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Page 6. Whitby Free Pross, Wednesday, September 13, 1905 , JWW The onlt Newspaper owned and operated by Whîtby resîdents for Whîtby resîdents! MEMBER 0F: CANADIAN ONTARIO COMMUNITY "*COMMUNITY NEW$PAPER -.NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION ISSN#0844-398X The Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes in Whitby, Brooklin, Ashburn & Myrtle as well as numerous publié and commercial outiets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 27,500 COPIES DELIVERFO WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $34 + GSI - Outside Canada $80 + GSI Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontarioa mc. 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 Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 200/ recycled content using vegetable based inks.tu0 Ail written material, illustrations and advertising contalned herein is protected 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 fie to the Whitby Free Press. Can't have it both ways l'o th. edtor: I read wlth dîsappointment and concemn the musinge of Paul Wicher (leIter, 'Window dressing, 0 Fr.. Press, Sept. 6> with respect ta comments I made ln a recent interview with The Fre Press. Haing had the benefit 0f speaking ta Mr. Wicher, an avowed supporter of the Reform Party and ils pîatform and a member 0f the police force, I would have thought him Iess critical, indeed supportive, 0f Members 0f Pareament taking a stance on behaif of constituents rather than tow the party lino. In both cases 0f 1he sentencing bill (C-41) and the gun bil (C-68). hie MP dutifuîly respected the wishes of hie constituents by voting against 1he former and supporting the latter notwlthstanding partisan repercussions. Moreover, th. Canadian Federation of Police Chiefs, who represent the rank and file 0f our fineet such as Mr. Wicher, reaii~ supported and Iobbled for the gun bil Unfortunately for Mr. Wicher and those 0f hie iîk, they cannot have iR bath ways. Elther they are democrats or they are not. Conspicuous by tu~ absence in Mr. Wicher's lbter was his failure 10 inform reerlers that Preston Manning hlmself vioîated his pledge 0f voting in accordance with the wvishes 0f his constituents in Calgary East~ where 72 per cent lndicated support for the gun bill. Mr. Wicher's disomfort wvith my critiaism 0f the legislaiive priorities 0f our govemnment, in which the two aforementioned bills were tackled before economic considerations, beaves hlm in the embarrassing position 0f elther endorsing the government's agenda to date or agreelng ýwith me. Elîher way, ho should b. more forthcoming about his real message. Perhaps the clue cornes in his. opening paragraph when ho suggests. regrettably, that we are "an easily distracted progresvely soft and wlimpish socaety.. Il Mr. vvîcner filnds my unwavening stance in support 0f the gun bill, and socuety In general, unsettling, ho might tlnd comfort in recognizing that the intoreets 0f the few end where thoy conflict with the common good. Dan McTeague Ontario ridlng MP -o th~e.weditor.. A plea to the minister. To the dltor: Copyof k9ter to Mnlstry of Hoalth, Honourable Mnister: Mr. Minister, I amn writing ln the hopes that my plea wvilI b. heard. I arn but on. rosident of a oommunlty of about 70,000 who wanyt their generai hospltaî to remain an acute carefcl f~t and warn t1h. omorgency room fa. Rules open 24 hours aday. I resido ln Whlty and at one lime or another, overy member of my famlly has had the occasion to require car. from Whltby Gaerai HospitaL Just two weeks ago my 74- year-oi father, sufferlng from sovere chest pains, was rushed by ambulance to Whitby General. He remained in our hospital for about a week until his transportation to St. Michae's Hospital where, as I write this bItter, ho is awaiting confirmalion for angloplasty surgery. Our flght to save Whitby Generai has a history. Vou wil no doubt b. awareo0f tho ongoing campalgn of the Town councl and the members 0fthe Save Our Genoral Hospital committee. And you MIl have no doubt heard 0f the Durham Regbon District Health Councl and its appointed group of members knows as the mcute care steering committe.. That committee's proposais, contained in its discusson paper, were released earty in 1995 and- recommended that Whltby General be retrofltted to beoeme a rehabilitation contre for th. area. In November of 1994, the SOGH committee went 10 Queen's Park with a petition slgned by 31,000 people, clearly stating their desire ta maintain Whitby Genoral Hospital as an acute care faculity, including the re-establshment 0f 24-hour emorgency service. What about the marsh? Tro the odltor: The Free Prose photo (Aug. 23> .shovving an incensed councllor Longfield olle"ng boer boules dlscarded by ltterbugs along the waterfront traIl does Indeod speak a thousandswards. f vandals and litterbugs along the waterfront trail have wpushed Judi Longflelta the broaklng polntm how MIl sho feel if the Lynde Shores subdivision goes in as planned? Acoording t0 cotuncillor Longhield, the part 0f the trail running through Heydenshore Park and Immedie viclnity seems ta be attractlng most 0f 1he damage lrom offonders not considering the consequencos 0f their actions or not caning at ail.m Why shouki we think that l Rvl be any different at Lynde Shores 'If the dovelopment proceede as planned? Well, yes, there wMIUbe a difference:- the potentiel for damage aI the Lynde Marsh le far groater becauseo0f 