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Page 6 — Halton Hills This Week. Wednesday, May 5, 1993 Editorial Make the sidewalks safe! Ah yes, the temperate climes are with us Once again. Time to get the dog a haircut - or a mate - time to seriously sit and watch the grass grow on lazy, hazy weekends and also time to renew your insurance coverage if you dare to venture out on the sidewalks of Halton Hills. It used to be, you could wander aimlessly with either your Mate or your brood on the sidewalks and walkways of Halton Hills - but that is no longer the case. Now, even pedestrians would be well-advised to wear crash helmets. The problem seems to centre on the fact that our boys in blue seem extremely hesitant to either lay charges under the Highway Traffic Act or enforce a local by-law. Also, we might add, an apparently lackadaisical attitude on the part of resi- dents of Halton Hills who seem willing to bequeath the side- walks to the maniacal bike riders, skateboarders, roller bladers and occasional fruit loop who glides by on skis (poles flying) equipped with homemade wheels trying to emulate North Bay’s Kate Pace - sometimes in drag. The unwritten law seems to be: “Pedestrians beware - or be dead.” When you consider the number of Collisions - and near colli- sions - which occur daily between pedestrians and cyclists etc. it seems ridiculous that the town by-law which states “No per- son shall drive a motor vehicle or bicycle along any sidewalk or boulevard except at a driveway,” is not enforced. The fine alone, $55, should act as some kind of a deterrent, but how often are charges laid? : Under the Highway Traffic Act, the definition of a vehicle includes “bicycles and any vehicle drawn, propelled or driven by any kind of power, including muscular.” This definition would obviously encompass skateboards, roller blades etc., so Police have two venues to use in laying a charge. Our local police appear to have no interest in what’s happen- ing on our sidewalks and we wonder why! If the same cyclist, skateboarder etc. who so dangerously careens around on the sidewalks causing Collisions, were to physically lift their mode of transportation and hit someone with it, would not this be assault, or involve some sort of liable negligence? ¢ We also see the above-mentioned no-brains bouncing on and off roadways, leaping curbs and dashing in and out of traffic, but again, it seems the cops Pay them no heed. This is where updated training comes in. A Halton Region police officer we talked to, was under the misconception a cyclist couldn’t be stopped and asked to iden- tify himself/herself. This is the way it used to be, however, amendments have been made to the Highway Traffic Act and police should be aware of the changes. Section 218 Subsection (1) of the act states “A police officer who finds any person contravening the act (HTA) or a munici- pal bylaw regulating traffic, while in charge of a bicycle, may Tequire that person to stop and provide identification.” Subsection (2) states the identification can be verbal and sub- section (4) allows the officer to arrest the Person, without war- rant should identification not be Provided. This is not nit-picking, it’s a serious problem. When a senior citizen or youngster gets bulldozed over and possibly critically injured it will be too late to ask, “What could have been done?’ Conscientious bike riders and those youngsters who use skate boards and roller blades in a Tesponsible manner should have no fear. Neither should police officers when the laying of charges are warranted. Colin Gibson 4 [HIS WEEN Halton Hills This Week, Wed: \y edition is ry ly at 232 Guelph $i: Georgetown, Ont. L7G 4B1, and is printed in Oakville at Q.E. Web Printing. Halton Hills 4 pee H phe: ‘ i : 4 y y paper. y only "if Aided " . ser: vices at wrong price, goods or servi y Not be Advertising is ly an offer to sell which may be withdrawn at any time. PUBLISHER: Ken Bella EDITOR: Colin Gibson PRODUCTION MANAGER: Kathleen Topolsek CIRCULATION MANAGER: Marie Shadbolt OFFICE MANAGER: Jean Shewell HALTON HILLS THIS WEEK IS INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED. PHONE: 873-2254 FAX:873-3918 To the Editor: In your last issue you published a letter to the editor by Lois McClure in which she said that the “Niagara Escarpment Landowners Coalition” is best suited to safeguard the natur- al condition of the Niagara Escarpment. This is not so! The Landowners Coalition is an assembly of property owners on the NDP largess. To the Editor: 9 The NDP Government of Ontario seems now prepared to acknowledge the extent of the North American recession and apply to the public sector the same measures of restraint that most pri- vate companies took, years ago. However, the public servants being laid off will have more than one consolation: 1. Their positions, if they still existed, would guarantee the work- er a salary which is determined by a government board to be “equal in value” according to a whole scale of parameters and according to a government tribunal. 2. A black, a member of a reli- gious minority or perhaps a homo- sexual hired for that position, if it still existed, would have a better opportunity than a simple Canadian, and would enjoy all of the benefits laid out by the new labor relations legislation. 