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14 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2007 By Rick Bonnette Mayors Corner Report from PARLIAMENT HILL By Mike Chong MP Wellington/ Halton Hills At least one in five Canadian teens experience dating violence. Theres noth- ing romantic about getting hurtbut in fact, misconceptions about romance can fuel assaults. Unfortunately, the romantic messages around Valentines Day stop far short of helping youth understand healthy romance. Our culture starts laying the ground- work at a very early age to convince young people that romantic love is all-important. However, we often neglect to teach young people whats healthy and what isnt in romance, says Amy Obendorfer-Woods, RespectED Coordinator in Halton. RespectED is the Canadian Red Cross program that aims to prevent abuse and violence in young peoples lives. According to Obendorfer-Woods, part of the reason dating violence flourishes among young people is that they misun- derstand what violent behaviour means. Young people are particularly vulnerable to the belief that jealousy, possessiveness and anger are signs of intense passion and devotion. Studies in recent years indicate that between 20 and 30 per cent of North American teens will experience some form of physical or emotional abuse in a dating relationship before they reach adulthood. Forced sexual activity is also a problem among adolescents. One study of over 1,600 Canadian teens found 19 per cent of girls and 4 per cent of boys had experienced sexual coercion in dating relationships. Online relationships can also lead to abuse. Using Internet communication tools such as chat rooms, e-mail and instant messaging can put youth at risk of en- countering online predators. The Internet allows people to be anonymous where trust and intimacy can develop quickly online. Predators take advantage of this anonymity Valentines Day hype can fuel dating abuse RespectED to build online relationships that feel close and very real for young people. Unhealthy relationships in adolescence can establish a lifelong pattern of accept- ing violence. And for a few, this violence will escalate, resulting in injury or even death. Unfortunately, adults tend to minimize the importance of relationships among teens, Its important that we take young relationships very seriously, and become familiar with the warning signs of abusive relationships to help protect the young people in their lives, says Obendorfer- Woods. From time to time Im asked about the Barber Mill project. I thought Id use my column to provide you with a quick update. The owner has proposed to rehabilitate/redevelop the site by integrating the remaining heritage structures on site. This project is intended to house 240 apartments in 14 stories, plus another 85,000 square feet of mixed retail and commercial space. At the same time, existing heritage structures would be salvaged in a way that is intended to respect their heritage value. This proposal has drawn a lot of interest from all sides. There are a lot of issues to this proposal such as heritage recognition and preservation, natural environment, removal of contaminants, traffic impacts, and flood plan factors from the Credit. Needless to say, Council heard a variety of mixed views at the first public meeting Council had expressed concern that the heritage value of the site must be recognized, and we expressed that through our decision to designate the site as a heritage property. In responding to Councils request, the owner has submit- ted a Heritage Risk Assessment. We are now waiting for the Environmental Impact Study. This study will look at potential impacts with the natural environment, property features, floodplains, and a host of other environmental issues. This study is key, as it will assist the Council, the public, and agencies to assess the proposal. When all of the information is in, as promised, we will hold a second public meeting. * * * * * Tim Abbott, President of Georgetown Slo Pitch League, made a commitment of $100,000 on behalf of his members, to the Town. This will go towards a new baseball diamond for 2008. Much appreciated, Tim! * * * * * A couple of kids Id like to extend a happy birthday to are Ed Footitt and May Hoare, who are both celebrating their 90th birthdays. Both have played a large part over the years in making Acton a better place to live. * * * * * On behalf of Members of Council, I would like to wel- come Kelseys to Georgetown. * * * * * Congratulations to the North Halton Girls Hockey As- sociation who recently celebrated their 10th anniversary. My goodness, time flies. They started with 70 players and now they have over 530! Many of the coaches were hon- oured, including: Kathleen Bevan and Janet Garton; Andy Broadbent; Ron Patterson; Anne Marie Hann; Greg Lawrie; Jessie Clark; Judy Edgerton;Tim Lariviere; Jurgen Hack; Nick Wollaston; Don Eady; Mike Ross; Paul Morrow. * * * * * Keeping