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ftelfclLD6MLOkSiuihayNovfiiitr3 IMOPageS Letters- Education board busing policy questioned To the Editor V A To the Editor On Thursday evening Oct the Halton Board of Education had an opportunity to vole to review their existing transporta tion policy This policy was last reviewed in and prior to that in 1979 It was deeply disappoin ting to see the Board vote ir responsibly to defer this sorely needed review yet another year a case of voting first and asking questions later The present transportation policy raises questions around the safety very young children and the very real inconveniences put upon highschool age children The Halton Boards transportation policy expects children in kindergarten to grade to walk up to 1 6 km to school children in grades to walk up to 3 2 km to school and high school students to walk tip to 8 km to school It is only when they live beyond these distances that they can expect be bussed A meeting of over Glen Ab bey parents held last June brought out the fact quite clearly that all of these parents felt that these distances were unaccep table for younger children The Glen Abbey Residents Association of over members supported the con cerns of these parents and along with them urged the Board to vote for a review of its transpor tation policy No matter how safe a route might appear to be to ex pect a or year old in Canadian dictatorship reader suggests Dear Sir As you are aware by now our Prime Minister has stacked the Senate against the will of the peo ple he now has 54 Senators to the peoples 51 but there are also in dependent Senators They are Senator Hartland Senator Daniel Lang Senator Pitfield Senator Douglas Everett Senator Stan Waters and Senator Edward Lawson in their hands lie the fate of fair taxation and democracy as we know it to- day These are indeed troubled time for Canada when the Pnme Minister refuses to listen to of the people he has told us in no uncertain terms that he has the mandate to do whatever he wants he will ram through the GST and the people will serve him and his conservative party We have to show this poor ex cuse for a Pnme Minister that this is not Nazi Germany or Com munist Russia When we elect a Prime Minister we give that person one right and one right only and that is the right to serve the people of this nation whatever other rights Brian Mulroney thinks he has at best they are insignificant when compared with the democratic rights of the people you see the rights of the people are written in blood Over young Canadians have fought and died for the rights that you and I now have for us to let Mulroney destory what so many have given their lives to protect without a fight would be the greatest insult we could bestow upon our veterans and our war dead we must never forget these words if you break faith with us who die we shall not sleep The six independent Senators can stop the S T but you have to write to them and let them know of your concern you are a Canadian and you witl make a difference please write to them now their address is The Senate of Canada Ottawa Ont K1A 0A4 no postage required If you do not like writing then send them this letter get all your family and friends and everyone who is against this tax to write if we ignore these six Senators we will deserve the GST and the dictatorship of Mulroney Sincerely John Peterborough Ont Columnists kindergarten to walk km mile or a 7 or year old in grade to walk 3 2 km 2 mdes is seen as inappropriate and as exposing children to situations where poor decisions on their part could put their safety in jeopardy A parents group from Bronte who attended last Thursdays Board meeting were also con cemed about the distances their high school age children bad to travel on foot to get to school and the length of time it took them There is a lack of public transit to the high school and as a result their children were having to walk almost km 3 miles to school every day In spite of support from some of our local Oakville trustees to review the policy the majority of the Board took the stance that a review would lead to an un wanted and politically feared in crease in Board expenditures However reviews cost nothing except time and effort It is the decisions that the Board makes based on the information and perceived needs that arise from such a review that may or may not lead to expenditures What price a childs safety By purposely voting not to be informed the Board thinks it can hide its head in the sand while pretending to be responsible to the taxpayers The Board is ac ting irresponsibly with what ap pears to be political motivation It will be a dark day in if this Board decides to save money at the expense of some grade three childs safety A look at the Separate School Board and the Peel Board of Educa tions transportation policies show they have addressed these concerns and put childrens safe ty first For example in Peel no child below grade nine has to walk more than km mile to school We again implore our elected trustees to gather the informa tion first through a policy review and then make their decisions Sincerely Drue Marriott Chair Parents Concerned About Busing Brian Bell Director Glen Abbey Residents Association Write us a letter The Herald wants to hear from you If you have an opinion you want to express or a comment to make send us a letter or drop by the office address is Guelph St Georgetown All letters must be signed Please include your address and telephone number for verification Oil price rises are historically bad news OTTAWA Your nerves are pro bably a jangle enough what with all the talk of recession higher taxes and rising unemployment but theres something you should know about rapidly climbing oil History suggests theyre bad news Thats probably no terrific prise But lest you had any doubts a check of the economic numbers after the energy price shocks of 197374 and 197980 suggests Cana dians are in for a rough in the next couple of years Recession was anticipated even before Iraq barged into Kuwait setting off the crisis that has seen oil prices double in the last couple of months Now the additional tur moil threatens to push the economy deeper into the hole was expected to have the slowest grow th rate in the next year of the seven major industrial powers Now the International Monetary Fund the world lending agency has lowered its estimate of our economic growth due to the Persian Gulf imbroglio And dont think you can expect much government help to cope with the impact