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THE HERALD Wednesday September 19 Page Opinion Blame the province for Planning Act defects If there is one subject that has dominated the pages of the local press during the past few weeks its the publici apparent dissatisfaction with how develop ment projects in Halton Hills are evaluated People dont have to look any further than the recent surrounding the development proposal just outside BalUnafad to see that this is true Regarding the development ap plication process that Beechbrook has been subjected to I wrote an article that appeared in the Aug issue of the Herald in which a resi dent s group opposing the develop ment argued the town s planning process is unfair to the public If it was fair argues Nancy Muiholland a spokesperson for the group the town s planning depart ment would have submitted the let of concern it received from the residents to the Niagara Escarpment Commission NEC when asking the commission to comment on whether the conformed to the commis sions plan She points out that the NEC voted against the application only after the residents had given the NEC their letters Six months earlier it the NEC voted 12 to 1 in favor of the develop ment At that time all the commis sion had was a report from its staff supporting the application in pnn Ms Muiholland argued the letters gave he commission a truer picture of the development s impact on the surrounding area The town therefore should have submitted the letters to the NEC and in this way the commission wouldnt have appeared to be con trading itself First of all the commission was acting as a commenting agency and under the provinces planning act which governs municipal plan ning departments the town was not supposed to submit the letters to the NEC or any other commen Bens Banter By Ben ting agency If the town disregarded this rule for the residents it would only be reasonable for the town to disregard another rule for the developer This line of argument begs the question why then have any rules If the residents or any other member of the public has a pro blem with the towns planning department as it pertains to the provinces Planning Act they should attack the provincial and not the local government That aside I think Ms and the residents have a legitimate concern It seems reasonable that a commenting agency can only assess the ap propriateness of a development ap plication if it first considers all concerns Its on this principle that the town evaluates a development application In my opinion the planning department Is required to ask for comments from outside agencies and the public before making a final decision on whether to support a development proposal to ensure it bases its mon or all the relevant facts If this argument holds true the NEC decision based on the residents letters is valid if the commission was assured the issues raised in the letters were valid As I understand it the commis sion held a 10 minute recess to read the letters when it considered the application for the second time On the basis of reading the letters for 10 minutes and a presentation by one of the residents the commis sion overturned its original deci sion and voted to oppose the development application The letters highlight such issues as the availability of water and the destruction of farmland In dealing with such serious and possibly con troversial claims I think it would have been more appropriate if the commission had deferred making a decision until its staff had in vestigated the claims Instead the NECs action now leaves the commission open to a criticism made by town Mayor Miller that the commission was bowing to a special interest group and not representing the public at large In my opinion the commission if anything voided any of the con of the residents that may have been valid Surprise selections could highlight NDP cabinet By PAULINE JOHNSON Queens Park Bureau Thomson Newspapers TORONTO When premier elect Bob Rae names his new cabinet on Oct 1 there are bound to be a few surprises For a start if Rae follows in the footsteps of Premier David Peter son with a cabinet of members then about half of the contingent will have to be brand new MPPs who won office in the Sept tion Fifty seven of the 74 members elected have never held provincial office before Three Evelyn Gigantes Ottawa Centre Pat Hayes Essex Kent and David Warner Scarborough were MPPS until their defeat in And in eluding sat in the last legislature It is expected that the new ministers will be representative of the five areas of the province the North east west and central On tario and the Metro Toronto belt Many area already touting Floyd Nickel Belt as the next treasurer Laughren a Queen Park veteran of 19 year s standing was the treasury and finance critic in the last government and generally gave former Treasurer Bob Nixon a tough time of it But the former economics teacher also has a strong interest in labor and health issues Other northern members ex to get the nod include Bud Wilkman Lake Nipigon Howard Hampton Rainy River and Shelley Sudbury Last Queen s Park insiders are saying that Wildman another former teacher may get the education portfolio but he was strong as the partys critic for natural resources and agriculture Pouliot a passionate and em phathetic former mine worker seems a natural choice for Minister of Northern Development and Native Affairs or alternative ly Minister of Mines Hampton who came into office in the election is a former lawyer and as such has been touted for the Attorney General s job But he would do equally well in the Solicitor General s post or as Minister of Labor of Health until this election the youngest MPP in the Ontario legislature was a fiery critic of the Workers Compensation Board In the last legislature as well as being outspoken on culture and com policies and taking the government to task on behalf of the disabled Some say she would make a good colleges and universities minister but she would do equally as well as Minister of Tourism and tion Communications or even Transportation Of the other NDP members who were with in the last govern ment Ruth Gner seems almost a shooin for Minister of the Environment Richard Allen Hamilton West for Minister of Community and Social Services and Dave Cooke Windsor Riverside for Minister of Health or alternatively com and social services Brian Charlton Hamilton tain a former property tax assessor could get Ministry of Municipal Affairs or Energy and Naturay Resources Bob Mackenzie Hamilton East is the favourite for Minister of Labour and Ed Philip Etobicoke- Rexdale