WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1987, PAGE 17· whitbybusiness Councillors undeclided on Sunday shopping issue By MIKE JOHNSTON A decision by the Province of On- tario to give municipalities the power to decide whether or.not stores can open for Sunday shop- ping has left Whitby councillors shaking their heads. "The Province's decision is asinine. There should be one law for all of Ontario. I don't know what we are going to do," commented Mayor Bob Attersley. "As a business person (Attersley is president of Attersley Tire) I am opposed to it but I might have to think about opening if my com- petition does," said Attersley, who sees the same scenario for many Whitby businesses. Solicitor General Joan Smith will introduce the legislation in March giving municipalities the oppor- tunity to hold a referendum on the issue in the October municipal elec- tions. But Attersley, reflecting the views of the majority of Whitby councillors, said a referendum would not be needed in Whitby. "If it was negative, there would have to be another one to change it," said the mayor, adding that some sort of public input will take place before a decision is made. "That decision should be made at Queen's Park where they are elec- ted to make them. 1's the pits. The Province just doesn't have the testicles to make the decision," said' councillor Joe Drumm who is opposed to Sunday shopping. But the decision is based on an analysis of the situation and is not buck-passing, says Durham Centre MPP Allan Furlong. "The fact is there are loopholes in the current legislation allowing towns to declare themselves as tourist areas," says Furlong. As a tourist area, a town can allow its He says towns such as North York were preparing to take that route. "If we were to say yes to Sun- day shopping in all Ontario it would create hardships for some. "Towns regulate hours of retail stores so why should the Province legislate this'?" says Furlong. According to Town clerk Don McKay, Whitby only regulates the hours of a few businesses such as barber shops, adult entertainment parlors and amusement arcades. McKay says hours for retail stores comes under the jurisdiction of the Retail Business Holidays Act, a provincial legislation. Furlong says municipal coun- cillors are complaining the Provin- ce is passing the buck because they will now have to face the problem. He said he would only support the legislation if it includes protection for workers who do not want to work Sundays. such as Whitby and Oshawa, it could create problems," says coun- cillor Joe Bugelli, noting that if Whitby were to allow Sunday shop- ping it would put pressure on Oshawa to do the same and vice versa. Unlike his fellow councillors, Bugelli does not think the Province is passing the buck. "Maybe this is the proper ap- proach. The Province is too big and diverse and municipalities have been screaming to get more autonomy," says Bugelli. He did say, however, he would like to see regional government take part in the decision process. Bugelli would not say whether he was in favor or against Sunday shopping, only commenting that he would "vote by my conscious after public input." "A cop-out" is how regional councillor Tom Edwards described the Province's decision. He said he does not want to see a "wide-open Sunday," but added he would be guided by the public. "This is a real eye-opener on the Liberal government. I don't think most people want to see Sunday shopping but if the majority want it, that is the way democracy works," said Edwards. "I'm. not convinced there should be Sunday shopping," says coun- cillor Ross Batten, who said the Province's decision is a classic case of "passing the buck." He said the issue will cause nothing but "havoc" between neighboring municipalities especially those as close as Oshawa and Whitby. At Monday night's operations committee meeting, councillor Marcel Brunelle asked Town clerk Don McKay to determine how a referendum on the issue would be handled.. But after McKay told Brunelle Whitby councillors would be receiving a white paper from the Province on the issue, Brunelle withdrew his request. He later told The Free Press that a call for a referendum may be premature but added he does want some kind of public input. "We should hear what the people have to say. The average person is as well versed and able to deal with this question as we (councillors) are," says Brunelle. He says he is opposed to Sunday shopping but should the public show support for Sunday shopping, he would respect that decision. Chairman of the Downtown Board Improvement Area, Rob Morton, said all downtown mer- chants would be given a chance to express their views before the board decides one way or another. He said the board has never discussed the possibility of Sunday shopping. Newest medical centre offers all essential services By BRYCE COOPER Whitby's newest medical centre has all of the essential services located in one building to offer a complete care facility. Dundas-Centre Medical began as an idea of four doctors two years ago and since Nov. 30 it has been open to the piblic offering the ser- vices of 