it real! I can be reached by telephone at 905-873- 2601, ext. 2342, or by e-mail at mayor@haltonhills.ca. Halton MP Garth Turn- er joins federal Liberals Halton MP Garth Turner, has accepted an invitation from local Liberals and f e d e r a l l e a d e r S t e - phane Dion, to join the national Liberal Caucus. Turner has been sitting as an Independent after he was expelled from the Con- servative caucus last year. However, he has continued to maintain a high profile. After listening to voters for the past four months, since leaving Stephen Harpers Conservatives, I have no question that this is the right move. It will help make me even more effective in Parlia- ment, give Halton more prominence, and yet al- low me to speak directly and continue to champion the causes people here want, Turner says in a pre- pared release to the media. Turner and Prime Min- ister Harper disagreed on several issues in the past year. The Halton MP re- fused to back down on his criticism of appointing an unelected senator to the federal cabinet, while lob- bying for effective climate change legislation and tax cuts for middle-class fami- lies. Turner has maintained since being elected in January, 2006, that his primary job is to repre- sent local voters, instead of any political party. As a former Progres- sive Conservative MP and cabinet minister, I believe in being careful on money issues, but also generous on social ones, Turner says. I have found Mr. Harpers party to be too far right for this community, while the Liberal Party now closely reflects those Progressive Conservative values Ive a lways be l ieved in . Turner indicated in a media conference with Dion that he is 100% prepared to let Halton voters ratify his decision in a by-election, if the prime minister calls one. He challenged Mr. Harper to have similar by-elections in Mississauga-Streets- ville, where MP Wajid Khan recently defected to the Conservatives, and in Vancouver-Kingsway, where cabinet minis- ter David Emerson was elected as a Liberal but immediately crossed to be a Tory, and in Quebec for unelected public works minister Michael Fortier.. Garth Turner is an excep- tional MP, known across Canada for his passion and accomplishments, Stephane Dion says. He is exactly the kind of per- son I want in my caucus. Garth Turner Halton MP Garth Turner joins Stephane Dion and Liberals Environment tops govts priorities I would like to take this opportunity to update you on some of our environmental plans. As I have previously written, last October we in- troduced our Clean Air Act in the House of Commons. This legislation is still in front of the House. We are currently working with the New Democrats to see if we can agree to amendments that will strengthen our environmental plan so as to secure their support for this important piece of legisla- tion and ensure its passage in the House of Commons. However, the Clean Air Act is only one part of our overall environmental plan. Last fall we also introduced our Chemicals Management Plan. This is a tough new $300-million plan to curb the use of toxic chemicals in Canada. Our government will prohibit chemicals known to be particularly toxic, while other chemicals will be tightly controlled. The plan, which will be implemented over four years, focuses on chemicals that are harmful to human health and the environment. For example, substances found in stain repellents and flame retardants will be affected by the new plan, as could the chemicals found in ordinary products like plastic bottles or the coating on kitchen utensils. While the chemicals in many prod- ucts we use daily dont pose an immediate threat, some could be harmful if allowed to accumulate in the body over a long period. Rick Smith, who heads the Canadian advocacy group Environmenta l Defence, applauded our governments plans and said, Its a great step to bring us up to the level of the kind of programs were already seeing around the world. While banning toxic chemicals will be expen- sive, it is vital to the health of Canadians. Our plan is the first of its kind, going beyond initiatives in Eu- rope and the United States. We have shown leadership on this file by categorizing 23,000 legacy chemicals, which were introduced to Canada in the 1980s, before the government started do- ing strict risk assessments of new chemicals in 1994. Under this new plan, our government will regulate some of the legacy chemi- cals we have categorized. Our plan will also re-evalu- ate the safety of 200 older types of pesticides to ensure they meet standards. As well, our government will also strengthen the list of contaminants under the Food and Drug Act, and we will also make disclosure of ingredients mandatory on cosmetic labels. These are initiatives that will have a real impact on our environment and our health. For more information on our governments Chemi- cals Management Plan, please go to http://www. chemicalsubstanceschi- miques.gc.ca/.