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the HERALD Groups uneasy about Act Home Newspaper of Halton Hills- Established 1666 A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited Guelph Street Georgetown L7G Ontario DAVID A BEATTIE Publisher and General Manager BRIAN Editor Phone DAN TAYLOR Advertising Manager Mail Page THE HERALD III IWl ditorial Have a look If you were one of the men women and children who turned out to have a look at Halton Hills new civic centre on Saturday you probably came awav with the opinion that your tax dollars were well spent When it was first announced that the town would build a new centre and that the price tag would top the million mark there were certainly some grumblings among the taxpayers and the media There were no grumblings on Saturday The new circular building is esthetically pleasing prac and in a good location Halton Hills couldnt afford to make the same mistake Halton Region did Regional councillors built the big green complex in Oakville just 10 years ago yet its now set to undergo a 30 million expansion Its obvious Hills is soon going to see a boom in housing like it hasnt seen since the construction of the Delrex subdivision in the 1960s Until Hills employees moved into the new they were spread out In six buildings throughout the town As one recent story in the Heralds commemorative edi tion for the civic centre noted the towns 75 workers came from trailers and garages throughout the town Politicians often foot the blame for not planning ahead This time they did They took some heat Councillors ap proved the complex unanimously in October In retrospect it was a wise decision But planning and construction of the civic centre didnt come completely without controversy There was the choice of architect which eventually led to a stormy debate at council And there were strikes during construc tion which pushed back the movingin date a few months But politicians engineers and administrators were able to overcome these problems With the opening of the new civic centre Halton Hills is now ready to properly handle the complex problems that accompany growth you havent seen it yet drop by Have a look and judge for yourself if you got your moneys worth CNE success day Nightfall is competing against other acts in the Rising Star contest The band is eyeing the semi finals for fame and fortune The semis are where the cash is the bands drummer Greg Hagan said Monday Band members are Greg Hagan Dave Haffey Mike Whaling both play lead and rhythm guitar Trevor Kemp bass guitar and Tim sings lead vocals To see how they did check out the Herald Outlook this Saturday By DEREK NELSON Thomson News Service Various groups testifying here about Bill the Independent Health Facilities Act share a com mon uneasiness They don know what the real motivation is behind the bill But whatever it is they are scared it may be directed at them And that applies to everyone from the Ontario Medical Association to the Ontario Hospital Association OHA to various abortion and natural childbirth groups Bill is being looked at this summer by a legislative commit tee The health ministry explains the need for it with reference to the new technology and techniques that make it possible to do many medical and surgical procedures outside hospitals These facilities usually fall Brian MacLeod Editor Notebook Halton Hills seems to be enjoy ing quite a successful year at the Canadian National Exhibition this year Lets see Theres Kelly Stewart of Hornby who won the Miss CNE title for last week then theres Gord Hamilton and his rooster Vera whose victory in the crowing contest I mentioned last week And then theres Nightfall Nightfall Theyre a banc of local boys who have rocked their way into the quarter finals of the Rising Star 89 contest at the Ex The contest Is being held at the He Stage Nightfall played in it quarter in Is last night Pssssst Wanna buy a castle That s right a castle There one for sale on Island in the Thousand Islands The Castle located in the St Lawrence River near is up for sale for 8 million Royal LePage reports it The castle which took eight years to build was originally used as a hunting lodge for the president of Singer Sewing Machine Frederick G Bourne It was designed after Scotlands Woodstock Castle somewhere between a doctor s of and a hospital in the types of services they offer the ministry said They are widely viewed being more community based to use the current jargon than a hospital About 20 exist today yet the ministry has not been able to fully fund these nor has it been able to ensure the same assessment of quality control as in the case of hospitals a ministry background explanation sheet said Hence the need for the act MUST PROVE NEED Except for those in existence last June independent clinics will only be able to open if the ministry decides there is a demonstrated need for the service in the com mumty Moreover the type and range of services provided by the clinic will also be decided by the ministry There is to be lots of especially with the local district health council and com bidding for licences but the final word will be uttered by Queens Park Canadian and profit groups will get preference All very nice but it doesn t answer the basic question that worries many of the groups testify ing here What is the governments policy in regard to the clinics Does it have any number of types in mind or is it simply going to approach approving new ones on an ad hoc basis As one reporter here said it is legislation without policy For example there are only two abortion climes that will automatically function under BUI 147 one being Henry Morgen taler clinic Nielsens book takes the offensive Prime Minister Brian may not be displaying any hyperactive reaction to Erik Nielsens book but his close associates are certainly making up font Even Mr Nielsen must have been astonished at the counter offensive against him Mr in commenting on the book The House is Not a Home said that revelations such as this by his former deputy prime minister are simply a matter for the authors conscience Everyone takes his or her respon sibilities in life If you want to keep a position of trust and intimate association with cabinet col leagues and write about it then you take responsibility I suppose its a personal choice Mr Mulroney didnt appear par ticularly upset when he talked about this with reporters But what one hears from those close to the prime minister a much stronger reaction It could be described as fury The speed at which reporters were being fed uncomplimentary stories about Mr Nielsen usually by people closely associated with the prime minister was nothing short of amazing Letters that would normally remain confiden tial were being read over the telephone to interested journalists The idea was to establish Mr Nielsen as a hypocrite one who raked the government over the coals for its practice of patronage but also the one who helped design the system It seems apparent that someone conducted a very exhaustive file search mediately after the startling book hit the shelves And startling it was largely because this tell all autobiography comes from a person who spent his entire political life revealing as lit tie as possible both about himself and his colleagues COUNTEROFFENSIVE It was his cntiasm of patronage that drew the most outrage from those close to the prime minister This is partly because Mr Nielsen now occupies a plum patronage post as head of the National Transportation Agency but also because he was allegedly a key player when it came to making government appointments follow the 1984 election Just hours after the book became available some reporters were given access to a letter that Mr Nielsen had written to party of ftcials in 1984 regarding future ap pointments He had written that in the utmost confidence we are selecting those people in each pro vince who will chair the Provincial Committees which will consider and recommend the course of ac tion we will take on a range of mat ters particularly on the selection of capable people Some Mulroney aides were quick to say that Mr Nielsen chaired the meetings that dealt with patronage appointments One former aide phoned a reporter to say that Ive got some numbers on Nielsen He went on to say that while Mr Nielsens cur rent salary would normally be con he happened to see a file that showed he was earning There was further information about additional perks and his parliamentary pension Other callers tried to discredit parts of the Nielsen book even in significant things such as wrong dates OUTERS INFORMATION In his book the former deputy prime minister said that his own immorality was a factoi in his decision not to run for the party leadership in He said he had an extra marital affair and the young woman whom he did not identify had an abortion Later she became pregnant again and gave birth to a son But Debbie Kelly decided to identify herself to the Ottawa Citizen as the young woman and went on at great length about her relationship with the dictator who she claims has refused to see his son Its certainly not the type of stuff that Mr Nielsen or other members of his family would en joy reading One source close to the prime minister offered information about how Mr Nielsen allegedly sought an appointment as a judge in the Yukon and Northwest Territories When the Canadian Bar Associa tion didnt approve the appoint ment it was alleged that Mr Nielsen asked the prime minister to overrule the rejection Then there are the callers who say they cant verify certain allegations but it might be worth asking about other skeletons that might be in Mr Nielsens closet One former Mulroney staffer who called a reporter with certain information about Mr Nielsens in side role in the patronage system was asked whether he had talked to the prime minister about this You dont have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out was the reply The game being played around Ottawa these days is called hard ball