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Page 8, Whitby Free Prme, Wodnesday, May 25, 1994 OSSO LIGHTING officially opened is in--law John Givelas and his wife Angela doors recently at the Garden and Rossland turning on some of the store's many ights. plaza. That's Marino Osso (left). son- Photo by Mark Reesor. Whitby Free Press 'Promoting Change' theme of jobs equity conference The Durham Region Employment Equity Network (DREEN) wiIl present a conference, 'People Promoting Change,' Tuesday, June 14 at Durhamn College, Oshawa. The conference will run fr-om 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at a cost of $48.15 per person. Keynote speaker is Paul Scott, executive director with the Empioyment Equity Commission who wMl diseuse the rôle of the commission. Format ie three concurrent workshops in the morning, and another three in the afternoon. Registrants have the choice of 'Union and Employment Equity' (speaker David Sarookanian, CUPE), 'Employment Equity Act' (speaker John Rae, Employment Equity Commission) or «'Roots of Discrimination' (speaker Pat Case, Toronto Board of Education) in the morning. In the afternoon, registrants have the choie of ' Responding to Harassment Complaintse (speaker Dianne S. Garrels, Clinical Consulting and Counselling), 'Welcoming Aboriginal People' (speaker. Dennis Mogg, Bank of Montreal), or 'Attitudes and Protocols' (speaker Val Duffey, Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work). In addition, registrants will be treated to an aboriginai 'Nouvelle Cuisine' lunch, prepared by chef David Wolfman, a culinary arts 01ympi gold medalist. For further information, contact Cathy Lloyd at the City of Oshawa 436-5663 or Elizabeth McArthur at Durham Coliege 721-2000, ext. 2409. For registration, contact the Durham Collge registration desk directly at 905-721-3043 or 1-800-461-3260. DREEN is a network for Durham Region human resource professionals and empioyment By Alexr Shepherd Durham riding MP rve traveiled throughout the world -- South Anierica, North Africa, Europe and Latin Anierica -- and neyer have I had a more mistaken impression of a country than the Péople's Republic of China. Upon Ian ding& at the airport, the surrouniding countryside wasn't filled with a high density population as I had expected. It was al farmland with treed hedgerows, reminding me of rural Scugog, Clarington and Uxbridge Township. The drive into Beijing (pop. 10 million) completely ended my old impressions. It's no different than a drive to Toronto on the 401. Ail high-rise buildings, the cars are ail modern and the highway îe dotted with big green signe, lik6 ours, only written in English and Cantonese. Surprisingly, Beijing je a green city, about 20 per cent of it tree-covered. The streets and residential areas are meticulously kept. There are no obvious signe of the seedier side of Mie such as prostitution, drugs or alcohol abuse. The peopleý are well-groomed, casually dressed and there are no out"vardi signe of poverty. Yet the per capita incomne of the average bread winner is $1,000 U.S. The people seemn happy although I believe there is a desire for more freedom. I found one incident disturbing. I wus in Tiananmen Square one eveming when the Chiniese premier decided te, make an appearance. The square is roughly the size of two football fields. This eveming there were hundreds of people in it. The army simply forced everyone out of the squame and tâ side streets, a haif-mile away from where the Chinese premier was. Imagine Chretien visiting any park ini one of our communities to shake hands and clearing the peopli out of the area. He, or any other politician for that matter, lyouldn't dare. But the Chinese are honest and rve found thkri fot te b. the type te take advantage of your iack of knowiedge about their currency. There le flot an over-preponderance of police or the inilitary and those you see are unarmed. I suspect they have littie crime in China. The main point of my mission here is to promoe small- and medium-sized business and te make contacts with people who work in markets that are httractive for Durham's producta. I have met with a number of Chines. government officiais and wil meet with agriculturai officiais before I return te Canada. Tii. Chines. are a nation of on. billion people marching resolut.iy into the 2lst century. They are open for business and they want Canada's business. Why shouidn't it be business people from Durham who gain access te these markets? equity practitioners. 2,085 new homes are sold For the second month in a row, new home sales in the Greater Toronto Area cracked the 2,000-unit berrner, reaching a total of 2,085 in April. The 2,085 saes, including 64 in Whitby, represent an increase of 82 per cent compared with April 1993, continuing a seven-month string of year-over- year increases. As expected, April sales were down slightly from the record level of 2,293, set in March 1994. g ~ s - t,, s * t * t 'k t 4 j * j...... I - A comfortable retirement doesn't just happen it is the resuit of careful planning. Let me show you how. 1 Parliamentary Report 1 iedl"a I>ddwl 1 1 e