PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBE R (6, 1985, WHlITBY FREE PRESS Publisied every Wednesday f ~xPa6ihigEMMANUEL HADZIPETROS by M.H.M. Publishing Community Editor and Photography Inc. Phonef6i8-6 111 VALERIECOWEN Advertlsing Manager The Free Press Building, I3I Brock Street North, Seco"d Class Mail Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor 1.. Bo a<St. w b n. Regstraton No 5351 The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby esidents for Whitby residents. Vote onlyfair way tofili extra regional seat in the last week, the important issues we'il be voting for in next Tuesday's municipal elections have been somewhat eclipsed by the debate over how Whitby's third seat on council will be allocated. This debate should never have arisen. Our four ward councillors, Mayor Bob Attersley and the two present regional councillors all agree that Whitby deserves an extra voice in the region because of its rapidly growing population. So where's the beef? It's in the timing. Provin- cial minister of municipal affairs Bernard Gran- dmaitre announced only · after the close of nominations for the Nov. 12 elections that the bill rnrMir a lr O MLOBAL NIWB M I OTTAWA - Those who remain farmers in this coun- try quite obvlously have priorities which go beyond either Income or long term security. Otherwise we wouldn't have any farmers, and we'd have to import everything we eat. I heard a farmer on the radio the other day suggest, not without justification, that Canadians expect to be able to buy their food with what's left over after they pay for their housing, buy a cottage, service the car, go to Florida, get a new suit and a new television, go to the movies, and buy a snowmobile. And you could also make the case that if food remains cheap, it is largely at the expense of the producer. Precious few wholesalers and super- markets are going out of business, but farmers have been going bankrupt at record rates for several years. As if that weren't enough to discourage farmers, there is a case in New Brunswick which ought to do the trick. A group of cottagers in the Northeastern part of the province have taken a pig farmer to court because he, or at least his porkers, offended their sense of smell. Somehow, they won, and the farmer had to pay some $200,000 in fines and legal fees and olfactory improvements to his operation. The part-time re-occupation of rural areas by city dwellers is not a new phenomenon. In this country, "Harrowsmith" magazine, a slick publication which deals with various homely aspects of country life, owes its success to the cities. Fifty-five percent of its readership is urban, and only 45 percent rural. But what city dwellers who want to weekend and vacation or even live in the country had better under- stand in a hurry is that at least in areas where the soil is good, they are moving into light industrial zones. And the people who operate the light industry in those areas, the farmers, got there first. If city dwellers have sensitive noses, it is up to them not to buy a piece of land downwind of a manure heap. In addition to air pollution, an attribute of any in- dustry, there is also noise pollution. Modern farming means heavy machinery and the roar of engines. So don't move the country and expect to find the place the way that. nature left it. What the farmers of this country need from city dwellers is not law suits but a little understanding. granting Whitby and Ajax an extra seat was pen- ding. But the legislation won't receive final reading until at least December so that direct election of the new councillors won't be possible until the 1988 municipal vote. The question is how to fill the seat. Do we ap- point-or do we hold a special by-election? If we appoint, who do we choose? The runnýr up in the three-way race for the two present regional council seats? Or, as has been voted by Whitby municipal council, one of the four ward coun- cillors who would then sit on both the town and regional councils? Both are unsatisfactory options. Whitby is lucky in the high calibre of the three candidates running for the two regional seats. But there are only three candidates. Appointing the runner up would be like cancelling the election and undermining the popular mandate of all three. This would be a disservice to democracy. Allowing one of the four ward councillors to take the third regional seat is just as bad. These candidates are running for one office only: ward councillor. To give one the third regional seat would be like voting for a member of the provincial parliament in Whitby only to have him or her ap- pointed federal MP for Whitby and Oshawa as well. This would be unthinkable. It should also be un- thinkable on the regional level. Furthermore, this piggy-backing of offices represents a tremendous - even arrogant - assum- ption of power by the ward councillors. It smacks too much of backroom politicking and cronyism. We don't need that in Whitby. The major argument against a by-election is cost: about $45,000. However, the eventual oc- cupant of that third regional seat will serve out vir- tually a full term. It is important that he or she enjoy the con- fidence of the electors. The only way to do that underourpolitical system is through an election. The cost might seem a little steep to some, but by pinching our pennies now we could be losing our pounds in the future: democracy evolves through precedent and the precedent of appoin- ting an elective officiai who will serve almost a complete term is not one we really want to leave our children. This is a good place to remind our readers that Nov. 12 is election day. And to repeat what we've said time and time again: this is our town and our region and if we're concerned about the management of those services that affect us most immediately, it's our duty to get out there and vote. As has been pointed out on this page before, the fouF local levels of government serving Whitby -- the town and regional councils and the two school boards -- spend over $300 million a year on such vital services as police and fire protection, roads, sewers and schools. That's a lot of money and it ail comes out of your pocket. Unfortunately, taxpayers have historically been more interested in federal and provincial elections than the perhaps less glamorous municipal votes. In the 1982 local elections, for example, only 33 percent of the electorate turned out. Compare this to 53 percent who regularly vote in provincial elec- tions and the 61 percent federal turn-out. As we've said, $300 million is an awful lot of money. If you want a say in how it's spent, get out there and vote. You owe it to yourself, your family and your community. J6ir4o/' ProautÃnzS m.esr.c.: SEGESORS LT D.WHV