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Smith accepts a Valentine from a gallant Troy Nolan The Valentine party at the library Friday evening had in a romantic mood Board asks Province for dollars The province is sending too many educa tion demands and not enough money to That is the message Hal Ion Board of Education trustees sent back to Ontarios Ministry of Education last Thursday Weve had enough Ha lion Director of Education Em Lavender said after read ing an eightpage motion and argument to trustees at Burlington is calling upon Ihe province to increase its financial and other types of support for local education or reduce its demands for programs That would mean more local decisions regarding programs The boards message to the province is not a reaction to the recent announce ments by the Ministry of Education of cutbacks on grants to local boards from Ontario This was prepared before in formation on grants came out last week Mr Lavender told trustees This board can no longer heed contra dictory memorandums from the ministry he said Obedience to the first memo makes impossible obedience to the second The ministry generally urges boards to expand services while also urging finan cial restraint Mr Lavender acknowledged ministry grants have in creased since 1970 however These in creases in dollar have not kept pace with inflation and the gap between increasing cost of present programs has been or will be widened by the implementation of addi tional Ministry expectations he said He paraded several examples and their costs for trustees Minister of Education Bette Stephenson whom Mr Lavender excused from some of her ministrys actions recently announced there will be changes in The Education Act which are to make mandatory special education course A recent ministry memorandum defines students with learning disabilities in such a manner that possibly half of the pupils could qualify In connection with another memorandum concerning class size the combination could cost the report states Another of the provincial ministrys expectations concerns religion education For about a decade the ministrys position concerning religion education has been unclear according to Mr Lavender A recent ministry memo calls for an hour of such Instruction elementary schools each week But states the ministry provides no training for teachers no curriculum guide unlike other subjects no resource materials and no help in pre paring teachers The price tag for that expectation is And there are more The cost of ministry expectations would run about according to figures in the report Proposed changes in The Education Act this spring have potentially devastating effect on local mill rates and on Ontario taxpayers Lavender writes Board trustees passed a motion to the ministry asking that no new programs be added without lessening the load in some place Part of the petition asked for provincial recognition of the boards right to pick or turn down new ministry programs Halton is also asking the province to hold up on the mandatory part of the special education memo Further the board is asking the ministry to put a freeze on changes to provincial legislation specifically on special educa tion until the full financial implications are determined and until there is a long- term Ministry commitment to finance the increased costs Halton vicechairman Bill Milton Ward told trustees another ex pectation has grown out of the one for equal education He said that phrase seemed to imply equality of results Per haps we have to return to the realities of life Everything is not equal out there including education Mr Lawson said Eighteen PagesTwenty Cents One Hundred and Fourth YearNo 33 ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 14 OMB approves corridor ICG ponders appeal The Interested Citizens Group ICG is down but not out in Its efforts to halt Ontario Hydros 500kV transmission line through Hills The ICG is recovering from the initial shock of last weeks decision by the Ontario Municipal Board OMB to allow Hydro to connect the last link of the controversial corridor through Hills The ICG Hills and Region have until March to appeal the OMB decision to the Ontario cabinet Today the ICG is planning its next moves which may In clude a division court case The OMB in its nine- page decision directed Halton Hills to amend its official plan and bylaw to permit the utility cor ridor The ICG Halton Hills and the Region pinned their arguments during Januarys eight- day hearing at Georgetown on the for mer Township bylaw which banned large corridors Esquesing is Incor porated in Holton Hills It the decision does not surprise me ICG chairman Bill Mann said Monday The OMB seems to be like many other government groups It just rubber stamps Not the most enlight ening decision is how ICG spokesman John Minns described the work Some will Im sure say they knew what the results would be But I looked at it optimistically because of the way the evidence was coming Minns went on to say his op tun is stemmed from a belief there was still a chance for the to uphold the wishes of citizens Minns criticized OMB members H E Stewart and E Dyer for permitting Ontario Hydro to split its case It is not normally the way a case before the OMB is presented said the ICG