The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page’ Halton Hills ‘This Week Saturday: Juiy'17, 1868 Opinion Halton Hills This Week, HIS WEEK ‘Q.E. Web Printing. Halton His This . Georgetown, Ont. L7G 4B}, any time. PUBLISHER: Ken Bellamy —_ EDITOR: Colin Gil PRODUCTION MANAGER: Kathleen Topolsek \GEI We can help ourselves Last Wednesday I wrote about how Halton Hills residents shopping out-of-town weren’t helping our economy. This came about through discussions I had the previous week with a number of people; shoppers, merchants, friendlies and even unfriendlies - about how we in Halton Hills can help each other through the tough economic times we are experienc- ing. , From feedback from that editorial, coupled with my own impressions when I was conducting the informal poll, local business people and merchants could also do abit more to alleviate our particular problem. A number of mid-size communities throughout southern Ontario quite literally toss out the keys to the community to welcome weekend visitors - both shoppers and tourists. Closer to home, a downtown outdoor market is now flourishing Saturdays on Main St. in Milton and according to a report in the Halton Business Journal, Sandy Martin, General Manager of the Milton Chamber of Commerce, estimates the market draws between 1,000 and 1,500 shoppers each week. The same type of attractions could be staged week- ends in both Acton and Georgetown, with very little trouble or complications. Merchants in both communities told me that during special events, some of their brethren go all out with their support, while others do little more than sit back and rake in whatever profits come their way. Obviously, this attitude would have to change. Another complaint aired concerning merchants was their hours of business. Not opening when advertised and closing ahead of time. Inconsistent refund policies apparently plague both Georgetown and Acton. Cash refunds in some instances; store credits but no money refundable in others and in some of these stores, goods have to be purchased within a limited This didn’t do the single mother I talked to much good. She explained she had purchased a pair of shoes for her young daughter. The shoes didn’t fit. She didn’t like any other shoes in the establishment, and couldn’t get her money back. This policy, by the’ way, wasn’t posted. “Now what do I do?,” she asked “I haven’t got shoes for my daughter and I haven’t got the money to go to another store!” If all of us support our community, even to the extent of offering constructive criticism, we will pull thro ugh. We've done it in the past, let’s do it again, Colin Gibson Letters Welcomed Halton Hills This Week Send your letter welcomes your letters. Letters ae: must be signed and include 0 your full name and address. The Editor term willbe withheld on. yy a10n Hills This Week Halton Hills This Week 232 Guelph St., Unit 9 Teserves the right to edit, Georgetown, ON Tevise, or reject any letters on L7G 4B1 the basis of factual errors, punctuation, spelling errors or Or fax to: as a result of space limitations. 416-873-3918 Editor’s note: The fol- lowing letter was released to Halton Hills This Week for Publication To Mr. Craig Copland President I understand that your organization has terminated its association with Murray Russell and Sherilyn Kirpatrick, founders of Feedback Canada, effective- ly putting them out of busi- ess. I know quite a bit about the work of Feedback Canada, this grassroots orga- nization that last summer distributed 800,000 pounds of fresh farm produce to foodbanks and shelters in the Metro, Peel and Halton area. My son was one of the volunteers who worked so hard with Murray and Sherilyn to make Feedback Canada a success. - From my perspective, Feed the Children has treat- ed these two dedicated young people very unjustly. I wonder what is going to Support appreciated To the Editor: I wish to thank your newspaper for your service contribution to the 3rd annual Halton Hills Bike- A-Thon. Providing adver- tising, event promotion and an appreciation ad was a necessary component to the successful operation of this event. We appreciate your support. In addition, we are very pleased to inform you that this event was success- ful in raising over $10,000 in support of North Halton Association for — the Developmentally Handicapped. N.H.A.D.H. relies on contributions of various kinds, to assist in the expense of providing quali- ty service for, present, 143 citizens of North Halton. Support and sponsorship in special events from individ- uals and groups in our com- munity indicates a shared investment in our goal of ensuring that people with developmental handicaps live in a state of dignity and have the opportunity to share and participate in all aspects of community liv- ing. Again, I thank you and look forward to your sup- port again next year. Anne Sidebottom Community Relations, NHADH Georgetown Board decision must stand Editor’s note: The fol- lowing letter was released to Halton Hills This Week for Publication. To: The Office of Consolidated Hearings Re: Acton Quarry Landfill Pro; I have been urged by Hearing Board staff to pre- sent F.O.A.D.’s opinion regarding the status of RSI’s application. First, although Ontario Hydro’s stated casé was based on the board’s deci- sion with respect to RSI, RSI did not appeal its own decision, nor did RSI request a stated case or judicial review. In the absence of such a review, the board’s decision must stand; the board does not have the jurisdiction to hear, determine or decide. Second, we are