the HERALD Home Newspaper of Halton Hills Established A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited Guelph Street Georgetown L7G Ontario Publisher General Manager Advertising Manager Page 4 THE Wednesday June A tight squeeze The recent fire involving rows of new housing in raises questions about modern building tices An Investigation has focused on the lack of water pressure in the fire hydrant at the site Here in Halton Hills Fire Chief Bill Cunningham said his depart will be working more closely with Halton Region to ensure there are no problems with our water supply Water is a Regional responsibility Chief Cunningham believes new subdivisions should have either a vacant lot or a brick house at every seventh house to provide a fire break We d go even further than that Today the price of land is expensive and builders have been constructing new homes so that they re almost on top of one another New homes today have roof overhangs where the eaves are less than 10 feet from a neighboring property Building houses so close together is only asking for ble The Markham fire shows how quickly and how damag a blaze can be when buildings are constructed with lit tie space between them Then- is a greater chance of a fire spreading further and faster in new subdivisions What good is it enforcing fire codes upgrading fire retardant materials and installing smoke alarms if we continue to build homes so close together Apart from the fiasco with the water pressure being low the tragedy illustrates why homes t be built so close together Take another look The Georgetown hospital board reply to town council didn offer any olive branches to a disgruntled bunch of councillors Last week board Chairman Bob Chpsham responded to a request to open board meetings to the public The boards answer amounted to a flat no The board justifies keeping to the status quo by quoting a report which found 70 per cent of hospitals in Ontario also hold closed door meetings However the board also indicates it would work with councillors to deal with items which they can report publicly A letter also mentions the chance of producing a periodic Board report for use by local new spapers But the hospital board could have gone further in easing the concerns some council members have with the tight lipped policy The hospital is entering a new period of community in terest in the facility and how it is run Most of the reasons for the increased awareness can be attributed to the case of a popular doctor who lost his hospital privileges May 7 The hospital has good doctors dedicated nurses and hard working administrators But there is a growing public relations gap People in the community the media and town council would like to know more about events and happenings at the hospital That doesn mean that people are looking for mistakes the hospital has made By openly publicizing more news events at the hospital the board is letting the community know it is a part of the institution We believe people are eager to hear about the good things the hospital has to offer This will make it easier when the hospital plans fund raising events to expand services which benefits the town Being selective about information and carefully timing news releases isn ultimately the best way to improve relations with town council and others The Board needs to take look at how it can acorn modate those wanting to know more about happenings at the hospital Rainy days and Mondays Mitterand has easy act to follow Poor Russ Hamilton of Street In Georgetown He had what could be loosely termed a bad dnv Monday The victim of an injury called paratroopers heel Mr Hamilton is temporarily hobbling on crutches There will be a Pol Luck supper i tour around the set of the tele ii on series The Campbells If you never loured the Seotsdnle farm don miss the chance 11 of the places be mfia sunset stroll An If you want to become a men r of the historical society send in your to Box Georgetown Canada Region our population has grown from 883 in In in Thai a per cent While visiting a doctor in downtown Georgetown his car was ticketed on a back street for being il legally parked Mr Hamilton claims he wast t aware of any no park ing signs on the street That mistake cost him Then a bit later in the day he went into a restaurant at a Street plaza for a coffee with his wife He decided to use a handicapped parking space because of his injury and the effort it takes lo move on crutches This time he was hit with a ticket Some days you can win Pat of the Physically Hnn Citizens Association said Mr Hamilton could have purchased temporary handicapped permit for at the town office All It takes Is a note from a doctor Remember the good old days If you do and want to learn more about the past Esqucsing Historical Society is holding Its June 10 meeting at Farm near Balllnafad only 380 people In the pasl five years The town population at in or a 1 1 per cent Increase Milton has grown by 14 1 per cent during the same time and Oak lie by 15 per cent Burlington by com has only Increased by 1 per cent Overall Vaughn Ontario is the fastest growing municipality in Canada It doubled its growth rate to 119 per cent A Campbellcvillc man is taking Region to small claims court In Milton today Wednesday for That what It cost Ted an dcr Veen to have the front end of his 1084 Rabbit realigned after hitting a pothole on the Guelph Line just nor ill of Highway last November