Opinion Volume 77 Issue No.5 TaeReview Wednesday, January 30,1991 — A6 New middle school: Moving as fast as possible Saanich School trustees have a thankless job lately, listening to the parents of children who attend elementary feeder schools and the Mt. Newton Middle School. It is completely understandable that parents are con- cemed their children will have to attend a middle school “perched at the edge of gravel pit” for two more years. Many people are sick and tired of the situation at Mt. Newton. The school is overcrowded with over 650 students. It has overflowed into five portable classrooms. A fire marshal’s report says a long list of items need to be addressed. The Parents for Safety and Replacement of Mt. Newton Middle School has a long list of items that need to be addressed at the present school, including maintenance of windows, fire alarm boxes, stairwells and other areas. But exactly who is against the school board building a new middle school? Listening to some parents, one would almost think the school board is deliberately thwarting its own efforts to replace Mt. Newton. It is ludicrous to believe anyone cannot support the earliest construction of a new middle school. In its name, the new parents’ group has taken a positive approach to the problem. Formerly the New Mt. Newton Middle School Committee, last fall the name was changed to the New — New Mt. Newton Middle School Commit- Tee. Now the lobby group is The Parents for Safety and Replacement of Mt. Newton Middle School. The group’s goals are admirable but the methods used by some its members are not helping the situation. Fire safety regulations are vital to the well-being of students of Mt. Newton. They are not and will not be ignored. In Central Saanich fire Chief Bruce Elvedahl’s words: “We are still making progress towards upgrading of Mt. Newton School to a reasonable level.” The school’s fire drill and evacuation reports indicate the school has an excellent evacuation time, Elyedahl said. Contrary to claims made by the parent’s group, the maintenance schedule for Mt. Newton is no different than any other school in the district, according to school board chairman Marilyn Loveless. Rather, the maintenance schedule on the school has been moved up, to deal with wear and tear created by hundreds of young teenagers. “Tt is far more useful for parents to express their concems in a problem-solving manner, rather than an antagonistic manner,’ Loveless said. Our concem is for the students and staff at Mt. Newton, who hear the criticism and are affected by it. If you tell someone often enough that they’re down- trodden and hard-done-by, it has an affect on their morale. Despite dealing with the noise, the dust, the traffic and the overcrowded conditions, we are convinced that the education the young people at Mt. Newton are receiving is equal to or better than the education any youngster in the province of B.C. is receiving. Students and staff at Mt. Newton can be proud of their accomplishments. Their focus should be on being the best they can be, not feeling like they are second-rate scholars because of the surroundings they are faced with. Hl TT [ FOR SALE FIXER- UPPER STARTER HOME $190,000 —| SEA GLIMPSES ==) (AT HIGH TIDE...) ei ios Sd Sect wera ORteia CNS ATH r— on ‘@ AMD AEA Wits Da te TheReview Serving The Saanich Peninsula Since 1912 9726 ist Street Sidney, B.C V8L 3C9 or PO. Box 2070 Sidney, B.C V8L 3S5 Second Class Mail Registration #0128 Published every Wednesday 656-1151 Publisher: Vic Swan Editor: Glenn Werkman AN ISLAND PUBLISHERS NEWSPAPER CCNA aS? Cas . GS. 0vkH COme, > Ska Oni _ VERIFIED _ CIRCULATON > CONTROLLED i Moaning under a gruesome tax load Editor: Unlike the doctor-priests of this province, I am laid off from my job at the moment. Also unlike them, I pay my own way. I paid for my own computer and continue to pay into my pension fund. Now I must pay for their office computers and pension fund as well. Maybe I should send them the shirt off my back now and again. I had not realized that our much exalted and beatified doc-priests were so needy. Or greedy. Here I am being so thankful that I can at least collect UIC during these periods of no income, because I paid into the fund all by myself! ... and I don’t even drive a BMW. AS a mere and miserable tax- payer, not protected by the shelters afforded the rich and ludicrous, I am moaning under a gruesome tax load. I gnash my teeth in anger and frustration at the way Bozo Bill just sloshes our hard earned money around to suit his egotisti- cal needs. Grace, save