Whitby Free Press, 31 May 1995, p. 6

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Page 6, Whltby Free Press, Wednesclay, May 31.,1995 j àww The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whîtby resîdents for Whîtby resîdents! MEMBER 0F: CANADIAN ONTARIO COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEW$9PAPER NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION 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. 2500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $34 + GST - Outside Canada $80 + GST Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. Box 206, 131 Brook St. N., Whitby, Ontario Li 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% ow recycîed content using vegetabîe based inks. C Ail writen 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 o f Canladian copyright law. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit mie to the Whilby Free Press. Act responsibly To the edtor: Our comrnunity has béén in shack ovér thé death ai aur neighbaur, Laura Kalinski. Many people continue ta show greaÈ courage, as efforts by her schoolmadés dernonstraté with théir lttera ta Région council. I understand how children cen b. sa énveboped with thé natural world that for a momenti they rnay forget thére la danger. This tragedy wiIl not be forgatten. We will always corné ta thé bankaoa Lynde Crekl marsh with a bâttérsweét feeling. W. muat ensuré thae aur roada do not interféré with aur children's inhérent right ta saiély accesaur preclous natural ameas. People dosperatoly need salé walking trails an aur créék valléy as animais néed wvildéméess corridos ta cross roadways, éspécially as aur community grows and more pressuré is put on the féw naturai aréas léit. Thé waterirant la a wonderlul resourcé and people gravitate ta thé waters édgé. W. must énhancé aur natural areas with traila, and think about future générations instead ai always putting monétary gain bélore human nocessity. We will be a strongér community by doing trué justice for aur childrén. I urge thé Région ta act in a responsible way by lowéring thé speed limit wést ai the hospital and providing a pédestrian/ bicycle path besidé Victoria Street. Margaret Cornfoot Whltby Wrongtul spending To the edîtor: Political parties ask for my voté? How como when I walk acrosa thé Brock Street South bridgé theré are large piecés af concrété rnissing -- thé réinfarcémént roda are visible, a condition that is notod driving under othér bridges ovér thé 401. Théy want tax dollars ta build a racétrack highway north ai Whitby just ta appease thé speedérs. Driving in Whitby, there are rnany broken stréets and potholes. Théy want infrastructure tax dollars ta build a néw library, and are installing aid English lamp standards thet cost ovér twicé as much as thé standard lamp post and that givé lésa ight and réquiro spécial ballast componénts. Théy want tax dollars ta hiré 'their' personnel for a long gun registry -- you cannot tracé shatgun pelleta ta a particular gun as thére are no rifling marks on shotgun pelleta. ht appears tax dollars only go ta spécial intoreat groupa, and if évéry town and city in Canada go atter tax dollars such as Whitby has, small wonder Canada ia heading for a largér déficit and a thîrd world financial statua. Hospitals, éducation centrés and courthousés do not havé ta be buift in a style ta compoe with thé seven wondérs ai thé world. Dugols Gordon Whftby By Doug Anderson There are times in history when élections are more about pént-up frustrations than they are about choices. Such as thé case in this élection and such was thé casé in thé élection ai 1836. For 150 yéars, achool childrén have léaméd about thé Family Compact and how thé wishés ai ordinarypéoplé wéré ignoréd. Now laak at the -context of thé 1990s. Canadians havé no more contraI ovér 'thé actions ai their govérniménts today than théy had in thé 1830s. Who you élect néxt Thursday will atér somé ai the rhétoric but what réaly hppns is détérminéd by a solilyéentrenchéd bureaucracy which will carry an regardiesa ai who gets élécted. Thé bureaucracy is thé Fam ily Compact of thé nînétiés. Thé biggest différéncé betwéen thé 1830s and now is that the politicians then wéré solidly on our aidé - théy wére léading thé fight againat thé Family Compact. Théy riskéd théir homes, their caréérs, and evén théir lives in thé no- holds-barred, non-secret ballot élections. In 1836, thé Family Compact in thé. guise ai thé Tory Party, enginééréd, concocted, bough t (pick a word that suits) thé élection, and most ai thé kéy reomr, including Peter Pérry wha foundéd this community, wére défeatéd. Thé frustration ai that osa led directly ta thé rébellion ai 1837 which in turn led ta thé béginning ai réaponaiblé governiment a iew yéars later. W've now corne full circle and we are governed by a bureaucracy which la responsible ta nobody. Buréaucracy is more administrative staff in achools and hospitals at thé oxpensé ai classroomré rsourcea and patient