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Fa the first time since Par. liament opened last September 27th I was in York Centre on Friday, rather than at my desk in the House of Commons. After checking with the Party Whip to make sure that nothing of a crucial nature was on the agenda Hor the next couple of days, I came home to look after some urgent matters in the constit- uency. As I met various people the Merem reactions were puzzling and yet amusing. My conversation with one man went something like this: "Welt, what do you know. I thought you had died Jim. Where have you been for the last few months. We haven't seen you around. Forgotten your old friends ?" You ean't win. Thu matter of being in touch personally with the constituency is an important and difficult one for every member of Parliament. Oddly enough it seems easier for the Western and Eastern mem- Signs Destroyed Says Candidate A public statement was made today try Bruce Sabsay, Candi. date for Board of Education in North York's Ward T. In this statement he brought to light the tact that as fast " his election signs were being put up, they were systematically being torn down in what appears to be an organized method. Signs placed along Wilson Ave., said Mr. Sabsay, were being carefully torn away from the Maples holding the signs to the stakes. All of the sign destroy- ing incidents were identical, in- cluding the vandalism on his own front lawn late one night. At no point in the area could Mr. Sab- say find signs for the council or rccve candidates mistreated in the same way. “It would appear to me," Mr. Sahsay said in sum- ming up." that a petty and some- what childish {arm of destructive campaigning is being carried Value Dropping " JAMES E. WALKER, M.P. V YOIK CENTRE "I’ve been in Ottawa work- ing hard." “Do you mean you are there all week long Y' "Why of course. I get into Toronto at midnight on Pri. day and go back to Ottawa Sunday afternoon." He didn't believe me. Another person said "Ha'. Playing hockey. eh? Why aren't you in Ottawa getting rid of the Government." Besidenttat Garbage ("mu 2 Dwelling ( addition , l Chimney (new) t gesidon'i-l A Commercial Factory tdemolition! (Moffats Ltd" Other Signs (new) Sommorcigl October. 1961 " October. 1962 11 Jan 1 to Adober St. 1961 I28 Jan. 1 to October " 1082 109 Edusorial innit-Meg LETTERS.... Rundown 0f Building Permits hers than tor the Ontario and Quebec representatives. Those from far off are not expected to show up in their constituen- cies very often, but others ot us are adjudged to be clone enough to be around the Riding a good deal, and yet if we do this reg- ularly we become known as members of the Tuesday to Thursday Club, and come under severe criticism tor non-atten- dance in Parliament. So, I am just going to keep on making my decisions in this matter on the basis of what I think is in the best interests of all my constituents. It has been good to get around and met a few people and hear their praise as well as their criticism. 1 had the pleasure of saying a few words at the official opening of Amesbury Park Recreation Centre on Sat- urday. Sunday, it was my privi- lege to take part in the can: Anniversary Celebrations of the A d a t h Israel Congregation, where I brought greetings from Ottawa. On Monday I will be attending the official opening of the new Post Office in Thorn. hill. conferring with some North York officials regarding Downs, view Airport, looking into a number of immigration matters for certain constituents. going to 1 Lions Club Dinner, attend- ing the North York Municipal Election Nomination Meeting and then heading back for Ottawa on the midnight train. I will enjoy every minute of it. No, of Probable Dorm it Cost Issued John Booth has been nominated as candidate tot Councillor for Ward Seven in North York. Mr. Booth has been a resident of Ward Seven for 12 years and is 35 years old. He ran for councillor in 1958 and 1960 and came second to James Service both times. He lost by only 216 votes out of about 7,000 in the last election. His wife Rosemary taught school in North York for seven years. His daughter Diana, five. is a pupil at Melody Road School. John is a baritone soloist at Central United Church, a former president of his local Ratepayers Association. associated with the United Appeal Commercial Divis- ion, a leader at a North York Juvenile Hockey Team and is Chairman at the Metropolitan Toronto Retarded Childrens As. sociation Building Fund for Ward Seven, October 1962 ll Booth Runs Again In Ward Seven 4 9,250.00 $13,399.00 c OM P A 1tf so " $3.274.00 875E What will .tnaityutsation mean to you, the ratepayert To answer that you should ssh your sell these three questions: . How much will it cost or save me? . How much will it improve the services the community supplies for me? . Will amalgamation give me better govern- ment? To find those answers let's look at two ex- hsustive reports on Metro Ind smslgamstion pre- pared during the past two yen-s. The first. known as the Gatttereole report, was written by the Ontario department of econ- omics under former deputy minister George Gnthercole. ww’lr'ilremsecond report was prepared by Metro department heads for the special committee of Metro council on metropolitan affairs. _ Both reports. seldom quoted by Toronto pol- iticians who are trying to sell you amalgamation. leave no doubt that it will cost you more if Metro becomes one bin city. _ The Gathercole report says: If the level of spending in Toronto was adopted in all munici- palilies in the Metropolitan area, the cost of gen eral services would rise by 20 to 25 per cent and of public and secondary school education by about 16 per cent. hitat means that even Scarboro. which is told its taxes will decrease under amalgamation. will find that just the opposite is true. If Scarboro under amalgamation were put on I mill rate of 50 mills tthe average Metro mill rate based on 1962 figures) tt ratepayer would save $15 taxes on a house assessed " $5,000. _ _ But he would soon lose $35 to pay for im- proved general services. Would the $60 loss. plus a $24 increase in taxes be worth it to North York where the sum total of services iron I 13g 'tith Foronto? IF TAXES WERE RAISED You can be sure that services throughout Metro would be of the highest level under amal- gamation. No one community would settle for an inferior service than it had before. especially it taxes were raised. The community with the high- est level would set the standard for each ser- vice lor the big city: _ - _ _ The report from Metro department heads