PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 19. 1984, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitb Pub Publisher - Managing Editor mresidpnts for Whitbv roida 'y -e-..'-', *'"""r -iy res ients. blished every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 6i8-il Il The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206i, Whit by, Ont. PO -o8 0,WlibOt --Idrlio o.55 MICHAEL KNELL Community Editor Second Class Mal Regist rat ion No. 5351 Oshawa grandstanding didn't consider Brooklin's needs Well, we were wondering when Durham Region was going to get off its collective duff and do something about Brooklin. Their recent decision to cash In the developers' $2.15 million letter of credit has finally brought the matter to a head. The developers are now going to have to treat this issue seriously either through the courts or at the bargaining table. The people of Brooklin have been walting for almost a decade for something to be done about their water problems. Everyone was content to wait for development to occur so that these important public works might be paid for by a company wanting to invest in Brooklin and make a profit. When the developer was found, hard negotiations were entered into and as a result, the Mainstream Canada Another postal hike leaves a bad taste By Tony Carlson Sending letters leaves a bad tasteirithe mnouth these days, That!s not because they've, changed the glue on envelopes or stamps. It's simply because it's hard to stomach yet an- other postal rate increase. Yet that's what Canada Post President Michael Warren and his crew of deep thinkers are preparing to introduce. They're not saying how much of an increase, but they're planning one for next year, you can bet on that. In recent days, various post office spokesmen have been hemming and hawing about the increase. Some say the Canadian Federation of In- dependent Business, which revealed the planned hike, is trying to make political hay out of the scheme. Another wouldn't confirm the increase when pressed by the media. They weren't so vague in a meeting with four officials of the CFIB, including this writ- er. There will be a rate in- crease, they said at the time, period. When? In the new year. It was, as you might expect, a shock. Less than three years ago the cost of a stamp for a first-class letter leaped from 17 cents to 30 cents. A year after that, another "price ad- justment" as the post office is fond of saying, and voilà , the 32-cent stamp. That's an 88 per cent jump, and now they want more? The point is, says CFIB President John Bulloch, any increase is intolerable. Canada Post has a $300 million deficit and a goal to be financially self-sufficient by 1987. "Admirable," says Bulloch, "but they cannot expect to climb out of their financial hole on the backs of the Cana- dian public." He adds that the: defidt is just a symptom .of-the:.real disease within the Crown cor- poration: poor productivity coupled with wages and bene- fits that are too high. To get at that, Bulloch wrote in a letter to Warren, the post office should boost the output per worker and roll back wage and benefit leveis. That's especially relevant now, as Canada Post manage- ment continues contract talks with its two biggest unions- letter carriers and inside work- ers- whose contracts expire at the end of this month. Bulloch called on the post office president to deal force- fully with these issues, saying that to do otherwise would be irresponsible. And he's right. Even a cur- sory look at the performance of our post office reveals a lot of room for improvement. Our posties have. higher pay scales but produce less than their American counterparts. Yet the U.S. postmaster gen- eral, whose operation pro- duced a $616-million profit last year, has told his em- ployees their wage demands will not be met. Canada Post's problem de- mands effective leadership, in- cluding labor management not avoiding the trouble by passing it on to the consumer, whether it's a large corpora- tion, a small business or the private citizen. More than 60 per cent of CFIB members surveyed tel] us postal service is poor. If that's the case, why should we pay more for it? Got the message, Mr. Warren? CFI8 Feature Service developer and his partners agreed to pay for the construction of trunk water supply and sanitary sewer pipes to Brooklin. As a guarantee, they posted a$2.15 million letter of credit to insure that if they failed to do as they promised, for any reason, the region couId perform the work at their cost. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is precisely what happened. According to the Region the developer failed to carry out its part of the con- tract and, therefore, forfeited the money. It is now up to the region to do something about Brooklin's water delivery system. Both Regional Chairman Gary Herrema and Mayor Bob Attersley have said that Brooklin's system is the worst in the region and that something has to be done. After ail, if there was ever a major fire. in Brooklin lives could be lost because there is not enough water pressure in the pipes to supply firefighters. The region seized the money so that It could deal with the developer from a position of strength. Furthermore, It wanted . to seize the money before the developer could obtain a court order forbidding them to do so. The developers, according to region, failed to carry out their obligations according to the development agreement so the region took the ac- tion called for in that same agreement. A sensible, business decision. However, that did not prevent regional cauncil from having to endure the grandstanding and political claptrap of at least two members of council from Oshawa. Both of them took their egos for a little stroil and righteously raved that the letters of credit should only have been cashed after a meeting of council approved the action. Attersley quite rightly pointed out that council's permission wasn't needed to cash the letters of credit. All the management committee did was carry out council policy as set down in the agreement. Therefore, we can only assume that eight regional councillors from Oshawa who voted against the motion to ratify the committee's ac- tion have other motives. Oshawa has always op- posed the Brooklin project because it felt it would detract from development in Oshawa. Oshawa councillors believed that Oshawa interests were not served by having growth in Brooklin. Oshawa interests would not be served If the people of Brooklin received a new lease on life through the construction of improved water and sewer disposai services. After all these years it is not difficult to surmise that Oshawa doesn't want to know about anything that doesn't concern Oshawa. They seem to take the attitude that if its good for a neighbouring community, then its bad for Oshawa. Oshawa politicians are still using Durham Region and its member communities as a scapegoat to hid its own political inadequaciles. During last Wednesday's debate, not one Oshawa councillor spoke of the problems faclng the residents of Brooklin. Not one addressed the issue in terms of what was good for them. We really think they don't care. But then, of course, slamming Brooklin makes them look good to the people at home. They don't have to worry about the best interests of the people of Brooklin. We are not attempting to paint all Oshawa councillors with the same brush. There were a few who supported the region's action and will deal with Brooklin fairly. However, they are the minority in Oshawa's delegation. This newspaper is not only disappointed in a few Oshawa councillors. We are' also aÊlittle disappointed in · Whitby's Regional Councillor Gerry Emm. Throughout the entire debate, while these Oshawa councillors were doing their best to derail the situation, Emm did not once get to his feet to defend the situation. If anyone had an obligation to speak out on behalf of the residents of Brooklin, it was Coun. Emm. Last Wednesday he was the only Whitby mem- ber present as both Mayor Bob Attersley and Regional Councillor Tom Edwards were away on business. It was up to him to defend the people of Brooklin, but he chose not to do so. The region now has the opportunity to do something about Brooklin's water problems. Let's hope that a sensible solution can be found despite the opposition of a few closed political mindà f rom the City of Oshawa. I ALWAYS KNEW 1