Page 6, Whltby Free Press, Wednesday, Octaber 25, 1995 The only Newspaper owned and operated bY Whîtby resîdents for Whîtby resîdents! MEMBER 0F: ------- I~I tC.ANADIAN ONTARIO COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER - OMMUNITY ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION ISSN#0844-398X The Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes'in Whitby, Brooklin, Ashburn & Myrtie as weIl as nume rous public and commercial outiets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. j27,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $34 + GSI - Outside Canada $80 + GSI Published eveîy Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Out of town:- 1-800-668-0322 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Pifher - Editor ,* Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% #* recy.cled content using vegetable based inks. SAil written material. illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commerciat purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright law. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution shoutd bear a credit fie 10 the Whitby Free Press. Viwon A tribute to seven salmon Dy DayHiais. I amrnont a fisherman and I am nmi an envlranment-type. I ar nfot an activia and i neyer wnle or spea< OUi However, now i muai. On ThanksgMvng Manday i was wa~ng aur dag. It was early and the nghurhaod was relaxingty quiet. I otpe n-the foot bridge over the creek that runs alang Anderson Street. Pauslng in the quleîness, I becamne aware ai a rippling in the water. Scanning the creek, an awesomne sight appeared. Seven dark-coboured fish, ail between two and three feet long, were circlng in a deeper part ai the stream. R was airnast breathîaking. The cratures were magnificent. A reaization camne - those incredibie flsh were in danger. Bath bebow and abave their deeper sanctuary, the aiream was too shalow for them to as. They muai have traveled ta this point In the heam weekend rain. They were trapped, vuinerable and heipless. I wanted Io do somnething but i had neither the knowiedge nar equlpment ta mave them. I went homne and calied the Pickering-Ajax- Whitby Animal Contrai Centre. A lady look the message, saying she wouid give it ta an afficer. That holiday aflernoon the ordeai began. Bunches ai kids began arriving ai the creek ta ses the salman. Each day the excitement grew alang the banks af the stream. Eahda hes cruetty grew, to0. By the ~~ dy efsh wore getting weaker and slower. From the bridge Wednesday morning, i counted Nie alve. Thea atemoon. after school, the kids were winning. The fish, too fast ta catch eartier, were now being scooped with two smalî nets and fang back mbt the water, only ta be scooped out agajn. hwas so sad. As a teacher, 1 was saddonod watchng the kids in their mindless game. I stood on the bridge In silent despair, as 10- ta 12-year aId boys t showed off iheir prowess ta each i Cher and ta some disinterested girls further up on the bank What was fun for klds was lie and death tarment for five ihrashing, helpless vidtima. 1 watched as an aider boy, about 13, picked up a rock large enough ta cnush the head of a human, let alone a salmon. As he approached the stream i yelied from the bridge, demanding thet he stop what he was about ta do. He did, far then anyway. Deepiy troubied, I went home and again called Animal Conirol. An officer related that the malter was under the junasdiction af the fisheries department in Undsay,. but thal i cauld ask the police ta intervene. I phoned the police and iearned later that they had slopped and taiked ta the kids. Thursday momning, an the bridge, i baked ai the inevitable. The weeds alang bath banks were flattened, as 9f this had been the site ai a carnivai. There were plastic grocery bags strewn aiong the banks. In the shalbw part iay, In silence, ail seven, magnificent, lifeless salman. On the bridge, Manday's wanderment tumned ta Thursday's grief. Whai horrible deeds we humans are capable af. I know the salmon were going ta dlie in that streamn anyway, but they should not have been victimizsd in those horrible moments. it's not supposed ta be this way. I alsa know that these kids are not "bad" kida. These are kids who are nol aware enaugh ta ses or feel whai I had seen and feIt on ThanksgMvng Manday. Sa I write this tribute ta seven ai God's speciai creatures. Thankfully, their bodies have been removed from the water. Only the momonos 0of Monday and Wednosday and Thursday are buf now. If seven salmon are ta swimn upstream, ta spawn and ta die naturally, cari ws not cars enough ta beach aurselves and aur chiidren ta respect that? To th *i. s Some welcome To the editor: Welcome ta the town of Whitby where the once charming name af 'Home af the Manigold' has changed bath ln name and attitude Io the less charmingy 'Durham's Business Centre. Welcome ta the tawn af Whitby where you will be encouraged ta place blrdlhouses and.feeders in yaur b)aiyrdbecause af the lbss ai habitat far aur feathered friands. Welcome ta, the tawn ai Whltby Maere yau Wil mare than likely have ta reach into yau awn packçet (and it had better *be a deep packet) ta preserve a llrst-class wetland and toudist attraction (the east shoreline of Lynde Shares is spectacular) because any pleas ta yaur tawn for omilmnmental concerns will fail upon deaf ears. Welcame ta the town ai Whitby where yau can witness scenies remniiscent af a prisaner-ai-war camp complote with guard dags and seCUrtty farces. The anly factar missng ln this scenaria is the barbed wire. As ai Oct. 20, 1995 the Town has enabled the develaper ta begin the systematlc destrucian- af their prisoners - trees and wildife. Weboome ta the tawn af Whlîby.. I thlnk flot. Shirley Mohammed Whltby Wh itbys Pearl Harbour To the oditor: On the ralny Saturday marning af Oct. 21, a sneak attackç was Ilaunched on mare than a dazen century-aid maples an Jeffrey Street just south af Victoria Street. The massacre continued ai day Sunday under the watchful eyes ai aI leat: tree unifarmed secunity agents wlth guard dags. A passerby commented that, the -scene resembled a Warld- War Il Gestapa post ln Halland. What klnd af mayar and council permit this klnd ai underhanded weekend attack an nature? Why did aur mayor permit the carnage ta continue ail day Sunday? kt Is abviaus ta, me that paliticans cannayt be trusted in matters relaling ta aur envirafiment. Richard Woolger Whftby Remember to scoop To the editor: 1Congratulations, Henry High SPchoal, an completion of your aFlintston football field project. Note ta dog owners - this Is a beautiful field for the' peaple ai aur community. Please scoop the paop. Ron Murdock Due to an editing error, it was lncorrectly stated in a louter by Susan Manley in Iast week's edition that, accring ta a repart, "If money trade and stock exchange brokerage fees were taxeci, even at a rate of three cents per dollar, that our province's debt wouid be paid off in less than two years.* Rl shouid have been stated *ai the rate af one-third ai a cent per dollar.0 The Free Press vvishes ta apolagize for the errar. To the edItor: Re: Free Press articles, Oct. 18. la it passible that councillor Marcel Brunelle is taking smart pilîs? As a candidate in the 1991 muncipal election, at an ail- candidates' meeting, 1 stated that "Na one will accept a dump in Durham, we must seriously consider shippirg waste oui af the region (Kirkland Lake)." 1 was ridiculed by aur preseni mayar as well as by ail other Incumbent regional coundîllors. Brunelle now boels elated about the success ai shipping waste aut ai Durham. This reaction cornes in spite af spending thousands of taxpayers' dollars in 1989 visiting Germany ta look at garbage. 1 also mention that 1 expressed the same support for shipping garbage duning the 1994 municipal election (Adams mine). Why is ir that palitictans are sa thick? How could R take four years for reafty ta slnk ln? At a receni council meeting, Brunelle slated this ta the wave af the future. The works To the editor: Re: Letter, 'School emphasis an attitudes,' Free Press. Oct. 4 I arn responding ta, Carol Smtzer's letter regarding her perceptions ai the Durham- board's appraach ta famiiy lie oducation. k is iranic that the author was booking ta the provincial government for direction on family values. In fact, R is the provincial gavernment, thraugh its guidelines and more speaufically through program policy memorandum #96 and its accompanylng AIDS resource package, thai mandatod AIDS education across Ontario. The videa mentioned by MAs. Switzer is not on the board's family lufe appraved ais and is nat part ai the famlly it es media collection. Our larnily lie documents are votted directar cdaims a saving ta laxpayers af about $100,000 per year. Mare than $500,000 could have been saved by now, had they dane their homework. Has Brunelle managed ta see the light wth regard ta, the China Junket? A thlnklng persan with any foreign, or an ounce of business expenience shauki know by now that taxpayers wlll nat subsidize business by sending iree-iaading paliticans on bareign tripsaziy langer. Business people benefit from such endeavaurs and therefore should be expected ta fund such a venture. Also, they knaw what they are daing. Brunelle aiso stated that council bias na internai in going ta China on a junket, jusi ta loak araund. Cauld yau believe that? If sa, I have a bridge 1I wuld like ta selI yau. I note that Brunelle wauld like ta have one of those as well. Is Brunelle still running his 1994 electon campaign? Or could k be he has started his 1997 campalgn far mayar a litile early? JIm Priest Whftby thraugh a board committes that has bath Parent and community representatian. This la a board thai has abstinence documents, and in Our resource packages teachers and students are reminded that only abstinence la 100 per cent effective. As far as fundarnentals, the programa department la focusing an language and mathematica in an effort ta pravide teachers 'and parents with very specific information on what students should know and be able ta do in terms of iteracy and numeracy from kindergarten ta the end of Grade tL These are the "basic cors subjecis" Mrs. Switzer referrod ta in her Mter The board works very hard ta pravide qualty education in Durham. Beverley Freedman Superiniendent ai educatkuI programe Reality sinks in Core of the matter cr+CN É'% A A, 0 A ri A à a