of surging energy prices In the two previous shocks tawa took steps to soften the blow This time the IMF has decided to let the chips fall where they may The agency will oppose any moves to cushion consumers against higher oil pnces through subsidies or controls The decision is particularly meaningful because Finance Minister Michael Wilson happens to be chairman of the IMF board that issued the declaration Let look back a bit first to 197174 In 1973 anadi experienced its fastest economic growth in two decades Unemployment was well below six ptr cent and inflation at the start of the year was about five percent A record number of jobs Vic Parsons were created Business capital in vestment was up 15 per cent con spending was strong nous slirts were exceptional and Ottawa was running wait for it a surplus War in the Middle Last erupted in the summer Arab producers cut production and raised prices joined other members of the Organization of Petroleum porting Countries nolabh Venezuela As oil prices soared economic expansion in 1974 was halved Jobs were still being created at a healthy pace but productivity growth slowed sharply labor costs per unit of production were up per cent inflation soared to a post- Korean War peak and interest rates rose by about per cent By the end of the economy was entenng recession with an combination of inflation and sluggish growth known as stagflation Economic output bottomed out early in 1975 before recovering DISCOMFORT HIGHER Interestingly was a peak for the socalled discomfort in as measure developed by op position critics inflation as measured the consumer price index to the jobless rate There was more of the same on worse after the second oil price shock in 197980 which grew from the United States Iran standoff Oil tripled and energy costs peaked in Inflation was already high at per cent in 1980 but continued to 5 per cent the nex year Interest rates averaged close to per cent in As the oil price hikes hit economic growth tumbled It fell to two per cent in from five per cent the previous year and rumbl ed downward to the severe reces sion of when the economy shrank by nearly six per cent The jobless rate which appears to peak about two or three years after a shock came in at 11 per cent in But employers had already stopped hiring the year before Statistics Canadas help- wanted index fell by per cent in 1982 That was also the year the discomfort index soared to new heights Housing starts in were at the lowest level in two decades pro ductivity tumbled per cent the only year of actual decline since and business capital invest fell in both and the first declines since the late 1960s If the Gulf crisis is not soon resolved and repeats there could be seas ahead Israeli officials complain about double standards By DEREK NELSON World Affairs Analyst Thomson News Service Israeli officials are entitled to complain about Western hyproensy and double standards when it comes to judging the Jewish state against its Arab rivals Somehow Israel is expected to meet a Utopian standard of morality that no one dares to app ly against Arabs Note how quickly the world as represented the United Na was able to put together a resolution condemning Israeli police killing Arab rioters at Temple Mount On the other hand weeks after the sack of Kuwait began with rapine and rape everywhere with definitely hundreds maybe thousands killed the world as represented by the United is still trying to craft a resolution acceptable to everyone that would condemn Iraqi behavior towards Kuwaiti civilians Note the UN trade em bargo was in response to the Iraqi invasion not the atrocities com milted by Iraqis Is it any wonder Israeli t ion has been angry defiance Why the world can respond immediatelv to Israeli infrac tions of supposed international morality but so slowly to others is a hotly debated question One theory suggests it is a now fashioned that somehow acquires the target is Zionism or Israel instead of Jews even though the words are obviouslv interchangeable in the minds of mmv of the critics It SSI- Another explanation examines those peculiar creatures who ap pear to see life through two parallel lenses One eye is tolerant and open minded of human willing to accept and sometimes overlook even the most base actions as long as it is done by people not considered of the Western world The second lens is harsh judgmental and shines with the brilliance of moral ls Derek Nelson World Attain Analyst TMmisnNtini I reserved for West and fnends of the West like Israel Another proposition came from a former Israeli information of named Zecv Chafets in a book written a few years ago en titled Double Vision In his view it was a simple matter of access Israel was an open society where both domestic and foreign criticism had free rem Arab societies were and are closed worlds This isnt lust a matter of lack of democracy or a free press in the Arab world although that help It is that the Arabs don by rules Not are resident Western correspondents not allowed to set up shop or enter most Arab tries except under escort it is also that reporting can be dangerous Stories deemed hostile one or other Arab can result in reporters death or maybe a dozen in Lebanon alone Reporters are safe in Israel from hit men even when they savageh attack the government Probably no better example of the results that can arise from the clash of reporting in open and closed stems occurred in 1982 IGNORED In secretive Syria the govern ment the same government as today smashed the city of Horns and killed between 5000 and 15000 people in putting down a Muslim Brotherhood rebellion The media who couldnt get close to it essentially ignored the story Not many miles away and about eight mon later Israel was involved in its war against the Palestine Liberation Orgimzation in Lebanon Chris tian militia allied to Israel entered the Shatilla Sabra refugee camps actually towns and killed people more than 90 per cent of them combat age men This became a famous massacre and Israel even though it hadnt pulled the trigger took enormous blame The story went on for weeks and eventually Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon had to suc- sue Time magazine for libel to end the campaign against him Today the outrage is over shooting at an Arab holy site How many remember the two- week battle in 1979 by Saudi Ara troops to put down rebels who had seized the Grat Mosque in Mecca Later rebels were publicly beheaded Naturally reporters werent invited to either the siege or the mosque or the beheadings