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WATERLOO CHRONICLE The Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group, a division of Southern Ontario Community Newspapers Inc., a division of Southam Publications, a CanWest Company. Ken Bosveld _ Deborah Crandall Associate Publisher _ Editor, Ext.215 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail: wehronicle@sentex.net Dwayne Weidendort . Gerry Mattice Andrea Bailey Bob Vrbanar Reporter, Ext. 227. Sports Editor, Ext. 229 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2 Associate Publisher: Ken Bosveld 905â€"523â€"5800, Ext. 239 The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. The Waterloo Chronicle welcomes letters to the Editor. They should be signed with name, address and phone number and will be verified for accuracy. No unsigned letters will be published. Submissions may be edited for length, so please be brief Copyright in letters and other mate rials submitted to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the publisher and its licensees may freely repro: duce them in print, electronic or other forms. Our mailing address is 75 King St. S.. Suite 201, Waterloo N2J 1P2, our eâ€"mail address is wehronicle@sentex.net, and our fax number is 886â€"9383 Deb Duffield Karen Dwyer Circulation Circulation Manager, Ext. 225 Assistant International Standard Serial Number Sales. Ext. 223 Sales, Ext. 222 Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number Group Sales Retail Sales Director Manager, Ext. 230 Norma Cyca Melissa Hounslow Letters Policy Lymn Bartol Manager Sales, 623â€"6617 Audited circulation: 26,056 ISSN 0832â€"3410 40050478 Launie Ridgway "So, boobed any prime ministers lately?" An unusual question to say the least, but one I‘m growing accustomed to answering. "Not in the last 24 hours," is my standard response. Let me explain. Last Friday, I met the epitome of embarrassâ€" ment head on, and fortunately lived to tell about it. I knew one of my main assignments of the week was to cover the official groundbreaking for the new Perimeter Institute For Theoretical Physics. I knew it was scheduled for Friday morning. But I had no idea who would be in attendance. Enter Sue from the Perimeter Institute. "We have quite a few people speaking," Sue said. "Jean Chretien, Elizabeth Witmer, Lynne Woolstencroft..." Going back in time, I‘d say six days to be exact, 1 was in the midst of my Thursday routine â€" conâ€" ducting interviews and setting up appointments. _ Once I picked my jaw up from the floor, I kindly asked Sue to repeat the list, thinking I must have Inisheard the NTSL NANIC. . =â€"mumrcomerenmmanes Cozying up to the PM "She probably said something like John Crutching," I remember thinking. "As in, the prime minâ€" ister?" I asked. Sue conâ€" firmed. She must have thought, "What hay wagon did this girl just roll off of?" After jotting down the tnCB‘ _____za~ last of the details, a strange feeling came over ANDREA me. The same feeling 1 BAILEY had when I covered my first story, and attended my first council meeting. Heck, I bet it was the same feeling I had the first day of Kindergarten. I was petrified. I didn‘t sleep much Thursday night. "Will 1 be able to get close enough for a good picture of him? Or will I be buried in a sea of bloodâ€"thirsty national media?" were just couple of the hundreds of thoughts running through my head at 2 a.m. "Tean Chretien," she repeated. A similar scenario came to mind, recalling a trip former Ontario premier Mike Harris made to Baden in 1999. [ remember media from all comners of the province swooping in on the man, and quickly shoving me to the back of the pack. _ Fortunately, a local man saw this and lifted me on top of a table, from which I towered above all of the TV cameras. To that man, I am eternally grateâ€" The next morning, to my elation 1 was able to secure a bird‘sâ€"eye view of the podium where the nation‘s leader would be speaking. Life is good, I thought to myself. The indoor part of the ceremony was a piece of cake. Then it was time to move outside for the groundbreaking. _ Security allowed the press to get a headâ€"start and set up before the prime minister made his way to the site. Again, I found myself with an ideal vantage point, on the aisle Chretien would use to get to the site. The cheers of the crowd indicated he was on his way. I was ready, camera in hand. Just as the prime minister made his way into view, about half a step in front of his security staff, the unimaginable happened. s A bumbling camera man stumbled into me. The impact was not hard enough to knock me down, yet forceful enough to, let‘s just say enhance, my chest in the PM‘s direction. "Oops," was all I could manage, hoping Chreâ€" tien wouldn‘t mistake me for the guy from a few years back who thought a pie in the prime minisâ€" ter‘s face