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S-.--..............~..-... wHITBY FRE PRMeWEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY39-1988, AG1 -M ýWITH OURWýý FEET UP >by Bill Swan' The Progresa -or lack'thereof -in the Aberta nurses' strike lias been worth watching this past week.,Not that such a serious matter should be a spectator sport,- taken on for amusement; it is a matter in which taking sides can be very easy. The consequences of the strike, in the short terni, could be quite serlous indeed. A> similar. issue, though seldom placed in that perspec- tive, lurks in the reaction of Toronto.police officers to a civillan review committee. Both of these matters impinge on the core of the Canadian psyche: law, order and good government, not, necessarily in that order. In both-cases, lawfully elected rep>resenitatives'have e<acted laws concerning how certain public servants shail behave. ýLawvs in Alberta clearly state that nurses shaîl not strike: they are an essential service. Ini Toronto, police actions can be judged by a civiian committee: the watchers should be watched. So Alberta nurses are on strike and Toronto police will no' lo ng er cooperate with civilian review. Who's in charge here, anyway? But let the editorial writers tackle the riglits and wrongs of -the matter. Letius, instead, mhake note of how the two issues have wrought conifusion. For example: those who argue that nurses should not strike can easily makeé a case supporting the Metro 'Toronto Police Association. Conver- sely, those who condemn the police for fâiing to abide by the law,can be found backing the nurses in Alberta. Is this a case of right wing versus left w ing in provincial politics? The answer is truly Canadian: maybe. In ' the casé of nurses, this becomes a case of law and or- der versus good gover.nment. The law states nurses shall -j Hea dquarters dispu>e t be ctecided .iii court. Oshawa, mayor Allan Pilkey had warned it was only a matter of ture before his'city took the Region of Durham to court over legal'owne r- slip of the leadquarters building on Rossland Rd., and that tume has now come. of their clients, the City of Oshawa, requesting 30 per cent interest in the land on which the headquar- ters buildings sits and a 45 per cent interest in the building itself, which amounts to $5 million. The City is also asking for a share of ail future rental income received The question of who owns what from the Province, which leases <with regard to the facility located in some 60 per cent of the building for Whitby has been the subject of con- the crown attorney's offices and troversy for the past several years. - courtroorn faiities. Oshawa lias claimied partial owner- The statemient of dlaimi was ship of, the leëadquarters building presented to regional c6Ùncil while the majority of regional* members at their regular meeting councillors have taken the opposite on Jan. 27 as a "hand-out," a move pointof view, claiming Oshawa which prompted council to table the gave up aI rights when regiona matter until the Feb. 10 meeting in g~9nt*~i~ed.. * * rder that thé contents could be, e im~oGarin oers properly scrutinized. Management Toronto-based law firm, have filed committee recommended the finm a stateme'nt of dlaim with the of Simis, Brady and McMackin be Supreme Court of Ontario on belalf appointed to take aIl the necessary Councillors'approve pay hike *Regional councillors voted theni- selves 'a pay. raise at their last regular meeting.. With little comment, members endorsed a management. commit- tee recommendation calling for a 4.4-per cent hike retroactive to Jan. 1,1988. This w ould give councillors a $759.62 raise per annum, bringing their yearly salary from $17,264 to $18.023.62. The vice chairman of the management c 'ommittee and chairman of each other standing committee will receive an ad- ditional $922.90 yearly, $38.90 more than last year. Regional chairman Gary Herrema gets a $2,676 pay raise, bringing his income to $63,495 a year froni the 1987 figure of $60,819. Herrema indicated the increase now placed Durham "around third or fourtl" on the regional municipalities' pay scale. steps to defend the action commen- ced by Oshawa.w The statement of dlaim allowed the Region 20 days after being ser- ved to prepare a statemertt of defence.-This meant a response had to be received by Feb.