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Page THE HERALD Wednesday January 18M MP is back in the capital Well Im back in Ottawa this week as Parliament resumes sit ting for what will likely be a marathon session And coming back here with me are the voices of a lot of people who took the time to speak up Last week I held two Town Hall meetings one in Glen Williams and the Bolton They were amazingly similar In both cases people packed the hall by the time the meeting started all the chairs were full and people were lined up two or three deep at the back of the room Ive now held 14 of these meetings over the past 15 months and these last two were the best at tended the noisiest and the most intense For a couple of hours on each night people held me accoun table for the actions of the govern ment the GST spending cuts the deficit the Quebec situation agricultural policies and the en vironment Hell I even got blamed for the Arrow incident in I was ten at the time I wont kid you standing at the front of the room is not easy But its my job As tough as the questions and comments are it is stilt a honor to be a Member of Parliament Last week I got heckl ed and I got applauded so I guess it kind of evened out Last week I wrote here about my brochure called You be the Finance Minister which was sent around to every home An initial flurry of response came in from a number of people who did not see this as an attempt to involve everybody but as more govern ment waste Since then hundreds more peo ple have sent in their national budgets and its been wonderful I cant believe the work which has gone into scores of them Almost all of returns are in meticulous detail and are accompanied by long and thoughtful letters spelling out why budget decisions were made My office has been dishing out extra copies to people who are holding Finance Minister par ties group discussions on national finances held for friends or neighbors Classes are using the brochure for a school project The response everywhere has pleased me no end This is my idea of what democracy should be On one hand Ive got the finance minister of Canada anxious to find out what decisions regular Canadians would make about the countrys- spen ding And on the other here are hundreds hopefully soon thousands of people in Georgetown Acton Burlington Bolton and Caledon putting in the time it takes to tell him MYGENEDVTION Fashions For The Young At Heart MAIN ST S GEORGETOWN Acres From Knot Church Passive Reducing Exclusive Ladies Salon it Paraffin Wax Frankly there are some wonder ful ideas coming through One taxpayer Rob Sylvester of Georgetown brought his com pleted budget to the Glen Williams meeting Included was a masterful suggestion that we create a na tional mortgage out of the existing public debt with repayment terms which would pay it out over years When he described this concept to the crowd they spontaneously applauded him which he richly deserved This and other ideas which are coming forward I in tend to discuss specifically with Wilson There is a lot of creativity out side government People are con cerned about the future of Canada and they have the skills to improve it For too long politicians have pretended to have the comer on wisdom telling the people they knew what was best But for the past 15 years those same politicians Tories and Liberals alike have continued to run deficits borrow against the future and get us to a point where we owe vast amounts of money I know that average people did not ask for that I know they want the situation fixed and are willing to do their share to accomplish that The people who came to my meetings and who are taking the time to devise budgets for me real ly care about Canada Its easier to stay at home and watch television or to throw my brochure in the trash when it arrives in the mailbox Its easy to condemn the government and to assume that your voice does not matter Its easier to retreat into your own backyard when facing the big pro blems of the economy the poten tial breakup of the country and the environment saying what can one person do But that attitude is exactly what threatens us along with the at titude some politicians have that they know better than those who elected them Sometimes I am accused of ask- ing for too much input And I wont defend myself Events of last week proved to me again that I can have no better ad visors than you The meetings and the mail just pumped me full of energy This week in Ottawa I know exactly why Im here Sure the polls are lousy and weve got some tough legislation to face But that doesnt matter I went home away from the self- importance of Ottawa and I felt the electricity of the people Thank you That power will not be wasted Young parents can get support in special classes Are you a pregnant teenager Do you know someone who is A new session of seven prenatal classes specifically for teens begins Feb offered by the Young Parents Support Services and the Public Health Depart ment Pregnant teenagers have special needs and concerns that will be addressed in these classes Being part of a group with other teens gives them a chance to share their feelings and discuss their fears Participants discuss what its like to be a preg nant teen and a teen parent and what options they have Besides preparing for labor and delivery and attending a hospital tour group members also learn about community resources and assistance available for teen parents The first three classes are for the expectant mothers only and the coaches- who may be the babys father a friend or a relative are invited to the last four classes Volunteer coaches can be provided for support dur ing labor and delivery if needed Transportation to the sessions can be provided from anywhere in Halton Pregnancy counselling is also available through the Young Parents Support Services For further information call Susan Stuart at 8445502 GOT 10 MINUTES ARMSTRONG AVE 8778394 ONEIDA 5Piece Place Settings Great Savings On lamous Oneida Silverplated and flalw arc- Plus Free Ice Cream Scoop With Purchase of four Place Settings COMMUNITY VERPI ATE Suggested Suggested SALE Retail 4800 LTD STAINLESS Suggested Suggested SALE Regular totf SAVE 1881 R ROGERS SILVERPLATE Suggested Suggested SALE Regular Retail 3300 HEIRLOOM 188 STAINLESS Suggested Suggested SALE Regular Rettf SAVE Suggested Suggested SALE RetTI 6000 COMMUNITY 188 STAINLESS Suggest Suggested SALE Regular Rei SAVE DELUXE 188 STAINLESS Suggested Suggested SALE Regular rw SAVE 3200 1280 5Plece Sellings FREE Ice cream reg retail nine with purchase el foursPiece Place Selling OunlimLnW Completer seis FREE DELIVERY PHONE ORDERS ACCEPTED ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED 227 main street HOURS 9 am 6 pm Thurs 9 am 9 pm