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Local action is needed, on Canadiana in schools \fiewpoint from We believe elected bodies should seek the opinions of the people they represent.- They should listen to the suggestions and complaints of all individuals and groups of individuals. Group against grOup is harmful to community That is why they were elected to positions of responsibility. They must make their decisions on the basis of the greatest good for the largest number of people. However, we also believe decision-making is the prerogative of the elected people. Parochialism should play no part in these decisions â€" the benefit to the whole community must be the governing factor â€" not the benefit to an isolated area or a particularly vocal group. But we hope a recent large scale public meeting, which pitted one group against another with tempers rising and comments We sympathize with Richmond Hill Council’s alfempls to get public input before making decisions which will have an impacl on The lives of many cilizens. Thai is as it should be. There has been a very strong indictment put forward nationally on this issue. ll seems absolutely necessary the truth of the matter should be delermined at the local level. Only then can the point be properly argued before the local school boards. 4 -â€" THE LIBERAL, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 1975 Firstly there is the secret ap- pointment of the regional chairman. For a start we would like to see local groups take a good look at lhe existing situation in our schools. Then they should issue public reports on Their findings. We would have thought there’d be aciion by parents here by now on the lack of Canadian books and materials in our schools. At the region council inaugural meeting the public was presented with these decisions. Citizens will never really know for sure what happened in that January 7 closed door debate. I There is no way the councillors can now really be held ac- countable to the electorate on these issues. We are disappointed there wasn’t a single regional councillor or mayor with enough courage and idealism to stand up on principle and refuse to take part in that behind-closed-doors session. A bad start was made by the new 1975-76 York Regional Council when it decided to hold its first meeting in secrei January 7. Secondly there is the $1,000 annual raise in Council members’ salaries and the fixing of the chairman’s annual salary at $31,250. As a result of that most inap- propriate meeting the citizens of York Region have already been presented with some ac- complished facts. Surely not only parents have this responsibility. Librarians, Ieachers, school boards and perhaps some general community groups could contribute in- formation and opinion. It is impossible for the mem- bers of another generation and the Regional council has begun badly The Liberal is published every Wednesday by Metrospan Publishing Limited â€" North Division. which also publishes The Banner in Aurora-Newmarket and the Woodbridge Vaughan News. 10ml Yonge Street. Richmond Hill. [AC 4Y6 Ontario PUBLISHER J. G. VAN KAMPEN EDITOR HAROLD BLAINE 013m liberal K.J. LARONE PRESIDENT, Me'rospan Publishmg Lumned There can be little doubt, even loday for instance, that a maior Canadian regional author can easily produce a lifetime of work and dieof old age while still remain completely unknown to lhe bulk of both the students and adults in another region. Granted the accommodation, lhe besl available in the area for lhal evening, left much to be desired. That made it almost impossible for the presiding of- ficial to keep control. Why else all this searching and crying for a national identify we hear about? made which should never have been made, will not be repeated in lhe fulure. Al the same time these same Canadian students, or adults are very likely to be highly aware of an author of similar stature in a region of the United States or even still in Great Britain. The fact remains the result was a deterioration of community spirit for which many people had been working hard for years. If splits existed before â€" they were even wider after the meeting. Bul it certainly does appear lhere is a very serious need for more emphasis on lhings Canadian in our schools, as at olher age levels and in other areas of our society. We earnestly entreat council to reassess their methods of ob- taining public input â€" to meet with opposing groups separately â€" so there will be no similar confrontations in the future. Then lhe very fragile community spirit will be nurtured rather than destroyed. As it happens, we have no quarrel whatsoever with the region chairman’s appointment or the pay decisions the council has made. The regional municipality’s council, like lhal of every other municipality onlocal government body, should only conduct public affairs in