also warned that under amalgamation the total cost of many services now performed by the local municipalities would increase. In the case of welfare the report says: “Whe- ther the benefits to the area's inhabitants would warrant such increased expenditures would have to be carefully considered" 7 Was this Veareful consideration given when a Toronto-dominated Metro council voted to amal- gamale welfare services last month? A - Some suburban representatives asked for time to prepare briefs and hold public hearings. but they were refused. It might well be that a are ful study would have prevented a rash take-over, A thorough investigation was made in 1957 when amalgamation of the various fire depart- ments in Metro was considered. Ontario's fire marshal made one of the major reports which killed the venture. He estimated that amalgamation would cost $6,600,000 a year. plus an immediate outlay for equipment and fire stations of 38.750000. MILLIONS MORE His report estimated that increases in salar. ies alone wouid run as high as $2,600,000. If the fine departments had been amalgam» ted Swansea would have received better fire pro- tection. since all it has today is a volunteer fire department, But Swansea finds volunteer service adequate - it doesn't need better fire protection. The amalgamation of the police departments was a boon to the area. but do you want to Dav more taxes to have your garbage picked up from the rear of Your house and the empty pail re- turned there. as it is in Forest Hill? _ - - "iite-rGl,rt"tratuetro department heads had high praise for the present two-ttwel system of Sovernment. No. of permits issued Ort. 109 14 It 1 mica. 31,_I_9_61 03.10000 13,399.00 2,ttt6A98.00 821819.95 s 45.895 00 208.688.95 - 53.95109 $827,619,135 (54.08500 Proba h le Cost 283700.00 31.300r00 THE tWi., Friars Called 0n Roman Catholics in North York were called upon to support "rights and edueation" for Cath- olic children, last week. by R. Bradley of the North York Pub. lic School Board. Speaking at the November meeting of the Friars and Catho. lie Women's League. he discuss- ed Separate School education and tax distribution in the district and stressed the point that Cath, olics have rights in the commun- ity. Articles donated tor the Bun: to be held November 24, were showy, and convenors for the WESTON TIMIS -- “Hardly, “womb" 22. 1961 - Page ' To Support Catholic Ed. The 100 elected representatives on the " council: In Metro "ronstitute an impressive ex- ample ot representative government." the report noted. Yet the average aalary ot these elected representative: tor both Metro council and local council work was less than $4000 in moo. The report added that it was "at least quest. ionable whether even lull-time couneiilttrs tots. viously required in an amalgamated ayatem) would become " familiar with local problems as are the present local councillors." CONFLICTING INTEREST It wama that if the amalgamated councillors were unable to maintain "the relatively close con- tact with the citizens which now exists. would it be more likely to reach WRONG DECISIONS or decisions which at least ignore the interest ot im. portant minorities." Consider the problem of ttonnietirtg interests in the marriage of many municipalities with dra. mltically different problems. For example Mimico children had to be driv. en 20 and 30 miles from home to skate and play hockey because the town lacked an artificial ice rink, At the last election the council asked tne voters for permission to spend 8100000 on an artificial ice rink. The electorate voted "Yes" and now the rink is completed and will be opened next week. But under an amalgamated system would not that money have been better spent in cleaning up Toronto slums and downtown sections? The Gathercole report, although making no formal recommendations. obviously favored what has become known as the four-city plan over amal. gamation. as the best way of solving the growing inequality of representation on Metro council and the uneven tax burden. Under the tour - borough plan the present two-level system would be retained but the " municipalities would be turned into tour big cities. ' Toronto (made up of Toronto. Leaside, East York. Forest Hill, York and Swansea. . Scarboro I b' North York (North York and Weston) . Etobicoke (Etobicoke. New Toronto. Long Branch and Mimico) Toronto would have 13 representatives on Metro council, North York five members and Scarboro and Etobicoke four each. The popula. tion of the borough of Toronto and the total of the other three would be about equal by 1970 when the combined population of the area would be two million. Neither of the two reports encouraged amal. gamation. but the Gathercole study did say one thine Toronto politicians found to their liking. It said statistics on expenditures and assess. ment "suggest that the city of Toronto would gain in any amalgamation or partial consolidation of the area municiplities through diverting some of this burden of higher expenditures to the oth. er municipalities. Toronto would welcome extra money to helo with maintenance and repair of streets which have been permitted to apuroach a state of col- lapse. The report noted that the financial effects of the four-city system would be more moderate than complete amalgamation. Metro council re. jected the four-city Nan last year with retiring Metro chairman Fred Gardiner casting the decid- ing ballot. Let's co back now and try to answer the three questions. . Amalgamation will cost you more money, See the Rratth below. . Some of the services in your communitv will be improved. Some are already " ttood as any anvwhere -- North York has bv far better school dental service than Toronto. Are von willing to Dav a lump sum in extra taxes for improvements across the hoard? i Only experience with an amalgamated svs- tem can tell whether it will Rive better government. At the moment the two-level svstem IS aivirve good Um'ernmtnl. Metro came into being because it answered a desoerate necessity, We are not desperate now. sale gave reports on the progress on each booth. Instructions on teh Dialogue Mass and the Sec. ond Degree responses were given. Mrs. A, Armstrong, spiritual convenor. reminded the ladies ot the CWL participation as a group the Dialogue Mass and the See. day of each month and the even~ ing Mass on First Friday, and of the special duties and devo- tions for the Advent season. Arrangements m made to fill Christmas Sinking: " the December meeting to: the House at Providence " in put you". A card party will be held In January.