1he cless 1 statue 0f the marsh. Does Whitby truly know what it has? Lynde Marsh les siN quit. hoafthy - there ls no shortage 0f aqualic plants aW Lynde, for instance, and Il has 160 specios 0f ids and amphiblans. Why on earth are we willing ta play Russian roulette wvith thie cless 1 wetland when the opportunity for a land swap (providing a significantly wjder protective buffer) stilI exista. Lînda Moyle and Johanna Tito Concerned Cltlzens for Lynde Marah Hydro commission aims to restore goodwill' To the edîtor: Someono wise once goodwill in business is1 penny a atime and lost a time. Sadly, a number of goodwill may have beer summer, but persever Whitby Hydros part wÀil build il back up egain. During the summer, residents have sufferedt senes 0f unrelated Interruptions. In laIe Jur Hydro chair Don McMaste committe. to ldentify prot, report back with an Augusi Action 10 be teken feil distinct ereas: communict technldcal fmters, With ri ovorwhelming opinion from the general public that Whitby Hydro I sald that was hauing serious trouble in getting F built up a ils message ouIta the public during il à dollar at a power outages.d f dollars of Even with more than a hait dozen c ýn aost this people manning the phones, the c rance on telephone Unes were constantly s I hopefulIly jammed for hours. Because of this,0 senior staff have been directed to seek out new telecommunicaton r Whitby solutions and 10 report back ta the 0 through a commisioners. power Staff wiIl further review the utility's le Whitby internai communications systems, ci or struck a recognizing thet even heatthy A àlems and organizations require a check-up ci deadline. once in a whiîe, and will contact ri I into two other municipal ulilios to take [ tions and advantageo0f any experience they $1 espect to na 1 ma ihenthls area. The other area 0f review was the physital plant ftei. The Whiîby Hydro distribution systemn has gone through some preuty tough times iuring the sumrmer and il became ciwathe it wouId be prudent to do a complete reassessment af the system, perhaps with the help of outside sources, 10, give us a snapshot 0f where we are with respect to the secunity and rellability of the Whitby Hydro system. Customers/owners pointed out clearly that outages lasted too long. A strong 100110o be used in reducing Dutage time is the installation of the neW SCADA (Systemn Control and Data Acquisition) systom. The $600,000 Initial Installation slated for control ta the Whltby Hydro grld which hes about 700 kilometres 0f electrical distribution lines. A moro refined control has been scheduled 10 b. slowly implemented ovrsevral ersEd e a cost 0f more than $3 million. Senior staff iMI anelyze the technicaî and finanoial factors involved in nfast-trackingo SCADA ta improve performance in this area sooner than originally planned. Commissioners and senior staff reaize the the patience and goodwil 0f customers have been challenged many times this summer. The arees 0f roview for improvement are seen as a beginning in, the rebuilding 0f the aost goodwill. Ralph Blank There was Mtte or no support shown by the NDP govemment and lts officiais thetday ln Oueen's Park. In fact, most of the Members loft the legisature as our petition was being presented. And, 0f course, as on. 0f the former govemnmenVs great Idoas, Whitby was in lin. 10 lose Its; general hospital as an acute cars faility. Bob Rae and hie sidekic Ruth Grier were of the opinion that Why General should become a rehablitation centre. There ls a decades-old rumour around town that long ago, some bureaucrat inQueen's Park had a grudge against someone or something in Whitby and since that Urme, Whltby Genoral has nover received its full share 0f subsidies from the provincial govemnment(s). Obviously, the civil servant hasnt reached pensionable agel Perhaps our hospital board(s) should have been more prozactve in going after our fair share. Perhaps the board did pursue the matter but their efforts. , afeil on deaf ears Pure and simple, its only a rumour, l'm sure. At the presont lime, our emergency room closesat 10 p.m. 1' M verY thankful my father eOçeriencdhie chest pains at 6 a.m. rather than 10:15 p.m. And ln another letter ta The Free Press, Dr. Teresa Mienon f Montgomery, Alabama, was very thankful Whitby General's emergency room was Stil open for business the evenlnig 0f Au9. 13. The thought le rather ominous when your chance 0f survival means a 20-minute drive 10 the next hospital. Whltby needs Its hospital and needs it to romain an acute care facllty. Our town is growlng by leaps and bounds. W. have three large subdivisions developing ln Whitby which wil generate an increase in popuilion of about 10O,000. How Mil a community 0f 80,000 manage 10 take car. 0f Its sick? Wi the Ajax- Pickering Hospital and the Oshawa General osital have room at the inn? I thinknot. During my fatheras stay ln WGH, ho wes made aware thl many 0f the Patients were belng admitted ta our hospital as there were no beds available at Oshawa General Hospital. Whitby Generai Hospital provides a vital link to the people 0f our community. The residents 0f Whitby deserve the saine kind of health care prMVleges as those in Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering, BowmarMlle and Port Perry. Whitby residents must b. disenfranchised in their abolty 10 aoeess excellent equitable heath care services and I seek your help in relaying this message to Premier Harris and the members 0f the govemment of Ontario. Sturon A. McKey