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editorial poge Bad Start!!! oo | ; It was not a happy day for Durham Region. In fact, the inaugural meeting in the regional council chambers on December 6 got the new two-year term off to a bleak and bitter beginning, and the after- effects may linger for a long time to come. ry The cause of this bitterness was the way in which ~ » ~ id ei" ts > Lean ¥ 1. LIAS hn ¥ XO 2 RE a ov Pe > - WP ZIP -- r x veteran of Regional council. When the vote for the chairman by the 30 regional councillors ended in a 15-15 tie, Mr. Beath or was allowed to cast the deciding vote, and quite ADA naturally, he voted for himself. iH One cannot blame Mr. Beath for the action he took. He wanted the job, campaigned hard for it, and simply took advantage of a legal interpretation of the Durham Act to cast the deciding ballot in favour of himself. But obviously, the weakness in the Durham Act that allowed such an interpretation to be made must be cleared up. The pertinent section of the Act gives the Regional chairman a vote in council only in the event of a tie. It is not likely that the intent of this section extended to a tie-breaking vote on the election of a chairman. Also, when Mr. Beath cast the deciding vote, it is questionable whether indeed he was actually still: chairman. The term of the old council which Mr. Beath chaired had come to an end. When the vote was taken Mr. Beath was not in the chair. Regional 'clerk, Cec. Lundy was presiding over that portion of the inaugural meeting. But legal interpretations and technicalities a- on Walter Beath retained the chairmanship of Durham a) Region, beating off a challenge by Allan Pilkey, an . RH alderman from the city of Oshawa and a five year 3 he = \ il A \ '/ 75 OUR DELUXE saNDU)ic ------ FILLED WigH A THICK SLICE OF UNSUBSIDIZED BreAD business of council over the next few months, Mr. Fo proceedings, and served notice that he would possi- +S side, there are more fundamental reasons why the bly seek a court ruling. While he is upset at the way ~~ Beath must be prepared to shoulder the burden. A procedure must be questioned. he lost out in his bid to chair the Region, the real i By breaking the tie vote in his own favour, Mr. loser may be the Region of Durham itself, a political At the time that he cast the deciding vote, he 54 Beath has assumed the support of a majority of the A re ---- -- 3 At future meetings when Mr. Beath is called In the last couple of months, a kind of unsteady a regional point of view, it was simply bad judge- hd upon to break tie votes on any issue, he will still be peace had settled over the council, and it seemed ment. : oof acting without the support of a simple majority of the that some small advances towards a more unified 5 council. That is a tenuous position for a decision Region were being made. At least the bickering and Surely, there are other ways the tie could have. il making process of a political nature. For without the factionalism was less strident. been broken, possibly by another vote of the full ot majority support of the 30 members of the regional The council is now split right down the middle council. ] EY! council, all of whom are elected by the citizens of over the Beath-Pilkey affair, and that does not augar The process by which the regional chairman is ih Durham, political power is being exercised without well for the smooth functioning of. a - regional elected, and more important still, who is eligible to Hi the support of a majority of the electorate in this municipality with 260,000 citizens within its boun- be nominated to run for that important office, is due i Region. daires. for an overhaul. And it likely will get it. Unfortunate- £8 Mr. Pilkey, naturally enough, did not accept the If this split widens and begins to dominate the ly for Durham, it may be too late. , Ji ol 7 ) ~ Sh EY i =. bill i they start panicking. They have a feeling looking like the Queen of Sheba, but she had Hi that they will be the cynosure of all eyes, to get her daughter's outfit lined up, wd ; even though they know in their hearts that including the loan of shoes and makeup, AY all eyes will be on the bride. ensure that Kim's Don wore something 0 There are infinitely lengthy and ineffably decent, and choose . the shirt and tie I'd 24 boring talks about what to wear to the wear. Tough. J; 1 HATE WEDDINGS married life. wedding. Sensible women will drag out that A : CT Fann A 2S elected members who make up the 30-man council. He received 15 votes, but that is not a majority. creation that has known five rocky years, and has been marred by a distinct lack of unity among the 30 members who make up the council. may have been legally and technically right in doing so. But he must at the same time have realized that his action would lead to bitterness and rancor. From Not many of you readers have attended one of the many wedding ceremonies of Elizabeth Taylor, right? You and I don't exactly travel with that jet set crowd, right? Well, you're wrong. 