Ministry of Transportation studies have found roads to be In poor shunt calling them On a worst Whew French President Francois Mitterrand has come and one and miracle of miracles nobody seems offended Well not seriously offended It would be unrealistic to expect any French president or premier to visit this country without somebody somewhere wishing he had said something else done something Use or smiled somewhere else If I were the president of France I would place Canada at the bottom of the list of places lo visit Come to Ihnk of It Mr Mitterrand probably did His lustconcluded officio visit was the first to Canada a French president since General dc Gaulle roared Vive It Quebec in That was not a happy occasion And in the meantime we have hj nearly years of constant irrita involving the Ottawa Paris Quebec City triangle much of it decidedly sill some of the Muff of toddlers reached Us peak of absurdity during the heady days of the Parti government when then premier Rene got mous enjoyment out of being treated like a head of in Paris Actual enjoyment probably came mire from Ottawa furious rcuc Pierre Trudcau us prime did not chuckle much Ottawa Report about this which in turn probably made Mr Levi que chuckle a great deal more Anyway the game developed into a bizarre spectator sport the being to see which government the federal or provincial got the best treatment by France We counted the number of trips lo the various capitals who spent the most lime with ll various leaders whose red carpel was longest And of we hung on every ward for hint of favoritism UK HANOI- Mind you this has changed dramalically ince the election of the government in Quebec and the Mulroney government in tawa As they say in relationships between Canada and France have been normuli ted But old habits die hard And when President Mitterrand took the plunge and came to he pro bably knew full well hi- trip would represent a study in the behavioral sciences Every sentence would be scrutinized every nuance Inter puled and in all probability misinterpreted Admittedly General Gaulle en that Mr Mitterrand had a fairly easy act to follow All he had to do was say Vive Canada which he did and he was guaranteed a standing ovation which he got Because he said this in Pari la and because he didn t say anything offensive to anyone his 40- speech Rot raie reviews not lo mention headlines was hap pily overlooked was the foci that us speeches go this one listed sharply toward boredom Bui yes there was the odd com plain Several Montreal newspapers noted with a touch of disappointment that during the en tire minutes Mr Mitterrand once mention Quebec Tut tut It take long for the visiting president to correct any misconcep tions thai might have arisen over this The next day he was In the Quebec legislature and not once did he utter the word Canada One commentator In Quebec City noted that the camera angle in the legislature t always focus on Ihe Canadian flag but then there was no Quebec flag anywhere in the Citizens forum Does death penalty work There is only one Question that needs to be answered during the death penalty debite does it work Is Capital Punishment a general Not wlthstan ding the view of some of the public the experts by in large say no it does not delcr Does it enhance the moral fibre of Canadian society Some of us might disagree but the majority of a ay diminishes our moral standard Can the death of one person atone for the death of another No it can not Nothing can Can we say thai the majority of informed voters favour the return of this measure A recent Gallop poll showed that since there has been discussion on this issue over the past six months those wanting the return of the death penalty have significantly dropped The more this debate becomes public and people are informed of the facts the more Canadians will sec Ihe futility of the death penalty Can degree murderers be rehabilitated 1 and my lion have over the years worked with many men who have murdered including some sentenced to die We know from our experience that many can go on to become rcspon citizens Surely a mark of a civilized progressive country Is to be to turn some of those who have commuted the most despicable of acts Yours sincerely JeffWilbee Director St Leonard Society of Canada MPs concerned over VIA changes The following letter addressed lo Ihc Minister of Transport John wan for publication In Ihe Herald Dear Minister We the undersigned Members of Parliament continue to be concern about proposed changes lo the VIA Rail schedule on the Toronto- George town Kit Stratford London route The proposed changes were an without consultation with the very groups established to discuss such matters Further there was no attempt beforehand to meel with the mayors of the municipalities involved or the transportation people of municipalities to see if there was any way in which services could be used to help facilitate and promote VIA Rail semes would appear to us that no ac count has been taken of the growth In area the economic activity of the urea and the market opportunities presented by the VIA Rail seems to know how to tut costs they have not investigated in business like way the other side of the ledger namely how to Increase Income As members of Parliament for the regions involved we urge you instruct VIA Rail to delay the changes our local Unison cam transportation authorities have had lime to discuss these matters fully