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Subsequent to my last report to you in this column concerning that part of the Parkway Belt which is proposed through the Langstaff Community, I have received from the Queen‘s Printer the of- ficial copy of Hansard which contains the an- swer to my inquiry on Tuesday, Dec. 9 of the Honorable Darcy McKeough, Treasurer of Ontario. As well as apologizing to the people of the Langstaff Community for his attitude toward them during their meeting on Nov. 18, he also indicated their attendance at the Legislature and their distribution of the pamphlet concerning their plight and my pressing of the point concerning the obliteration of that community was “simply an indication of the commitment â€" or the lack of commitment, to put it more correctly â€"- of him and his party to sensible land use plan- ning in this province.” The original Indian trail from the hunting grounds around Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario followed the Holland River over a portage at the “mountains of King" to the headwaters of the Humber River and thence to the big lake. But as soon as Yonge Street was made passable by the early settlers, hordes of Indian families used it as the means of reaching York each year. It was there they received their annual supply of presents, blankets and ammunition from the Indian Depart- ment, wrote William Harrison in 1388. The Treasurer seems to be saying in his com- pletely insensitive at- titude that it is better land use planning to put a hydro line through 84 homes and 120 businesses The Hill was a stopping place for many families Markham Loyalist first settled Yonge â€"- tfiereby obliterating them and over 800 jobs â€" at such a time as this when unemployment is high and there is a lack of homes, I simply ask whether this is a responsible response and attitude of the minister who is in a position to destroy a community by a mere stroke of the pen. It would seem to make eminent sense to me and would be in keeping with all sense of justice and fairness to move the proposed hydro line across the road onto vacant properties which are already owned by the City of Toronto. 1976 budget The provincial treasurer has also given the Legislature an ad» vance glimpse of next year’s budget, an- nouncing civil service salary increases will be kept to 8 per cent and municipal transfer grants will be increased by a similar amount. He himself referred to his remarks as “advance notice" to municipalities of the spending restraints, and presented spending tables'which indicate a projected increase of 10 per cent over all. The increase however, breaks down as a 21.1 per cent increase in interest payments on the provincial debt as compared to an increase of only 2.2 per cent for housing, with provincial debt interest totalling $860 million. housing expenditure $475 million. He said he aims for an over-all spending budget of $12.5 billion next year. It means a 4 per cent cutback in provincial road works, now budgeted at $340 million, and welfare spending held to the rate of in- flation, plus projected growth in case loads. Payments for post- secondary education will increase significantly by 15 per cent to $952 million to cope with the rapid increase in enrollments. Drinking drivers The attorney general has called for a crack- down on drinking drivers, to include raising the drinking and driving ages. with stiff penalties including jail, for of- fenders. Crown attorneys have apparently been in- structed to ask judges to McKeough insensitive on Langstaff By Alf Stong MPP York Centre By Mary Dawson en route, he said. lndian work force About 40 or 50 Indians were employed by Col. S. Wilmot in surveying duties in Whitchurch, Markham, Vaughan and York. The Indians, provided by the government, acted as guides. porters and chain bearers. On their return to the Hill, they would camp around the village and spend the time until the next journey. Théy alsd spent their money, in drinking and carousing. Wilmot was another United Empire Loyalist who saw service with the British during the American Revolutionary War. The attorney general has suggested giving the police power to set up road blocks to check drivers, plus the ar- bitrary suspension of licences and the im« pounding of vehicles for 24 hours, whenever the police officer considers that a driver has had too much to drink. toughen sentences for drinking drivers. to make the penalties much heavier. Opposition Leader Stephen Lewis has in- dicated tentative en- dorsement of the attorney general’s proposals, saying the idea “doesn‘t seem to me to be a terrible violation of civil liberties". Liberal Leader Robert Nixon is “concerned about giving police too much discretionary power” although all parties agree that something must be done