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Pao. 6,, Wbthy Free Presa, Wednesday, JuIy 24.,1996 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby resîdents for Whitby residents! Canadian Community Newspaper Association Whitby Chamber of Commerce MEMBER 0F: ISSN#0844-398X Whitby Business in Action Ontario Community Newspaper Association Oshawa-Durham Home Builders' Association Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario mc. 900 Hopkins St. /Box 206, Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1l Phone: 668-611il.. Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Donald G. Hinton - Sales Manager Alexandra- Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% recycîed content using vegetable based inks. j ID Ail wnitten material, illustrations and advertisinig 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 fine bo the Whitby Free Press. Insu rance tender nee To the editor: lt's nice ta knaw that aur Town caunicil is sa happy with the service provlded by Buffett, Taylor & Assodates wlth regard ta the Whltby empboyee health package. In today~s business enwionment Rt is sometimes hard ta find competent help. Is it just laziness that prevents aur Town representatives from cônslderlng the Idea of entertalning competitive blds from other insurrance companies? Any self-respecting business would at teast check other sources ta ensurethetthey are gettlng the most for their money from a regular supplier or service. The Town doesn't automatically award a construction contracit oaa company slmply because their price and service were good the Iast time. They tender these projects in order ta recelve the best pnices passible thea aso meet ail the cniterla of the tender specifications. This pracess Is not anly common sense, but especially important in these times of budget restraints. At present Bufett Taylor, as Town benefits consultants, recelve money f rom bath the Town and 'the insurance campany. Would it be in theor best interest ta recommend an Insurance company thet pald- a smal commission, but affered Iower rates of insurance? Would they recommend a proposai theatotok theirfirm aout af the loop? White I arn sure that this Is not thecase here, it does leave the door open for a percelved conflict of interest. Councillor Fox is quated as saying 'nf we start messing araund with It naw, wed be damn fools.u Mr. Fox Is happy to decree savitngs of $500,000 over the at six-years, thanks ta the efforts ai Buffett Taylor. 'Maybe it would have. been passible ta reaize even greater savings usîng anather flàrm. Unîess this package is tendereéd, we -wiIl neyer- know. But whywa-rry about any more savngs nf 9oq're happy wth the situation. By Surylng ýyour -head ln the, sand ta other ýoptionýs,-you et Ieast avald This Is not your money, Mr. Fox. It Is taqpayers' maney, and counoil has been voted a trust ta look after Ritot the best of their ability. If you won' even consider tendering for alternatives ta prove that you are rlght in your unswervlng boyalty ta Buffett Taylor, then maybe the voters, have overestimated yaur ability. Mr. Lovelock, in an earlier editian of this paper, quoted the Town administrator as saying Trhere is no direct disbursement ta Buffett Taylor by the Town.0 Mr. Fox says that an average of $31,21 5 is paid ta the firm. Whîch figure Is true? -Or daes aur Town administrator think that $31,21.5 is to mailî-ta be considered as a disbursement. Mr. Fox, In bîaming the issue on one of two people, said wThere is mare ta this then meets the eye.n Contlnued dadglng and refusai ta tender the health plan only spotlights his phrase, but the spotlight 19 pointed et council, not Mr. Lovelock and Ns supporters. A tender dloesnt necessarily mean an end ta the role ai Buffet Taylor, unîess they can't be campeitie, but Rt does serve as a watchdlog for aur cammunity since it Is obvius thet aur Town counail continues ta refuse ta bu aur watc the ongc Mr. prot prorf adjci lnste hurr) Buffe Towr -Prc cour a tei eleci some 15 the eye.u To the editor: As w. ad knaw, chlldren are aur future. What we do wlth them today v<II affect who they are tomorrow. Therefore, comimunities need establishments commbted ta upholdlng this belfef. Whltby ls Iucky ta alreariy have such an- establshment. Gardon Street ChIId Gare Centre, a workpîace/communlty- daycare for Whltby MentalHealth..GCentre, 15 commltted ta 7pravlding the hlghest standard ofichi care ta the children, theïr familes and the communitym (mission statement, Gardon Street I "One subdivision too many, perhaps?" To te editr.. i Children f irst Chld Gare Centre). I arn wrlllng In hopes ot-obtalnlng your support for Gardon Street. lght now the centre Is faclng relocation due ta the cut-off of services pravlded ta the buildIng. Iln other words, that would mean 25 staff out of work and needîng unemployment benefits; 48 sets of- parentslguardlans looklng for qualycare. And then there would beteclldren. They would have ta leave the teachers who have watched aver their weI-belng for eîghthours each day, five days a week. How MlI this affect them? If Gordon Street is allawed to close, WNhy would lose oneaof Rs three Infant prograrns wtth a walting Est of 35 famnilles. As weil, the' cammunfty would also lose the only klndergarten enrichment pragram