as Chairman of the Management Board of Cabinet Cambridge MPP Mike would make an excellent Minister of cither Consumer and Commer Relations or Education Peter Kormos Thorold is best known for his fight against the no fault auto insurance legislation A lawyer Kormos has been very cnticial of former Solicitor General Steven Offer over the new Police Act and former Attorney General Ian Scott on just about everything but court security in particular Its possible he could be made Solicitor General to make use of his legal experience It would be in novative if he was made Minister of Citizenship responsible for race relations and the Human Rights Commission or Minister of Cor Services but even after these veteran members are placed still has to fill another dozen or so jobs Bright prospects look like Zanana Akande St Andrew St Patrick Pat Hayes Essex Kent Elaine Ziemba High Park Swansea Evelyn Glfantes Centre David Warner Scarborough Dennis Drainville Victoria Haliburton Marion Boyd London Centre Alan lOshawa Elmer Buchanan Hastings Peterborough Gary Wilson Kingston Gary York East and either of the two Niagara members Margaret Harr or Shirley Coppen whose party won the tion with of the legislatures seats compared to the Liberals 36 seats and the Conservatives 20 seats said on Monday he will an nounce the cabinet on Oct He will also be sworn in as Premier on the same day Canada US anti- pollution agreement near Rennie Ottawa Thornton Newt OTTAWA Word that Canadian and S negotiators are wrapping up a deal to cut air pollution and acid rain is heartening news for all Well almost all The assurance thai the air quality agreemenl will be inked by the end of the year ending an agonizing decade of debate has the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain so enthused that the may disband The framework that enables the two countries to act on any transboundary air pollution problem including acid ram causing emissions will be rein forced by tnugh new clean air legislation approved his year by S Congress Michael Perley spokesman for the coalition explained recently that the organization s aim is In see acid ram emissions cut by per cent And the groups directors are considering winding down when that target is reached he ad ded I think it s everybody s feeling that the coalition was created to do a job and put out of business REASSIGNED At Environment Canada the conclusion of Ihe deal and the 1m plementatmn of effective controls means Alex the govern ment s director of acid ram polity will be reassigned After working on the at id rain issue for 12 years Manson is dent the control programs in both countries will provide enough pro tcclion for the environment We think we have the solution he said He expects the broad agreement will enable the two countries to deal more effectively with future pollution problems than under the hoc approach taken in the past to acid rain But form MP who headed up a Commons commit fee years ago to define he actd rain problems is not so confident Ron Irwin who returned to law dec in Mane after defeat in 1984 general election claims that nol a heck of a lot has been done People are more aware of the issue but automobiles smellers and generating stations continue to belch their corrosive exhausts he argues committee produc ed two glossy reports Still Waters The Chilling Reality of Acid Rain and Time Lost A Demand for Ac on Acid Rain that he says are still used as reference documents by students and environmentalists Perley advises those impatient for cuts in acid rain to wait a little longer If somebody sitting there ask ing Is there any change in my air yef not a dramatic one but in the next five to years there will be explains that it is not always easy to distinguish between the real progress that has been made and the posturing and fery The road understanding the issue since the signing of a memorandum of intent in 1980 has often been rough and nasty for politicians and environmentalists of both sides of the border Bunk bull neanderthal and voodoo science were somo of the lerms fired off by just one environment minister at promi ncnl Americans and their acid rain arguments Those were the White House years of former president Ronald Reagan He just wasnt interested in the issue or in cooperating with Canada to control sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions Perley said Even after Canada implemented its own controls in there was no real advance until George Bush was elected But with the groundwork and preparations of the 1980s the bilateral agreement and the new Clean Air Act came together quick ly added IOSTI The clean up in both Canada and the S over the next years will be costly In the S the estimates run as high as billion In Canada federal provincial agreements provide for 50percent reductions in sulphur and nitorgen emissions by 1994 In Ontano four of the major villains in the acid ram saga Inco Ontario Hydro Algoma Steel and now owned by Noranda have been ordered to cut emissions by 60 per cent in the same period In the S the new air act will require more than utilities to slash emissions by per cent in by the year 2000 Across North America the worlds toughest automobile emis sion standards those enforce by California will be applied by the model year There is general agreement that a major reduction in emissions wilt reverse some of the damage cans ed by acid rain Scientists say many of the 55 dead and dying lakes in Eastern Canada could come back to life but sensitive areas such as the Haliburton and resort districts of Ontano wdl continue to suffer Province given bleak review From the Ottawa Bureau of Thomson News Service OTTAWA Ontario s job market will continue to tighten through 1991 says a leading independent research institution In a bleak quarterly review of the province s economic per formance the Conference Board of Canada predicts that Ontarios unemployment rate will rise to 3 per cent in 1991 from 5 7 per cent this year and 1 per cent in The actual number of jobs will increase by per cent from million to 4 million in 1991 according to the board But the number of jobs per residents has been slipping The rate dropped by 1 per cent to this year and will drop another l per cent to in 1991 The board reports that manufacturing industries in Ontano are cut ting production as markets weaken But there has been some growth in the service sector and an anticipated recession may yet be averted if the provinces trade performance improves Ontanos economy should perform better in say the boards analysts but high interest rates and the new goods and services tax will limit growth