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Page 6, Whltby Free Press, Wednesday, February 15, 1995 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby resîdents for Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F: SONTARIO CANADIAN ~ICOMMUNITY g' ACOMMUNITY SNEWSPAPER vC jNEWSPAPER - ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION j gM71fl CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X The Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes in Whitby, Brooklin, Ashburn & Myrtie as well as numerous. public and commercial outiets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 27,000-COPIES DELIVEREID WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $34 + GST - Qutside Canada $80 + GSI Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. Box 206, 131 Brook St. N., Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Out of town: 1 -800-668-0322 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 200/11119 recycled content using vegetable based'inks. CAil written material, illustrations and advertislng contained herein is proected 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 to the Whitby Free Press. s *the edits.. Inequity To the oditor: 1 raad w1th interest the repart on ward boundary realgnment under consideration. If the issue hadn't bean raised by existing councillors, 1 would certainîy have done Sa. The inequity in reprasentatian, was vividly brought ta my attention1 during the past municipal election when I ran as a candidate in the east ward. Just ask my campaign ta abu th or pnIknocking on doors and aur inability ta reach ail homes as we wished. The task before us was twice that af other ward candidates. More important, after the electian, how can there possibly be equity in raprasentatian when the east ward has twice as many rasidents as the Back door To the oditor: Re: Tax raily Feb. 15 Preston Manning la coming ta aur riding. Hip hiphoory, leader of the loyal opposition s caming ta save the dayî1 Just dole out $5 and pay this man one more time for doing his job. If the Reform Party ls having a und-raiser, why don't they just say it? Does he nat get paid a good salary for what he doas? Ila this not doubîe-dipping? When 1 want ta see my MP, it's free. And more worth my time. We have a member in parliament who is on the inside, not at the back door. What has the Reform Party dona for us Iatay? Hmm, take on the cable companies? Nol Take on the drug campanies? Noool Take on the special interests groupa? Nooaî Thejf ara in the pocket ofth Canadtan Rifle Association, and don't care that the Canadian peo pie want gun contraI. They haven't dane anything, maybe because aur memoer of parliament has left thamr in the dust. Thanks, Dan MéTeague, MP, for a job weil done. Joanne Macorborts Plckorlng' centre or west wards? There is mare than one way ta adjust boundaries ta achiave equity. If I were involved in the reaîignmant decision, my criteria wouîd includa no increase in the number of councillors; a careful study of future population f raections ta avoid the need for a requent rapeat of this pracedure; and wards that ruri from north ta south ta -avoid, as much as possible, polarization of opinion an issues f acing cauncil as a whoîe. JoAnne Prout East ward resident s*th do.0 O isconceptions' in letters To the odltor: I wouîd like ta take this opportunity ta forward corrections ta somne of the statements made by John T. Huley in his latter ta the editor in the Feb. 8 aditian of the Whitby Fýree Press. His commenta were in response ta an article, which appeared in the Feb. 1 edition of The Free Press. In that article I was interviewed by Stephen Leahy. Unfortunately, Mr. HuIIay has misinterpreted my comments and taken them aout af context. First, I agree with Mr. H uIIey that history supports the ferret being domaesticated. However, as with many species of animais, they have their awn idiosyncrasies. In the farret's casa, there is a tendancy ta be nippy, aspecially when young. The fallure of thair owners ta appreciate this may resuit in biting. Mr. HuIIay is rlght By Alex Shepherd Durham rldîng MP In 1994 -the avrCanOaradian income was $60,000. Total taxes pald by people in this racket' were $27,200 or 45.3 per cent incîuding direct and indirect tax. Sales taxes, taxes on 1iur amusement, gasoline, payroîî. income and imports are alilpaurt o this. With a 4523 per cent tax rate, there isn't much Ieft for the morigage, food, cbothing, tranprtation to work, let alone hoîidays. No wonder families are stressed out. Even with two incarnes, breadwinners feel they are on a tread mili with the wolf oulside the door and littIe chance of getting ahead. If Canadians feit they got their money's worth for the $27,200 taken in tax, we might feel better. But it doesn't seemn to me services received from government had that degree of value. Services are often mediacre and civil servants don't understand the two words that make Up their namre. Many are not civil and, as I said, service is questionable. Tax money la