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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1996 THE GEORGETOWN GEMINI GRA VIII E Fashion award for former Georgetown clothing designer Kudos to former Georgetown resi- dent, ace clothing designer Ryan Roberts, whose men's wear designs won him honours at the Toronto Awards For Fashion Design last night (Tuesday) in Toronto. Roberts took his mentors with him to the award ceremony: Donna Robbin, who taught him to sew and helped pay for classes at Sheridan College, and Georgetown High art teacher Penny Ridley. Robbin joked that she didn'thave a hard time*deciding what to wear - Roberts asked her to wear a coat she had designed that was his favourite. Mayor hosting annual Christmas luncheon The Halton Hills Chamber of Com- merce is once again hosting the an- nual Mayor's Christmas Luncheon. All businesses are invited to join in the spirit of the holiday season for lunch at the North Halton Golf and Country Club, Dec. 5, at 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. The Chamber offers this as the business community's opportunity to make new business contacts, meet old friends and hear Her Worship Mayor Marilyn Serjeantson speak on current and future initiatives en- hancing the economic growth and development of Halton Hills. The price is $25 for members, $30 for non-members (plus GST) and reservations can be made up until noon, Dec. 4, by contacting the Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce at 877-7119. Seniors Tour of Lights The annual Georgetown Senior's Tour of the Lights, sponsored by the Kinsmen Club of Georgetown, will be held Dec. 17. The Kinsmen are asking that resi- dents turn on their Christmas lights! Pick-ups will begin at 6:30 pm in the following locations: Bennett Health Centre Kin Court Coté Terrace Armstrong Terrace Sargent Court * Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 120) + Preston's (Glen Williams) + Senior's Centre After the tour, seniors will be treated to refreshments and enter- tainment at Georgetown District High School. Draws will be held for door prizes throughout the evening. All senior citizens welcome. If for any reason a senior is unable to board a bus, the Kinsmen will have vehicles available. Anyone with special transporta- tion needs or requiring further in- formation should call Jim Sykes at 877-2427 or Kevin Mulcahy at 878- 2999. eee ee Chorus celebrates A Country Christmas On Dec. 8, at 7 pm, the Halton Hills Children's Chorus will present A Country Christmas at the John Elliott Theatre. Featured as their special guest is localmezzo-soprano Debbie Tilson, frequent performer and music di- rector for the Globe Theatre. The choir director, Sharon Dutton, has chosen a piece for the Chamber Choir by the celebrated Canadian composer Ruth Watson Henderson, entitled The Barnyard Carols. HEY! "Artificial. It saves the environment and lasts a lifetime." Teresa Dzaman, Raylawn Crescent Is your Christmas tree going to be artificial or real this year? Why? "I couldn't tell you. I don't even know if ll be having one this year." Craig Schandelmeier, Main Street "Artificial. It's more economically viable." Mike DeRyck, Moore Park Crescent a "The Downtown Brain Trust members assembled recently to conduct their final session of 1996. The Trust humorist took the floor immediately to announce that Georgetown was getting a brandnew arena, completely sponsored by McDonalds. It would be called the Macarena! He followed up with a riddle: How do you make half a million African refugees go home? Threaten them with Canadian humanitarian aid! The Chairman remarked that there must be some serious items to be brought before the membership and sent the humorist out for coffee. One Trust member wondered how the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Rights could take five years to bring in areport. Surely someone in author- ity had a time clock and a whistle! He remarked that they must have talked with every individual aborigi- nal to make the job last five years. This was appar- ently the Mother of all Royal Commissions. He wondered if anyone had read the report in its en- tirety. Another Trust member said that all Canadians should have a big celebration in that Somalia had finally been relegated to back page news. He noted that Canadians are naive in these matters, in that we train some of our young soldiers to be very tough Only In Georgetown With Bill Ellis A member noted how rap- idly Greater Toronto Area mayors were able to come up with a plan for reducing poli- LC ticians and reducing duplicate services, when threat- ened with the MegaCity idea. A threat of profes- sional management in school boards also got some amazing activity. He couldn't possibly believe that he could still switch on the lights in his home after the thousands of people had been removed from the Ontario Hydro payroll. Thank God for the man with the big stick, he mused. The Chairman advised the membership that there was no truth to the rumour that Georgetown was in the running to receive a grant from Third World Better Roads Federation to assist in Georgetown's road repairs. He said it was a