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THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, Nov. 12, 1993 ~OPINION 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 354 845â€"3824 Fax: 845â€"3085 Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 lished every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, at 467 rs Ad., Oakville, is one of the Matroland flsgaPub ing Distributing The Oakville Beaver, Ian o]'iver Pu'b liSher El‘:egroup'ol suburban newspapers which includes: Ajaxâ€"Pickering News Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Guardin, Georgsionmt Iependant Adion Froe Prese, Norman Alexander Editor . Kiogor ths zons on on Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager ja News, Newmarketâ€"Aurora Eraâ€"Banner, North_York Mirror, Oakville Bsavgr. Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby This Week, Pelesomrgfuoh This Week, Richmond Tim Coles Production Manager Hill hIanu?shan Liberal, Scarborous . All material published in the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyfl?gtAny reproduction in whole or in part of this materia! is strictly forbidden without the consent of the publisher. Get with it Halton It is both satisfying and somewhat disheartening to witness the latest developments at Halton Region. Luckily, the thrust of the satisfying developments appears more consequential than the predictable but disheartening bickering and buck passing among councillors. In a nutshell, it‘s the beginning of budget time again at Halton Region. But Monday, in a sweeping statement, regional chief administrative officer John Burke indicated that new avenues of financial cooperation are being persued with other public bodies, such as lower tier municipal governments and the area school boards. If true economies of scale and efficiencies can be realized by such cooperation, it would mark a sea change in the way governâ€" ment does business. This news would be as good as it was unanâ€" ticipated. It remains to be seen whether any tangible benefits will come from the plans now in preliminary stages, or whether it‘s just another grandiose government agenda doomed to failure. But the thrust is right, and timely. Virtually all private sector organizaâ€" tions have made deeper cuts than government, although, through such measures as the Social Contract, government has begun, at the municipal scale, to effect rationalizations. What Burke was indicating was that more is to come, and that if entities such as Halton and the school boards don‘t do someâ€" thing themselves, something will be done for them, or rather to them. Now to revisit the disheartening aspect of initial budget delibâ€" erations Monday. Regional councillors can‘t seem to decide how to handle this, and they end up quarrelling in a silly manner over procedural issues because they can‘t. It erodes their public credibility. Halton has a budget committee and three standing committees â€" committees which handle the dayâ€"toâ€"day affairs of regional government at the elected official level. Monday, at its first meeting to grapple with 1994 finances, the budget committee members dithered over whether they should do anything or instead just foist the whole debate back onto the standing comâ€" mittees. Basically the same discussion cum argument took place last year. It was silly and counterâ€"productive then and it is silly and counterâ€"productive now. How can you take people who are supposed to be juggling a $200 million annual capital and operating budget seriously when they can‘t even decide what approach to take to meetings on such weighty matters? Worse yet, they repeatedly can‘t decide. Hopefully councillors, who are bound to be confronted with some wrenching financial changes as the process unfolds, will begin evaluating their difficult choices more soberly soon, rather than becoming bogged down and sidetracked. e t c Should the Provincial Government remove j betting on NBA games from the Proâ€"Line lottery. Cast your ballot by calling 845â€"5585, box 5008 to vote. Callers have until 12 noon Thursday to register their vote. Results of the poll will be published in the next Friday edition of the Oakville Beaver. 1 N F 0 CALL845â€"5585 RESULTS OF LAST WEEK‘S POLL Do you think the NDP and Progressive Conservative parties should be given offiâ€" cial party status in the House of Commons? Yes: 12 No: 34 Dear Sir: It is a shame that, after we have spent years of working hard to conâ€" centrate on issues rather than personâ€" alities, your reporter, Barb Joy, chose to begin her November 5th article â€" with "Cathy Matsumoto is moving out but Mayor Ann Mulvale is movâ€" ing into the area in Bronte that some residents maintain is detrimental to their health". Does that mean I am a hypochonâ€" driac quitter, or that the Mayor has extremely poor judgement? This is a much larger issue than any two peoâ€" ple moving. It‘s no longer "just some resiâ€" dents" â€" our Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Nosal, agrees that The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be signed and include the writer‘s address and phone number. Letters should be typed, doubleâ€"spaced and addressed to: Concentrate on issues â€" not personalities the area is detrimental to health. His conclusion to the Regional Health and Social Services Committee regarding The Petroâ€"Canada Health Effects Study was, in part, "We believe that this study supplies eviâ€" dence that low level pollution can be a cause of short term health effects such as breathing problems and headaches. It can also negatively affect the quality of life in the comâ€" munity." Curiously, it wasn‘t until the tenth paragraph of her second story on the Health Effects Study that your reporter bothered to quote the basic *conclusion of the study, "refinery odors had negative impacts on selfâ€" reported health and quality of life of Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 j f\%%h. people living in the vicinity of the refinery during the period of time considered by the study." Everything written up to that point implied that the study was inconcluâ€" sive. : It is the study that is important, not the personalities. > This study is unique in Canadian epidemiology and supports what area residents have been saying for years. It will, certainly, reveal their priorâ€" ities if Mayor Mulvale and Ward 1 councillors Kevin Flynn and Ralph Robinson continue to support packâ€" ing even more residents into this unhealthy area next to the refinery. Cathy Matsumoto, President I CARE Wrong time for soccer complex Dear Sir: After reading Michael Lansdown‘s letter in your issue of Nov. 3rd, I decided to attend the Saturday mormnâ€" ing meeting at The Sir John Colbome Centre. I expected lots of similarly enraged taxpayers to show up, but the meeting was not very heavily attendâ€" ed. Apathy scores again. However, there were several voices against the project for various reasons. My main objection is on financial grounds. I also do not like the request to include a bar, which would be available for the use of parents who are driving children to and from socâ€" cer practice and matches. It may raise funds, but at the risk to our young of driving accidents and of being taught that mind altering drugs are essential to the enjoymient of sport. 6° ® In essence, the club wishes to build a substantial enterprise on Town land, mostly at the expense of the taxpayâ€" ers, for the benefit of a very tiny perâ€" centage of the Town‘s population. The meeting was told that the club has some historical claim to the use of the land (they were there before Shell gave it to the Town), and are providâ€" ing some money of their own, but it appears that the majority of the startâ€" up and building cost is Town and provincial funding, plus free Town land. Also, it seems likely the Town will coâ€"sign the club‘s mortgage to the bank, so if the club cannot generate sufficient revenues to meet ongoing costs, the taxpayers will be stuck... again. In this time of economic downâ€" tum, hardships are being experienced 4 and sacrifices are being made by many, resulting in strong pressure to stop tax increases, stop government borrowing and overspending, and look to means of reducing overall taxâ€" ation levels. Quite simply, we can no longer afford to subsidize any special interest group in startâ€"up costs, or be exposed to picking up the tab if they fail to generate the required ongoing income to run their operation. There should be higher priorities for tax money right now. There is another council election due in a year, November 1994, and this could become an issue Townâ€" wide, not just in Ward 1 (Bronte). Council members who wish to be reâ€" elected should bear that in mind and kill this proposal now. Christopher Anthistle