the HERALD Energy policy limits our sovereignty Home Newspaper of Hills Established IBM A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited Guelph Street Georgetown 3Z6 Ontario DON Publisher and General Manager Advertising Manager Phone 8772201 lUdaurnlNiKWi Page SECTION A THE HERALD Wednesday February The last to know The Curwood Packaging strike in Georgetown offers some interesting insights into labormanagement rela tions The sixweek walkout by union workers was the longest in years At an emotional melting point for the workers there was violence on the picket line and police made some arrests The strike took place during some of the coldest days of the winter when family budgets were exhausted by Christmas giftgiving This was an eventful strike and a meaningful one for the union but the walkout was no different than many dif ferent labormanagement disputes across Canada Both sides played tough waiting for the other to give an inch In a firstcontract negotiating with a new union management at couldnt be seen as being ready to give away the bank to its workers The union on the other hand had to ensure worker solidarity and stay out until a meaningful agreement was signed Otherwise signing up union cards would be a waste of thoselured by the rewards of a united labor front Negotiations soon broke down and the company wanted to empty its plant of materials anxiously needed for its customers angry at the move chilled by the winter winds and frustrated at progress of the talks acted with violence Incoming trucks were vandalized Some were eventually turned away One can only imagine what would have happened if the company had decided to bring in replacement workers to fill the void within the plant As it was the firm acted as calmly as could be expected under the circumstances Sad as it seems workers for the most part were kept in the dark about negotiations The namecalling arguments politicking and rhetoric was left to manage ment representatives union representatives and an ar bitrator A young staff at the packaging plant waited eagerly and anxiously for news but little was forthcoming Its a bitter lesson for the who endured the boredom the physical elements and loss of wages during the walkout The workers who risk the most are usually the ones who hear the least when negotiating news Is released Toe the line It must have seemed ironic to regional councillors listen ing to a visiting politician talk about Metros looming gar bage crisis Last week Richard Gilbert told the Region about Toron tos desperate waste disposal problems The answer in solving those problems Mr Gilbert wants the help of Halton and four other regional municipalities to form a management authority Hogwash Halton Region has struggled long and hard enough on its own It doesnt need or want to take on the garbage responsibilities of another large region The Toronto councillor actually has the audacity to say that Halton better toe the line or Metro has the ability to place its next landfill in our region without asking permis sion By joining a waste management authority the regions would have a majority on the board Says Mr Gilbert At least this way youll have a voice That sounds like political coercion How ironic it is for Ontarios largest city to be at Haltons doorstep looking for our help This city with endless resources and sophistication Is no better off than Halton Toronto is far behind this region In recycling Metro must first get its own house in order as Coun Joan Little Halton has been through enough and doesnt need the assistance or formation of a management authority on waste The Region is wellversed on garbage issues and is well on its way to finding workable solutions To join forces with Toronto on some grandiose scheme would be going from one nightmare situation to another Always on the ball Editors notebook Soccer and darts league cor respondent Alex Tough was honored and recognized by The Herald start Monday Alex has been a popular mainstay on the sports pages of The Herald He has outlasted every editorial member now In the news and sports department in yean of service to the paper Each year the stair through a special pop and coffee fund has honored a top freelance correspon dent and writer In 1985 a trophy was donated in tribute to Lillian a faithful former com munity correspondent who wrote about news In Ash grove Balllnafttd correspondent Winifred Smith won the award In 1865 followed by Kay Wilson of In Alex Tough Is the I winner As a former sports editor I can remember all Alex did back then and continues to do to promote the sport of soccer Sometimes provocative and con troversial Alex wanted to spark in terest In the sport and motivate peo ple Hi columns generated letters to the editor phone calls to the newspaper and general involvement and interest In the sport Just to get coverage of soccer events Alex prodded and succeed ed In signing me up one year for a stint In the highly competitive In dustrial soccer league He encourag ed coaches and parents and ex ecutive members to not lust stand by and let soccer be considered second- hockey In Halton As a coach and referee Alex was out at the soccer pitch regularly viewing the game at the local level firsthand As an added bonus in his column the soccer correspondent told his readers about rule changes and of Instructional advice He knew most of the kids by their first names and watched many a young athlete grow up to star with the top Georgetown rep team the Falcons Alex has also been unique In pro viding locals with commentary and updates on the Canadian soccer scene In Toronto and the Canadian team playing on the International circuit Alex Toughs column Is