public. Who knows what other ac- complished facts the regional council is going to pull out of its secret realms in the rest of its two-year-ferm? But there’s no doubt there are citizens who do disagree. They have a right to watch and hear council debate. They must be able to hold elected representatives accountable. products of schools in widely separated areas to evaluate the situation without fresh local in- formation. The councillors were already sworn info office when fhey arrived at the official inaugural ceremony January 9, as far as we can defermine. They might as well have been play acting and mouthing the lines of some fictional script writer on that official inaugural day when they first met before the press and public. It was a farce. Elected representatives who aren’t prepared to do this shOUld make way for somebody who is. Council decisions, no matter how beneficial to the entire community, how well considered, will offend some people. But it is council’s responsibility to make the best decision possible, con- sidering all circumstances. IlllllllllIllll|IllllIllIIIIIIII|lllllllllllllll|lllll|IlllulllllIllll|||lllllllllllll|llllllll||lIllll|llllllllllll|ll|l||ll|l||llll||Illl|llllllIll|llIII|IINI|lllll"Ill||l|llIllllll|Ill||III|lllll|IlllllllHllllllllllllllIIIII||lllllIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllllllllIlllllIllllllllllllllIllIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllIlllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII So when the rumors started flying about Chapman et al, it wasn’t And people such as Mrs. McMonagle and another outspoken member, Joy Horton of East Gwillim- bury, emerged as the champions of the down- trodden and oppressed. The board was the villain throughout, so far as the teachers were concerned. IIlIIIIIllllIllllllllllllllllllllllll|l|llllllllllllllIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllllllIlllllllllIlIllIIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIllIlllIIIIllllIllIllIllllllllIll|IllllHllll||llllIllllllllllllllllllllllllll Everybody knew how Mrs. McMonagle and that grimly-serious and one- sided group of critics who operated under the somewhat righteous title of WEB (Watchers of Educational Bureaucracy). gave it to the board at every opportunity they could during last year‘s strike of elementary teachers. Leading the pack was one stating the 10 new members of the 20-trustee board, were out to clean house, starting with the director and then picking up five or six more of the senior administrators as they went along._ And' the witch hunt, if that’s what it could be called, was to be led by that long-standing critic of the board and now one of its representatives. Chris McMonagle of Markham. This made entry even more difficult than usual, one’s vision not always being at its clear-eyed best so early in the day. But rumors there were aplenty. Phones danced off the hooks as people called in to dispel rumors, substantiate them or to further add to the pile which had already surrounded the place. of York Regional Council from the day before, was completely lost. As a result it’s now being written quite a bit prior to Monday night’s special meeting of York County Board of Education, which was called ostensibly to lay a fast~spreading rumor to rest, namely that Sam Chapman, director of education, was on his way out. Friday, which is usually given over here to trying to untangle the convoluted mumblings of the members the regional desk Deadlines being what they are, this column, if indeed it’s going to spread its shiny goodness at all, must be strung together, trimmed of any libelous or too praiseworthy remarks and sent to the printer several days before the rest of the paper is cowed into sub- mission. ' BY JIM IRVING “But if the board were to fire him, they’d be in the same po§ition as the (Toronto) 200, (which recently dumped its director) where they have a strong director,” Mrs. McMonagle said. And then, almost as if the latter statement appeared too one sided, she added: “What man in his right mind would take the job?” “Theyvcouldn‘t get his equal." In the case of the York educators they were real enough that nobody denied hearing them when con- tacted. Some even sub- stantiated them, and some, such as Mrs. McMonagle, denied them where their particular part was con- cerned.