14 doctors and other specialty services. Doctors Walter Chang, Bob Chaulk, Traudl Flock and Warren Ke .decided that Whitby needed a central office where all the necessary services could be provided from one building. Chang is now president of the doctors and the building, Chaulk is treasurer, and Flock is in charge of the urgent care walk-in clinic. Dundas-Centre offers full service laboratory, x-ray machine, walk-in clinic, spècialty clinic, physiotherapy, pharmacy and possibly soon, a nuclear medicine facility. Chang hopes to have "something concrete working in conjunction with the x-ray department" in the near future. The urgent care walk- in clinic and the specialty clinic are two unique features of the building. The walk-in clinic is open from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 10-10 weekends, offering treatment for injuries or sicknesses which can be handled by one doctor. The specialty clinic is a new idea which allows a specialist of any field to see patients from Whitby and use the facilities offered at the building. This prevents residents from travelling to Toronto or Oshawa where the specialist's office is located. Chang also hopes to bring in an ultrasound machine and perhaps even an electrocardiogram. Both machines will further upgrade the facility, he says, and help patients avoid the inconvenience of travelling to Oshawa or Toronto to J p DR. WALTER CHANG use them. Another plus for the building is the appearance, says Chang, poin- ting out the open and spacious in- terior. Each of the suites are located around a central core which Langstaff locates in Whitby The construction boom in Durham Region and a growing list of clientele led Del Langstaff Ex- cavating Ltd. to find a more per- manent location than the owners' home. An open house was held last Wednesday for the new building located at 1511 Hopkins St., Whitby. "Our office was in our home in Oshawa and we were growing so rapidly we decided to put up our own building," says Joyce Langstaff. She and husband Del own the operation. The business involves grading and basement excavation and specializes in underground hydro. Work is mainly on new subidivions under construction, including such names as Costain, Victoria Wood and Great Gulf. "While our office is here and we do all our repairs here on our equipment, we hope the equipment will never be here. and on the job site," says Joyce Langstaff. She says the Hopkins St. location DEL LANGSTAFF (middle) and his wife Joyce get a was chosen because it is centrally Welcome to Whitby' mat from Mayor Bob Attersley. located. The combany employs The Langstaffs have opened an excavating business between 25 and 30 Ipeople, depen- ding on the economy," says Joyce i town. Langstaff. is lighted by a large skylight, easing the office atmosphere. The ground floor is flooded with sunlight from the many windows and the skylight. "There is no comparison in ail o Whitby," says Chang. "One patient describes the building as "the Eaton Centre of Whitby," says Chang who is very proud of his investment. However, some residents and council mem- bers have expressed dissatisfaction Lady Di has arrived in Whitby. Maybe not 'the' lady herself. But Dianne Stoddart nonetheless offers something unique for women at her Lady Di's Toning and Tanning DIANNE STODDART with one of the toning tables in her new salon on Dundas St. E. at Perry St. in downtown Whitby. Free Press photo with the building. Chang and his partners had hoped to acquire the land formerly occupied by the Grant Menzies Chrysler-AMC dealership. However, Chrysler AMC has the land leased for another two years. Grant Menzies has since moved to Ajax. The centre has 105 spaces of parking to the rear, at $35 cents an hour. Salon, on the second floor of the new addition to Brooklin Cycle in downtown Whitby. It can best be described as a no- sweat workout - special tables with moving parts that perform the hard work and at the same time tone the body. "All we talk in here is inches, not pounds," says Stoddart of the reduction program. "People don't need another diet." Stoddart, a registered nurse, be- came convinced of the results from the mechanized tables when she was a client at Lady Be Lovely in Peterborough for three years. "I've tried everything. I think this is the best answer," she says. The Peterborough location used tables that were designed and made about 15 years ago by the owner. In recent years, other locations with newer tables have since sprang up, with about 40 salons now in Canada and 700 in the U.S. Stoddart's tables come from Tennessee. She has two sets, each set with six different tables, in her ladies' only salon ("We're not set up for co-ed but if the demand is ever great enough, we would set it up"). The stretch table exercises the upper body, the sandbag table is for hips and thigs, while there's a table for legs, a table for waist, tummy and hips, sit-up table (90 in 10 minutes) and vibrator table (im- proves circulation). The tables were actually first built to assist polio victims to avoid atrophy. "It's a great product. lt's just a SEE PAGE 30 Toning and tanning salon opens in Whitby