* 9. But as council will not be discussing the matter until the following day, regional chairman Gary Herrema told The Free Press he would have regional solicitor- Shan Jain respond that the Region would be defending the dlaim and take'ad- vantagie of the 10-day extension permissable in which to file a statement of defence. Hierrema, who indicated he was nïot.sùrprised b'the türn f ev éents, said there did not appear to be any other- way to setie the matter as out-of-court settlement talks have failed in the past. He added it was unfortunate a court case prpved necessary as he anticipated it could drag out for more than a year and cost some $100,000 in legal fees. Herrèma said he was stiil willing to sit down and try to reach an out- of-court settiement with Oshawa, but couldnot do so until he received direction from counicil. 1The ownership 'claini of -Oshawa dates back to 1963 when an owner- ship agreemfent was made between, the City'and regional predecessor, the CÇountyof.ntioh agreementwas ýto buy popety,. build and maintain â;afacility for the administration of justice and to house the county's headquarterà. The cost of the land and the con- struçtion was to be shared by both parties. Debentures on the project Were paid off in May 1974 and. Oshawa' dlaims theRegion lias not paid theni any rent since that tume: 'Oshawa's statement. of dlaim calis for an accouptip'g.of, ail rental money and rývenuesth e-Region has received from the Provincea welf as costs in the lawsuit. DUfl MATERFeb. 3 - BAURY Feb ~'EXTRA TO1 PEZAND Hot Cr o ss ýBuùn s'$i9 EAT LATER (per. dozen) 1P80 HOPKINS, 666-1177 Brand, Ne w Just A rrived m - Exclusiveê to the Durham Regionj S ilver Speed 800 11 Facial Unit . For a facial tan only or for * our customers who prefer -a littie extra tan on their face. -1 PLUS 6 Tanning Beds i -with Facials i1 I*Beds -30 min. $7. 10 sessions $49. I Students $5. * Facial - 10 min. $2. iWIN A TRIP FOR 2 TO VEGAS jBeginning Feb. 1 after each session you may f iii in a ballot and -be entered in the Vegas draw. Draw wiIl be held on May, 31.I * Hours: Monday - Friday 10:00 - 10:00 i Saturdays 10:00 -6:00~ i OPEN-SUNDAYS1iO'6 i Bring in this ad and receiveypur lst facial free. *65pUfld8(WestfLymbPlaza? Whkby. ,Iidicates serlous illness.. -Now Don Getty did not play profeéssional football for, nothing.- The government reactionl will ultimately be har.- dnosed,*and the governmnt will eventually be seen to be th inr. Nurs'es il rc ebck% wr2Fe ill hot. déo o happily, and many will alÉo triélfle away to otlher jurisdictlonis, othierprovinctes. The middle of a c.ontinental. nursing shortage ain't the-timpe to make 'emt mad. Who will lose -who has already lIost -'are th~ eople'of >Alberta. . The Toronto police debacle differs significantly,. Accor- ding to any reading I have seen on testain h only way police Wiil be satisfied is if the Icivilian review commit tee ends. Although -police havé, coinplained about, the in- *formality of the review comi.ittee proceedings, no mention has, been made of rèform. No -mention has been made- of altrig hemýakeup of the committee,'ëither. No, ablton of th onittee seemns to be the ënly *solution. Police, we are told, can lo feeirwn, takyuvr uch. They seem,.to 'see-good governmnent as thatwhich doeds,. what' the police'wish..That this takes us dangerously close-,, to banana-republic jpolitics bothers them flot a whit. That'. the1 police chief has joined the battie, should.make us shud-, der evenmore. utapolice, department is effective onlywe ctzn trust.in its fairnesA police department whlch rules. itself stands in, danger of losing that trust. That's the differencebetW een the'police action anidthe nurses,. strike. Both'are esseëntial service.s. But nre r effective"onily'when'they eliee in hat tey aredig Police are effective only when we believe in what-*they.are doing. -There is'a World of difference. The essential ýdifference-ý .not strike; order declares that the law should bé&fulfiiled; good governument should then make sure that thie first two are fulfilled. But any gro,1up denied the right to* strilce must be compen- sated in some way. Without that,,governing bodies have'no incentive to bargain in good faith. In'Alberta, the gover- nment was charged with the responisibility of making sure the nurses wete happy and content with' their mile. That1 in- cluded making sure they were happy with their pay rates. Surely someone.in that red-neck country must' be asking how the hospital associations (and the 'governrnent) radicalized nurses to insurrection? Let'it be nioted that nur- ses are trained, professionally, to obey and do as they are. ordered. For them to rise up, en masse, and rebel, surely -MOI Open 7 Days a Week