TheReview Wednesday, June 13,1990 — A9 was to use the room for library- related meetings, like children’s Storytime and Friends of the Library meetings. As years past it evolved into community use, which was allowed by the library director of the day, Bamford said “Tt’s got to the point now where the room is used literally hundreds of hours per month and it’s costing the library money,” he said. “Ultimately we have to give Cove Weavers and Spinners Guild signed a petition that said: “When this building was planned, the two contributing councils agreed to include a small meeting room to be available to community groups, and upon completion the room was named to honor Nell Horth, a well respected public citizen. Any plan to close this facility is an insult to her memory.” Letters were also sent by the VANCOUVER ISLAND REGIONAL LIBRARY LIBRARY WILL BE CLOSED TEMPORARILY Vancouver Island Regional Library will be closing for inventory and labelling of its books from June 18 to July 7. The Library will look forward to welcoming all borrowers back when we re-open Monday, July » N. Saanich shocked conirol given News that Sidney had signed a lease giving the regional library system control of the library building shocked North Saanich council a June 4. “Tt came as a shock to us,” said Ald. Dee Bailin, North Saanich’s representative on the regional library board. : Although the building is owned by Sidney and financing and grants for the building arranged by a joint North Saanich and Sidney ® committee in 1980, Bailin said North Saanich was not contacted about the lease arrangement. “Tt was a joint committee that built the building,” Bailin said. North Saanich council referred the issue to the a committee of the whole meeting tentatively scheduled for Monday at 6:30 p.m. » | THIS FATHERS DAY Make Dad’s life easier with ECHO: QUALITY TRIMMERS LAWNMOVERS starting at °629° > ALF BECKER & SON LTD. 750 Enterprise Cres. (off Glanford in the Royal Oak Industrial Park) 479-2115SALES 384-6414 : Young readers and parents, please noie that July 9 will also be the first day of “The Biggest, Greatest, Most Amazing Reading Club” — VIRL’s 1990 Summer Reading Programme. DON'T GET CAUGHT WITH | + OUT OF DATE TRAVEL € INFORMATION! Travel Guides booked 17 times for the first half a {I Maps i Language _ News 7 3 >» Aldermen suppor library’s plan By selon) yerkman serious consideration to adding to Sidney Rotary Anns and the the building,” he said. There are Friends of the Sidney-North Saa- mechanical services in place to nich Library. Sidney aldermen supported the allow relatively easy expansion of Vancouver Island Regional Vancouver Island Regional the library, he said. Library assistant director Bill Library’s plans to permanently Currently the room is not availa- Johnston said by 1988 the close the Nell Horth Room asa ble for bookings by groups, demands on library staff to look public meeting area, Monday. because of a moratorium placed after the meeting room had e Although council received four 0n its use, except for meetings of become unacceptable and attempts ; letters from groups who regularly the Friends of the Library. to deal with the problem by staff 9. rent the room for meetings, alder- Ald. Tim Chad said: “As long _ were hampered by an inability to S men spoke in support of closing as the Friends of the Library are establish authority. eee but will wait to make a Poe ee pean ee te Nats _In October 1989 a formal letter EE Seto ition to using the space tor the oF understanding between the Ald. Stan Bamford, a trustee on library. Town and the lib board : Se e : rary set out the library board, said: “It’s gotten The population on the north jerms and conditions for the to the point where it’s costing time end of the Peninsula has fo Tecog- library’s possession and occupan- and money by library staff at the nize the growing need for thattype cy of the building, which con- expense of them not doing their of leisure activity,” Chad .7eqthe library’s authority OWE work. said.““Expansion is needed.” the entire facility. “Tt’s unfortunate that when the Ald. Bob Jones suggested that : room was first constructed their other structures within Sidney _ Johnston’s report says that staff was no definition of what purpose could be expanded for use as time devoted to administrating the the room was to be,” Bamford public meeting rooms. _ Meeting room is $6,211 per year, : said. “As a trustee of the library The 50-member Sidney Stamp compared to a $1,814 annual board I can only reluctantly sup- Club sent council a petition signed ‘come in 1989. @ port the board’s action (but) from by 17 members protesting the use Records show the room was a short term economic view it of the room by library administra- seems the logical thing to do.” tion. of last month (for 49 hours), 19 e Bamford said originally the idea And, 25 members of the Deep _ times in April (for 67.5 hours), 20 apes Phrase Books times in March (for 67 hours), 24 times in February (for 105.5 \ \ hours) and 15 times in January uf, Nautical Charts (for 66 hours). : : : Johnston’s report outlined security problems and problems providing facilities for groups wanting to book the room. Council, with Mayor Norma Sealey and Ald. Ben Ethier absent, decided to refer the matter to committee for further discussion. axe Conquer your fear of cy] Hea? public speaking! Learn > RES to speak more confi- dently at work, with your family and in the community. For more information call Pat, 652- 0433 or Arnie, 656-9381. Dear Constituent, On June 23rd the country will be forced to deal with the uccess or failure of the Meech Lake Accord. The outcome of that debate will signal the future direction of our country. However, in addition to Meech Lake there is another issue threatening the overeignty of the Canadian people .. . the state of our economy. The ability of Canada to remain a strong and independent nation depends on much more then linguistic and cultural harmony. The political map of the world is changing and these hhanges are fuelled by economics. This same driving force is Canada has a centralized economy. Much as we in British Columbia pride ourselves on our prosperity and sound fiscal management we still must participate in national tax systems, xpenditure programs and interest rates. In addition, we are rippled by the national debt and its affect on potential investors. Foreign money markets make no distinction between national ebt and provincial debt. It is, in the final analysis your debt, rrespective of which level of government incurs it. This is why as Provincial Finance Minister I feel it necessary to speak out on his issue. It has long been my view that if Canada does not take a serious look at its national debt there will soon be no country, French or English, to argue over. I am concerned that Canadians are beginning to accept our national debt as inevitable, little realizing that we, like Brazil could find ourselves owing so much money we cannot even keep up the interest payments. The solution to the problem does not lie in ever increasing taxes. In fact too much taxation creates a disincentive for economic growth. I believe that if we are to regain control of our national finances we need to seriously examine expenditure reduction. This will be a novel approach as it will test the conviction of the politicians and the people of Canada. It is very difficult to admit the fact that you are living beyond your means. This applies as much to countries as it does to individuals. However, something is wrong when you find yourself in the type of financial crisis Canada is in. I look forward to sitting down with my counterparts from across the country under the chairmanship of the Federal Minister and looking at how all levels of government in Canada can work together to extricate ourselves from impending disaster. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts and views on the matter and invite you to drop mea line or arrange a meeting at your convenience. Sincerely, Mel Couvelier, wm. Saanich and the Islands