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Pages THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday April Book review Canada will have Check out these ghost writers people iron thou Id If To Kin By JEANNETTE ITRBAS Even if you are not a fan of ghost stories The Oxford Book of Cana Ghost Stories Oxford Univer sity Press pages is an interesting collection Edited by Alberto Manguel it spans almost two centuries and includes aspects of Canada s two cultures though stories by only three French Canadian writers have been in eluded The table of contents con tains a starstudded roster of EnglishCanadian writers among them Stephen Robertson Davies Timothy Findley Farley Mowat and Margaret Atwood There are 26 stories In all Ghost stones are intended to chill and frighten but Robertson Davies tale Dickens Digested is funny not only as a spoof on the genre but as a satiric commentary on the vaganes of academic life Who would have thought of Charles Dickens as a potential vampire who literally ingests a PhD student who was concentrating on him as his thesis subject Some of the stones do not have ghosts but deal with complex af and repulsions between in such as the animal scent or smell of rotted wood associated with Mr Sleepwalker in Ethel Wilson s story of the same name The smell disgusts and haunts Mary Manly the protagonist con versely little Mr Sleepwalker is attracted to her by what he terms her delicious fragrance EMOTIONAL BONDS Intricate emotional bonds of identification also appear in Timothy Findley s Dreams where two psychiatrists a husband and wife become closely tied to two pa both of whom frustrate all attempts at help The husband is afraid to sleep for fear of nightmares about his schizophrenic patient one of whose lurid symptoms finally overwhelms the psychiatrist As is to be expected in such a col lection dreams andor nightmares play an important role in many of the stories The psychiatrist wife in the story above writes in her report about an autistic child who has slipped into death We dreamed him Mavis Gallants From the District is a brilliant original narrative that turns the tables on the traditional ghost motif for here it is the dead that are haunted by the stupidity hypoensy and lies of he living The story relates three complaints lodged with the police by the dead against the living in an epidemic of haunting These constitute a devastating critique of modern society especially in the case of Mrs Ibrahim mother of 12 children betrayed and abandoned by the two people who should have helped her the doctor and the social investigator Several of the stones take place in mental hospitals a setting where delusions and distortions of the imagination flourish The most poignant of these is If There Is No Gate by Jane Rule The pro tagonist appears to be in a relative ly atmosphere for there are no walls nor gates to fence her in or oblige her to stay Yet she is filled with anguish an unsuc cessful struggle to achieve an in ner cohesion that will make her part of the world instead of stan ding desperately outside it CANADIAN A few of the stories are iden tifiably Canadian Philippe Aubert de Gaspe narrates the tale of La the spectre of the woman who murdered her hus band and lies in wait at night for unwary travellers which belongs to Quebec legend Martlets The Ghost of Lovers Lane could only be Acadian in its use of language and oral forms which comes through even in translation from French The majonty of the stories however have a more universal quality some are set in such faraway places as Africa and Bom bay All have high literary value with an inventiveness and technical skill designed to appeal to a wide of tastes Jeannette Urban a Toronto- based teacher and reviewer is a French Canadian literature specialist She teaches courses combing literature and women social history in the Department of Studies at Glen don College York University Thomson News Service in 35 years THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF H ALTON PUBLIC NOTICE Application for a Tourism Exemption pursuant to the Retail Business Holidays Act Revised Statutes of Ontario Chapter as amended TAKE NOTICE that the Council of the Regional Municipality of Halton has received an application requesting the passage of a by law pursuant to the Retail Business Holidays Act to permit the retail business establish ments currently located within the retail centre known as The Village Square located at 2045 Pine Street in the City of Burlington to open bet ween the hours of 30 p and 5 30 on Sundays and 10 30 a and 5 30 m on holidays between the dates May 20 1990 and October 14 1990 This application is in the name of the Merchants of Village Square 2045 Pine Street Upper Level Burlington Ontario L7R 2N1 The Public is invited to review this application and to provide comments at a Public Meeting to be held Wednesday May 9 commencing at 00 a in the Council Chambers at the Regional Administration Building Bronte Road Oakville Ontario A copy of this application will be available for viewing in the Business Development Department during normal office hours on any business day or prior to the public meeting on May Any interested individual or parties wishing to be heard at the public meeting should register as a with the Regional Clerk on or before Thursday May 3 Delegations to Council will be limited to a ten minute presentation All written submissions should be provided to the Regional Clerk Regional Municipality of Hplton Regional Administration Building 1151 Bronte Road Oakville Ontario by Thursday May 3 990 for inclusion in the Council Agenda Any telephone enquiries should be directed to the Regional Business Development Department at 827 2151 Milton Burlington 878 13 Halton HillsGeorgetown 853 0501 Halton HillsAaon 639 BurhngtonAldershot There is a mystique the future that appeals to everyone Crys balls cards palm readers lime travellers humans have always had a desire to predict the future Ad vancements in our ability to analyze trends scientifically have made our future gazing activities more able albeit less exotic Calling upon the expertise of over scholars from across the country the Demographic Review Secretariat created by the Minister of National Health and Welfare in 1 986 has pro duced a report entitled Charting Canada Future It details current population trends and is designed to help Canadians plan for the future Here are some projections from the report The Canadian population will peak at 1 million in the year By 086 the Canadian population will return to the the cen sus million All provinces and with the exception of Ontario and Quebec will continue to grow steadily at the national average Ontario s population will grow more quickly than the rest of the country Quebec will also continue grow but at a slower rate than the rest of the country Canada is not alone the population trends we face are common to all western nations If you would like a glimpse into the next century please write for a copy of Charting Canada Future to the Demographic Review Secretariat Health and Welfare Canada Ottawa