3. His union had the opportunity to participate in the discussions to terminate his job. After all, why to be angry? Are not these the benefits of liberalism? Dare I say socialism? Giuseppe Gori Family Coalition Party of y Ontario Georgetown Beware of communists To the Editor The former U.S.S.R., has broken up and is very unstable at present, but there is nothing to say the com- munists could not regain control. Russia is exporting military equipment to various Asiatic coun- tries including China. Russia is still building nuclear submarines, although at a slower Pace than before, and have by far the Strongest nuclear sub fleet in the world. The west, including Canada is owed billions of dollars for grain and other trade items. Instead of just giving them more grain I sug- gest that one condition of further aid should be their ceasing to pro- duce military goods and secondly we take in payment for our debts and grain some of their very latest equipment. One or two nuclear subs and a fleet of helicopters. ‘Their products may not be quite as good as our military would like, but taking a few teeth out of a potential enemy surely couldn’t do us any harm. At least getting some- thing for our grain should be better than an uncollectable I.0.U. Rod Pinkney Georgetown The People's Corner NELC values are challenged Niagara Escarpment - including some who maintain their holdings for purely speculative Purposes - who want to get away from the controls by the provincial Niagara Escarpment Commission. Only a fool or a hopelessly naive person believes that the Escarpment is bet- ter protected by an organization such as this, than by an agency that has the support of all three Political Parties. Since Mrs. McClure is neither, she must have other sentiments. It should be remembered that the McClures want to utilize their Escarpment land to build a subdivi- sion, something that has about the same appeal for the neighborhoo as a garbage dump. Mrs. McClur must know this, yet for years sh and her husband told everybod: how a housing development in th middle of the Escarpment woul enhance the surroundings. This is the conception of th Landowners Coalition too. With it help, Mrs. McClure may yet get he: Subdivision, but at least she shoul¢ Spare us her tale that the aim of the organization of which she is such a Prominent member is the protection of the natural features of the Escarpment. Charles Hildebrandt Georgetown CVCA slams funding cuts imposed by NDP government The Credit Valley Conservation Authority is facing a 20% (about $275,000) cut in funding for 1993 from the provincial government after Fridays announcement of Province-wide cuts to reduce the deficit. “We are not looking for public sympathy at a time when People are losing jobs and expecting govern- ments to cut back,” says CVCA General Manager Vicki Barron. What we are saying however, is that we could keep: environmental Programs running more effectively and efficiently if the provincial government would get its act together and cut the wasted duplica- tion of services, “We estimate that in our water- shed alone, provincial ministries including the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Agriculture and Food are wasting between $3 and $4 million in dupli- cated services that Conservation Authorities already provide,” says Barron. “The cost province-wide could top $100 million. “Our strength is that we are a watershed-based agency able to act on a local watershed basis to deliv- er our services swiftly and in a cost- effective manner. Slashing budgets without looking at the big picture , does nothing but put our local envi- ronment in jeopardy and perpetuate -an inefficient system “I am very frustrated that the Provincial government is asking the People of the Credit Watershed to sacrifice the future of their environ- ment because of the governments inability to deal with the duplica- tion of services issue,” says Barron: announced budget cuts. Surgery on an industry that is just recovering from 10 ars of trauma, an i that is trying to rebuild itself for the | future,” said OFA President Roger Budget cuts within the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) include the closing of two agricul- tural colleges, Centralia and New Liskeard, as well as $1.6 million hacked out of the Farm Start pro- gram. “The OFA sees this as an Rebate has been frozen at the 1992 level of $159 million. “If the government is going to freeze the legitimate refund of farmers’ own Money, then it should also freeze municipal and education taxes,” George insisted. < Another direct budget hit was the much heralded five-year $120 million Farm Investment Strategy which has now dropped to a $46 million program. “This was sup- ‘Posed to be the centre piece of ee ous over bud Federation of © thefune” At a time “The government has performed — - environmental bill of rights,” said a & : when farmers are . George said “seek- ing global opportunities from behind a desk in Toronto is as bizarre as fighting a fire with a watering can. We ask for tools and government’s given us a flint axe | head.” _ Even the environment took a hit through the land ‘stewardship pro- gram which has been cut by $5.5 million. “At a time when farmers have led all industrial sectors in a Proactive response to the environ- ment, the government’s answer to our efforts is to reduce the incen- | tive for environmental responsibil- ity, and threaten farmers with an “The final irony is that while 181 OMAF public service jobs will be phased out, 0! senior cracy has gone from two to five assistant deputy ministers,” i ES ly farmers senior bureaucrats are not donat- ing blood on an equal basis.”