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HERALD Wednesday October 10 1990 Page -Columnists- Vandalism is a community problem There are get rich schemes and then there are get rich schemes But one of the wackiest and stupidest has got to be stealing pennies from the bottom of the reflecting pool outside the Halton Hills Civic Centre One thing is certain dividends from this moneymaking venture wont be seen for a very long time I guess people who consider the towns reflecting pool as a sea of have a profound sense of the concept long term financial planning As the saying goes count your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves Right about now you are pro bably asking yourself what is he talking about and understan dably so Well it turns out some town residents for whatever reason have been stealing pennies from the pool I hate to state the ob vious or what is the obvious for most but long term financial planning aside those who believe their fortune will be made this way better be believers the second third fourth life Its easy to joke about the mysterious disappearance of pen nies from town property but this act of theft is a trivial example of the vandalism problem currently facing the entire town While some people may think foolishly they are getting rich by pulling off the big penny heist the entire town is poorer as a result After hearing Bens Banter By Ben Dumnwn Department of and Parks Director Tom Shepherd last week that there have been more than acts of van dalism to town property over the last three months town Mayor Miller estimated the total is close to when the cost of man hours for repairs of included An exaggeration perphaps but the fact is the cost of vandalism such as the damage that was recently done to a pay telephone located at the Georgetown fairgrounds ultimately costs town residents The mayor requested earlier this year that Mr Shepard prepare the report to publicize the extent of vandalism in town as a way of in forming the public about this serious and costly problem Since everyone pays for vandalism it makes sense everyone would want to help solve the problem There is only so much town staff and police can do Halton Hills prides itself on be ing a community in the true sense of the word well heres a chance to live up to this reputation The Mayor has suggested the town post signs throughout the community informing the public about who they can call if they witness an act of vandalism This is a step in the right direction but for it to work residents must cooperate Cooperation has its benefits a financial reward for anyone who provides information that leads to the conviction of a vandal is the ob vious benefit but in the long run a reduction of town expenses will mean less of a burden on the citizens come tax time Guest Column Senate actions threaten Canadian system By TOM BAM A MEd The Canadian Constitution call ed the British North Amenca Act of 1867 was patriated from Westminister and became known as the Constitution Act of 1982 To begin to understand the Senate some basic facts should be noted The Senate is also called the Upper House the Red Chamber red decor or as members of the House of Commons call it the other place The Senate is based on the four regions of Canada The West Ontario Quebec and the while the House of Commons is based on representa turn by population The British North Act stipulates that each region will be accorded 24 seats In 1867 Ontario Quebec and the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 12 joined to form Canada with a senate chamber Later 24 seats were assigned to the West 1 seat each to the Yukon and Northwest Territories and finally when Newfoundland joined Canada it received seats Today there are 104 seats in the Senate with the following breakdown Mantimes 24 Nova Scotia New Brunswick 10 and PEI 4 Quebec Ontario 24 and the West 24 Manitoba chewan Alberta and BC Territories 2 and Newfoundland According to Section Si no pro vince shall have less or more seats than it has in the House of Com To become a senator a person must be over 30 years of age but not more than years must have real property worth at least be a Canadian citizen must reside in the province for which the per son is appointed must take the oath of allegiance and there are no education qualifications After 1965 all senators have to resign at age 75 Senators receive these fringe benefits per vear plus per day for showing up free postage free telephone calls free transportation and parking generous pensions an office with secretary and the latest equip ment low cost meals in parlia cafeterias low cost hair cuts shoe shines long holidays etc In order that legislation can become law it must pass the House of Commons elected the Senate appointed and then be signed by the Governor General appointed These three divisions make up parliament The composition of the Senate is as follows Liberals Conser vatives Independents 4 Reform Party 1 and Independent Liberal 1 The dilemna we face today con cerns the House of Commons with a majonty of elected Conser vatives have passed a few legisla tions bills and these are held up by the appointed Liberal dominated Senate The senators have vowed to defeat one of the Conservatives key pieces of legislation the Goods and Ser vices Tax GST The senators can pass amend delay indefinitely recommend alternatives or vote against any legislation passed by the House of Commons The leader of the Liberal Party has requested the Liberal dominated senate to kill the GST bill In our system of democracy the party which wins an election especially with a majority of seats is entrusted by the voters to carry out a programme during its man date of years It is held accoun table in a subsequent election for its action Thus Prime Minister and his Conservatives will have their in court The Senate since they are not elected has no mandate reverse or obstruct bills dealing with the raising or spending of Senators are not dependent for their office on popular support and cannot claim to represent the will Tom of the electorate in any situation All bills dealing with money are the sole prerogative of the elected House of Commons If the Senate defeats the GST bill this it has serious implications for our system where