The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 19

AnnouncementsCelebrations: B6 Computer whiz David Garrard has left his mark on Glebe Collegiate. B4 Section Editor: Joe Sornberger, 596-3507 Citythecitizen.southam.ca THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1997 CITY 1 rV Clark attacks Chiarelli record on tax increases Challenger questions leadership of incumbent as regional chair CHEO finally gets own MRI unit Until now, children have taken tests at General Hospital By Sharon Kirkey The Ottawa Citizen I By Mohammed Adam The Ottawa Citizen Sparks flew yesterday as Regional Chair Peter Clark and challenger Bob Chiarelli clashed over who was the best candidate to lead Ottawa-Car-leton into the next century. In the first official debate between the two main candidates for the most important municipal office in the region, Mr. Chiarelli questioned his rival's competence, accusing Mr. Clark of "threatening a $250 tax hike," being an impediment to local government restructuring and lacking in leadership and initiative to drive economic development in the region.

"Political leadership that sits back and waits for things to happen will not do any longer," Mr. Chiarelli charged. "This campaign is about a choice between sticking to old discredited ways or embracing the future." Mr. Clark dismissed Mr. Chiarelli's claims, saying his challenger is desperate for votes and will say anything, no matter how inaccurate, to get them.

He ridiculed Mr. Chiarelli's attempts to position himself as a proponent of lower taxes, saying the Liberal government Mr. Chiarelli belonged to at Queen's Park increased taxes 33 times. "And Mr. Chiarelli voted for every one of them," Mr.

Clark scoffed. Mr. Clark said the issue of taxes will come down to "whether you believe someone who has kept a line on taxes four times or someone who is saying he will do it but won't give details." The two candidates spoke at a candidates' luncheon organized by the Gloucester Chamber of Commerce. They addressed the gathering and answered questions on issues ranging from taxes to provincial transfer of services and economic development. While they promised much everything from creating jobs to improving the local economy there was precious little detail about how they would do it.

The race for regional chair has become the most important in the Nov. 10 municipal election, and not only because many of the contests for mayor lack credible challengers. The reason is that next year, the regional government is poised to take over most of the services that mean the most to local residents. With responsibility for everything from garbage collection, welfare and public safety to ambulance services, public health, major roads and social housing, the regional government will be the one to watch. The chair, who will be elected by voters across the region, will be a powerful and influential voice in shap--ing tomorrow's Ottawa-Carleton.

See DEBATE on page B3 KELLY EGAN, THE OTTAWACITIZEN Gerard Daechsel was fined $47 for not mowing his lawn. The grass is always longer Imagine a critically ill child on life support having to be wheeled on a stretcher through a maze of corridors and across a skywalk to an adult hospital for an urgent test This is the situation that doctors at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario have had to face when a child there needs an MRI test. An MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging machine, is a state-of-the-art tool that provides unequalled images of bone, tissues and organs. For years, CHEO has had to ferry sick and injured children through connecting corridors to the Ottawa General Hospital for an MRI. Today, when an magnet is lifted and lowered by crane through a hole in a wall into CHEO's new MRI machine, the hospital will be one step closer to dramatically improving its ability to diagnose diseases and illnesses in children.

When it's operating, probably by mid-December, the $3-million MRI is expected to substantially reduce the average four-month wait children now face for non-urgent MRIs. "We hope to have the waiting list down to weeks," said Dr. Mary-Anne Matzinger, medical director of diagnostic imaging at CHEO. It will also mean that doctors who have been reluctant to refer patients for an MRI because of the sheer logistics involved in getting their young patients to the General will not only be able to get an MRI in their own hospital, but also be able to more easily consult with the radiologist who interprets the results. In most cases, critically ill patients in the intensive-care unit at CHEO aren't transported to the General because it's too far a walk if a crisis were to occur.

"It's not a comforting situation to roll through the corridors with a sick, sick child," said Wendy Rabbie, operations director of diagnostic imaging. Yet the technology has become the method of choice in medicine for looking at problems in the central nervous system, in particular the brain and spinal cord. "This is really the way you want to look at those problems nowadays," said Dr. Matzinger. It is also useful in looking at heart disease, especially congenital heart disease, the kind children are born with, as well as various bone and muscle tumours and infections.

The MRI doesn't involve any radiation. Instead, it uses radio waves and a huge magnetic field. "You don't really like to expose (children) to radiation if you don't have to," Dr. Matzinger said. It is also considered significantly more accurate than other tests, including the CAT scan.

Hilson school project remains in limbo fx '(V A 4 thing else," says Mr. Daechsel, an articulate, university-educated man who lived in Europe for more than 20 years. "We are sons of the soil. We only survive because of the soils and they're becoming terribly depleted because of lawns." Our fixation with manicured lawns, he says, is sad. "We call it the tyranny of lawns.

