The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

the HERALD Wednesday Octobers 1991 Editorial K ROBERT MALCOLMSON Publisher and General Manager Home Newspaper of Halton Hills Established A Division Canadian Newspaper Company Limited Guelph Street Georgetown Ontario 8772201 EDITORIAL- GIBSON Managing Editor AEi Conflict of interest Municipal election issues will take centre stage over the next few weeksleading up to the Nov 12 call to the pollsand this is as it should be Unlike politicians on the provincial or federal level often faceless names in newspapersmunicipal politicians reflect the persona of a community They can and should be seen at local events ranging from business openings to sports happenings special birthdays and part and parcel of a municipal politicians duties over and above the actual governing of a community These duties are often misunderstood or undervalued by the local citizenry and this is unfortunate By the same tokenelected municipal officials have a responsibility to their respective communitiesa respon sibility that is sometimes abused A report commissioned and recently received by the provincial government aims to end corruption in municipal politics by suggesting beefedup conflictofinterest legislation be introduced at the municipal level As it stands now individual citizens must lay a charge when a municipal politician is suspected of conflict-of- interest Of 28 cases heard since 1972 municipal politicians have been found guilty of conflictofinterest in 25 instances The report suggests mandatory penalities be imposed for a municipal politician councillors school board trustees found guilty of conflictofinterest Penalties urged include a 90day suspension from office without pay or benefits or a fine of up to If financial gain was realized the guilty party would have to pay the money back A judge would also have the right to remove the offender from public office and could even ban the guilty party from holding public office for seven years It is to be hoped the provincial government will take the reports suggestions to heart and institute appropriate legislation Community Forum How is Canada faring OLGA LAVS GEORGETOWN I dont think Canada is faring very well Things in genera arent going well for this country especially with the recession and lack of jobs GRAM GEORGETOWN Canada isnt faring well because our politicians arent flexible enough All they have to do is give a little and take a little ROB SALES GEORGETOWN I think the state of Canada is im proving People seem to be more and spending more WILSON ACTON Canada is not doing well and its because of the government Were overtaxed Theres too much red tape and bureaucracy in this country New CONSTITUTION IFiTWOftKS J IFiT ir WAS ALL HIS Peoples Forum Columnist urged to run for office Dear Editor Mr Gibsons poison pen com mentary Dont be fooled by PC proposals brought back memories of the writings of student activists in the late early 70s They wished to tear down the establishment stripp ing it of power and authority and their shrill cries were rarely ac companied by reasonable sugges tions on how to fill the void they wished to create In his propensity to condemn and to criticize rather than to create or to resolve Mr Gibson Turner objects the Editor- In the Heralds October issue editor Colin Gibson dumps on the governments proposals to amend the constitution strengthen the economy attack overlap and duplication among governments and keep Canada united Thats fine Its a free country But Gibson goes on He says politicians are brain dead and forget why their constituents voted for them Immediately after that he criticizes me for holding public meetings to gel public reaction on the governments plans These were his exact words- What a joke Now let me get it straight Mr Editor You say I have forgotten what the people of Georgetown want me to do but Im wrong to have a meeting to find out What am I supposed to do to gain public input Sit in Ottawa and read the Herald No thanks Id rather hear it from the people themselves Anil I invite everyone even Colin Gib son to join me at the North Golf Club next Tuesday evening October 15 Garth Turner MP Peel note Head the col umn Public meeting arent criticized as such More discus sion on an issue unity thai has already been talked to virtual death Is what the column was all about is not alone As Garth Turner did perhaps Mr Gibson and others of his ilk should gel down from their editorial pulpits and run for of fice They would be best suited if elected lo the opposition ben ches There they could join the bray ing pack in screaming insults at the government After all unlike the politicians he castigates who must wait until after election to contract the il lness of brain death it is arguable that Mr Gibson already demonstrates signs of its advanc ed stages Whats wrong with Town Hall meetings to give the a forum What programs would you cut or taxes would you raise to help the economy How would you mediate the disputes plagu ing the community province and country I submit Mr Gibson that while it is easy to tear down and to criticize it accomplishes nothing if it is not accompanied by the re quisite creative ideas to replace that which is destroyed with something better Yours truly Richard Georgetown Ont Mulroney trashed Dear Editor To quote Brian statement in the Kitchener- Waterloo Record of September Im not going to be deterred by hooliganism So waving and smiling con descendingly he drives by the public service workers in a large limousine probably bullet pro of well protected by his security police at a cost of million tax payers money for one year to say nothing or the cost of all previous years since he became prime minister What does he consider hooliganism These people were not riding in large limousines or carrying guns merely picket signs asking for better wages working conditions and the right to bargain in good faith Security is only one of the many benefits he has bestowed on himself since 1984 and neither he or his family are worth a penny of it If he had handled his to Canada with honesty and integrity his rating in the polls would not have plummeted to 12 per cent and he would not even feel the need of such excessive secunty Yours truly Carl and Anne Arris Ontario Support appreciated To the Editor Recently I wrote to the Letters column in your newspaper objec ting lo retail item which the Menial Health Associa tion Region Branch found offensive Lo individuals af flicted by schizophrenia I am gratified lo report that since our concerns were raised Iwo of the stores which carried the offending items have since pulled thum and will not have them available for sale We believe in giving credit where due so I would like to offer our public thanks lo Robinsons and Jack for their respon sible treatment of this issue In a letter from Robinsons Vice President stated Robinsons has always worked very hard to serve our community I hope that the course of action we have taken is an indication of our strong com mitment to serve ail our customers in the best possible way Frank General Manager of Jack said Please again accept our apology Jack is sensitive to the needs of our communities across the country and docs not wish to offend anyone Finally thank you to your newspaper for helping br ing these concerns to our caring community Yours sincerely Pearl Wolfe Director