spokesman Ontario Hydro lawyer John Parkinson per suaded the OMB at the his presentation of evidence Minns testified at the hearing concerning the need for the corridor No alternative route hearing he proceeding correctly in proposed throughout the hearing The evidence has convinced us that the connection is necessary and the subject route will minimize the Impact on the area as much as pos sible states the The town region and Davis ICG meeting expected soon Premier William Davis office is scheduling him for a meeting with Halton politicians and representatives of an antihydro corridor group though the Ontario Municipal Board OMB recently kicked some of the pins from under the group Arrangements for the meeting which result from an exchange of letters between Minister of Energy James Auld and local Julian Reed are still being made Premier Davis supported proposal to Reed of a meeting which thought may Include chairman Jack and Halton Hills mayor Peter The premiers support came in a letter to Reed but it makes no mention of participation by the premier Reed checked with the premiers office concerning dates and said Monday in a telephone interview he has every reason to believe the premier accepted the meeting While trying to nail down time and place for the meeting Reed is also endeavoring to include representatives of the Interested Citizens Group ICG The ICG is long time opponent of the proposed BruceGeorgetown Ontario Hydro transmission corridor The OMB last week cleared much of the legal way for Ontario Hydro to proceed with construction or the final link of the 103- mile line through Halton Hills So far as Im concerned the premiers letter and our followup tended to confirm the premier agreed to the meeting Reed said The meeting is expected by Reed to take place after February That Is the earliest date from Davis office citizens group stressed the need for uptodate information on any line through the area All three also called upon the board to permit on Hydrostudy of alter native routes The OMB decision gave Ontario Hydro what it wanted most the line and an early decision Opponents asked the board to delay its decision until the Ontario division court heard a challenge from the ICG and the town to the authority to hear Ontario Hydro matters That case may hear in late March Meanwhile emotions are mixed concerning the actions of the Legisla tures select committee on Ontario Hydro affairs MPP Julian Reed expres sed disappointment with the defeat of a motion which would have called upon senior Ontario Hydro staff to answer charges made by the ICG at recent committee hearings Linked to Reeds motion was an Invitation to former minister of energy Taylor to testify Taylor resigned the ministry after exper iencing troubles in controlling it During his Continued on Pago 2 Heart Fund canvassers are ready for the big half of Heart Month Canvasser Vic Br is tow and Sue Robbing found Barb Robinson In her aunts home at Willow St North aunt Marguerite Tayloi knocking Acton was Mrs Robinsons was not home when canvasser en me Photo by ERIC Janice Ellerby top graduate Janice was the only Ontario Scholar from Acton high school for the first semester of Ihe 1B7B79 school year Miss earned her standing with on 5 per cent average In grade Other grade 13 gradu ates were Paula Nancy Scott and Nancy Shoemaker Six students graduated Janice Ellerby from grade 12 They are Sharon Cunningham Cathy Biffis Lesley Scott Ingles and Sandra Carter LeeAnne Clarke Splinter Shopping plaza meeting tonight It could be a real showdown tonight at the Acton high school at a public meeting at concerning the proposed shopping plaza at Churchill Rd and Highway Halton Hills councillor Mike Armstrong Is expected to chair the meeting which will hear stories both for and against the plaza The shopping centre has come under mucn controversy in the past few months with some local mer chants and residents opposing It and some in favor The public meeting was planned last month when parties from both sides demanded to be heard at a council meeting although they were not on the agenda Heated arguments ensued before the meeting was suggested by developer Jerry Pamphlets advertising Ihe meeting have been circulated around town asking for a huge turnout tonight Third time Leishman Park fate in OMB hands again The fate of solicitors and notaries Park is once again in appeared before the the hands of the Ontario councillors asking Municipal Board That was the dec bio n of the Halton Hills General Committee members Monday evening after Bruce Payne of Payne Smith Smith Campbell and barristers decision on the lands future Mr Payne ex plained he has been in volved in the parks fate since 1960 Last June after a third reading of a restricted area bylaw 776 was given and notice of ap- Driver claims no recall of car dragging woman The driver of the car which dragged a woman several yards along Main Street turned climbed a curb returned to the road climbed another curb then pinned a man against a truck told provincial court he was uncons cious at the time Leslie Winter was convicted on a charge of dangerous driving by Judge Douglas Latimer Thursday at Milton Mr Winter Maria Street was re manded in custody until February when a presentence report is expected to be completed