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“Op Ed” — old time newspaper term meaning the page opposite the editorial page. This page has traditionally been held open for opinion pieces, letters, and comment from various sources. OP ED Activity Line Parliament Hill report was a complaint that I only really By Laurie Burns Assess your lifestyle 1. Do you eat well, and are you active, or do you let “| the bathroom scale dictate your daily choices? __ Yes No 2. Do you believe that being healthy and feeling well are more important than having a body that looks perfeot?__ Yes__No 3. Do you take time each day to unwind and relax? — Yes __No 4. Do you make an effort to do things just for your- self? ___ Yes __No 5. Do you tell yourself you are important and worthwhile? __ Yes ___No 6. DO you have a positive outlook and do you avoid getting upset over little things? ___ Yes __ 7. Do you enjoy spending time with your family and friends? ___ Yes ___No 8. Do you enjoy most days?__ Yes ___ No. Count up the number of Yes answers. If you had between six and eight Yes answers: That’s terrific. You are able to relax and enjoy life. Keep up your healthy outlook on life. Positive body image Three to five Yes answers: You are on the right track. Consider areas where you can take Zero to two Yes answers: You need to start felling good about your- self. Accept who you are and how you look. Change takes time, make changes slowly. Treat yourself well. An important way to start feeling good about your- self is to accept your healthy body, even though it may not seem perfect to you. If, for health reasons, you need to lose or gain weight, take a positive approach. Focus on eating well, being active and thinking positively about yourself. Take pride in your life and take time for yourself. For more information about exercise, feel free to contact Laurie Burns at 877-0771. Laurie Burns is an Exercise Physiologist and operates Work That Body Fitness Programs Inc. Leaves better than snow shovel. Leaves are a breeze to clean up, Dear Editor, I am now going into my second year of living in this beautiful com- munity of Georgetown. My first year, my family had the pleasure of renting of a house on Charles Street (before finally buying on Guelph Street) and it was a real treat to be able to enjoy the beauty of all those gorgeous trees. And then came the leaves! But you know, I honestly didn’t mind the 40 bags plus, that I bagged. My husband and I raked, the kids and the both of us made piles of leaves and had fun jumping into them as we cleaned them up. It was a lot of fun, and good exercise out in the fresh air! Now for the past while, I see all these articles about people being upset because the town won’t “vacuum them up”?? The way I see it, one of the attractions of renting or buying in the Park area is those trees! But you have to pay the price! And for all the shade and beauty, not to forget it no doubt adds to the value of your home when you sell. My family comes from the north- ern most part of the province, the town did not come out to shovel out the eight plus feet of snow from October to April, and the longer your driveway, the more snow to compared to the six-months-plus of snow we had to shovel. I’m annoyed that people who “choose” to live where the trees are, are upset about having to clean them up. We have such a beautiful area here, and such long months of good weather (despite the rain), let’s enjoy those leaves, where ever we live in Georgetown, and get our families out and have fun clearing them up! They give us lots of beauty, a few weeks of raking is a small price to pay, isn’t it really when you think about it? Mary Ann Laevers Georgetown Ont. Avoid waste For you next group meeting avoid disposable cups. Wastewise has ceramic mugs to borrow or purchase. Wastewise also has many pairs of skates available free of charge for skating clubs and an interesting collec- tion of props for drama productions. Visit us at 36 Armstrong Ave. Wednesday and Thursday 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Would your group like a tour of Wastewise or a speaker for your meeting, call us at-873-8122. Garth Turner MP Halton Peel It’s Friday afternoon before The Vote. As I write this, I have no idea how the national referendum will have turned out. The polls today say it could go either way. I have spent the last four weeks trying to explain what all this means, and it was quite an experi- ence. I dragged my boxes of Charlottetown accords and my flip chart from Burlington to Palgrave, as we held 13 Town Hall meetings, two phone-in TV shows and visited nine high schools. At the end of the process, over 3,700 people in this riding came to participate. And this makes me feel good, regardless of how the referendum goes. By all that I’ve witnessed, the voter turn-out should be outstand- ing and the face of Canadian poli- tics could be forever changed. The Town Hall meetings were generally packed — sometimes overflowing. In the high schools, hundreds of voting-aged students listened as I tried to explain both sides of the debate and then asking probing questions. Employees came to meetings in company cafeterias to learn more,. And everywhere, thousands of copies of the agreement itself were snapped up. In at least one instance I was accused of promoting the Yes cause. In at least one other, there For Pete's Sake by Roe SO WHAT'S Ps t IN HE PROPS, BARE! BAG? Re! / eae CONFET, TOAST, NORMALLY VIE USE SQUIRT GUNS , BUT TONIGHT, SAL'S GONNA SABOTAGE THE THEATRE SPRINKLER owZ } ly | f ‘Sal i) wy A ' Dall Carl's SP Catering Company ~ Catering Since 1959 ~ NOW OFFERING Our NEW Limousine Service ... ‘56 Rolls Royce & New Lincoln Stretch Brampton 457-2813 Georgetown 9873-2277 eoeoe2eeoeoee ee SHIH on , HIM, e e e e e e ° - 7400 ° be - 1234 § r - 9311 ° @ AIRPORT SERVICE * PARCEL DELIVERY @ LXAER REE EE Have your Children's BIRTHDAY PARTY El@\eat@)\| SO) EINER MANN te) call 853-0470 represented the No position. Some meetings were rough going as No supporters tried to discredit the accord. At others, emotional speeches about Canada brought applause — just as did some remarks about peo- ple being fed up with the demands of Quebecers or aboriginals. At home, Dorothy and I came to refer to Oct. 26 as the “stresseren- dum” day. The seemed to just about sum things up. Now, at the end of the process, some observations: - A great many people in this area made sincere attempts to understand a very complex docu- ment. They too their votes serious- ly. They wanted to do the right thing for Canada, and that was joy to witness. - In general, the young people seemed less willing to accept the deal worked out by the country’s political leaders. At first I wondered why. Then I realized that many of them are ide- alists and have yet to discover that the one thing which makes a busi- ness, a marriage, or a country sur- vive — compromise. - Ihave been reminded again that politicians have to earn the trust of people over and over again. There was no reason to assume that peo- ple would vote Yes in the absence of a reason to vote No. In the end, exactly the opposite seemed true. - Some were critical of my approach to the referendum, wanti- ng me to slap on a Yes button at the outset. I did not because I felt the role of MP should be to provide information, answer questions, and then let people decide on their own. I waited until the last few days to state my own position. Now I believe it was the right approach. There are too many peo- ple in this country telling us what we should think — in politics and in.the media, Nothing showed it better than those screaming Yes and No on television ads. What a turn off they were. - Finally, we may have a new dawn for politics. After this vote, how can the constitution be changed again without the people’s approval? In fact, this experiment in direct democracy may help open up the whole system — ease the pressure. of party politics, involve citizens more, and make us all feel we're stakeholders in our country’s future. And perhaps that’s the impor- tance of the vote. Not Yes or No, but How. My thanks to everyone who has helped renew Canadian democracy. - re =_-r Qs ase BugMart 10. 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