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The ward candidates Pages 8, 109 31 Psych hospital, cuts postponed Pagel10 Ottenbrite in hall of fame Page 25 'Much' ado about video Pagel16 VVTT17 Region to take a dloser look at designation of fruture commercial area iGFONG? 7 GRADE 6 students at Col. J.E. Farewell which included, of course, a pork barbe- Public School blow with ail their might cue, celebrated the end of the 'pig unit,' during a round of 'Pig Pong,' one of the during whtch students researched pigs and events held du ring, 'Pigfest.' The day, co mpleted assignments with a pig theme. Photo by Mark Reesor, Whitby Free Press Hospital isue impacts on eaust ward race By Mike Kowalski Altheugh it's a matter over which Town council has ne con- trol, Whitby General Hospital's uncertain future has become an issue in this year's municipal election campaign. Nearly ail, if net every, candi- date running for ceuncil on Nov. 14P supports retaining the hospi- tal s acute care services. Incumbents and challengers alike have objected te a proposaI which recommends converting Whitby General into a rehabilita- tive treament centre serving al of Durham Region. But nowhere has the hospital issue fliguired more prominently than in the race for Whitby's east ward councillor. Seeking re-election te a third term is Dennis Fox, council's representative on the hospital's board of directors. A special education teacher ini Toronto, the 46-year-old Wood Drive resident was flrst elected te council in 1988. Amen g Fox's challengers is JoAnne Preut co-founder of the Save Our ôeneral Hospital (SOGH) citizen's committea. SOGH has collected 30,000 names on a petitien which demands keeping Whitby General as an active treatment hospital and plans on presenting the petition te Ontario Health Minister Rluth Grier. A former Durham separate school board trustee, Prout of Fallingbreok Street, is making her first run for council. Also seeking election in the east ward are Derek Glass and Dory Smith.- Atough criticized by some for supposedly using the hospital issue te further her own political ambitions, Prout steadfastly reJects these accusations. 'WVhen I care about an issue like this oe, I do se pas- sionately," she said. "It was neyer my intention te make it the launching of a muni- cipai campaign." VWile conceding that Town councillers will net be the ones deciding Whitby General's fate, Prout does criticîze ceuncîl for a «lack of leadership» on the issue. (The Durham Region District Health Council and, ultimately, Ruth Grier will determine if the hosptal's role is te change. (]Last May a health council committea released a consul- tant's report which proposed a rehabilitation centre for Whitby. The committee is te make its recommendation later this year.) "Council doesn't have control over it (hospital), but they de have a commitment to leadership and I feel it's lacking7 said Prout. "«Just. passing motions dosen't mean anything unless you put teeth into it." Noting Fox's position on the hospital board, Keut said, «We had an opportunity at the early discussion stage te be represen- ted and it's my sense we weren't. "Now everyene's jumping on boardh it's become a motherhood issue.t Fox, naturally, rejeets his oppenent's assessment of the issue. "I think if you g o back on this, the hospital board last December was expressing concerns about the province's direction and lack of funding,» ha said. "In my role, I made council aware as early as January of the board's conoerns." (Fox is oe of two counicillors on the board. Councillor Marcel Brunelle is Durham Region's SEhR PAGE 10 By Mfike Kowalski Whitby's bid te designate the intersection of TauntonPRoad and Brock Street as the site for future commercial growth is tem- porarily on hold. Durham Region council's plIan- ning committee recently tabled a three-part officiaI plan amend- ment application* fromn the Town of Witby for further study.. Whitby's applicationr proposes te add 400,000 sgquare feet of commercial floor spaoe te Taun- ton-Brock while at the samne time reducing the Rossland Road-Gar- den. Street area te 600,000 square feet.- in addition, Whitby wants te add 100,000 square feet of floor spaoe te downtewn Brooklin. However, following a presen- tation te the committee by local businessman Bill Little and con- cerns raised by committee memi- bers, Whitby's application was tabled. Councillor Joe Drumm, Whitby's representative on the committee, estimates that the matter will net come back to committee until next January at the earliest. But Drumm dees not anti- cipte the committee rejecting itby's request. "The committee just wants to, see Whitby's officiaI plan and studies," he said. "I don't think there will be any Býy Mike Kowalski Prominent Whitby business- man Ed Buffett is ini hospital recovering from a heart attack. The 51-year-old insurance broker suffered the attack Sun- day merning and was rushed te Whfitby General Hospital. After receiving initial treat- ment there, Buffett was transfer- red te the tertiary care unit at Sunnybrook Hospital in Teronto where he was listed in fair con- dition Monday afternoon. In fact if net for the quick work of 15r. Naresh Kumar and emergency department staff, Buffett mayr net have survived, several callers teld The Free Press. Involved in many community and charitable events in Whitby, Buffett is past chair of the objections." Even though Oshawa Mayor Nancy Diamond was one of those asking questions, Drumm does net suspect Diamond of objecting to Whitby's plans on parochial grounds. «There's always some jealousy between Whitby and Oshawa, but in this case I think they're just keen on lookingat our offi- ciai plan and what studies we've done," he said. (M officiai plan îs. a docuiment, which stipulates' prefierred land uses in a municipality and serves as blueprint to Iguide future growth. Wh itby recently appro- ved its new plan, which muet aIse receive Durham Region apile Da.), was not avail- able for comment, Little modestly teck some credit for his submission causing committee members to give dloser scrutiny te Whitby's proposaI. "These councillors and mayors had concerne about establishing a fourth major commercial area "They re (Whitbiy) talking urban sprawl and plazas when we should be protecting the downtown more than ever,» he said. Little has been a constant cri- tic of Town council's plans for the SEE PAGE 4 Whitby General Hospital's board of directors and former chair of the Downtewn Business Im- provement Area. "Anyone who is aware of what gees on in the Town of Whitby recognizes his contributions," Mayor Tom Edwards said of Buf- fett. Edwards, espocially, will feLel the immediate effects of Buffett's convalescence since the latter was managing Edwards' munici- pal re-election bid. Only the day bofore, the two were eut on the campaign trail. "It's a tremendous loss," said Edwards. "Fortunately he's the kind of person whe thinks ahead and had a lot of the planning done," he said. "Wel soldier on and pray he'Il be back as soon as he can." Whitby businessmnan felled by heart attack