about drinking drivers. Rentcontrol The government’s rent control legislation has been debated clause by clause over the past week and the bill which has received royal assent is very much a product of the thinking and apâ€" plication of the Liberal Party. I personally was in- volved in the drafting of the Liberal amendment proposal to Section 3 of the bill which the government had proposed. proposal won the ac- ceptance of the Liberal caucus and subsequent acceptance of the government. It involved mainly treating a rent situation as a program to review rent as opposed to control rent. As a result of the Liberal proposal for any rent increase which oc- curred between July 29 and Dec. 31, 1975, a tenant could ask for a review of the increase before a rent review officer. Even if the increase is under 8 per cent it could be worthwhile for a tenant to ask for review if increases in rent had occurred in early 1975 or any time in the year 1974. During this same period of time a landlord must either refund all rent over 8 per cent or must get approval of a tenant in writing on an approved form for such increase over 8 per cent or could apply to a rent review officer to justify an increase over 8 per cent or any part of it. For any rent increase during the period Jan. 1. 1976 to Aug. 1, 1976, a tenant could apply to a rent review officer to contest any increase even if it is under 8 per cent, whereas a landlord must apply to a rent review officer for any increase over 8 per cent. The landlord will be required to justify his increase and such justification will depend on increased operating costs. While Ontario is scheduled to initiate this rent review program complete with appeal boards, rent review of- ficers, accountants. researchers and an ad- vertising campaign to tell everyone about the system in approximately two weeks, housing ministry officials don‘t know how many people to hire, what they will be paid. what the program will cost or what regulations they will be enforcing. He came to Lot 47. Teacher strike The Metro Toronto queen's park pleased to say my the ac- When that gentleman was lost in the sinking of the “Speedy” on Lake Ontario, Wilmot obtained his position as provincial surveyor. Markham, a property which reached northward from today's Taylor jewellery shop. : Local surveyor He married Mary, daughter of John Stegman, the surveyor‘ Stegman started the laying out of Whitchurch Township and Wiimot finished it. as well as doing parts of Vaughan and Markham Town- ships. teacher's strike continues and announcements by the federal and provincial government are going to YESTERDAst YONGE & STEELES BONANZA SALE "YOUR DOWNTOWN UPTOWH" AT TOWHE & BOUNTBVE SQUAHEM affect this situation considerably. There are to be new ceilings on education spending in the province, and we now have the details of the federal government's regulations for its program of wage and price controls. He laid out 80 lots (called Reserve for Government Buildings) on a park surrounding Castle Frank. the sum- mer home of the Simcoes, named for their son; Big village fire Wilmot's home on Lot 47 was the usual log variety and stood in the middle of what was then a swamp. This stood on the east bank of the Don just south of the Danforth. This survey was done in 1811. Along the front village lots were rapidly taken up and covered with frame houses. Most of these were destroyed by fire and replaced with more substantial brick buildings, few of which remain today. The United Church on Yonge at Centre. built in 1880. is one of the few survivorsi g 191 YONGE STREET NORTH, RICHMOND HILL 5 MANAGER BRUCE REID ASST. HELEN DAWN First apple trees In 1830. the property on the southeast corner of Yonge and Centre was laid out as a nursery from which came the first apple trees for the area. [with chickenvifla Wis/r all our friends and patrons a Merry Christmas and all the best in 1975 tows chickenViflfla. On the site to the south of it was built the first Methodist Church. destroyed by fire Dec. 21. 1879. shortly after the morning service. It was replaced by the 1880 church mentioned above. Store burned twice The Wilmots purchased a Shaw lot (Kinnear‘s). and built and opened the first store. They were the first victims of fire in the village when this MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF structure was destroyed. It was rebuilt and again fell prey to flames. The British Flagstaff. from which the Union Jack flew every day. originated in front of this building and was later moved to the Moodie property (Taylor-Eric‘s Cycle). Wilmot surveyed the Township of Clark, secured for himself a thousand acres near what is now Newcastle. and went there to live. THE LIBERAL. Wednesday. Dec. 24. 1975 â€" A-5 v r ‘. - » x ‘ x. \ \ I .. a. : v . , ‘. j: .»‘« I ) l E E E ‘é‘ fi fi