1 recently attended Not that fat, beautiful, silly Elizabeth Taylor, the movie star, who by now has pledged to love, honour and obey, in sickness and in health, until death do them part, about six or seven guys. I mean the real Elizabeth Taylor. Liz, the kid who was a close buddy of my daughter Kim from about Grade 5 on, whom I taught in Grade 10 and Grade 12, who became somewhat of a second daughter to us when her mother died, who dropped in to the Smiley's every vacation home from college to regale us with her ups and downs. She's now a young Phys. Ed. teacher, and a darn good one, I daresy, because she's always been a good athlete and has had a way with kids since her camp counsellor days. She's also now a young bride, and I take this opportunity of wishing her a happy I could scarcely get near enough at the wedding to say it, so many guys wanted to kiss her. : Usually, I hate weddings, and avoid them whenever possible. But I enjoyed this one. The church service was a mixture of actually went up and took communion for the first time in years. Even more unusual, my daughter joined us. Great reception afterwards: free bar, magnificent roast beef dinner, good and brief toasts, and a party afterward with dancing for the Young Turks, of whom there seemed to be many. It must have cost her old man a small fortune. But it was worth it. He's two down, and only one daughter left to marry off, out of the three of them. But you must wonder why I hate wed- dings. Most men do. Why? Mainly because of the women involved. And I don't mean the bride or the bride'smaids, or the bride's mother or aunts. I mean one's own women-folk. As long as two months before the wedding, long gown they wore to the Christmas dance last year and wear it. But I don't have any of those. Not long gowns. Sensible women. It must be something new and striking. This results in one of two things: ever more frustration and, finally, truimph. At which point the hapless male, who is merely going to wear his good suit and shine his shoes, is expected to rapturize over the "creation". By the hour. I swear my wife was working on the final touch, a white hat that looks like a longshoreman's cap, until two hours before we took off for the wedding. This time it was more complicated. She also had to improvize an outfit for daughter Kim. The latter is not sensible in the opposite way. She'd turn up at a formal wedding in a turtleneck sweater, ragged jeans, and sandals. Bringing along her husband, who would arrive in a sweater with the elbow out, even more ragged jeans, and work boots. You can see the predicament my old lady was in. She not only had to get herself Another reason I hate weddings is the cost. That one set me back about $200, minimum. About 30 bucks, for long-distance . calls, discusssing who'd wear what. An- other 40 for gifts. (My wife was unable to make the shower for the bride, so had to £ : x 3 . ort agitated shopping excursions, as the big day take a shower gift plus a wedding gift.) i5y one of the marriages of Elizabeth Taylor. traditional Anglican and swinging modern, nears; or, if your wife sews, as mine does Eighty bucks for motel rooms. Yeah, I got bd And I didn't crash it; I was invited. And I witha mod choir playing guitars and belting 3 . Sy ro #1 hope it's the only one she ever has. It was out the Word in close. harmony ever more frantic searching for material, _ stuck for two of them, plus cots for the 7) her first. My old lady and I were so moved that we S€WiNg and ripping, tears and anger and grandboys. Twelve bucks for snacks fis) No, no. (nobody else seemed to have any money). Twelve bucks for the baby-sitter, who told us rather tightly that they were the worst kids she ever baby-sat. Another 10 for gas and oil. Another five for tips. And lordy, lordy knows how much my wife spent on material for her outfit. One more reason I hate weddings. They always interfere with the things you'd rather be doing. If they're in June, you'd rather be out trout-fishing, If they're in November, you'd rather be at home watch- ing one of the final football games. Ah, wothehell. We had a good visit with the grandboys, Liz got herself a nice fella, there isn't another wedding in the offing, and my daughter is coping with a 16-hour day without going around the bend. It was worth it. The Argyle Syndicate Ltd.