“I’d be the first not to fire Sam Chapman,“ Mrs. McMonagle told The Liberal. He was “responsible” for Thornlea Secondary School â€" a school modelled on less conventional lines than the usual â€" and it had “straightened out” her own son, whose progress had been limited up to that point. The teachers, however, were “uptight” unhappy about being all treated the same, the school principals sticking strictly to the rule book and not dealing with things on their own merit. Top administrators also jumped in where they shouldn't and the teachers saw Chapman as the person responsible for whatever ailed them. and the “board's problem to straighten out.” H Mrs. iMEMona'gle said she even called Mr. Chapman after hearing the rumors Not that all rumors are merely the last embers from an old man’s pipe. They are often, if not completely on target, at least on the board, or even straddling the outer ring. Mrs. McMonagle said she faulted the director for not being a “humanitarian;“ too much a stickler for the rules; an inability to deal with people, his weakness. That, of course, is what rumor is all about. It latches on to what one believes anyway, or wants to believe, and pours even more balm into willing ears. Anyone is capable of starting the rumor on its way. In fact, there‘s even a kind of prestige that goes with it, because you said it first. difficult to believe Mrs. McMonagle, especially, was leading the revolt. .7 Rumblings in the blackboard fling/‘9 He did say, however, there had been a move by a group to get Chapman to resign. And it had even approached William Hodgson. MLA York North, about finding him a job. On January 28, District 11 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation met with members of the school board â€" the meeting was called by the OSSTF â€" “to express matters of concern relating to their morale." Mr. Sim said. Under new legislation, however, still waiting to be passed. a two-thirds majority of the board is required before it can ap- proach the ministry, and its reasons must be outlined in writing. Another person who ruled out any possible firing was Chairman Don Sim of Markham, who told The Liberal, "In my opinion, the board will not ask the ministry to terminate Mr. Chapman’s appointment." That the OSSTF now wouldn't consider negotiating with the board before five or six of its senior administrators were dismissed â€" another one of the rumors â€" was com- pletely false, according to Eric McLean, executive assistant of the OSSTF. There is then a six-month period in which the defen- dant can correct any problems. Then .follows another vote by the board, which also must carry a two-thirds majority. A simple majority of the board and the approval of the minister are then required to make it official. At present, the only grounds for dismissal are: in accordance with the regulations, misconduct, neglect of duty and inef- ficiency. That didn’t mean the system was all that perfect and she would still like to see some improvements in the administration end. But firing wasn’t one of them. Besides, “If I were going to unseat him, I’d hardly do it without my cohort (Joy Horton) who’s in Mexico,” Mrs. McMonagle said. .Not that Mrs. Monagle or anyone else, for that matter, could just flash her trustee’s badge and turn three times toward the ministry of education to accomplish the matter. and told him her own feelings. ‘Ian Scott (also of the In fact, there are isome who say he’s a very nice guy. 7 Of course, it could be just a rumor. That Mr. Chapman seems to have just as many backers, as detractors, if not more, and that one employee even wept at the thought she “might have to preside over his execution, ” must mean that he has some ability to communicate. And that he’s not all iron filings. stern glances and annual reports. Just what does that have to do with being a member of the board? ' Just what the heck is a humanitarian? Isn’t he someone who goes around zoos feeding day-old bread pudding to the inhabitants there, and sends $5 each year to the Sally Ann Christmas fund? Mrs. McMonagle, who incidentally, seems to have fitted in easily to her new position and added con- siderable weight to the Markham representation, said Mr. Chapman wasn‘t a “humanitarian.” One hopes they’re not all that childish and that, if they have any suspicions about each other, it’s time they dropped them and all worked together. Is it a coincidence? Is there any basis for it? Or is it all because the two fac- tions â€" the 10 old members and the 10 new ones â€" are just that, two factions, both of which feel the other is out to get them. But it‘s too bad there seems to be this constant aura of uneasiness around the school board, especially since the new board took over. But it would not add anything to the story to go into them. It would probably only stir up more fears, even if they were refuted. He said he felt “a tremendous amount" hinged on the P.S. Ross report which is looking into the administrative set up of the board, and is due in March. There were quite a few other rumors as well. in the schools had not changed materially since the (arbitration) award.” OSSTF) nearly fell out of his chair when he heard about it," Mr. McLean said. He termed it a “horren- dous rumor.” Mr. McLean said the meeting with the school board disclosed “conditions Opimon I have decided not to apply for Fence Viewing as I don‘t want any more psychological problems ' Howevér, Ihaye applied for a newly- advertised job as a bodyâ€"shop mechanic in Aurora. ‘ I may not be technically-minded, but I think I can manage to keep the drawers well oiled and running smoothly in the Aurora morgue. Other activities include looking through the wrong end of a telescope and lectures on tolerance, to give you a broader view. In the carefully-tailored diet, no shortening is used, no shortbread eaten, while the compulsory uniform is long johns. At night there is campfire singing of sea shanties about longshoremen and sen- timental songs. full of longing. As all this is expensive, the town council keeps the Fence Viewer’s term down to one year to obviate or mitigate the danger. But the Fence Viewing disease has several serious sideâ€"effects. The first is what my friend called the Kingston syn- drome, a pernicious claustrophobia in which one’s entire field of vision becomes filled with a lattice of squares, lozenges and other mesh-like patterns. The victim begins to see life as a series of waffles or unâ€" completed cross-word puzzles. The only antidote for this is a prolonged stay at Pacific Rim National Park where the therapy consists of long views of unbroken and illimitable horizons. You stare at the Pacific, like “stout Cortes" in the poem, though he was on a crash weight-loss program. In both cases there are remedial treat- ments. The afflicted member of the Library Board can be cured by a short stay in Ottawa, where' sitting is perfectly com- fortable because the spendthrift federal government has left everything in a state of inflation. However, Fence Viewing tends to give the practitioner a wooden expression that may become permanent if maintained for more than a year. He reported the reason for the longer term on the Library Board is that sitting on a board for two years, while it may give you gluteal calluses, at least they don’t show. By James Jackson Driscoll Road. Richmond Hill Because the North American and the Britisher often have difficulty un- derstanding each other‘s English, someone once described them as being divided by a common language. Alfred Doolittle of Pygmalion and My Fair Lady may be called a garbage- collector here, but in his own parlance he was a dustman. We all know about the varying tran- satlantic nomenclature of the automobile- motorcar, with its windshield-windscreen, hood«bonnet, trunk-boot. In the film Murder On The Orient Express, Vanessa Redgrave threatens to call her lawyer long-distance, by which detective Hercule Poirot knows she lies when she pretends never to have lived in North America. Had she always lived in England she would talk of “a trunk call to her solicitor". What brought this to mind was an ad- vertisement in The Liberal, in which the Town of Richmond Hill invited citizens to serve as members of the Library Board for two years, or as Fence Viewers for one. A Fence Viewer? From a diet of such TV fare as Kojak, Police Story, Hawaii Five-O and Ironside, I at first assumed that the town wanted someone to act as a stakeout watching a dealer in stolen property. I did think of trying for a position as “stationary engineer". I though it might be relaxing. But I realized the difficulty and selfâ€"discipline required to be motionless for a whole eight-hour shift so I left it alone. A “set-up operator“ and “framer” both sounded much too criminal, yet there they were, in the Help Wanted columns of the Vancouver Province. To get back to The Liberal â€" and where else have we been? â€" I asked a friend to get me details of the two positions by calling the town hall. I would have called myself, but, being from Scotland, I have difficulty understanding the strange Ontario accent. But why, then would the town advertise and not York Regional Police? Alter- natively a Fence Viewer might be a judge at swordsmanship contests â€" so why not a notice by the YMCA or other sports body? Last month one Toronto newspaper called for “an experienced despatcher for out-of-town contracts, chiefly Northern Ontario“. Obviously'they wanted a “hit man" and you know what he would “despatch”! With crime soaring, I can’t understand the ethics of newspapers that accept such blatant invitations to crime. However, I don't go around asking questions in case my innocent curiosity might attract the attention of some God- father and I might find myself in Northern Ontario, over the ears in permafrost. The proverb says curiosity killed the cat and it had more lives to fool around with than I have Mind you, I’ve had this trouble before. On first arriving in Canada almost thirty years ago, I saw an advertisement for “a girl Friday". It seemed odd that the salary was so much per week â€" and very generous too for one day’s work. Being male, I didn’t apply anyway. Wadiamean? A 'opical column 0! opinion by our readers. Submussions should be no more men 800 words. typed prelerably.