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Winter of discontent As this column is being written, I am sitting at my desk watching gusts of wind push tiny snowflakes through the air. Given that for me winter ranks right up there with root canal, I apologize for not jumping up and down excitedly, catching snowflakes on my tongue. I don't recall always hating winter. As a matter of fact, as a kid, I seem to remember enjoying it (I was a pretty stupid kid). Back then, seeing the first cumulative snowfall was something to be cheered. It meant that we could pull out our toboggans, and race to the crest of the hill at the ravine at the end of our street. There kids would meet, even those who normally didn't associate due to age differences. After all, what 12-year-old would lower himself to associate with six- and seven-year- olds? Once we mastered the "baby hill", it was time to move on to a much more daunting task -- "the big hill," which was on the other side of the ravine. To get there meant having to cross a tributary of Silver Creek. This tributary, 8" deep at most, is so small it doesn't even appear on the map of Georgetown. However, crossing it was important to us because it meant we were almost there -- almost to the most feared hill in the area. The big hill! Looking back, it's a wonder that those of us who conquered "the big hill" are still around. That we are not confined to wheelchairs or debilitated by excruciating back pain either speaks to dumb luck or to the fearlessness and resiliency of childhood. Childhood memories ... Still with our winter theme, Karen Wetmore, editor of The Acton Tanner, and I were discussing how nature often takes a cruel turn this time of year. We both recall, as kids, assembling our respective costumes weeks ahead of time, modeling them and waiting anxiously for Halloween, Oct. 31. You can bet that, just days before the big event, the weather would take a turn for the cold. Both Karen and I can remember the disappointment of having to cover up our carefully constructed costumes with winter jackets and snow pants. The streets were teeming with youths whose bodies were desperately out of proportion to their costumed, masked or painted heads. The end result made it appear that, in the netherworld, even the mothers of ghouls and goblins worry that their progeny might catch a cold. Remember fallen heroes Next Monday we will honour those who gave all they had so that Canadians could live in peace, free from tyrannical oppression. 2 On the beaches of Normandy, the cliffs of Dieppe, and Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen fought bravely, ultimately winning a bloody war, though the costs were incredibly high. I've stood on Victoria Peak where Canadian and British 'soldiers were shot by Japanese invaders. Not far from there is a memorial to Allied soldiers who fought for the liberation of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Chinese hold the site as sacred. Like the Dutch, many Chinese, have chosen to make Canada home. Why? Could it be that we showed them our values in that we were willing to fight a war defending people we had never met? i Who wouldn't want to live in a nation which holds freedom so dear that its citizens are willing to give their lives to protect it? The View From Here. With Jamie Harrison Jamie Harrison is a reporter for The Georgetown Gemini. THE GEORGETOWN GEMINI WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1996 As your Doctor, Monsieur Bouchard.... lrecommend that you have the growth on your buttock removed before it gets too nasty and inflamed. 'ETTERS Cut now, pay later Editor's Note: The following open letter was filed with The Gemini for publication. It was addressed to MPP Janet Ecker, Minister of Com- munity and Social Services, and to Halton North MPP Ted Chudleigh. To the Editor, This letter is regarding Ontario's Child Care Review. We are very worried about the proposed reduc- tion in grants for staff wages. Par- ents paying full fees for child care services cannot be asked to pay even more to cover the loss. Fees are very high as they are now. Wage enhancements were imple- mented to avoid qualified staff from leaving a very poorly paid job. Be- fore those grants existed, day care teachers were the ones subsidizing the system. However, that is not the only problem we see with the Review. The fact that fewer parents will qualify for subsidies will put more parents on welfare. Also, ifrecreational and YMCA/ YWCA programs obtain subsidies for summer programs there will be fewer children coming to our cen- tres. And to have more school-aged children looked after at home child cares will have a direct effect on centres like ours, offering a before- and after-school program at two lo- cal schools. While this seems to benefit the taxpayers (we are all taxpayers one way or another), the fact is there will be fewer dollars going to the economy of Georgetown, as several day care teachers will have no jobs. We already saw this when the Re- gion had to freeze subsidized spaces to compensate for the loss of 20 per cent of JobsOntario dollars. We have a 30 per cent vacancies rate now. We hope the Crombie Report will bring good news for all of us, at the local, regional and provincial lev- els, to help raise healthy children who won't require more expensive correctional services later on in their lives. Lucy Quaglia and staff at Moore Place Day Care, Main Street, North Keep promises: NHADH Editor's note: The following open letter to Halton North MPP Ted Chudleigh from the North Halton Association for the Developmentally Handicapped was filed with The Gemini for publication. To the Editor, At our Annual General Members meeting, our Association unani- mously passed the following mo- tion: Whereas most developmentally handicapped adults' sole incomes are from Provincial GAINS allow- ances; And whereas the Province is re- sponsible for providing basic medi- cal and dental services and prescrip- tion drugs for such persons; And whereas the government has publicly made a commitment not to reduce benefits to the disabled in carrying out its objective of reduc- ing public expenditures; And whereas the government has violated its commitment to the disa- bled by requiring the disabled pay a portion of their prescription fees from their current basic GAINS al- lowances; And whereas this severely un- dermines the quality of life of those with disabilities who need regular prescription drugs; Therefore, we demand that the Ontario government honour its promise to the disabled by restoring full payment for prescription fees incurred by the disabled. We believe that you should be advocating for the best interests of the most disadvantaged person in society. We request that you bring this concern to the attention of the caucus and government, and advo- cate the full restoration of benefits for such persons as was promised. Bob McTavish President, NHADH SN IINI Publisher & Editor Paul Nolan Office Manager Linda Hayes Editorial Staff Kyle Goodlet Jamie Harrison Frances Niblock Joanne Stevenson Advertising Staff Lynne Buscher Trish Henry Production Staff Kim Konarzycki Distribution Manager Marie Shadbolt Regular Contributors Bill Ellis Eve Martin Steve Martin Mike O'Leary Alex Tough THE GEORGETOWN GEMINI is published weekly on Wednesdays by Wicklow Hills Publishing Co. Inc. Mailing address: P.O. Box 145, Geor- getown, Ont., L7G 4T1. Phone: (905) 877-1113. Fax: (519)853-5040. Geor- getown administrative office: Per- sonal Secretarial Services, Unit 47, 360 Guelph St., L7G 4B5. Reproduc- tion without permission is prohibited. Ideas expressed herein are those of the author only. AD SALES: Publisher is responsi- ble for errors in advertisements to extent of cost of that portion of the space occupied by erroneous item. PHONE THE GEM: (905)877-1113 FAX THE GEM: (519)853-5040 wewveveveeree