the longest running column In The Herald and for good reason theyre well read and the author Is tirelessly dedicated to promoting soccer The staff Is proud to enter Alexs name onto the Lillian Bellboddy Memorial Trophy Those who have learned so much from photography expert Peter Moss and his columns in The Heralds Outlook will be happy at this piece of news Peter tola us he wilt be continuing his photography column soon after he slobped writing during the busy Christmas The one area where both op ponents and supporters of the CanadaUS freetrade deal agree there are meaningful limitations on Canadian sovereignty is energy policy Thats why the exchange here bet ween former federal Liberal cabinet minister Donald Macdonald and members of the legislatures com mittee on free trade was so In teresting whose royal commis sion could be said to have sparked the current freetrade Initiative was federal energy minister during the wars of the 1970s That was when Pierre Ottawa with support from all three Ontario provincial parties PC Liberal advanced a National Energy Policy that kept western oil prices below world levels for the benefit of Ontario One consequence of the free trade- deal would be regulations preven ting that kind of favoritism Under the deal American customers would get the same price as Canadians although Canada would set the rate Queens Park By Derek Nelson OIL EMBARGO Questioned by Liberals Charles Beer and David Neumann Mac donald barkened bock to the winter of 197374 when the Arab oil em bar go was Imposed The world ap parently faced an oil shortage so Canada reduced exports lo the American communities and firms that had become dependent on Canadian oil supplies were very substantially cut back said Mac donald who as energy minister was responsible for the policy He summed up the American reaction as hose Canadians you con build a pipeline and they can start bringing their stuff to us but when we really need it it will not be there Macdonald suggested that if we wont to do business in the energy sector in he U we have to be prepared to treat them as reasonably as our own people Canada exports oil natural gas uranium and electricity lo the U S What the freetrade deal does is In sist that when we moke private contracts with American pur chasers only then at that point and where reduction of supply is dic tated will we be required to reduce it in the same proportion to our foreign customers as to our domestic ones Macdonald said But Beer and Neumann wandered about the traditional activism of Canadian governments in economic development Did not the deal restrict this country that way said there is nothing in the agreement to prevent such na tional action as building the Trans- Canada Pipeline or supporting development of the Hlbernla oil field off the east coast Nor did it affect the rale of oil or hydro production nor the set price of the product What would the effects be There would be no export cutoffs proportionately as outlined above and no twoprice system such as we had In Macdonahrs day as a federal cabinet minister Macdonald noted however that the ultimate reaction against the twoprice oil policy did not come from the United Slates It came from Alberta There was enormous resentment was at the core of that resent ment In effect we were keeping their prices down but they were still having to pay full prices for automobiles machinery equipment and all the things we produced In On tario I have to say the trade deal is not only from an interna standpoint but also from the sense of balance wllhin the country that we now have this recognition that national twopnee systems should not be imposed he said In short the deal enshrines equity for western Canada Neumanns very Ontorio response was perhaps there are different views of equity on attitude that got us Into the oil price wars In the first place It is the wests oil after Citizens forum Reduce our class sizes meetings and has made a formal presentation to The Board of Education regarding its concerns related to the size of elementary classes within the Region I am not a teacher but as a parent with an In terest In my childrens education I have attended one of the public meetings and was present during the presentation to The Board A cynic might view the Associa tions activity as an extension of the employee em pi oyer bargaining process However on examination of the well researched Association position shows real disparity bet ween class sizes In and those existing In comparable communities across Ontario Also there Is in their presentations a readily apparent concern for the effect which this disparity has on the quality of educa tion available In Halton Several critical facts emerge from the statistics which the Association has assembled from a variety of reliable sources eg Ministry of Education Education Relations Commission Revenue Canada Among comparable Ontario boards ranks second highest in pupil teacher ratio second highest In class site second lowest in per pupil expen diture These rankings are based on 1886 statistics but have been fairly con sistent over the past ten years Two other Interesting facts emerge Among the same comparable regions ranks second lowest In the equal lied mill rate for elementary expenditures but second highest In average In dividual Income I doubt thai any parent or educator con fail to acknowledge the direct correlation between class size and the quality of education Those of us with children who have at one time or another some degree of special attention in school can readily attest lo the difficulties faced by an elementary classroom teacher with over 30 children The Association presentation home the