Opinion TheReview Wednesday, March 25,1992 — A8 Continued from Page A6 Should the ministry be able to allow future housing developments as a result, then of course council will be notified of their decision, either officially by the ministry or by the mayor. All members of council have been aware that proposals have been sent to both the Ministry of Transportation and, recently, to the Regional Transportation Strategy Task Force. To imply that council _ was not aware gives me cause for great concern, particularly as I believe your paper ran several articles mentioning the subject. The task force welcomes as much input as possible from the community. No one proposal has been officially endorsed by the Town of Sidney and should not be until public participation is con- cluded. Part of that participation will centre on the John Road Overpass consideration. Please be advised that in speak- ing to the author of that petition and a resident signee, it was decided that it would be better publicly received after Christmas, due to the busy season. Had the highway proposal been imminent, this would have been an immediate council consideration. We have approximately 18 months before any decision will be made. During the past months, your mayor and council endorsed many excellent corporate recommenda- tion which we are now putting into effect. The Cuff Review was extremely well received by all of council and staff. With the arrival of chief administrative officer David Bart- ley, we look forward to a positive future for the town of Sidney with a prognosis of good strategic plan- ning. By the 60-odd recommenda- tions of this report, it should be obvious that the leadership taken by this council to instigate such a comprehensive review was valid and necessary. I will close by asking that you endeavor to report all the facts and - not just those that might make a more interesting story. I shall con- tinue to work diligently on Town matters with the same dedication that I have always brought to the community. Mayor Marie C. Rosko Sidney N. Saanich pays to police Sidney Editor: After reading both letters per- taining to policing in North Saa- nich, I found that Mayor Chazottes was more concerned with statistics than a solution (Readers’ Mailbox, The Review, March 11, Feb. 26). We all know that you can make stats say whatever you want. Mayor Chazottes you’ve missed the point that S. Morris was trying to make. lam a retired RCMP officer, and was stationed at many different’ postings. Many were similar in structure to Sidney and North Saanich in that you have a down- town core and a rural area, with the office being located in the core. I have seen the workings of the police service that people received in their town and sur- rounding area. When the RCMP have a provin- cial contract for a town and area, both the town (Sidney) and rural area (North Saanich) would con- tract officers to cover their polic- ing needs. The police officers that North Saanich pays for (let’s say five officers) are spread over a seven day work week, working an 8-10 hour shift. With days off worked into the equation it basically works out to little more than a lone RCMP officer that we are paying for working at any given time and it is very doubtful that he or she is actually working in North Saa- nich. This officer will normally be used to cover Sidney due to the RCMP’s forever under-strength Manpower situation. The majority of calls are no doubt in Sidney, the excitement is in Sidney, so that’s where the North Saanich con- tracted officer will be. This is not even considering that they have to respond to three Indian Reserves and other disjointed areas such as Durrance Lake. As a North Saanich taxpayer and knowing how the RCMP operate their policing contracts, North Saanich residents are not getting the coverage that they pay for. I do not mean to be critical of the RCMP officers, it’s the system that short changes the residents of rural areas. I now understand that the RCMP’s cost to contract a RCMP officer has risen to a level that RCMP vs. Municipal Police is no longer the financial consideration that it once was. A joint North Saanich and Cen- tral Saanich police force would better serve the residents of North Saanich. Let Sidney keep their contract with the RCMP, I don’t believe that is the issue. We pay taxes for policing and I would rather have our paid police services here in North Saanich rather than it being used to police Sidney. The issue is similar to the debate now being addressed in Victoria and area with regionalization/ amalgamation. Victoria is vehe- mently attempting to have the surrounding municipalities amal- gamate their police services. This way Victoria can draw the extra manpower that is available into the city to cover their busy periods, special events, etc. Most rural areas are not geogra- phically located that would allow a choice of police service. Our loca- tion does allow us that choice. John Smaridge North Saanich Butterfield leases proposed Two proposals to use the munic- ipally-owned Butterfield house as a residence were considered by Central Saanich council March 16 and referred to municipal staff for comment. Pat Hull suggested a long-term lease under which he would restore the house and use it as a residence for his family, which includes five children. Hull said his family could pro- vide caretaking duties for the sur- rounding park. At the end of the lease period, Hull suggested he could either relocate the house, demolish it or extend the lease, depending on council’s wishes. Trevor May requested a 30-year lease on the house under which he would restore the home and have the right to rent the property. Ald. Gary Valiquette said he would like to see the house saved and agreed having the house occu- pied would probably reduce van- dalism in the surrounding park. Council requested a staff report on both proposals. are born all the time. * UPHOLSTERY *DRAPERIES © ANTIQUES *ETC. Being in India time to believe Editor: Recently I returned from trip to India. There, my Rotarian brother took me to a Rotary Club- sponsored immunization camp in a village near Poona, where hundreds of sweet little ones were immunized against child-killing diseases like polio, tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough, teta- nus and measles. Immunization costs so little in money and effort — and saves so many children from death or being: crippled for life. I commend Rotarians for show- ing compassion for the poor chil- dren of the world through their very popular “Polio Plus” cam- paign. I hope they will take it up as an ongoing project as new babies FOR PERSONALIZED 6655 TRUDEAU TERRACE BRENTWOOD BAY, B.C. DISTRICT OF NORTH SAANICH WATERMAIN FLUSHING Flushing of watermains and hydrants will be carried out through- out North Saanich commencing MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1992 for. six weeks. There may be some temporary discoloration of water for short periods of time in some areas. The District cannot be responsible for damages caused by the use of discolored water. Persons with special requirements such as dialysis machines should notify the undersigned at 656-0781 if they require advance warning of flushing in their vicinity. TJ. Parry, P. Eng. Municipal Engineer. Bish Bhagwanani Victoria Tough choices are ritish Columbia needs jobs in participate in an open public process the working forest. But we also need with specific deadlines for making to protect our priceless environmental recommendations about where to log and heritage. We need to maintain our what to protect. quality of life. And we need to settle CORE is your chance to help shape land claims. British Columbia’s future. Shouldn’t you 2 That’s why the government of be involved? British Columbia has set up the More information on CORE and the Commission on Resources and choices we face is available in a special Environment — CORE. Because it is publication, Focus On Resources & Our time for leadership to work out our Environment. = differences and to resolve the valley-by- Watch for it in your mailbox. valley conflicts over land use. Over the next few months CORE It’s time to find will be asking British Columbians to common ground. Aes olumbia aS