain satisfaction in being able to cry If you dont clean up your room this instant you will never recive Baby In continent the revolting doll who wets her nappies Neither does my reaction arise out of any animosity toward San ta In fact Ive been trying hard to convince the kids he really ex ists now that theyre both old enough to have grave doubts Forget about putting out cookies and milk this Christmas Eve Ive been telling them Lets make Santa really happy Just give me a apiece and Ill buy him a halfdozen beer Ive added that I virtually guarantee the beer will have disappeared by Christmas morn ing thiis proving beyond all doubt that he was here Anyway Ive decided that my reaction to that window display boils down in the end to something quite simple I never could stand Rudolph I dont have anything against the other reindeer really In fact a while ago the kids and I spent a pleasant hour remembering their names The kids bright sparks that they are came up with Dancer Comet and Blitzen And happily I was able to recall that the remaining three are Dopey Grumpy and Sleazy But Ive never been able to forgive Rudolph for that sappy little ballad that was written about him Naturally the ghastly little dit ty is one of precisely two Christmas songs that todays kids know by heartthe other one be ing the carol that goes We three kings of Orient are Smoking on a rubber cigar And granted that ghastly little ditty says something heartening to kids Rudolph after all is the reindeer geek who is picked on until his shiny nose lights Santas way through the fog Kids thus learn that they too can be accepted by their peers even if they have a big red nose Although theyre still toast if theyre wearing the wrong kind of running shoes Anyway let me just go on record as saying Im firmly on- side with the himself who recently observed on national radio that Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer is the equivalent of Feelings So have yourself a happy Christmas Lets all bask in the warmth of this season of peace on earth and good will toward men But to hck with Beezer Peoples Forum- Provincial process not followed Dear Sir The official Review required by the Environmental Assessment Act has now been completed and published Documents may be viewed at the Library Any in terested party must make a sub mission regarding this review by Jan 17 1992 to The Honorable Ruth Grier Minister of the En vironment Floor 135 St Clair Ave Toronto 1P5 If the Dump goes ahead we will have have 200000 tons of garbage sitting on our water aquifer several hundred feet above the level of Georgetown One frac ture could cause uncorrectable damage to our drinking water supply There are other severe consequences Thus all citizens should write the Minister to op pose the dump Some key points follow The proper process has not been followed The Environmen tal Assessment Act re quires the dump proponent to ex amine alternatives to the under taking This has not been done the proponent has only examined a limited number of com mercially attractive Based on this alone the Minister should declare the EA incomplete and reject the 2 On page of the Executive Summary of the review the Ministers staff states that not all components necessary for the are present The Minister should be especially vigilant since the proponent is a privateforprofit company and not a municipality as perferred by the Ministry Moreover the garbage could come from anywhere in Ontario thus policing for illegal garbage will be much more difficult Bas ed on this alone the Minister should declare the in complete 3 The Ministry of the Environ ment concludes that the dump is technically acceptable from the groundwater perspective but ad mits the possibility of ruptures in the quarry floor and lacks the expertise to evaluate all the consequences This is insuffi cient protection for the Georgetown drinking water The Niagara Escarpment in cluding rare vegetation and wildlife deserves to be protected In addition to the dump itself the presence of the inevitable J to fir A iv Fairy Lake in Acton and vermin is incompatible with the natural beauty of the Escarpment 5 The EA report states that the water of Black Creek does not currently meet the Provincial Water Quality Objectives It is not credible that the treated leachate to be discharged into Black Creek which runs into the Credit River will not worsen the situation The additional disruption to the lives of those living nearby from traffic noise and other ef fects will be severe 7 The hearing requested by the proponent should be denied A hearing is not a substitute for a substantially deficient proposal The reason for criticizing the process as the first priority is to try to avoid a costly hearing or worse still Ministerial approval without a hearing Georgetown indeed all Halton Hills residents are urged to register their strong objections right now to the pro posed Acton Dump Letters may preferably by left at a pick up point or mailed direct to the Minister JohhfiCjrfspio J