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The -Oakville Journal Record, Friday, September 19, 1980 — 7 / ‘ q > 7 FL : q ' * 4 _ ' ; ; nm ain ee oe ‘ = 7 . == ee fl ~/, it "3 + Fi ef eee: Sa f a * aa i og aaa ; : F fea, . + : iin i OUR ‘thorough’ in its coverage To the Editor: , We appreciated Carol Besler’s ar- ticle in the September 10 issue of the Oakville Journal Record which in- cluded_interviews., wi and stantaneous to either the staff, the health & social services committee, or a member of regional council. We frankly would like to thank you for taking the time to tour the manor residents of Halton Centennial~—and speaking with the employees Home for the Elderly, in Milton. = We have 240 employees and 340 residents at the manor, most of whom have relatives living in the Region of Halton. There are many visitations by friends and relatives to the residents and one could well im- agine that if any of those charges made by the union business manager were true, the information ‘and feedback would be almost in- and residents about the conditions in their home. My mother spent the last five years df her life in a nursing home, in Burlington, and our family appreciated the care and attenti by the many nurses, nurses’ aid and staff members, meeting many difficult day-to-day. experiences. Locally, the citizens of the Town of Oakville should feel pleased that they have two excellent members — Many don’‘t want Laurie to quit To the Editor: Your article, Mannell; I’ve tried, It's Time To Quit in the Friday, Sept. 12 paper, has aroused a great deal of response from the com- munity. Mr. Mannell spent most of the day Saturday answering telephone calls from supporters begging him to reconsider his deci- sion to leave Oakville’s political lion’s den. While it is encouraging to know he has such a dedicated following, isn’t it perhaps time for some of them to step into the political fray? Laurie Mannell gave the people of Oakville 40 years of service; I think it’s time others gave a few years of theirs. MARGO MARTIN Burlington : Sailing course lacks ‘Ship-shape credibility’ To the Editor: In regard to the story on page 10 of the Monday, Sept. 8 OJR, Sailing Course Combats Ignorance On Water, I do hope that Keith Lacey intends to run his courses a little more ship-shape than some sailing programs I have witnessed taking place in Oakville harbor on numerous strolls there. What sort of credibility can one give to a sailing course (the one I witnessed several times was, I believe run by the yacht club) that allowed up to a dozen small sailing craft, manned by learners to practice their maneuvers right smack in the - entrance to Oakville harbor totally disrupting traffic in and out of the harbor. Sailing craft have the right of way and thus the power boats moving in and out of the entrance had to run a gauntlet of these inex- perienced sailors. Even other larger sailing craft had a difficult time picking their way through this maze. The judgment of the instruc- tors in allowing this dangerous situa- tion to happen must be seriously questioned. The instructors themselves were no shining example ’ of safety on the water. While moving around from student to student in their open run-about they were not wearing life jackets and were regularly standing upright as the boat was operated at full speed. Is this what they call teaching by ex- ample? DAVID LLOYD $ Reynolds Street Councillors Bonnie Brown and Carol Gooding on the health & social ser- vices Committee which oversees the activities of the Halton Centennial Manor. The arbitration award was receiv- ed September 8, 1980. Council has directed the personnel and treasury departments to do all possible to ex- pedite the settlement so that the employees will be receiving their new- rate for September, and hopefully the retroactive pay shortly thereafter. : It is seldom that political in- stitutions receive support and most of the headlines constitute depress- ing endeavors. Our committee in- vited all of the news media to tour the manor and I would like to thank the publisher and reporters of the Oakville Journal Record for being so thorough in this endeavor, J.N. RAFTIS Regional Chairman BlA supports downtown _ parking lot purchase To the Editor: | The directors and members of the BIA would like to go on record as being in support of the recent action by town council to acquire ad- ditional lands in the core area for parking. In a recent article reporting the acquisition of the land behind the Playhouse Theatre your readers might have come to the conclusion that it was purchased from general taxpayers’ funds. It is our under- standing that this is not the case, but that, rather, lands for parking are acquired out of revenue generated by the user of meters and parking lots. We appreciate the merit of im- plementing a user pay approach as we believe that the needs of the retailers and commercial enterprises in the downtown core can be met successfully through this means of financing. It is obvious, of course, that the in- creased assessment, which the town of Oakville will derive as a result of a thriving business district will be an added benefit to the taxpayers of Oakville as a whole. We support, too, the forward look- ing action of council in making provisions row for solutions later. It will become evident, as our down- town redevelops, that more and more car parks will be required. Eventually, it will make good economic sense to develop tiered parking and as Councillor Bird has pointecLout, it is preferable to meet the need for parking spaces by a tiered structure, rather than to fill up more and more of our downtown with-open asphalt spaces. What we would like to see happen is a low-rise high density develop- ment with small pockets of carefully tended green areas and parking con- fined to as concentrated a series of lots as practical. DONALD G. HALLFORD i , BIA Postal clerk disruptions caused reader concern To the Editor: It was with disgust that I read in today’s press that there is a possibili- ty of the jobless and senior citizens having their cheques. postponed in- definitely. I cannot bear to think of the hardship and sometimes hunger that will be the result. Surely some arrangement could have been made for this vital matter to have Point-Counterpoint been taken care of. How can people in government services strike at the expense