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Home Newspaper of Halton Hills Established A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited Guelph Street Georgetown 3Z6 Ontario K ROBERT Publisher and General Manager COLIN GIBSON Managing Editor Phone DAN TAYLOR ROB RISK Advertising Manager Sports Editor Mall Page 6 THE HERALD Wednesday July II Editors Notebook The Good Ship Lollipop By COLIN GIBSON Herald Managing Editor It certainly is reassuring to find out that Canadas ship of state referred to in some quarters as The Good Ship Lollipop is in such good hands How else do you explain the re cent revelation that a House of Commons Committee has in principle a in crease in travel allowance for MPs meals hotels and other ex penses Once the proposal is given final approval and who is going to bite the hand that feeds it the pro posal will represent an increase of almost 30 per cent in MPs expense allowances This would be added on to the MPs already get as a tax- free allowance and coupled with an MPs basic salary of The ordinary taxpayer will once again be left holding the bag emp ty of course Maybe these guys are suffering from an overdose of Saccharin New Democratic House Leader Nelson was quick to defend the proposed allowance increase was quoted as saying the money will come from other cuts in Commons spending Thats fine Nelson but the or dinary taxpayer is still the one footing the bill and when was the last time he got a tax break It also cost the public million in to fly cabinet ministers and bureaucrats hither Colin Gibson Chretien wrong to lay low and yon spreading glad tidings This is up million from 1986 Nobody qualified for Frequent Flyer coupons I suppose But back to the New Democratic Party the supposed champion of the common man The doesnt want to rock the federal boat just now because its making hay while rain pours down on Canadas parade Statistics from the chief elec oral office show that NDP fun raised from Canadians nationwide last The Progressive Conservatives tapped Canadians for while the Liberal party collected the paltry sum of from 19970 Canadians To borrow from the country and western song dont let your babies grow up to be cowboys OTTAWA If these were normal times one could readily and the logic of Jean Chretien ing low for the summer giving Canadians a chance to reflect on the country s difficulties and then gradually building a full head of steam for the next federal election But these are not normal times and the new Liberal leader can ill afford to stay out of the limelight The limelight is in desperate search of a target Its not that Mr Chretien had ever planned to lie on the beach all summer and do nothing But from everything we hear his energies will be devoted largely to rebuilding the party organization from the riding associations up to head office Of course he will take time off to campaign two August byelections one in Montreal s Launer Ste Mane and the other in Oshawa But he has no immediate plans to seek a Commons seat himself nor does he plan to plunge into the cur rent constitutional All along the plan has been to maintain a relatively low profile ensuring that he doesnt become too familiar too early thus saving a fresh face appeal for the next elec tion Normally if would be a good strategy And since Mr Chretiens deafening silence on policy issues was so successful in bringing him the party leadership last month can argue with success But to repeat these are not nor mal times And if the new Liberal leader doesnt enter the tional debate with some fresh ideas its possible even his own followers will become impatient Procedures must be followed for communities to survive One shudders to think what might happen to some poor lost soul wandering innocently along Maple Avenue toting an axe or horror of horrors a chain saw He might be tarred and yellowribboned and run out of town on a log cabin An exaggeration of course But really too farfetched as the vitriole continues to mount between prospective developers in Halton Hills and citizens who want to have their community remain unchanged Perhaps not To develop Halton Hills or not to develop in Hills and at what pace That seems to be the issue at the centre of the debate And as in most debates pros and cons abound on both sides Hills Town Council and in turn Mayor Miller are being pummelled by both sides and this is un fair Certain procedures have been in place for some time now concerning development in Halton Hills and they are being followed by Halton Hills Town Council Nothing underhanded or against the law has occurred and de velopmen t proposals haven t even reached the public hearings stage as yet Yet proponents from both sides of the debate are already rising to the call of arms A bit premature one might offer The procedural system must be allowed to run its course without being along the way Thats why we have procedures and elected officials must follow them as the voice of the people The citizens of a community are the ones who decide at election time how they want their community to be governed at the present time and similarly how the com munity will adjust to future needs A communitys history tradition and cultural heritage should be protected It gives a community a sense of stability and a source of pride to be passed on to future generations That stated however the abovementioned as with other things can also fall within the category In the eye of the beholder This begs the question Who makes the final decision in such a case Development is also important for the health and well- being of a community Housing has to be available for a community to attract new citizens A burgeoning population attracts business and secondary industries thus adding tax money to the coffers of the community But when does development get out of hand resulting in the suburban squalor so often seen in many United States communities And who pulls in the reins The answer to the questions posed above is the same The elected officials who follow procedures implemented by previously elected officials No amount of behind the scene lobbying or rabble- rousing should be allowed to interfere with the voice of the public We are after all a democracy with the wait There is right now a desperate need for new leadership at most levels BAD TASTE The depression has not only left a terrible aftertaste it has removed the sheen from many of the political leaders who took part in that tortuous exercise And no one has lost more sheen than Prime Minister Brian Mulroney He not only instituted the whole business he built it into a nation- making or nationdestroying op tion and when it failed he stood accused of manipulating other first ministers The nasty warfare of finger pointing has rais ed the stature of absolutely no one Even the most sympathetic observers agree that the prime ministers voice lost moral authority and credibility after the accord went down the drain As Ot tawa and Quebec prepare to go to the bilateral negotiating table one But the accord that divided the Liberal party is dead Whats divided now and in danger of dividing even further is Canada itself So far a confused nation is not responding Trouble is no one knows how to respond An even bigger problem is theres no one who seems capable of inspiring any response With Mr Mulroney busy licking his wounds with the Liberal op position led in Parliament by a sincere but uninspiring Herb Gray with the New Democrats rising to new levels of irrelevancy its time for a fresh appeal Mr Chretien is in the best posi tion to offer this having just become leader of the traditional governing party He doesnt have to offer comprehensive solutions no one can at this stage but as a probable future prime minister he should be demonstrating some form of leadership At least show us hes there During his years in Parlia ment the little fellow from always had a knack for making Canadians feel good about themselves Lord knows we could use a dash of that right now The new leader should grab the first opportunity to get into the Commons and show us his stuff The country is more important than the next election