nasty rumour started by someone who blew a tire on a Class Three man(person)hole cover. Class Three being a cover _dropped more than six inches with broken pavement around the edges. As reported to me, the Chairman noted that this had been the only Downtown Brain Trust meeting of 1996 when the topic of Quebec was not mentioned. He noted that we should all be thankful for small mercies and wished all members Greetings of the killers. \_ Only in Canada, he lamented. McGuinty wins while Tories The provincial Liberals blundered their way to a new leader last Satur- day/Sunday. I won't go into the litany of mistakes which plagued the Grits. I wish I could point out that it's a stretch for the Liberals to expect us to let them run the prov- ince when they can't even manage a convention with only 2,500 del- egates. The new leader is a father of four from Ottawa. He's also a lawyer (oh well). He's gota great name though -- Dalton McGuinty. That sounds like a name you could vote for. Front-runner Gerard Kennedy was caught up in an "anyone but Kennedy" movement for three rea- sons I could see. First, he's a politi- cal neophyte who hasn't had the time to construct the strategic alli- ances necessary to carry a leader- ship convention: Second, he is (rightly or wrongly) perceived to be on the far left. | expected him to run forthe NDP, not the Liberals. Many party members were clearly uncom- fortable with a candidate who would lead the party to a "Bob Rae -- the sequel" status. Lastly, although he is well-known around the GTA, he's relatively unknown outside Metro. There was a danger that his main achievement, running the Toronto Food Bank, would not be as attractive out in the Hinterlands. Afterall, one wag com- mented, how hard could it be to give away free food? Once away from the Toronto media, the reaction is generally "Gerard who?" I wish Mr. McGuinty all the best. Having an energetic opposition leader will make the next few years very interesting. I feel a good old- fashioned political Donnybrook coming up. Unfortunately, MPP Frank Klees' Private Member's Bill went down Then we ship them to some embattled country and when they act tough and kill, we are shocked. Season. ciates Halton Ltd., The Way I See lt With Mike O'Leary to defeat last week. This bill would have forced health care providers to consult with parents before treating teens under 16. As it stands now, your minor child can be treated without you ever knowing it. While you have a substantial legal obligation to pro- vide for your child, the opponents of this bill want the right to interfere inthis same child's life. But, heaven forbid, they won't accept any legal obligation. I am profoundly disappointed in the Conservative government in general and with Mike Harris in particular. These are the same guys who are considering slapping finan- cial obligations on the parents of young offenders. At the same time, they deny parents the right toa voice inthe medical procedures offered to our children. Our MPP, Ted Chudleigh, was strongly in favour of this legisla- tion. I spoke to him about this bill last Friday, before it was defeated. "J love it, and I will vote in favour of it," he said, regarding the Klees bill. Ted has been working on the issue of medical treatment of minor chil- dren since last summer. That was when he learned that a Milton minor was given a measles shot against the expressed wished of the parents. In many U.S. states there is a ground swell of support for "paren- talrights" legislation. Simply stated, many parents are fed up with the Big Brother attitude being assumed Bill Ellis is an Associate Broker with Johnson Asso- Realtor, in Georgetown. ao desert parents by the state and some medical and educational authorities. Parents are demanding legislation that rec- ognizes the rights of parents to be involved in decisions involving their children. Parental obligations are also spelled out. I know first-hand the dangers of bureaucratic meddling. "The Kid" was "volunteered" into an experiment in social engineering without our knowledge. Thank- fully, we found out about it be- fore any long-term damage was done. Fortwo years I felt itneces- sary to send her to school with a double-registered letter to the Board and school principal de- tailing the type of counselling "the Bride" and I would not accept for our child. Mike Harris has changed the rules so that health care professionals (whoever they are) could today ignore our direc- tions with impunity and no fear of legal redress. I don't think that's right. Ifyou agree with me, send a note to Premier Harris, or Health Minis- ter Jim Wilson. Copy Ted Chudleigh. I can't speak for Ted but I think he is sympathetic to this issue. If anyone knows Dalton McGuinty, you might suggest that parental rights could be a good issue to campaign on. Providing, of course, he agrees with the con- cept. If the Conservatives don't want to be caught on the wrong side of this issue they' d better get off their duffs and make some positive moves on parental rights. Some kid is going to be hurt by an over-zealous health care pro- fessional. Mike O'Leary is acolumnist for The Georgetown Gemini.