of others? After all, they are receiving a living wage, maybe no frills, but at least they can eat. Why cannot such matters be settled by arbitration without suffering the thousands? KATHARINE HEWITT | Glen Williams { Talkabout mail delays! To the Editor: ; The enclosure was sent to me by my and daughter- in-law from Lynchburg, Virginia. I thought you would find it of great interest because of our present post office un- rest. Why are we grumbling, eh? It certainly caused me to laugh. I hope you find it amusing also. * EDITH MACKINTOSH Stewart Street LANSING, Mich. — Yarda Ervin’s letter brought a smile to the faces of her aunt and uncle even though it was delayed by 44 years. Mrs. Ervin, 54, was a 10- year-old in Tustin, Mich., when she wrote the letter to her uncle Theodore Anderson on Aug. 28, 1936. At the time, Anderson was employed in Manistique in the Upper Peninsula. The letter recently was delivered to the Andersons’ current residence in Tustin, a small town in Osceola ‘| County about 130 miles south \\of Manistique. ~At the post office in Tustin, clerk Ardythe Anderson said the letter evidently never left town. “They're tearing-down an old vacant building here that used to house the post of- fice,"’ said Mrs. Anderson, no relation to the author of the letter. ‘‘That’s when they found it. Stuck ina wall or something. Some way or another it got lost in that old « building.” . Postal workers familiar with the family delivered the letter. —Lynchburg Daily gies Swart battles Bell and Snow — Snow battles back Below is correspondence portation and Cemmupications Minister James Snow and Mel Swart, M.P.P. Welland-Thorold the hearings, your government should -be taking the lead in ling that questionable cRTC You must be aware that the mono decision. sumer against rate gouging by the private telephone ly. At the fall session, you should introduce legisla- tion for a public advocacy Dear Mr. Swart: Thank you tor your letter of Aug. 19 in regard to the recent rate increase granted to Bell therefore, accept your argu- ment that a “public advocacy agency”’ is necessary, and | will continue to rely on (the talents of the lawyers, accoun- tants and economists on the has done so. I think it is generally acknowledged by these and other parties that in am, inflationary period, Bell Canada is in need of some in- crease TC. The letters were filed with the OJR for publication. Dear Mr. Snow: _ lag amazed at your silence on the CRTC ruling which per- mits Bell Canada to substan- id charges. As you must be aware, there is strong i that the CRTC ex- ceeded its authority in granting certain parts olkthe increase. Surely, you're not going to leave it solely to ‘citizens’ organizations, like the Consumers’ Association of Canada and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, to make the eaghd one challenge agai e eng eae ruling. As representative of 8 million tetra and the trast powertal acer 13 per cent Bell rate hike, plus other increases, will take another $200 million annually out of the pockets of Ontario consumers. You must know, also, that Bell's profits jumped by 26 per cent last year after a 30 per cent in- crease in 1978. These must be matters of concern to you. The new increases aggravate the great difference between rates in Ontario and com- parable size cities in the prairie provinces where~ the systems are publicly owned. The contrast is evident in On- tario, also, when Bell rates are compared. with the~ Indfiicipauy-Owned system in Thunder Bay. : Out of hand, you rejected the public ownership solution. Surely then, this places an onus on your government for special protection for the con- tin “programs be agency to provide this special protection. | In the meantime, on behalf of my party, I urge you to take two immediate steps: 1. File an appeal with the Federal Court of Canada to block thefgeneral increase in telephone charges from 2 Appeal to the Federal Cabinet to reduce the 13 per cent general rate hike. Your government has im- - plemented a restraint program on hospitals, social services and most other expenditures under your jurisdiction. It’s nign time that restraint applied to the rate structure of giant monopolistic corporations like Bell Canada. digas t MPP elland-Thorald - Canada by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecom- mu tions Commission. I must say I am Somewhat surprised by the tone of your letter; quite frankly, I would think you would have read the CRTC decision before writin tome; Even a cursory skim o the decision would make it ap- parent to you that the Govern- ment of Ontario had a major influence on keeping the in- crease in rates well below-the requested increases of_23 per cent and 35 per cent in residential and business rates respectively. In fact, in my view had Ontario not interven- ed so vigorously and so skilfully, Bel Canada may very well have been granted the full increase it sought — despite the participation of the other intervenors you mention .in your, letter. I cannot, staff of the Ministry who are acknowledged by all informed observers to be among the most knowledgeable and skilful . participants in the regulatory arena. I must also disagree with the two suggestions you urge upon me. My legal advisors inform me that the may very well have been within the law in granting an increase in pay phone rates, because’ of the way its decision was phrased; consequently, I would not favor an a ar on legal grounds. I will, however, be most interested in the out- come of the apneal that hac been launched. As to your suggestion that I appeal, the CRTC decision, I must note that no other party — including those you refer to so favorably, in your letter —, crease — its first in two years. Although the CRTC could very well have accepted other proposed cuts advocated by Ontario in its final argument, in the final analysis it comes down to a_judgment call. I would be most interested to know; what, in your judgment, an appropriate in- crease would be —.as even the Consumer's Association of Canada has éxpressed its sup- care for the decision, knowing ull well how much more onerous it might have been. I am enclosing for your in- formation copies of Ontario's final argunient and the CRTC decision’ I am also taking the liberty of making public this reply to your “open letter’’. JAMES SNOW Minister, Transportation . and Communications, Fe he |