Page 6, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, January 11, 1995 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER OF: L ONTAR1IO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER M NEWSPAPER - ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X The Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes in Whitby, Brooklin, Ashburn & Myrtle as well as numerous public and commercial outiets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 27,000 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $34 + GST • Outside Canada $80 + GST Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Inc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario L1 N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Out of town: 1-800-668-0322 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% # recycled content using vegetable based inks. * Ail written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright law. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit line to the whitby Free Press. *o thoe reditor.. Get off our backs To the editor: I recently read, in a national seniors publication, a statement made by a tax lawyer testifying before a House of Commons finance committee. He recommended that seniors pay more taxes, and those with savings forgo their Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan. His promise was that we created the deficit during the boom years, and by saving some of that money for our retirement, should spend it before expecting OAS or CPP. Ridiculous as this statement may sound, more ridiculous is the fact that if is being given credibility by this committee. As a senior I reject statements made to many politicians and interest groups that we are taking from our country monies to which we are not entitled. We worked hard, creating a prosperous economy, in which we paid taxes and contributed to OAS and CPP. We had the affrontery to grow old. In doing so we have compounded the national debt, by expecting the government to uphold their obligation to us. R ardless of the mismanagement squandering by our governments, we are the ones responsible for our children's and grandchildren's future economic problems. This tax expert, who no doubt advises others how not to pay any taxes and knows ail the loopholes in the system, will one day join the grey society. I wonder what his reactions will be then to his present proposais? His supposition that ail seniors have large "nest eggs" is nonsense and without foundation. Those years, I earned a living, wage, brought up a family, went without many comforts, and was boosted by the dream of a period of reasonable comfort before I die. I resent being labeled as a tax invader, leacher on society, aIl because I saved a little money, hoarders of ill-gotten wealth. Since I retired with my 'dream,' those same politicians who used to promise me golden years, have taken away many of my health benefits, tax deductions, decreased the value of the dollar, made it almost impossible to travel to the sun because of high insurance rates. Meanwhile they increased their pensions and future nest eggs by huge percentages, regardless of the economy. I urge ail seniors to protest to their elected representative and ask them to get off our backs -- they are already bent enough. A. Roy Nethercott WhItby Many gifts collected To the editor: Re: Christrmas '94 gift drive A special thanks to The Free Press for carrying the article regarding our gift drive. Thanks go to the Whitby residents who contributed items and helped to make a difference. With contributions by local residents, a mail campaign and an Internet campaign, we were able to fill 30 large gift bags with a wide variety of items and distribute them to individuals within the mental healfth community who might not have otherwise received anything this Christmas. Thank *you, too, to all the volunteers who helped make this drive happen. Margaret Hughes Founder/coordinator Christmas '94 Gift Drive To the editor: Ex-regional councillor Ross Batten was recently quoted in the local press as stating he did not compromise to please voters, and that may have been his undoing. While Mr. Batten has made a genuine contribution to Whitby in his many years as councillor and we do not want to disparage Mr. Batten, we nevertheless must comment on his statement Breaking the rules To the edItor: h seems that after all of the promises that have been made about the development at Lynde Marsh, Rose Corporation has already broken the rules. Although they received a letter from the Town of Whiftby, dated Dec. 19, 1994, indicating that no municipal approval had been given to barricade Jeffery Street or for clearing and grubbing on the site, Jeffery Street is closed and work has begun. How can we be expected to believe that Rose Corporation is going to comply with the necessary environmental protection of the Lynde Marsh? How can we be expected to believe that the Town of Whitby is going to ensure they comply, when it can't control something as basic as a road closure? How can our mayor expect his environmental monitoring committee to be able to control what happens to the Lynde Marsh? Should we be expected to believe that this monitoring committee will be able to accomplish what the Town can't? I predict that this development will follow the same path as most other developments in Whitby. The developer will ultimately be able to do as he wishes. When a problem occurs, the monitoring committee will probably report their concerns to the Town, who will in turn write the appropriate letters. By the time there is compliance to these letters, the damage to the Lynde Marsh wili have already been done. The real problem lies with our system. No committee, that in reality is powerless, can be expected to protect anything as vaiuable as a class 'A' wetland. The only way to protect if is not to develop. Pat Porkins WhItby "I'm running the show. because it reflects a position -- in our judgment not a politically healthy one -- that seems to be sharedby many of the returning councillors as well as by provincial politicians. With so much voter displeasure, does failure to compromise not constitute failure to represent? It is no secret that the matter of Lynde Shores was a source of great discontent during the pasi election and that this was reflected in the election results. It Is also no secret that, with the exception of councillor Brunelle, returning councillors including Mayor Edwards, still, to date, show no sympathy for the massive opposition to the proposed development and seem almost unable to acknowledge its existence. Beating their respective chests, they assure us that they know "the truth." But when will if be clear to politicians that we do not elect them for having a pipeline to the truth? We elect them to listen to us and to represent our concerns. And this holds true on a provincial level no less than on a municipal level. The provincial government, too, has shown a marked disregard for the voters' concerns. The public has indicated that they do not want the private developer and the province, which is the main developer, to put in this massive subdivision and that they support Save Lynde Marsh's request for a land swap. Yet the province continues to act so as to favour the developers, thus freezing out SLM and its public supporters. The provincial facilitator, Dale Martin, will not talk to SLM unless if drops its demand for a nature sanctuary. Furthermore, at the request of the private developer, the Rose Corporation, the Lynde Shores proposed development has jumped the queue at the OMB, To the edItor: I enjoyed reading the Jan. 4 article by Mike Kowalski in the Whitby Free Press, 'Maverick MP won't back away from controversy.' Dan • McTeague has been involved with the real everyday happenings around him, and what affects his constituents. Party affiliation should not stand in the way. Dan McTeague differentiates the problems in our society with the agenda of his party, to make constituents' concerns known. Politicians who follow these simple rules will be recognized and respected by the people around them. This is the way it should be In a democratic society. robbing SLM of valuable time to prepare its case. The OMB has scheduled a prehearing for Jan. 25, less than three months after referral. Given that it is extremely difficult to get an advancement on a prehearing date, how is it possible for Rose Corporation to obtain one so readily? Could the fact that the province is the main developer in this development have something to do with it? Politicians deceive themselves if they think that the discontent over the proposed Lynde Shores development will subside. If anything, it wiiI grow because the· last municipal election in Whitby has empowered the voters. The Ly nde Marsh issue will make its effect felt next on the provincial election just as ift did on the municipal election. As was borne out in recent U.S. elections also, the trend now is not to put up with lack of representation. If government will not listen we have a choice: either accept domination and lose our major open space (our Amazon) or speak up loudly, . repeatedly and collectively, making it impossible for them to ignore us. The choice is ours. And what better place to start than by coming out en masse to the OMB prehearing? While the prehearing has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25 at the municipal building, SLM will request that the OMB hold an evening session, thus allowing the public a better opportunity to attend this most important hearing. After all, the issues under appeal are not mere matters of "housekeeping," but deal with important issues of land use and are of vital importance to the citizens of Durham. Johanna Tito Spokesperson Save Lynde Marsh Dan McTeague and I do not agree on capital punishment, we respect each other's points.of view. This is the same thing. Dan McTeague is busy with the concerns of his constituents and, folks, it is not election time for him. At election time we see many politicians jumping on the top news of the dayfto show people that they truly care, just to get your vote. When elected, some of them conveniently forget what to do. I do not think this has been the case with Ontario riding MP Dan McTeague. Keep up the good work, Dan. Herman van der Veen Oshawa fý Province favours developers Good work, Dan To the editor..., 1