uncomfortable truth that our community has opted for cheaper lower quality educational opportunity than neighboring com munities and most major Ontario cities and regions The Association recommendation is that the Board undertake a planned gradual closing while the Board has been gradually improving the pupil teacher ratio it has continued to log behind other communities and has maintained its position close to the cellar The Associations position Is reasonable one and ai a parent I en dorse It While one has a natural hesitation to advocate greater ex penditure by any public body the dollars Involved arc not enormous while the social benefits to be deriv ed from better educated and socially developed children ore con siderable Anyone requiring more Informa tion on this subject could contact The Elementary Teachers Association In Burlington Anyone reeling as 1 do that The Board of Education in Its Cult of excellence in should address the disparity In class size should contact the Boards local trustees since they will soon be finalizing next years budget Sincerely Toylor Bingo cancelled for good reason Dear Sir The Optimist Club of Georgetown wishes to thank the people who turned out or our weekly Bingo the Club during the storm Thursday Feb 11 It is unfortunate that we had to In voke provisions of the law to the event to he disappointment of those attending If we had continued we would have encountered a loss which would come out of our funds for Community Projects Some attending asked why we did not lower the prizes accordingly This however would have been the laws of the province under which the licence was granted We do know that bingo clubs in other areas do not always operate according to these laws but the Optimist Club agrees with the operator of the Riviera Club In strictly within these laws They arc after all made to protect the public from operators We trust hat the public will us for cancelling out and understand cur reasoning and lhat they will continue support us and all other sponsors of bingo at the Riviera Club In Yours very truly A A Booth Public Relations Optimist Club of Georgetown School holds get together Dear Sir The students past and present of College Avenue Secondary School Woodstock Ontario N4S 2C3 519 along with their staff are and staff to vitlng for for the schools anniversary reunion on Ihc weekend of June 10 12 1988 In your opinion Question What Is your favorite ac tivity on a sunny winter afternoon Favorite winter activity years ago Leslie M Clark of Georgetown headed the 1958 slate of officers of Countess of Strathmore Chapter Mrs Clark succeeded Percy Leslie of Georgetown George of Georgetown bag ged a lb black bear during a weeklong hunting trip with the Blue Mountain Hunt Club in Sudbury The Junior Raiders moved into a seventh place tie with In the Suburban Super Eight standing by downing the Jets on their home Ice Mrs Irvin Barton of Cooksville was Judged Canadas cook of the year at a grand in Toronto She received a grand prize of from F McLean president of Canada Packers Limited The Winter Achievement Day for Clubs took place at the Milton High School with a record number of 12S competitors from 13 clubs In the county The study of Meat In he Menu was the climax of a busy day 15 years ago Friends and family of Mr Arthur celebrated the Georgetown mans birthday Mr re mained living in the house he was bom in during his years Mrs Anne was elected president of the newly form ed Home and School Association formed at the Howard glesworth Public School Principal John Kobzy welcomed the is parents who attended and encouraged all parents whose children attended the school to become members Mrs Peggy Treahy of Georgetown received a certificate for completing Level of the training course sheltered workshop personnel at Ihe National Institute on Mental Retar dation York University Retiring manager of the Georgetown branch of United Gas Limited Alex was honored by business associates and other friends at a social evening at the Hornby Tower Gold Club 10 years ago Lotle of Georgetown won a prize for the print at the Mississauga Library Systems third annual juried art show Mrs ncnberg s print was entitled Peace and Quiet School crossing guards In Hills guards pay into line with what other municipalities in the region were paying James Rcid and Claude Picket of Halton Hills and Harry Moore of Terra were awarded Master Breeder Shields at the annual meeting of the association at the Royal York Hotel 5 years ago Georgetown District High School student Lisa Swltzcr was Judged Snow for 1983 by a panel at her school Miss Canada Judy brightened the atmosphere for the approximately people who attended the Sweetheart Car nival in Terra Cotta Archer of Georgetown earned one second place and two third place honors at the Kiwanls Music Festival Competing for the first time the 16yeuroId came In se cond for her performance Handels Silent Worship and third place for her singing of Cuckoo Fair and Dont Cry for me Argentina The Hills Herald placed In two categories of the Award section of the Ontario Conv Newspapers Association awards competition It received an honorable mention for on editorial and a third place award Tor a sports and recreation fenlure Poets Corner FRANK RED- JACKIE EMILY VICKY RODMAN JANE MONDi It li not I like to build forts Just getting outside Tobogganing I like Cross country ski- too or cold the In big snow banks I and enjoying going down a big 1 Just enjoy that nice thing li to be like lo ride horses the day hill sport outside enjoying the beat outdoors TAKES TWO He shakes of barren thought stirs the slag heap of whimsy the once hidden nugget Then God waits By MARLOWE DICKSON