Iargely spent in the non-productive sector of the economy. We get some services, (airports, roads, water, sewer, medical care and education), but we should be getting equal or substantially better services for substantially Iess tax. By Iegislating an upward limit on taxation not to exceed 55 per cent of the total incarne, we can try ta find some reasonable cap on taxation. Once a ceiîing is in place planning a reduction strategy of, say, 4.0 per cent in 15 years can be accomplished. For average Canadians, a 'Taxpayers' Bill of Rights' would ailow y ou ta add up ail direct taxes you pay during the year -- incarne, gasoline, iq uar, etc. -- and submit t his with your incarne tax return. This would be voîuntary on your p art. You would be allowed a mnri-up for indirect taxes -- the taxes you can't see. iH this figure exceeds the maximum you would be allowed to dlaim a refund shared by ail levels of governiment an a pre-arrangead basis. Alex Shepherd is MP for Durham ridîng which includes Whitby, north of Taunton Road. To reach his constituency office, cati 721-7570 (<shawa).. when he attributes this toaa probîemr with "the humnan side of the equation," in other words, oten a Iack of proper education by the ferret owner towards normai ferret behaviaur and inadvertent training towards aggression by inappropriate play behaviaur. However, Mr. Huiley states that the ferret is reaularly used for huntin9. The D5omestic Ferret Association of Canada, in their literature regarding normai ferret behaviaur, classifies ferrets as singuîarîy poor hunters due ta their years of domestication. Moreover, as 'm sure Mr. HulIey is aware, it is illegai in Canada ta use the ferret for hunting purposes. The commenta I made ta, Stephen Leahy related ta the municipal byîaw regulating the keeping af certain animaIs (ie. exotic animais) in general and not ta ferrets specifically. I disagree with Mr. Huley's interpretation that the intent af this bylaw is simpîy ta uprevent ail pot>entially dangerous animais from being kept as pets. ff this were its only purpose, then I daresay that t would have iricluded doga and cats as weIl, as they are by far the most cammon cause of ijuries by animais towards people. However, this was not the bylaw's single purpose. The philosophy behind such legisîation is a combination of public safety, animai wetf are and ecalogical weltare. This Iast point is what raised my concern- about the keeping of emnus and ostriches. MW concern is not. that we wiII. have f"cs of roving* emus perpetrating swarming events invalving any individuals in their path, as alîuded ta by Mr. Hulley, but rather because they can potentially itroduce diseases into the avian poplaton and agricultural f Iocks ula prevent at ive measures are taken. These can have serious ramifications and are not ta be taken ightly. Finally, it was Mr. HuIley who impîied my comments ta condone the keeping of any native species as pets (le. wild animnaIs). At no time did I ever say this and, as Mr. HuIIey has carrectly stated, Rt is against Ontario provincial Iaw. Hopefuîly, this clarifies any misconceptions by Mr. HuIIey. Shouîd he have any further questions, I invite him ta caîl me at my work number so that they cari be similarîy put ta rest. Dr. WaItOr lngwsrsn MacI<ay Anknial liInic Whhtby To the oditor: I ffat campalied ta put pan ta paper aiter reading the heart -breakin9 story.about "Kizzft," the f erret beîng evicted from the loving home in Broakîin. 1 understand thera la a law rohbitIn&g ferrets as pets in Durh aRean. This Iaw la very outdated, and must. be changed. i amn the proud ownar ai twa ferrets, have had themn for over twa years and absolutely adore these animais. They are a very popular animai and, in my opinion, a much more affectionate animai than a dogor a cat. The ferret, in genaral, la an inside pet, so no ana naed fear straying. They love cuddles, are very gantla, they do not bite, are not f ightaers, are very domasticated. One would just have ta watch my two ferrets, running around the kitchan looking for treats. They are easily tralned animais, and wlI*roll ovor* on command. They are littertralned, and slaep on yo ur lap. I find iR. difficult ta believe that anyone wouîd want ta evict such a pet. We have dags attacking and disfiguring people almost daily, cats running wild and opening people's garbage, not ta mention fouling the sidewaiks and parks. My famiîy totally disagrees with this bylaw, it has ta be changed. For the sake ai ail the *ferret familles" in Durham, give us a break. There are no known incidents that indicatad ferrets are a threat ta anyone except for a one-year-oîd child who apparently hast a taa due ta a ferret. Anyone with any common sense would not leava a loose animai around an unattended baby., One cannot blame the animai. Phease review this bylaw for aur sakes, yau're not j ust dealing with animais, yau are dealing wit h entire familles. Mrs. RsId Rosident Roglon oi Durham Full naine, address withheld due to fear of.having ferrets ',evicted/ Bylaw outdated