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Page 6, Whltby Free Pres, WednOsdaY. MaY 10, 1995' The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby resîdents! MEMBER 0F: +CNs CANADIAN ONTARIO COMMUNITY VEIFEDCOMMUNITY NEW$PAPER -1 NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION. SN04-9X ASSOCIATION The Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes in .Whitby, Brooklin, Ashburn & Myrtie as weiI as numerous public and commercial outiets in Wh.itby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 27,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY 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 - lIiLIint Smoke and mirrors Printed on newsprint with minimum 20%/0 recycîed* content using vegetable based inks. 1Ail written material, illustrations and advertising contalned'hereln is protec ted by Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express perr the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation o f Canadian copyright law. ReprodL non-commercial distribution should bear a credit line to the Whitby Free Pre mo the 1editor(S1 Peanutsé? To the oditor: Romarks mado by politiilans when questioned about t heir perks rnany times reveal the contempt shown towards the electorate. One example is the answer given by a Durham publie sohool trustes that the f ree lunch providod for them wi only *peanutsr <Whitby Free Press, May 3). W. know that peanuts grow on somo kind afI mot bush, but ratopayers do not have money bushes. For the benoît 0of trustees who bulieve othsrwise, 1 have dons same caiculations. OnIy paper, pen and ans cf the three Rs are requirod. No high-tech equipment is necessery. Amounts used are as f are from the same editkc Fr. Press: $4,514 for si: of board lunches, $50,( yearly spent by the schc for food; the average sch paid per property and thE increase of school taxes $1.65 per property. It requires the total sch af over three homes or increase of 2,735 hoi six-month lunches. The tc amount requires the schc af 35 houses or the tax in over 30,000 properties. Tha's a lot of peanuts. I neffective To the oditor: Registration of hunting and targst guns as proposed in Bill C-68 wilI provide the criminel element of bath the U.S. and Canada with a comploe listing of ail ths logal firearms registered and where they are stored. Make no mistake about this -- the registry will bu ontered into a computer .system and togother with the U.S.' National Security files, wilI bucome accessible ta any determined computer heckor. A full listing of the registry wiIl probebly bu availablo -on the Internet in the same way that the bamb-making instructions f rom aur own Canad 'ian miltery esteblishments are avalilable. Registration wilI not doter tho use of illegal guns by criminels any more than the rogistration ai vehicles roduces the use af cars for criminel sots (cars buing stolon, or driven by drunks). To organizo and meintain this registration wilI oealish yet another bureaucratie deprtmnt and incroase the polce orkoadand, rua doit, npomr requirements. By David G. Horscroft c ýopyright. Now that the date for thi ,mission of Ontario Municipal Board hearing iî uctonfo nearly upon us (currently May 29' for Lyno Marsh, kt is appropriaite ta, remind Durham Rogion residentE M what we wil bs. and why unIess more vocal or writton action ia takon. This-Is partlcularly true in view of the approaching electuon. Lynde Marsh, the surrounding lands and treed areas are threatened by a proposed development that wiII house about 5,000 peoplo on the east side of the marsh, south of Victoria Street. Thero ws also a plan for an industrial park to bu located nortl folio«s ail of Victoria Stroot. Dn of ho Mayor Tom Edwards has lx months ce9verl stated that the maxsl 000 total won't %9 touched. True, but what oal1 board ho doesn't tell you is that theire wiiJ ool taxes bu roads and houses built to within a average 301 or 40, metres* of- the marsh. for 1995, There is no question that this type of dovelopment wiIl completely ool taxes destroy the marsh and mnany r the tax adjacent areas ta the marsh that uses for are vital ta the support and Dtaj board protection af the wididfe in and Dol taxes around the marsh. icreass of h has also been stated by proponients of the deveiopment that proper planning procedures H. Wolft have been followed. In the Ioder Whltby planning stages this may have beon trus, but the reai damage was dons from about 1988 up until the Minister of the Environment (Ruth Grier) gave the development an exemption from a full environmental assessment (1991). The proposed, registration has alreedy cost' the Canadian texpayer millions ai dollars. To maintain R will cost evon- mare, which will bu supported by a registration lee. This fes will svontueiîy bu used as an additional tex burden for law abiding awnors. This registration wvill bu inofectivo in reducing the use ai illegel guns for crime. In its present Iarm, *the ownor af a legally acquirod firearm who faits ta register in the proscribed mannor and on time will bu brandsd a criminal. Gun contraI should bu directed at the criminal olement. that uses illegal (usually importod Iromn the U.S.) wepons. Much mare severe penalties should bu introduced for crimes with guns which should includo immediate deportation for any non-citizen involved in a gun-related criminel sot.. I strongly urge support aI gun control as k epplies ta ie ai weepons but oppose te registration aI legally ownod hunting and target guns. Jim Collîns Whhby During this periad, t is believed thea, ai vels ai government f rom municipal ta provincial were involved in what may bu perceived ta bu a conflict Of interest tao manage and