concerned about the precedent which would be set were RSI able to employ information from Ontario Hydro’s stated case to. “reopen” their hearing. Case law enables the con- tinuing development of our interpretation of specific acts. For obvious reasons, this process does not accommodate the review of Past decisions in light of hew interpretations. We are of the opinion that the Consolidate Hearing regarding RSI’s application has concluded. There are no allowances within the Consolidated Hearing Act which would~ enable a proponent to address deficiencies raised by the board decision and request that the hearing resume. To our knowledge, there are no precedents which would allow this to occur and such a precedent would also be very far reaching. Finally, RSI submitted its Environmental Assessment in February, 1989. At that time, blue box programs and waste diversion pro- grams were in their infancy.~ Halton Region’s landfill decision, also dated February 1989, was consid- ered revolutionary with Tespect to waste reduction- related conditions. The extraordinary development of waste diversion since, is best seen through the Environmental Assessment Board decision with respect to Orillia’s Kitchener Street Landfill (EP-90-03 dated February, 1992). RSI’s pro- posal is now seriously dated and, as such, should not be permitted to proceed, Rita Landry Georgetown FFICE MANAGER: happen to the worthy work they have been doing - pro- viding good food to increas- ing numbers of hungry Ontario residents. At the very least, Feed the Children owes-the public a full explanation on two issues: 1) How is Feed the Children going to ensure ibson CIRCULATION MANAGER: Marie Shadbolt It Jean Shewell HALTON HILLS THIS WEEK IS INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED. PHONE: 873-2254 FAX: The People's Corner Full Feedback Canada ex planation needed that Feedback Canada’s task of supplying fresh produce to foodbanks and shelters continues? 2) Why has Feed the Children made Murray and Sherilyn, the two key peo- ple, redundant in their own Project? Joan Cornfield eorgetown Copland offers explanation Editor’s note: Halton Hills This Week contacted Mr. Copland the Feedback Canada situa- tion, as it pertains to Halton Hills, and the President of Canadian Feed The Children Inc. faxed this reply. Dear Ms. Cornfield: Thank you very much for your letter of July 9, 1993 and the concerns you expressed, both for Murray and Sherilyn and the pro- gram of Feedback Canada. Unfortunately, you appear to have received some inaccurate informa- tion about Feedback and I “trust that the following clar- ification will be helpful. Canadian Feed the Children Inc. was founded in 1986 and since that time, it has been able to send mil- lions of dollars worth of food, clothing, medicines and medicinal supplies to children in Third World countries, particularly those facing emergency situa- ti ions. In the fall of 1991, Canadian Feed the Children made a decision to start to assist hungry children in as well as overseas and instituted a domestic hunger relief program. In the early spring of 1992, we are approached by Murray and Sherilyn and asked if we could assist with the- development of an idea they wanted to call Feedback Canada, which would aug- ment our domestic program. We suggested that they con- ‘tinue to develop Feedback as a separate incorporated agency and obtain their own charity registration number, with Canadian Feed the Children providing some logistical support. They declined this suggestion and instead chose to become full-time employees of Canadian Feed the Children and to develop Feedback as a program of CFTC. Since that time, Canadian Feed the Children has covered all the costs of Feedback, employed all full-time and part-time staff and provided employment __ benefits, issued all tax receipts for charitable donations, pro- vided appropriate insurance coverage and conducted all administrative activities which an employer normal- does. The program has grown quickly as a result of the fine efforts of all the CFTC staff involved, especially those of Murray and Sherilyn and we are very appreciated of the work done by these two employ- ees. Some 60 food relief Programs, shelters and chil- dren’s feeding programs have received a regular sup- ply of fresh produce through our services, Although the program staff were given a lot of autonomy and freedom to gram has always been a facet of the work of CFTC and the staff have all been registered employees. The name “Feedback Canada” is Tegistered and protected by Canadian Feed the Children Inc. as the name of our domestic program. For a variety of reasons the Board and management of CFTC and Murray and Sherilyn came to a position where irresolvable differ- ences had emerged between us and it was necessary to terminate their employment. CFTC provided to them a very generous settlement package and encouraged them to continue to do simi- lar work in cooperation with another charity and even agreed to hand over about two-thirds of the existing program to them should they wish to manage it. Whether or not they choose to do so is up to them. In th meantime, Canadian Feed the Children is continuing to operate the Feedback program as it had been previously.and will continue to provide services to the many food relief pro- grams we had served in the past. New staff have been put into place to manage the Program and they will ensure that the donors and the recipients continue to be able to participate in this excellent program. Craig Copland President CANADIAN FEED THE CHILDREN INC. Toronto