that e*dts. Sa Whitby would not anly lose avaluable communWt resource, but the staff, parents and their chîldren would have ta léave the famlly they have grown ta need and love. Tonya Zimmerman EarIy childhood educator Gordon Street Child Cars Centre. (Mother atfmàtoddler enrolled at' the centre), Costly vandalism To the edîtor: On Monday, July 15 my husbarîd and I went ta Heber Down' Conservation Area and parked in the day parking lot ta go for a walk. One haur later we retumed ta find that aur rear right tire had been slashed with a knife and our rear rtght wîindow had been shattered with a rock. Four sleeping bags had been taken. These bags were an their way ta bu cleaned in readiness ta go on aur annual camping trip, beginning Muy I don't know If I arn mad at myself for leavlng the bags ln the car, or for bckdng the car. If I had left the doors unbcked, I wouîd have saved myself $50 deductible for the repair ai the tire and wndow and the possibility af a higher insurance rate. The tlme and effort involved, in the repalrs is also a consideration. mhe sleeping bags are covered under aur home insurance wlth a deductible of $200. f aur rate goes up, we Mti not dlaim this loss. At any rate, ft looks Ike thîs years trip MIlnot happen. I stil fid R hard ta accept the tact that there ar peaple who get .a, kick out af destruction, theft and other people's heartache. The funny thing is, if the persan. needed -the sleeping bags that bad, ail they had ta do was ask for themn and we would have gbadhj ivnthem. Mlatenal things are relcable; security and trust are not. Joy Brooks Whltby To the editor: Re: Househoier from Uberal MP Ivan Grose (Oshawa) chdogs on thîs Issue. 1 have Just finished reading this Ir. Fox 15 apparently angryover sharnetul place af prapaganda, and fact thât this has been an 1 teel that the record should bu set oing Issue between'coundil and stralght. Lavelock. Me thinks. he dath - Mr. GrSedams that everything is test tac much. Mr. Lovelock was going acoerding ta plan with the nlsed a reply betore summer GST, and that harmionization Is go0d iumment by council.'I phoned for Ontario. What Mr. Grose tarIs ta ami tound that was not the 'case. mention us that the harmonizatio;n af ead, coundil renewad the heafth the GST is a huge tax grab ai 1 with Buffett Taylor ai the Lie between $2 ta, 3-billon from the ricil meeting. What was the pockets of Oftado consumers. Y? Why no tender pracess? 9f This tax grab affects the poor, the ett Taylor I9s o goad, what 15 elderly and studants the most. rn councal wornied about? LaWyers tees for wilîs and real-estate rove ta your constituents that: transactions would have an ,il Is .wridng' for the ariditlOnal eight per cent tax an thern. rnuntY's best initerests and open Gasoine wOuld go up by four cents nder, or !naybe ai the nexi a itre, OP top Of the $5O0-mnllîion tax Ion the voters %wilI- have Increase hidden ln the lasIt ederai we thig aprove ta yauI Mr. Faxbudget. Books used for leamng, a irremor ta histhanmees t elel as this veiy newspaper, wauld have an a:dMinal elght per cent tax. R. Park Every parent that treats thelr chlld ta _M ,ma-Ê i have ta timi an additional eight par cent. This hausehokier aiso sald that the present PST is pald from 'the manufacturer, ta the wholesaler, ta, the retaller, olten causing additional costs and campounding of the tax. Maylbe in the portable potty business from whbch Mr. Grase cornes tram Is th15 a realty; but ln the rest af the real workl, PST is only pald el the retail levei, every other levei [s tax exempt Only the GST (seven par cent) and the new Uberal GST (15 per cent) are paid ad awery levei, and in most cases with a comnpound Impact on the final price paid. Mr. Gros. had the rghtlIdea, but the wrong taX. Itils hls tax that casts consumers more. I arn gîad the Mke Harris govemnment has sald no ta this Uberal tax grab with ts shameful billion-dollar bribe ta, buy Atlanic Canada's votes.- The 'billion dollars came straight trom the pockets of the poor, elerly and the middle cîass of Ontario. As a Uiberal MP, Mr. Grase Is helplng the gavemment to pick the pockets ai Nis constitunts. This shauki not surprise anyone as It cornes from a party that prornised ta, scrap the GST within one year of taklng oicers almost three years and~~I weesiIwalting. Andrew Davles Oshawaý The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters ta, the editor on any subject of conoem ta our readers. Latters should be brief and to, the point - rarely more than 300 words. AIl letters must be accompaniedby the name, address and telephone numfber ot the writer. However, on raquest, your name may, be withheld tram publication if we agree there is a valid reason. T he -newspaper reserves. the right ta reject or edit. ail letters. Send ta: The Editor, Whitby FrEe Press, Box 206, Whitby,'Ont., LiN 5S1, or dra'p through oûr mail slot at'900 Hopkins St., aýt Bumns St. 'i . The. Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes in Whitby, Brooklin, Ashbumn & Myrtie as welI as numerous public and commercial outiets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. L28,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $36+ GSI Outside Canada $85 + GST GST misinformation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .......... -------