us from this Great Clown! Pleease! Robert K. Matthews Saanichton Gold stars for a quality argument Editor: Since reading the article on the open meeting of Central Saanich council with regard to the Bren- twood Lakes Golf Course, I have puzzled over Ald. Ian Cameron’s remark: “‘It’s the quality of the argument that counts, not the num- bers game” (Majority of residents wants golf course, The Review, Jan. 16). It presents any number of ques- tions and theories. For instance, though the num- bers FOR the development were in the majority, it apparently was deemed that the quality was lack- ing. Question — Did the speakers make grammatical errors? Did they over run the time allotted? Did they make nasty or slanderous statements? In the case of written submissions, were there too many misspelled words? Was there a lack of proper punctuation? Were they too long? Too short? What exactly govems quality in an argu- ment, and who was, or were the judges of quality at the meeting? It has crossed my mind that perhaps any argument differing from the viewpoints of Ald. Cam- eron and council was judged to be of poor quality. I have dismissed this idea. After all this is an adult Situation deserving of adult con- sideration. If the quality as opposed to quantity is the wave of the future, it is bound to affect the electoral process. Perhaps voters will be required to answer a time-limited skill-testing question and those who pass will have a gold star beside their name, and on their ballot. Then only the gold star ballots - will be counted, or will count double if all ballots are counted. If the tests are administered well ahead of the election, political parties will be interested only in the gold star ‘quality’ voters. Ridiculous? Well of course it is! But just how do you react to such a statement? Quality arguments as Opposed to numbers, and the num- bers referred to as a ‘game’? We have several more years to look forward to additional pearls of wisdom from Ald. Cameron. J can hardly wait! Helen Kittleson Saanichton Write to preserve precious ag land Editor: Congratulations to the Central Saanich mayor and council of fulfilling their mandate by voting to overturn the infamous “golf course decision.” At the final all candidates meet- ing prior to election a resident asked candidates to state their position: “Would they rescind approval of the golf course if elected?” Of those elected one said no, another hedged his bet and the others openly stated their opposi- tion to the golf course and inten- tion, if elected, to do their best to reverse the previous council’s decision. The voting confirmed Central Saanich residents’ appre- ciation of our farmland as an imeplaceable resource. Farming is its own reward. Financial success is not easy. for farmers. Land such as Maber Flats and the McHugh and Woodwyn Valleys are agricultural jewels in summer and bird refuges in winter. The ministries of parks and forests are soliciting public input through radio spots in targeting sensitive sites worth preserving as environmental parks. The provincial government must be encouraged to purchase specific properties, such as Maber Flats, to form: 1) an-agricultural land bank purchased with public funds for the protection of the land and leased back to farmers to encour- age our tradition of farming, and 2) at the same time preserve the winter “wetland” as bird havens. It is ironically called killing two birds with one stone, a time hon- ored objective. Please write your provincial Ministers of Agriculture: Parks: Environment and Forests c/o Parli- ament Buildings, Victoria, British Columbia with your support of this concept. Affordable farming and winter wetland bird sanctuar- ies go hand in hand providing year round effective land use. Write today. Time for salvaging this precious resource is running out. Your pen is the sling shot, your letter the stone. Karen Harris Saanichton Local democracy follows fed’s lead Editor: It would appear that democracy at the local level is at about the same low ebb as it is at the federal level. At the national level it was attempted to pull Meech Lake over our eyes and was only blocked by a few clear-sighted individuals. The GST was then rammed down our throats despite overwhelming objections. Now in Central Saanich our hopes of a championship golf course have been dashed by the new council in its rescinding of the wishes of the previous (democrati- cally-elected) council. All this despite a recent open meeting which voiced its approval of the golf course by a three to one Continued on Page A9 ~ ie ee