with VIA Rail in an effort to increase ridership reduce costs Yours sincerely Harry MP Perth John McDermld M BramptonGeorgetown Waller McLean PC MP Waterloo JohnHcimer M Kitchener William Wlncgard MP 10440 residents took challenge On behalf of our department I would like to take this opportunity to thank 10 440 residents of Hal Ion Hills who supported the Part lei pact ion Challenge May Special thanks are owing to the William Company for their contribution of telephone lines staff from Work Tint Body who volunteered her time answer the phones sports groups schools and the local media who gave us and support Joanne Wilson Recreation and Parks Department In your opinion Are you coping with the heat 1 NUT Its nol bad 1N I weir black now I shorts I and light tops wear baggy sweat look at the women shirts so I don Yesterday was very swcit as much If vcrj hoi lxik it the you wiar you sunburn I got We re feel hotter slaying in Ihc base ment whrc It HAWKINS It from TON Fine 1 love ercat jasl come fotindland In he We ve been out of tin pool 1 of summer waiting six months well get for this It final we I g t nut of ly here 1 no no As llu house lots complaints ah soon m dry 1 of juice anil w my none In if iln si oris Don I Just an or you just Ottawa visit Fair Is fair As constant reminders that he was spending only hours In Quebec during his fiveday visit the president had a ready answer He would be hack in Quebec City this fall or the francophone summit STILL SPEC I suspect that the presidents Canadian speeches were written rewritten and rerewritten before he ever mounted a podium He d be ly aware the consequences of say referring to Quebec as a nation or a country or placing Mr Bourassa name ahead of Mr Mulroney or vice- versa On the other hand he could not ig rare the reality of Quebec being a largely French speaking province that has always had a natural afflnl with France His remarks were beautifully crafted I want to reaffirm tonight importance and value France at laches to Ihis relationship a which transcends boundaries without ignoring them He talked of Quebec being a special place an expression which would offend no one And he also mentioned there should be a new encounter between Quebec and France Since that could mean anything to anybody it was also Naturally after using the word special in the FranceQuebec con text the president had lo assure a Toronto news conference this didn t mean French trade would be steered away from other provinces This being Canada such clorifico loins are always necessary par ticularly after the president complimented Montreal business community Compliments like federal government contracts have to be spread evenly In fact Mr Mitterrand did such a good job of keeping things even that one Montreal newspaper called the visit spledidJy ordinary And for a French president visiting Canada there can be no higher praise 30 years ago Peler Canham and Barbara Aleut were named best high school cadets by J Barber at the annual Georgetown High School Cadet Inspection and march held In the park Dr Charles Best codiscoverer of insulin and head of the famous Banting Best Institute at the of Toronto Just returned from an lenglhy lecture tour to spend a few days with his sons Sandy at Greenock Farm In the outskirts of Georgetown Donna Mae of Inglcwood married Floyd Bud on June 1 The new Mrs Varey was given two showers by Mrs Steven and Mrs Dennis Wright and by Lou Kline of Brampton Mrs Somervill Acton was re elected president of the Women Institutes at the 56th District Annual meeting in United Church years ago Georgetown celebrates Its anniversary with three days worth of celebrations The festivities begin with a beer garden at the armoury on Friday and end with a fireworks display at the fairgrounds on Sun The Georgetown Sluggers clubbed the Gophers In the Tball league Mike and John Scott stood out as Slugger top hitters The University Women Club had a successful nook sate on the weekend Eleanor Langdon was dec led as president of the new ex ecu live with Donna Denlson and Shirley Scott serving as first and se cond vice presidents Mr and Mrs David celeb rated their wedding an versa on Sunday Attending the celebration were their two youngest grand children Derek ana Brent Presswood 10 years ago Hopeful ticket holders crowded Memorial Arena last week for Ihe telecast of Draw Memorial was Ihc first Ontario arena to be restored from grants There were no apparent win tiers among the crowd Fourteen Georgetown Athletes will compete in the Track and Field Championships In Sud bury this weekend Some of the Athletes who well at the regional meet in Brantford Include Ion Clark In the 1500 and 3000 metre races and the Junior Girls relay squad of Meredith McLaren Heather Clarke and Claire Galbrallh placed second In the 4X100 metre race Twenty three track field records were set at Centennial Public School annual meet Chris won the Junior Girls hurdles and Linda Ferguson won the Senior hurdles 5 years ago Eleven scouts served as extras for a Japanese television production last week The film Viva Canada Is about a Shlba dog named Goto Ap pearing In ihe film from Ihe First Fourth and Eighth Georgetown scout were Jeff Walker Tristan Sones Gurry Bull well Jimmy Clark Scott McLean Michael Greg Bairslow Terry Drydcn Scott Webb Craig and Andrew Soward Aclon was left off map literal in an Ontario map released by the Ministry of Transportation headed by MP t James Snow