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the HERALD THE HERALD Wednesday June 1991 Opinion page 11 Compromise between factions could benefit Georgetown Two meetings on the issue of housing were recently held at the Halton Hills Civic Centre and members of the public who at tended the meetings sent one clear message housing inten sification is not wanted The phrase housing intensifica tions means the introduction of new housing in established neighborhoods It also implies the housing types introduced to an existing neighborhood are medium andor hi density Georgetown resident Ernest Ball who attended both meetings said people oppose housing intensification because the idea strikes fear in them In creasing the housing density of a neighborhood will likely change the neighborhood for the worse people say People seem to have this prediction of the idea that neighborhoods develop over a long period of time and if they are forced to change overnight because of housing intensifica tion the neighborhoods character will suffer Ironically I find a lot of the same people who oppose housing intensification have no problem with the type of higher density housing that could possibly be established in Hills At one of the recent meetings various designs of semidetached houses and townhouses were displayed and a lot of the com ments from the public related to the attractiveness of the designs If my observations are correct concerning peoples attitudes towards intensification then it follows that peoples fears about higher density housing is un justified as long as the type of housing suits the neighborhood Bens Banter by Ben Dummett for where it is being proposed For example take the type of housing that should be located on the Maple Avenue property in Georgetown corresponding to the addresses 333 and Maple Avenue The people living in the neighborhood have said the only type of housing acceptable for Political Forum this property is singlefamily homes because the neighborhood is comprised of this type of hous ing The developer Burlington- bas ed and Associates is pro posed two multistorey con dominium complexes The potential clash is evident but it could be resolved in a way beneficial to the neighboring residents the developer and the Town Multistorey condominium complexes dont jive with single family homes However tasteful ly done townhouses reflecting the architecture of the area would probably fit In this sense both parties should be willing to compromise Not only will both sides create a project that is good for the neighborhood but also a greater number of people living in the neighborhood will benefit the downtown Georgetown business When people talk about protec ting the Towns heritage the downtown area is referred to as an area that must be preserved The only way downtown Georgetown will prosper is if more people have reason to visit it Increasing the surrounding areas population base will therefore be a first step in realiz ing this goal Instead of standing off against each other the Maple Avenue area residents and the developer should work together to find a compromise that will show inten sification shouldnt automatic il ly be feared In fact if done pro perly intensification will benefit the Town Ottawa Report Canada provides peace and opportunity to citizens Canada Day 1991 Where is this country at right now Where are we going For starters it isnt hard to see that were in some trouble and have been for most of the last year If people were content they wouldnt have thrown out the On tario government and installed the first socialist one If they were content the federal govern ment wouldnt be so low in the polls If they were content we wouldnt have a property tax revolt going on If the people were content we wouldnt have two new federal parties that will only run candidates in French or English Canada No we have big troubles The economy is still hurting despite falling interest rates The na tional unity crisis is if anything worse a whole year after the Lake Accord went down in flames A lot of people are turned off the political system Others are blaming politicians for thunderstorms and nasal condi tions You will not read it here that the federal government or any other government for that mat ter has got all the answers It doesnt If there were simple solutions to our problems then the problems would have been fixed long ago But for Canada Day lets take time for a look at all the good things we get from being in this country These thoughts im mediately come to mind Despite todays economy we still have the secondhighest stan dard of living in the world Thats not bad for a country with the largest population We have people smart enough to invent the telephone time zones the snowmobile and in sulin We have a far superior health care system than the Americans and it costs less to run it No country in the world pro- Garth Turner MP Progressive Conservative vides more rights and freedoms to individual citizens We can go anywhere say anything worship anything and succeed or fail ac cording to our own abilities We are completely self- sufficient in food energy and water Canadians are both respected fighters and peacekeepers We fought and won in the Gulf and then returned to maintain order By and large we have clean Queens Park Report water air you can breathe and soil that grows things We also have a plan to make Canada the most environmentallyfriendly country on the planet Peace We have the opportunity to live in a country of different languages and cultures The native peoples enrich us Quebecois enrich us We have cities that work Police forces who serve not repress Governments that are always ultimately accountable to the people Democracy We have a caring society which produces volunteers for baseball games and hospitals Education that is available to everyone Cheap electricity Good roads Untapped natural resources Unparalleled natural beauty Unrivalled opportunity A history of compromise rather than revolution Tolerance and not bigotry Com passion and understanding when it has been most needed Canada as a confederation will soon be years old Some say it has never been this troubled But others especially those who live elsewhere look at this country and see some of the above To live in Canada is to live in a country where you will find peace and op portunity When you think about it that alone places us in the worlds elite This Canada Day for me at least will be a time to celebrate what others envy what we sometimes lose sight of in our daytoday cynicism We spend too much time looking down at the scuffs on our shoes and too little time poking at the journey ahead This year your country needs you It needs time and patience It needs repair It needs understanding With that life here can only get better Happy Canada Day As a former consultant for the development of nonprofit and cooperative housing I was par ticularly interested in the release of two consultation papers about housing policy by Housing Minister Dave Cooke and Minister of Government Services Fred Wilson earlier in the month A Housing Framework for On tario deals with an overall framework for housing policy while Government Land for Housing examines the potential to utilize governmentowned land for housing The components of our housing strategy include increasing the supply of af fordable housing especially non profit and cooperative units using surplus government land for housing increasing the quality of life for people who live in public hous ing On June conjunction with the above strategy the Minister announced million to fund Partners in Housing a program to support community- based nonprofit housing groups housing cooperative groups and housing advocacy organizations And as I mentioned last week Dave Cooke also appointed a commission to examine the rela tionship between public and private interests in land use plan ning Housing and development have been and will continue to be important issues in Halton North and I hope that you will New NDP housing policy open for consultation Noel Duignan Halton North New Democratic Parly carry out energy audits on the nearly 8000 government buildings and facilities to recom mend energyefficiency im provements several steps will be taken to help industries improve energy productivity and to reduce their energy costs the EnergyEfficient Com munities Program will en courage communities themselves to identify what needs to be done to help people save energy in their homes and businesses and emphasis will be placed upon education in order to pro mote energy conservation and ef ficiency among students and teachers These programs should also en courage a whole range of business and manufacturing op- portunities in the energy field Please call my Milton office at 8781729 Tuesdays through Fridays with your comments about these programs or if you need more information on them take an active interest in the con sultation process In other Queens Park business Energy Minister Jenny Carter introduced amendments to the Power Corporations Act designed to help Ontario Hydro undertake more effective conser vation measures and to make it easier for Hydro to follow the governments policy directions The following week the Minister announced specific programs toward the new energy direction one based on protection of the en vironment and reduction of energy costs Ontario Hydro has been called upon to speed up its efforts in con servation and in controlling de mand for energy more products will brought under the regulations of the Energy Efficient Act which sets performance standards for new appliances and energyusing pro ducts in Ontario Ontario Hydro will continue to