pass the varlous stages af enviratimental examination ta, enable the development ta bu approved. kt may bu fair ta say theat athaugh thero was public apposition at the time, it was not suificient or strang enaugh at the timo. fk may also bu fair ta say thae the Rose Corporation, oneofaI the dovelopers, unfortunately in the most sensitive area next ta the marsh, only did what they wero permitted ta do by the variaus levels of govornment. In t ho period previausly mentioned (1988-1991) whon tho damage was done, someofa the major events or -actions cati bu summartzed as folbows. In 1988/8 9 a studY was undertaken for the Town of Whitby ta supposedly examine or asssss aIl the environmental. impcas an the Lynde Marsh. This was known as the Hanna Report. fk w- suposod ta be doôns baud on the ternms of refereno orlglnelly ap.cflod bi B s 1) B B B B 'I I 3 J f the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA), that, included the 'nssible conclusion' that no deve pmont take place. The document was prepared on the premise that devebopment would talcs place and the net effect of the document was ta suggest a number of mitigating measures to counteract tho offects of the developmont. The CLOCA board accepted this document as the banal ide -envirotimental impact statement 'that was requiredjby CLOCA, and that Rt cloarly is not, despite the concems of CLOCA staff who are the environmental experts. 3 The CLOCA board is made up 1 of rogional counicillors. The Whitby tcouniciliors on the CLOCA board J at that time were those who voted 1at tho municipal level in favour of .the development. There was >clearly a conflict 0 f interest rbutween the proponients of thoý development and those who are supposed to protect aur interests -- the conservation authority. kt was established at a 'recent CLOCA meeting that thore was extemal pressure epplied ta the staff ta override their concernis. The question now is wha applied the pressure, and what -kind af pressure. A -second environmental document wes commissioned by the three major components for the developrnent, Rose Carp., MGS (provincial government) and Durham Region. The developmont interests 0f MGS were later turned over ta the Ontario Realty Corp. (ORC). This, known as t ho Bird and Hale study, is based mostly on tho Hanna report and the startin promise that development ilI occur. The conclusions are very much the same except' thero is more environmontal data but, liko tho H-anna, doos not constitute a full study of the problem. Using these two documents as thoir major supporting evidonce, concurrence was sought by the proponients f rom interested organizations such as the Ministry of Natural Rosources (MNR), Ministry af the Environment (MOE), and aI course CLOCA ta permit development ta proceed. A numbur aI other organizations were consuted such as the lire department, sohool boards, but from an enviratiment standpoint the ministries'and CLOCA were, the key groups. Tho Ioderai fisheries interests are epparently lookod alter by MNR The ultimato rosuit of this activity was that. MOE was "satlsed" that the Hanna and Bird and Halo studios were equivalent ta the -envirorunontel assessmentj and thorofore the developent was exempted from having to conduct a proper envlronmontal assessmient by the minister at the. timo, Ruth Grier. A lotter exists, written by Ruth Grier before she was made minister '-of- the onvironment, that sho was stro1î opposed ta development of t ho Lynde Marsh area. R is apparent that, despite the shortcomings of the supporting environmental information and Ruth Grier's stated concem for tho marsh, that nothing was going ta stand in the way of this devlomet.With one or more government ministrios supporting or approving the activittos of another govemment industry, it leaves one with the Impression of coniflict of interest. -The foregoing is. onîy a brief summary af some' of the planning and political activity made at this time and considerabe dotait exists not only in the study documents but in the exchange Of* documentation between aIl evels of government involved. Some of this information has been kept from public scrutiny based on the reason that it is , riviîeged client/government inlormation. Thore mal bu an interesting story to tell if this information could bu mado public. Tho bottom Uine of ail this is that despite the dlaims thatproper procedures were folowed, the whole process has been buiît on a foundation of straw. The envrironmental assessment has been ail smoke and mirrors. In the Iight of the recent performance by Bud Wildman, tho present Minister of Environment who confirmed tho oriinal exemption, ik 19 obviaus that those involved are closing ranks and permitting the smoke and mirrors ta continue. kt is very clear that ail levels of government, politicians and bureaucrats have buen involved in steering this development ta its intended conclusion. I-owever thero is stili time ta voice opposition ta what cati only result in the destruction of the marsh and adýetlands. 4OW is the time ta really put somne questions ta the candidates for the upcominig provincial olection, and ta continue ta write and lobby ail the incumbunt politicians at aIl levels. The irony of this miserable Situation w that overyone could win. Thero is a potential to turn Lynde Marsh andi the surrounding ecosystomn into a provincial and regional gemn and onvironmental showpiece. lnstead of houses and high-rises, bWid environmontal laboratorios, hospital laboratorios, places for native peoplos artifacts and hsto7y, and controlled'acess 0opnbns xemad am those of the a*hor. MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $34 + GST - Outside Canada $80 + GSI