Then he will be sen tenced The defence agreed with the facts presented by the Crown relating to the Oct incident which saw the then 18- yearold pedestrian Karen Cooper Main Street dragged by Winters car She suffered a broken ankle scrapes and bruises and a long cut to the back of the head She used a cane to get about in Court but neither she or 10 other crown witnesses were called be cause the facts were not questioned The man who was pinned by Winters car Ken Elliott suffered only a bruised knee court was told Judge Latimer ordered present ence report and had Mr Winter held with the knowledge the man may lose his job at Building Products of Canada Ltd The judge told the court the case was very serious and involves drink marijuana and drugs After the conviction Judge Latimer heard testimony from defence wit nesses as part of the evidence to deter mine sentence Mr Winter testified he consumed three beers and shared two marijuana cigarettes with three other people be fore he took the wheel of his car which was parked in front of Sunoco outlet on Main Street I backed onto the road put it the car into drive and then my vision went blurry and I blacked out Mr Winter said The next thing I remember the car was stopped and there was a com motion outside Iwastoldldhitaglrl I panicked he said Mr Winter also told the court this blackout was similar to one he exper ienced about two months prior to the accident He said too he experienced occasional dizzy spells before Oct No drug was involved with the first blackout Mr Winter told court He however did not seek medical attention regarding it He sought medical help after the accident Defence attorney Robert R Calla han Brampton told Judge Latimer the Winters car was thrown off the side walk and that the change of direction from south on Main Street to cast on Church Street was not a deliberate left turn more of a Immediately prior to getting into the car Mr Winter talked to Herman Paul sen who told court he noticed nothing unusual about Mr Winters behavior He also he was not aware of Mr Winter ingesting narcotics other than marijuana Crown Prosecutor Brian Calhoun introduced a forensic report which stated there was evidence of an ad ditional drug other than he mari juana discovered in Mr Winters urine Mr Winter he does not know how the other drug came to be in his body He drank one of the beers with a friend at the Dominion Hotel Mr Winter said he left the table for about five minutes to go to the bathroom The crown withdrew charges of care less driving and impaired driving against Mr Winter plication to the was circulated to area residents the resulting reaction saw town staff and area residents meeting to discuss the matter In July three objections were lodged by 45 people against the bylaw to the park land to residential Following the meeting it was found necessary to do a review of the past history of the parcel including a year title search by the town solici tor In a report to Ken Richardson clerk ad ministrator from J Kropf deputy planning director it was noted the land in question is almost one acre bordering Mill and Acton Blvd The pro perty was donated to the town of Acton in 1946 by John and and Darwin and Helen Cripps and is listed as park and ploy- ground according to an owners certificate appended to the plan The deed the memo said contained no right of reverter should the land not be used for park pur poses An hearing in An OMB hearing In ing portions of the school- denied permission to grounds in the area this rezone the land from results in a ratio of seven parkland to residential acres of neighborhood The matter was again parkland and playground brought before the per population in 1967 and once again compared to the official at that time plan standard of two permission was not acres per 1000 Council granted should be aware that If a A newspaper article passive park is desired appearing in he Acton the Bo vis Park property Free Press in is available and in our reporting on that par ticular hearing stated that the rezoning would again be recon sidered when the land surrounding the parkland was developed More recently the report stated a petition by area residents requesting the town to develop the land as a pas sive park was referred to the planner for a report Following consultation with the town engineer and director of parks and recreation the planner recommended a residential development be considered rather than a park The report continued Those plans are now fully developed included the conveyance of 38 acres of land Bo via Park to the town on the ruled it be left as cast side of Wallace St park land north of Division Includ- has superior site and locational character istics to those of the park Staff also pointed out In the report that the disposition of Leishman Park is related to the acquisition of acres of land adjacent to Prospect Park On March council resolved to trade the MM St property zoned residential for lands on Elizabeth Drive which are the subject of a draft plan of subdivi sions Based on the findings in their report the report noted the staff could see no reason to change their mind3 and to alter the conclusions and recom mendations reached In a planning report in In our opinion lands are inappropriate for active recreational Continued on