unac countable senators can do as they please Senators who have been ap pointed over the years have been friends of prime ministers workers and supporters of the par ty in power previous candidates to have lost elections members who have resigned from the House of Commons members who have been sitting in the House and those safe seats are needed for chosen candidates and lastly people with certain expertise Because of the action of the pre sent senators the Prime Minister has invoked Section 26 of our Con In essence it states that if at am time on the lion of the Governor the Queen thinks fit direct hat or members be added to the Senate the Governor General may by ac tion appoint 4 or qualified persons as the case may be representing equally the four divisions regions of Canada and add to the Senate accordingly The Queen it is sa should ex erase the power only in the event of an actual collision of opinion between the two Houses and when the Senate could thwart and frustrate the governments ability to function and only when the ex would supply an ade quale remedy Our present practice is that the Queen never becomes embroiled Canadas affairs because Canada is a sovereign nation She depends on her constitutional experts on the advice of her representative and her chief minister before a decision is taken For Prime Minister Mulroney to get his programme on track he has Invoked Section followed the necessary procedures and has ap pointed senators which brings the total Conservative member ship to These additional appointments do not fall within the designated allotment They are over and beyond the regional senators which come from the provinces The Fathers of Confederation knew what they were doing when Section was included in the Act even if it took wars to use it They could foresee an intran sigent Senate The question of whether elected people can tell elected peo pie what to do was settled in 1926 in what is known as the KingBvng Affair In this case Prime Minister King elected called upon Gover nor General Bng to dissolve the House of Commons and call an election Governor General tig refused and appointed the I of the Opposition to form a govern Subsequently an inn was called and King campaigned as to who has the to conduct the affairs of the country an ap pointed official or elected people The electorate decided that the elected must take precedence over the appointed To compound the matter further the Liberal senators have shut down the Senate by walking out and letting the bells ring The rules state that the whips from the Con servatives and the Liberals must meet in the Chamber for any legislation to be passed If the Liberal senators stay away then all legislations for this penod will be frozen indefinitely Taxpayers could well demand that if senators are not the House for each day absent a of their pay will result Other questions could be put forward Do we need an expensive Senate which is accountable to no one Should wa have an elected Senate which will be accountable to the electorate Should senators have all these generous fringe benefits Senators MacEachen Frith Buckhold and others should ponder carefully as to their actions The House of sober second thought should remember that they are unelected not sovereign not responsible or accountable to the electorate It is the elected members who have the year mandate and it is they who would be judged at the next election Any senator who wishes to relinquish the safe comfortable and paid senate seat should resign and run in the next election No in power can run this country b opinion polls or holding hearings across the The poll is the poll on election day and that dav will come sooner than the politicians think In the final anahsis we should not that a verv dangerous prece dent would be created if appointed senators are allowed to defeat legislation passed by the elected representatives of the people Personal bankruptcies soar to new heights I Thomson OTTAWA Snowed under In debt 18 Canadians opted for personal bankruptcy during the first six months of ltK up per cent from the same period in iwj Another striking trend is the con Imuing limb in repeal personal bankruptcies individuals tlaiin nig bankrupts at least Hit lime Onto unheard these tasts now mount for line in in personal bankrupt lies hi No one wants to see dial moil than Waller lare I ik superintend I Clan who working as a junior use in the IlTlK and lipul Im tin years was named in ear August lo head a staff of 18 at the head quarters of Ihe bankrupts brant of he Depart ment of Consume and Corporate Affairs The branch operates regional of across the applications are trustees appointed and redi tor meetings arranged Ten ago a repeat was a thing of great eoiiieni in off sas late So ran- were iases that finals would often snspeil i iimnal il a possible Kim wars ago started quilt regular thai we nol looking al Hum so tinsel he sas we stt il we see third nit in souk im We even fifth lard debts now mount foi about per of the average debt load lare Lompaied to 10 per tent a will see seven eight or nine credit cards involved in a bankrupts And often we see more Ihan one card from the same lender But blaming credit industry for the distressing figures is too he maintains Instead the bankruptcy sstem itself mn be failing to get many debtors to accept responsibility for their spending we ve allowed the system to become a bit too passive a loo supportive of the debtors concerns And person who has not been well served because of lhat has been the debtor What we have to look at is Ihe effective use of sanctions Tlie Bankruptcy Act enables courts to dela a debtors l foi or order a lev el of repa to creditors Clare wants see the penalties us more often in the case of repeaters For two weeks each year Clare leaves the branchs headquarters for one of the regional offices and deals face to face with debtors often know its a good bankruptcy when I deal with an in dividual and I see the emotional reaction to it Youll see the pain the agony the hurt You don like to see it but you know when they look at it with that level of seriousness they are going to benefit Its becoming clear many of the causes of bankruptcy are financial and Clare says that fact has to be more w idely understood