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6 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2006 EDITORIAL Distributed to every home in Acton and area as well as adjoining communities. 373 Queen Street East, Unit 1 Acton, Ontario L7J 2N2 email: thenewtanner@on.aibn.com Frances Niblock Mike OLeary Angela Tyler Janis Fread Rebecca Ring Publisher Editorial Ted Tyler Hartley Coles Editorial Contributors Advertising and Circulation Composing Marie Shadbolt Bruce Cargill Danielle McIsaac Janine Taylor By Angela Tyler with Hartley Coles (519) 853-0051 Fax: (519) 853-0052 Every effort will be made to see advertising copy, neatly presented, is correctly printed. The publisher assumes no financial responsibility for typographical errors or omissions in advertising, but will gladly reprint without charge that part of an advertisement in which an error may occur provided a claim is made within five days of publication. All articles, advertisements and graphic artwork appearing in The New Tanner is copyrighted. Any usage, reproduction or publication of these items, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the publisher of The New Tanner is a copyright infringement and subject to legal action. Only fair way Its hard to believe but Ontario, which long wore the brightest feather in the confederation cap, must now go cap in hand so to speak to get its fair share of federal money Prime Minister Stephen Harper has hinted could be available to restore the fiscal balance between Ottawa and the provinces. Like the other provinces, including oil-rich Alberta, Ontario gets money from the federal government to help pay for social assistance, health care and post-secondary education. However, this province gets less from the feds than every other province except Alberta which has prompted Premier Dalton McGuinty to initiate a cross-country cam- paign to ensure Ontario gets its fair share of imbalance funds. These funds have nothing to do with equalization payments which takes money from the haves for the have-not provinces. It allows those provinces who receive equalization payments to offer services to their residents of the same quality and quantity as Ontario, at about the same level of taxation. In fact, Ontario spends about $2,000 less per person than even wealthy Alberta and the have-not provinces of Newfoundland and Quebec on its citizens. There are only two ways to correct the fiscal imbalance higher taxes or a fair share of the funds Mr. Harper and his government are prepared to hand out to correct the disparity. Mr. McGuinty is not complaining about the equalization payments. He believes Ontario has a duty to help the have-not provinces, which he says are already as well off as Ontario in their ability to provide needed services. McGuinty, however, thinks the only fair way to split further federal money is to base it on a per person basis. That would in no way penal- ize the other provinces and it wold enable Ontario to gain money it desperately needs for post-secondary education as well as to rebuild crumbling roads and sewers. The premiers of the poorer provinces, however, want any extra federal money to go into their pots in the form of equalization payments and leave Ontario out to dry. They would be in a better fiscal position to provide services for their residents and Ontario, the richest province in Canada behind Alberta. Obviously, McGuintys crusade for fair treatment of this province is based on cold, hard facts. The only fair way for Ottawa to deal with the present fiscal imbalance between the federal government and On- tario is to base funds on a per person basis so everyone in the country benefits. Briefly Campers and cottagers werent the only ones appalled at the weather of the first holiday weekend of the spring. Gardeners, too, who rely on the Victorial Day weekend to plant flowers and other plants were repelled by the cold, windy, wet weather extremes which passed as Spring last weekend. It was especially galling since there was so much earlier spring like weather which could have been perfect for outdoor recreation. Those with long memories point out that that was the fifth consecutive miserable Victoria Day weekend weve experienced. *** Back before regional governments, when municipal pride was para- mount, the weekend of the 24th heralded the opening of the baseball season. Acton and towns of similar size such as Milton, Georgetown, Oakville, Waterdown and Campbellville fielded teams in the old Halton County Baseball League. That first game was invariably on the holiday weekend Saturday. Sports fans could hardly wait to see how the local nine would match up with the opposition. *** There was some pretty good amateur baseball played then. The only pro ball around was in Toronto where the Maple Leafs played in the International league with the likes of Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Newark to name a few teams. Some of the best ball players to ever play in the majors graduated form those teams, including the king of swat, Babe Ruth. Not on pick-up list? Take it to the dump yourself I absolutely love large garbage pick-up day. I will admit it. I am not ashamed. I am a scooper. I am one of many people who drive by other peoples trash and deem it my treasure. Ive done it before and I will do it again. Maybe its recycling in a way. Maybe its me being a dumpster diver. Either way, I will bring home another persons trash. What I dont understand is how people will leave garbage out that is not on the collection list. I get frustrated with people who leave non-garbage out for collection. It has been weeks since our last large garbage day pick up and there are still things out for collection that will never be collected. This frustrates me. At the end of our street is an old refrigerator. It wont be col- lected now. Yet, the people still leave it out cluttering the streets. Barbeques are another favourite. Days after the pick up, there they stand. It is soooooo frustrating. Dont they realize if its days after the pick up and everyone elses trash has been picked up, and theirs still stands, it probably wont be picked up. Why leave it at the end of the driveway to clutter the neighbourhood? I dont understand them. Trash is a wondrous thing. I have watched the trash men put the bags and recycling in their trucks. I have been to the area dumps. It may be smelly but oddly enough it tells a tale of our life. Have you ever watched what people throw out or how many bags or bins of recycling they put out at the curb? It tells a lot about the people who live in the houses. Do they recycle? Do they put out too much trash compared to the others in the neighbourhood? What do they put out for large garbage day pick-up? Its surprising what some people put out at the end of the road. What is even more surprising is what people will scoop up. Each large day there are literally dozens of pick up trucks that go by in our cul-de-sac. They drive in, slow down and analyze the items put for trash. Some stop. Some go on. I wonder how they decide. I wonder what will happen to the items they pick up. I wonder what goes through the minds of people who leave things out and never get picked up by scoopers or garbage men. How long do they think it will take someone to pick up something if they leave it out? Is a week long enough? Is a month long enough? Are they afraid if they dont leave it out it wont be picked up on the next big day? What do their neighbours think? Dont they realize they are prob- ably frustrated with the garbage being so stagnant out beside their home? Continued on page 8 VOLUNTEERS RECOGNIZED: Volunteers from the Acton Agricultural Society, Acton Rotary Club, 1st Acton Scouts, Trinity United CHurch and Lakeside Chapter IODE received awards ranging from 5 to 50 years at a Ontario Volunteer Awards ceremony in Hamilton May 16. Included were Margaret Ded- man, Renata Georgeoff, Kathleen Harding, Katherine Lynch, June McHugh, John Miller, Lois Osborne, Heather Parr, Thelma Pettipher, Brian Robertson, Marion Urquhart, Tracey Urquhart from Acton and Maisie Lasby, Wallacy Lasby and Peter van Dam from Rockwood. - Photo by George Henderson