care. Buréaucracy is business régulation which assumées that al businesés are unsafo and discriminatory and subjecta them ail ta extra paperwork and inspectars, etc., ta prove they arén't. Bureaucracy îs a court system which takes months or years ta put criminals behind bars and then forgéts ta Iock the door. Bureaucracy is the phone that doesn't get artsweréd f or 20 or 30 rings, or the shunt from department ta departmênt. Next wêék's élection will prababty change véry littîé. The party in power is heîpléss without thé support and coopération of the civil service. Théré la, of course, somé hip service ta the gavernment af the day, but an the whale Rt takes an incredibly detérmined and forceful minister ta change the direction of any af the major gavernment departments. Debt is nat aur problemn as much as the bureaucracy that keépe féeding it. Thssno asggest there there s any master schemer aiming us rélentlessly towards the rocks. Bureaucracy is a collective state af mind charactérizéd by multitudes af hard-working indivîduals, none of whomn takes responsibility for stééring the ship and sééing that t's séaworthy. Evéry timé sométhing néeds ta be fixed, a new body is brought on board, but nobody ever leaves. Every few yar a néw rookie captain inherits the ship and hires a bunch af new faces ta help him find the wheelhousé . If he does find it and starts exerting same contraI, he will almost certainly face mutiny (sabotage in the form aif embarassing leaked documents) from someone below decks who was more comfortable just drifing along. ht Is abvious ta any casual observer that the ship would run botter and fastor with haif the créw, but beforé the captain figures out who's éxpendablo he's usuaîly béon transferréd ta a lésa sensitive post. Sa what to do about it. Rebellion is a Iast resort as it was in 1837. In case y ou think 'm joking, considér Timothy McVeigh and thé right- win miltias in the United States. Thèse are fuélléd by on-going and growing frustration with govérn- ment. The anti-gun contraIlabby in this country is fuelled by a général The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters to the editor on any subject of conoem to our readers. Letters should be brief and to the point - rarely more than 300 words. Ail letters must be accompanied by the name, address and telephone number of the writer. However, on request. your name may be withheld from publication if we agree there is a valud reason. The newspaper reserves the right to reject or edit ail letters. Send to: The Editor, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ont. Li N 5S1I, or drop through our mail siot at 131 Brock St. N. mistrust ai govérniment., .But we're not there yét. In fact wé have an élection néxt weék. Unfortunately none ai the parties has said. they will tacklé buréaucracy, in sa many words. The Conservativés are coming closést by saying they will cut taxes by 30 per cent and éliminate the dofîcit as well. That inevitably méans a lot fewer civil servants which Is certainly a huqé step in the right direction. lronically, the- Conservativos are the party that is advocating the most swééping changes in this élection. Thé NDP, in spite ai somé quite rémarkable achiovements during the worst réession in 50 yéears, simply hasn't grasped the néed for a drastic ovérhauî ln the civil service. The Liberals, wéhl, what can you say. Somé ai my best friends are Libérais and they have some vory good candidates, but 1 can t rémémber a time when a party has beén so propared ta tell anybady whatevér théy wantéd ta hear. They plumbed thé dlepths of public opinion, put it ail in a I itle rédi book and called àt a plan. Talk's cheapl Mike Harrs's Conservativés are taking their cue irom thé papular suoeess of Ralph Kléin in Albera. Iranically, Kein is really a papuiist eang f iscal conservativé clothing. Hé listened ta the people ai Aberta and la givng the mwhat they want and is popular because of it Which-is as iR should be. He la praving that bitter medicino can b. popular. Even if Miké Harris is another Ralph Klein, we have no way of énsuring that hé wiIl do what he says he wili. W. are powerléss from thé day the new government Sets eléctod until the day, four or ive yoars away, when thé premier dlecidos ta hold the next eléction. By thon Whitby Gênerai Hospital couîd be gané, Lynde Marsh could be paved ovor. and thé provincial debt could be double what it is today. UnWike thé last fédéral élection, none ai the parties in this election is addressing that fundamental désire ai votera for accauntability. Without it, thé distrust, the anger, and the frustration simply grow. Until soméething pops. In 1837i, people died in order that governments had ta act according ta the wishes ai thé people. One hundred and fitty years ago the Family Compact coded fts power ta thé électéd assemblies. Succes- sive géneratians ai politicians have fritteéd it ail away. Viwon The FamiIy Compact of the '90s

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