would be a good idea. I kind of like my neck without the red hand prints, thank you. For a split second, he seemed a little wideâ€"eyed. But nothing that indicated he was ready to braw!. When he passed, all I could do was laugh. Since, I can‘t seem to resist sharing the story with almost everyone I meet. What can I say. It‘s a small claim to fame, but it‘s mine. 4 VIEWPOINT r [‘he warnings about smog came early this year, but it‘s a constant fact that a cauâ€" tion against working too hard when the air is tainted isn‘t that hard to obey. Still, you can figure our smog isn‘t as bad as, say, the smog in Hamilton. When you eat a doughnut down there, you can taste the hole. At its worst, the Hamilton smog has to be run through a blender to get it in chucks small enough to be masticated. Lid on the Pot: Gosh, just when you were beginning to think a $15 fine was maybe the maximum punishment, a Kitchener chap has been sentenced to 15 months for growing pot. Of course, it wasn‘t the accused‘s first bite at the apple. He was sentenced to nine months in 1994 for heroin trafficking. And his most recent pot project wasn‘t just small potaâ€" The 156 plants found were worth $156,000 to $234,000. And all hydro consumers will applaud the court for ordering him to pay $3,031 for the electricity he filched. Take a look at those numbers, and you‘ll know that the pot growing wasn‘t just a hobby. There‘s a lot of drama, you know, in hunting the marijuana crops. One dog was responsible for a big bust. His handlers knew they had something when a dog started sniffing the bales and then sat down and wrote a rock song. Through the Roof: No, you haven‘t been dreaming. Those houses you see popping up like mushrooms are for real. Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo has a buildâ€" ing boom the likes of which we haven‘t seen since the late 1980s. Most people have seen the _ _ impact of the boom, indirectly if no other way. If there‘s been a house for sale on your street, how quickly was it sold? Most folks have got new neighbours in a hurry. Say, there‘s only one trouble in owning your own home. No matter where you sit, you‘re looking at something that has to be done. Power Play: Waterloo‘s Alan Wright is going to have a couple of months to juggle one of Ontario‘s hottest potatoes. He‘s been named interim head of Hydro One, the embattled public (for now) utility. He‘s got a strong board of mixed political affiliations to back him up, and we‘ll have to see how it all comes out. I must admit that as one who regularly tunes in to the legislature on TV, I‘ve found the hydro issue confusing. Kâ€"W streets have detours on their detours SANDY YOUR SECONDâ€"HAND SMOKE TOTALY But I vow that I‘m going to understand it. I‘m going to read all the papers; I‘m going to listen to all the speeches; I‘m going to examine all the literatureâ€"then draw my own confuâ€" sions. Museum Piece: Speaking of things I‘m not quite clear on, you could add the ultimate role of Seagram Museum as a nonâ€"profit research institute and museum. It‘s been sold to local philanthropist Jim Balsillie, coâ€"chief executive officer of Research In Motion, for $2.5 million. It‘s assessed at between $3.7 million and $4.5 million. The city offered it at a bargain price because the nonâ€"profit enterprise will enhance the downtown, and reopen the museum to the public. The plan is to establish a research institute focused on international affairs, and also proâ€" vide a new home for Project Ploughshares, the peace and disarmament group. Obviously, the museum‘s fuller role will emerge as time goes on. Incidentally, Balsillie has made a personal sz donation of $24 million to the project. e _ Take any street longer than DY two blocks and it‘s an evenâ€" D money bet there‘ll be a detour on § it. Don‘t say you read it here, but Kâ€"W is close to establishing a Canadian first: A detour on a detour. To kick heck out of the obvious, the arrangement would have a lot more credibility if it reported to an independent agency. That‘s been a big knock on the previous setâ€"up. Under the Scope: Jean Chretien has unveiled his new rules for cabinet ministers, and one point of vulnerability is the person heading the exercise reports to PM. The Chretienâ€"Martin fuss, as predicted in this pillar of truth, has subsided and, by the time we get to the next election, it will be a distant memory. Still, the Liberals have had so much scanâ€" dal that you‘d have to bet that some Grits will show up at the next convention with assumed names on their tags. Ah yes, if I had my life to live over, I‘d be a philanthropist because they always seem to have lots of maney. _ Man the Barricades: I supâ€" pose I should submit the figures somewhere for official approval, but it‘s clear now that Kitchenerâ€" Waterloo have chalked up a Canadian record for most detours.