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In the good old days Some might say the good old days when you sat on a frigid log to put on skates and skate on the pond Uiat had taken some tirne to clear.. To say thc least it was ail fresb Better than three cats and a kitten Let me tell you - Uis story gets btter and btter as it goes on. It's ail about a most familiar article that bas been in use in Uic home well over the last century a nd univcrsally, at Ieast, in North America. It's a small piece of wood, the size of a business card, ith some wirc attachmcnts. It bas been such over al i h years and even our technological advancc- ments have not been able to make improvements with Uic inclusion of micro-chips and what ever. There have been some attempts, to change or improve the article through Uic use of plastic and four- way entries. They neyer caught on and Uic original is stili in vogue and being available today froni Murray and Linda at, Rolpb Hardware as it was from Bill and, Bud back years ago and Uen back furtber from Bud and Mr. MacDonald, and of course for those that remember, Perc and Hop at Lunn's Hardware. It bas often been said "the world would beat a path to the door of the person who built a better mouse trap". That better mouse trap bas neyer been invented or built and of course, it is that article of wood with wire attachments that we speak of in this article. 1 1 It id strike me Uat of al Uic things w e do have in Uic bouse Uice mouse trap is one that has flot cbangcd over the years. It is stili VICTOR, and stili made in the U.S.A. There are more than likely more serious things to Uink about in this day and age but stili to find something Uiat bas survived for s0 long it must bo Uic ultimfate in its design and effectiveness andtbat ail happened back in the l8tb century. 0f course we had to put one mouse trap into use over the week-end and let me tell you it does work and Uiere is no muss or air at the tri-pad ice rink at the the outing. Orono M Pond over the week- It has some advantages over end. that of being inside for the sport. Ycs three good size ice pads had _____________ been cleared and three différent groups were certainly enjoying fuss - itfs ail business. Telling Chris at Uic office of this phenomena she laughed and said, " now let me tel you this". "One mouse trap and one husband is better than thrce ccts and a kitten." Now 1 must say that had mie scratching my head - one mouse trap and one husband is better d'an Uree cats and a kitten. Al I could say is "Tel me about it". It seems Uiat a mouse was id Uic habit of coming up fromn under, the Faulkner dishwashe r and bad Uic run of Uic bouse even Uiough there-in lived threc cats and a kitten. As the story goes you can almost see the cats and kitten follow the mouse around ic rooni with their 'line of vision' but no movernent on mouse control. 1It 'was die life of Riley, 1111i1 fix tU at", said Bob and yes it was a VICTOR Mouse trap), Uiat old common mousctrap, Uiat was brought imb use. Set witb peanut butter and cautiously placed under the dishwasher. Then Bob retires'to the sofa witb Uic, cats and Uic kitten wiUi a full view into Uic kitchen. He sat as complacent as ic cats and Uic kitten. 1Witbin an hour it was "SNAP" and of course Bob had to investigate. Sure cnougb VICTOR had caught a mouse. Bdb pulls Uic trap and mouse frorn under Uic dishwasbcr and as hie is gctting up the kitten, in a mad dasb, snaps up the mouse proudly dragging it and Uic trap up the, hallway. "Hey, Uiat's my mouse, I caught it" yells Bob. "Get back here." It did require catching Uic kitten to retreave Uic mouse and tmap. So it proves again that VICTOR, in ail its -original formn, is stili the victor, surviving al modem technology as well as Uic du=e cats and Uic, kitten. Kee ping, In Touch Gord Mils There is perhaps nothing more important tban planning to the safety, vitality-and economic health of our communities. As Uic recession hurt local economies during the late 1980s and early 1990s, communities have been forced to start thinking of new ways of generating local econornic development. 1Our -govenient is now moving ahead with reforms iniland use and comrnunity planning Uiat wil help to kickstart our local econornies. On December 14, Ed Philip, Uic Minister of Municipal Affairs,. outlined Ontario's refornis to Uic land use planning and dcvelopment system. We believe that a faster, botter system to plan Uic way we use our land wil help us stimulate economic activity. We are looking at Uic creation of a rnuch more efficient syste n i a> way that balances our social and economic need for jobs and economic opportunities with our need <o preserve Uic environmient. Reform of Ontario's land use planning system is long overdue and much needed. The current system is slow. It is costly, funl of duplication and is an obstacle to economic recovery. We are moving ahead with c hanges after a two-year process of consultation and deliberation by Uic Commission on Planning and Developrnent Reforni in Ontario -- led by former Toronto mayor John Sewdll. We want to restore public confidence in Uic integrity of Our land use planning system. And we intend to move quickly on these refornis. The Government's reforms focus on Urec key points: First we are moving <o streaniline and speed up ouïr planning system. Ini some cases, as with amendments to local officiai plans, approvals can take up to 18 months. That means municipalîties, builders and developers have to wait a year and a haif to determine whether the changes <bey want are acceptable to Uic provincial Government.' (Continued page 8) There are many things that set Canadians apart from the rest of the world population. Canadians are noted worldwide for being polite, friendly- and helpful, with an even temper and a fine disposition. Yet, quirks and strange habits abound in the, average Canadian. Some of these quirks set some of us apart from the rest of the population of Canadians. There is however, the one quirk, shared by ail Canadians, that seems to be representative overail. This, is the stange fascination that Canadians tend to hold with the weather. No mattere what the temperature, amount or form of precipitation in any given time, the number of daylight hours, or the warmth generated therein, put a couple of Canadians whom have neyer met, into a room and the topic of weather will naturally corne to light. 1It does flot matter that a day could be baimy, warrn, sunny, cornpletely cloudless and 'wthout a hint of rai. If the weather is perfect where you are, you will bernoan the ili fate that has befallen the poor suckers that live in the part of the country where it is raining. The storm that hit last Thursday night is -a case in point. Sitting in a coffee shop, I took the opportunity to discreetly eavesdrop on those nearby. "Yep,-it usually only takes me an) hour to get from Toronto to hère. Dam it ail. It took me thrce Rick Jones Newtonville hours tonight." "1 hear ya. I'm coming from Guelph. Boy, itfs bad out there. They are' talking about 25 centimetres of snow out there." And like men discussing the fish that got away, the tales continued. "Two hours from Hamilton to Toronto. An hour from Scarborough to Pickering. And look at the time now. Geez, its taken another hour to get here." But, deep down 1 don't think that Canadians really mind it ail. We ail just need something to yap about. Jean Chretien hasn't done e nough damage yet, for us to mutter bitterly. As for Bob Rae, well, we can hear the mutiny in the ranks, but he isn't really'a national concern. So, weather it is. The topic that comes back again, and again. Its the tie that binds. With the decline of the railroad, it is what keeps the country together. "You think it's bad here? In the maritimes, they got dumped on bad. 50 centimeters overnigbt. Glad I'm flot out there." Even on that occasion that cornes as often as Halleys cornet, when the weather is dandy right across the country and there is nothîng to complain about, it neyer dies. "'Reernber the spring of, 1933 . Yeah, it's inescapable. 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