PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1985, WHITBY FREE PRESS Published every Wednesday whitbyMCAEKNL Xby M.BM. Publishing Oommunlty Editor and Photography Ine. zm 4 1Phone 608-61il VALERIE COWEN Town In BurgSs, pblishe- -- Pd. Bot2(Mi.lVhManagenr The Free Press Building, 1 Brock Street North, Second Class Mail Voice of the CountyTown Michael aManaging itor whitbyOnt. egisraon No 5351 The only Whitby newspaper independetCtly owned and oporated by Whitby myesidents for Whitby residents. But other issues also must be considered Sidewalk policy still nee Weli, the long awalted public meeting on the Town of Whitby's sidewalk snow and ice clearing policy was held last Monday and this newspaper wtled be less than honest If we said we weren't a littie dlsappolnted. We had expected the council chamber to be filled to the rafters with angry residents protesting the town's current policy. But the 30 people who attended didn't seem to be angry at all. While It was obvlous that the majority felt the town should It isn't often that a single book has a noticeable effect on an entire city, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that Ottawa Is enthralled with Sandra Gwyn's "The Private Capital: Am- bition and Love in the Age of Macdonald and Laurier." Reading Ottawa, at least, Is now sensitive to this city's Victorian heritage in a way it wasn't before the book was published last fall. I'm not usually much interested in parties but there is one annual event here that would cause me to contemplate forgery if i didn't get an in- vitation to It: the Governor General's annual skating party for reporters and other news people. In winter, the wooded estate which surrounds the Governor General's official residence, Rideau Hall, Is a fairyland. A skating rink and toboggan slide have nestled in the trees near the residence since the last century. A long procession of English governors-general took to the winter here the same way they took to the merciless sun in other parts of the Empire. And it was they who showed Victorian lumber barons, senior civil servants, the country's statesmen and Ottawa society generally how to enjoy a Canadian winter. It is in this tradition really, the Canadian governors-general have held the annual skating party for the press. This year was no exception, and an enthuslastic Governor-General, Jeanne Sauve, near death only a year ago, added some touches of her own. She Is also under the spell of Sandra Gwyn's book. And so she and her husband, Maurice Sauve, came down to the.skatlng rink in Victorian winter dress. They were magnificent. Two young skaters appeared in Victorian costume as well, she In a long dress, replete with beads and lace and a bustle, and one of those pill- box hats in fur perched jauntily on her head. Her partner wore the same kind of fur pill-box trousers up to the neck. They skated with exquisite grace, and with the waltz music at the rink, and the jangle of sleighbells in the backbround, it was easy to believe at Rideau Hall that time had been standing still for acentury. We were all part of a Bartlett print, a Notman photograph, and for a moment it made the people we've all wondered about in those ancient pic- tures, flesh and blood. be performing this service, we do not believe that the concerns expressed will be enough to change the pollcy. This newspaper has gone on record prevlously in support of Mayor Bob Attersley's suggestion that the town assume this responslbility. Attersiey noted, and public warks director Dick Kuwahara confirmed that the town can clear all the sidewalks in the town at an average cost to the taxpayer of about $3 a year. Many of the residents who supported Attersley's suggestion said that they were even willing to pay more than that for the service. However, before we arbitrarily change the current policy some remarks made Monday night by Coun. Joe Bugelli, chairman of council's operations committee should be considered. Bugelli points out that in the city of North York, for example, it costs the municipality over $1,300 a kilometre a year to clear Its sidewalks to an ac- ceptable standard. He noted that Kuwahara's report indicated that the town would be spending only $539 a kilometre a year to clear the sidewalks. This brings into question the level of service that would be provided. If council decides to assume this responsibility then it must also decide on what level of service to provide. If the residents of the town don't like the level of ser- . vice, its a sure bet that every member of council will be getting a lot of complaints. if Whitby was to provide the same level of ser- vice as North York then it is logical to assume that it would cost the average local homeowner $9 a year, not $3 a year. If we are willing to assume this additional cost, then the town should get on with the job. it is this newspaper's opinion that $9 a year is not an unreasonable amount to pay for this ser- vice especially during a winter such as the one we are currently suffering through. Is change This newspaper has also expressed concerns about the method by which the town enforces the policy. We have said, and' we still do, that It Is wrong for the council to charge any resident with violating the bylaw unless the resident has the rlght of appeai. If someone was to get a parking ticket in Whit- by, that person could appeal to the court If he or she felt that the ticket was given wrongly. But with the sidewalk snow and ice clearing policy that is not the case. In the parking ticket, the burden of proof belongs to the accuser, that is tie town. If a resident, on the other hand, decided to fight the town's decision to charge him or her with vlolating the sidewalk bylaw, the resident would have to swear out the writ In the civil court and assume the burden of proof hlmself. We don't think that's right. If the town believes a resident Is in violation of the sidewalk bylaw, then the burden of proof should be on the town not the homeowner. Despite the lack of attendance at the meeting, this newspaper believes this to be a weighty issue. There are many complex problems to be resolved before any changes can be made. We also have to ask ourselves that if we solve this problem are we not creating other problems for ourselves? Bugelli noted quite correctly that many sidewalks in the town are not bulit to ac- commodate the bombardier snow clearing machines. Does this mean we have to rebuild those sidewalks? Or do we hire more men to do the job manually? If the equipment damages gardens, fences or hedges, who is responsible for their repair? There is another issue that must be resolved. This newspaper still believes that the town should assume this responsibillty. However, we do not believe that council should change the policy without considering the other issues that make up this problem.