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PAGE 4. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9,1985, WHITBY FREE PRESS PIublished every Wednesday MICHAEL KNELL ' !by M.B.M. Publishing Community Editor and IPhotography Inc. L Plhone 68-fill VALERIE COWEN S I Advertising Manager we jk M 'The Free Press Building, Voice of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, Publisher- Managing Editor 131 Brock Street North, SecondClass Mail P>.O. Box 20li/ whitby, Ont, Registration No. 5351 The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. Fairman must not loose English language program In today's issue of the Whitby Free Press we have reported that a meeting will be held by a Committee of E.A. Fairman Parents to discuss the future of the Palace St. public school. It seems that the parents are concerned that over the course of the next few years the school wlli become totally devoted to instruction in Fren- ch. According to figures produced by the parents the French immersion program is growing so There was an inadequate little exchange in the House not long ago between the NDP's David Orllkow and Michael Cote, the Minister of Con- sumer and Corporate Affairs, about the "discoun- ters" and cheque-cashing sharks who prey on the helpless. I say the exchange was inadequate because all the Minister promised was that the government was keeping a close watch on them. But the cheque-cashers and discounters are not the real villains. The Minister should be watching, and acting against, the chartered banks, who make such usury necessary and possible. The banks have it all their own way in this country, and banking services are progresslvely awful. Every time a new piece of automatic equipment is in- stalled, the ine-ups for what is left of personal service get longer and longer. But being in a position to complain about the banks Is in itself a luxury. The people who have to use discounters and cheque-cashing sharks can't get near a bank. Sixty-five per cent of those who used discounters In 1983 had annual Incomes of less than $8,000. They are people who live hand-to- mouth, who can't WAIT two months for their In- come tax rebates. The discounters are allowed to charge fifteen per cent for advancing the money, and annualized Interest rate of anywhere from 90 to 180 per cent. Keeping an eye on It isn't going to change the ugly reality. But i think it's the situation which makes life possible for the cheque-cashing sharks that makes me angriest. I got a call from a man who is on unemployment insurance. He took his cheque to a bank the other day, and tried to open an account with it. They refused. I won't name the bank because, l'm told, they all have the same policy. In this case, the teller said he was convinced that the cheque was indeed my caller's and the caller was who he said he was. The teller wouldn't open an account with'it, and he wouldn't cash it either. My caller had to go to a cheque-shark in the end, who charged him six per cent for cashing a cheque drawn on our very own Government of Canada. That's unnecessary and intolerable. The government should simply instruct the banks to cash such cheques when personal iden- tification is adequate, and charge only a standard service rate. If the Mulroney government can't do much about unemployment, It could at least give the unemployed some dignity back. rapidly that students enrolled in the course from kindergarten to grade 3 now outnumber the students enrolled in the standard English language program from kindergarten to grade 7. The parents are afraid that the French immer- sion program will simply crowd the English language program out of the school. They fear it will become expedient for the Durham Board of Education to make E.A. Fairman a completely French immersion school. The committee, this newspaper believes, has two valld reasons for the continuance of both the French and English language programs at the school. Firstly, the French immersion program promotes bilingualism and because both French and English exIst side-by-side in Canadian society, then it should exist side-by-side ln our school system as well. To isolate each program from the other is contrary to the spirit by which the French Immersion program was created. The second arguement put forth by the parents is that they purchased their homes in the area to be close to the school. They pay taxes to support its operation. They can find no valid reason for busing their children to other schools In Whitby for English language instruction when E.A. Fair- man Is so close at hand. Conversely, they do not see why parents in other parts of Whitby should be forced to bus their children to E.A. Fairman for French language instruction when suitable facilities are at hand in their neighbourhoods. From discussions this newspaper has had with a spokesman for the parents' committee, it is ob- vious that the parents feel left out of the decision making process. And, as far as this newspaper is concerned, the ultimate authority in education should be the parents and taxpayers who support the system. From the figures supplied by the parents, this newspaper also believes that if E.A. Fairman becomes a completely French language instruc- tion school it will be without a direct policy initiative from the Durham Board of Education. Making Fairman a French immersion school should not be a decision of the bureaucrats run- ning the system. It must be a decision of the board. Trustees must debate and vote on the issue. The trustees must become accountable for the future of E.A. Fairman Public School. We would also suggest that unless the trustees and the officials they employ can come up with some valid reasons for making Fairman a com- pletely French school they should accept the parents' position and examine the future of the French Immersion program in Whitby. E.A. Fairman Public School existed long before the Durham Board of Education and its French immersion program. It served the educational needs of Whitby's English speaking population for many years before this situation arose. The taxpayers and parents of this community have a right to ensure that Fairman continues to serve the community in the fashion to which it has become accustomed. This newspaper ls not against the French im- mersion program. We belleve It has a vital role to play in our local system of education. We believe that programs such as these will give our children a better understanding of the country In which they live and of their fellow citizens whose first language is French. However, this program exists to promote the concept of bilingualism and should not replace the English language program at any school in Durham Region. It is our hope that the parents, the trustees and the officials of the board will be able to arrive at a course of action that will ensure the continuation of both French and English instruction at E.A. Fairman Public School. After all English Is our mother language...isn't it?