These chemicals we pour on them are an absolute catastrophe, and by August, we have deserts of brown." Others agree with him. Area resident Bill Aalders wrote a letter to the Glengarry News urging readers to donate money to help pay the fine, stating he had already collected $12. "If Jesus lived in Alexandria, He would probably be fined for a similar reason," his letter stated. He provided a bank account number for donations. In any case, Mr.

Daechsel, a well-known church organist, doesn't particularly want money or sympathy. He wants Alexandria to alter its bylaw to permit residents to legally encourage the natural growth of vegetation. Mr. Daechsel is puzzled as to how the whole case cropped up. He was visited by a county weeds inspector in July and the pair had a civil discussion about the presence of some ragweed and thistle.

See WEEDS on page B3 School Board. "Why would I want to be the complaint bureau with no power to change anything for $5,000 a year?" "With all of the changes in school boards, the major decisions will be made in Toronto. I wanted to have some input in local decision-making," he said. Starting in January, there will be four school boards instead of six in Ottawa-Carleton. There will be one public English language school board for 75,000 students from downtown Ottawa to the C7r by Dave Rogers The Ottawa Citizen An Ottawa Board of Education meeting that was to decide the fate of Hilson Avenue School dissolved in confusion last night when trustees couldn't agree whether they should discuss the issue.

Parents whose children formerly attended the Westboro school, which was demolished during the summer, believed it would be rebuilt after the Education Improvement Commission approved the project last Tuesday. About 200 Hilson students are temporarily at nearby Fisher Park Public School, waiting to find out whether the 83-year-old school will be rebuilt. The school board administration said yesterday it needed instructions from the board about what type of school to build or whether the project should be scrapped. The meeting was cancelled after 90 minutes of procedural discussion on whether to discuss the issue. A 5-5 tie resulted in the debate being cancelled.

Alexandria man upset after town orders lawn cut By Kelly egan The Ottawa Citizen ALEXANDRIA Gerard Daechsel, 64, lives in a house without electricity or a telephone, eats raw or cold food, and has a house full of "salvaged" material A lifelong peace and environmental activist, the organic gardener does not practise recycling, he lives it. In the eyes of town council, however, he is a delinquent weed whacker. In August, apparently responding to a complaint, the town exercised its powers under a property standards bylaw and cut his overgrown lawn, billing him $47.15. Mr. Daechsel, who bought the vacant house for $20,000 in November 1996, is trying to convert the back yard into an organic garden.

He has installed compost heaps and is slowly removing the stones, car parts and other debris left on or under the soiL Even the town's bylaw enforcement officer agrees he has made considerable improvements to the site, about 11 metres wide by 33 metres deep. "The soil is the foundation of every things, and the trustees themselves will make considerably less money. All of which explains why fewer candidates than usual will run this year for what used to be an entry-level position in the world of political ambition. "No one ever went into school boards to make money. But to be paid $5,000 is an insult," says Mr.

Kennelly, the current chair of the Ottawa Separate Several trustees said afterwards that the issue should be discussed again at the Oct. 27 board meeting, but others said the Hilson project should be left for the next school board in January. The OBE is scheduled to amalgamate with the Carleton Board of Education. Some trustees have argued that the amalgamated board should decide whether the school will be rebuilt because more than $4 million of the funding isn't approved yet. Parents felt betrayed because they have been promised a hew school since 1991.

Lynn Hawkins, vice chair of the Hilson School Council, said a new Hilson School would solve overcrowding problems at four nearby schools. OBE chairman Ted Best said the board's failure to give its administration directions about which of four options to follow leaves the project in limbo. "We have no authority to rebuild the school," Mr. Best said. "This issue should be left for the new combined board because we don't know yet how much money will be available." And trustees will also make less money.

Many local trustees now earn about $16,000 a year, with chairs earning about $25,000. Starting in January, the maximum trustee salary will be $5,000. The reduced number of candidates in the Nov. 10 election means less choice for voters. Of the 10 seats on the Catholic separate school board, for example, three were won by acclamation, Mr.

Kennelly said. See CHANGES on page B2 Larger, less powerful school boards draw fewer candidates Shift in powers to province, reduced pay result in many seats going uncontested By Joanne Laucius The Ottawa Citizen After nine years as a trustee with the Ottawa Separate School Board, Jim Kennelly has decided to run for a seat on regional council instead. He fears the trustee's job just isn't what it used to be. The school boards are bigger, will have less power to do rural edges of the region. A similar Catholic board will cover 33,000 students.

The two French-language boards will remain, but they will take over responsibility for French-language schools as far away as Prince Edward County and Deep River. The new boards will have fewer trustees, but each trustee will cover a large geographic area. At the new English language public board, for example, one trustee will cover all the territory between Constance Bay in the north and Burritts Rapids in the south. Riva Walker $459.95 Years Parts and Labour Visit Opal Deluxe S479.95 Years Parts and Labour for your Walker. Ottawa's Best Warranty Free, At-Home Trials Flexible Payment Plans (Registered ADP Vendor) 943 Carling Avenue (at Sherwood Dr.) Ottawa Tel: 728-1115 Mon.

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