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Page 6, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, January 25, 1995 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER OF: ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X (the Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes in Whitby, Brooklin, Ashbum & Myrtle as well as numerous public and commercial outiets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 27,000 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $34 + GST • Outside Canada $80 + GST Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario inc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario L1N 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 20% recycled content using vegetable based inks.-%l e Ail written material, illustrations and advertising contained 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 line to the Whitby Free Press. Plain 'robbery To the editor: I think it is nothing more than robber when defeated ex-regional councillors, or some who decided niot to run again, receive severance $55000 raised To the editor: Allow me to thank a few hundred people for their assistance in helping us raise over $5,000 through our Christmas benefit concert held in December at St. Marks United Church in Whitby. The net proceeds of the concert go directly to the* purchase of badly needed equipment at Whitby General Hospital. Those who attended, and paid an extremely reasonable price, were treated to world-class musicians who dazzled an audience of about 500 with their operatic brilliance and their sheer talent as performers. It was a wonderful gift for those in attendance -- for those who did not get a chance to hear God's live talent, there's always this year's concert. 1994 was not been an easy year for us at WGH, but when a plan comes together and people leave happy, it makes up for all the bad things around us. I want to thank Dr. Benjamin Ho, our gastroenterologist, who brought to Whitby some of the most glorious talent ever witnessed. Thanks go to the WGH Auxiliary, Albstair Dickie from the recreational therapy unit and many others who donated their money and time to making this first ever benefit concert a continuing success. What a wonderful gift. Marc Kealey Vice president Community Relations & evelopment Whitby General Hospital of $5,460 per term. They are getting $40,000 per year plus a third of it tax-free. If they sit on a committee, it brings them to $60,000 per year plus their expense account. Some are supplementing their income. Some councillors are on a pension. Others are running their own business. It reeks of double-dipping. Today a third of the people are having a hard time putiing food on the table. Councillors, when elected, must remember it is an honour, not a money grab. This is the way it was meant to be, an honorarium payment. Too much emphasis is put on an elected office in "what is there in it for me?" Are taxpayers, as councillors' employers, getting their fair share? This taxpayer and employer certainly does not think so. There can be no excuse for ignorance in accepting this latest travesty. It is a cruel joke. I. as an employer, did not have a say in the matter. I was not asked. It was done without my consent, underhandedly. I don't like it one bit. Then what else is new? Herman van der Veen Oshawa To the edItor: Re: Comments by councillor Dennis Fox about the car cavalcade organized by Save Lynde Marsh (Free Press, Jan. 18) You quoted him as saying "if we are talking about saving the environment, why are we encouraging a large number of cars to go down to the marsh? I must agree. We are talking about saving the environment. A large number of cars and people descending upon the marsh has a negative impact' "What this town needs is a 50 -megawatt co-generation natural gas-fueled gas-turbine powerplant!" To the editor... More about the pre-hearing To the editor: According to Stephen Morrision, president of the Rose Corporation (letter to the editor, Free Press, Jan. 18) my claim that the Rose Corporation jumped the queue at the OMB is "patently faise." For. the record, it was Janet Chan, OMB case worker for the Lynde Shores file, who told us that the early pre-hearing date was set at the request of the Rose Corporation. A cancellation had allowed them to honour Rose's request. This is confirmed by.a letter, dated Nov. 28, 1994, signed, by none other -than Mr. Morrison requesting an early pre-hearing. We ... respectfully request that the OMB schedule a prehearing conference at the earliest possible date .... he writes. If that's not jumping the queue, what is? (By the way, I said jumping the queue, not jumping the "gun" -- a Freudian slip, perhaps, on Mr. Morrison's behalf). And this brings us to another point. The Rose Corporation made their req uest for an early Pre-hearing one month after SLM ad referred the matter to the OMB. They carbon-copied their request to all parties immediately involved in the appeal -- to ail parties except Save Lynde Marsh. My question: why did the Rose Corporation not send Save Lynde Marsh a carbon copy of this request? When SLM requested that the pre-hearing date be adjourned in ordertanallow us time ta properly prepare for the pre-hearing, wepwere told not only to carbon-copy ail parties but that any adjournment would have to be agreed upon by ail parties. Not surprisingly, ail parties immediately objected to our request. Let the reader mull the following over: how is it that the Rose Corporation can request an early pre-hearing date -not only without the approval of ail parties but without notification of ail parties? As to the Rose's referral of the zoning to the OMB six months ago, we were told by several municipal and regional councillors that was merely a tactic to speed Up the hearing date as Rose anticipated referral requests from certain other parties in the near future. More of the same, in other words. Johanna TIto Spokesporson Save Lynde Marsh on this sensitive environment. The event should have been cancelled as should the permanent damage caused by a 5,000-person subdivision. The citizens of Whitby have a right to express their views regarding this valuable and irreplaceable ecosystem. If Mr. Fox and others on the council really were concerned about the environment, they would support SLM and cancel any development plans for Lynde Marsh.G Greg Moon WhItby Environmental Science Teacher To the editor: I have just returned from attending the parade and gathering of the Save Lynde Marsh supporters. As long as this controversy has been going on I have been angry at what has been taking place. The politicians make decisions with absolutely no concern about how the people of the community feel. Since I moved here 20 years ago, Whitby has progressed from a small, comfortable economical place to live, to a bustling pseudo-city. Houses are every- where there is any spare space.. Places my son and I used to walk, he will never be able to take his children because he will be walking through someone's backyard. My son learned to skate on the marsh, I'l bet Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk spent a lot of time there, too. Will your kids? Don't politicians ever listen to what is being said by the few people who are vocal? Don't they realize that because we live in Canada, when you have one person speaking up this usually means that person is speaking for many others. So when many speak up then probably those people represent a majority of the people in the area. The politicians were represented at this gathering, and I heard about the Boy Scouts and the happiness of the politicians that we showed up. I heard how our MPP was on our side (sort of) but really couldn't do much (except wiggle and squirm). Who can? Our illustrious mayor wasn't there but his rival in the last election was cooking hot dogs. I actually would have liked to hear from her. Perhaps she did speak after lIeft. I feel this project is a done deal with blessings of Town council (maybe not all of them). If these people can really believe in their heart that moving 5,000 people into that area will not affect the marsh then it's obvious they should publish their 1Qs before the next election to save us from any more irresponsible decisions. I am getting a guilty conscience because I have a bird feeder and attract birds to my yard. About once a week I find clumps of feathers blowing around my' yard. My bird feeder is actually a trap for unsuspecting birds because of other animais of prey that also make use of my yard. Think of what hundreds of bird feeders and hundreds of people and their pets will do to our marsh. We blew it in the lasf electíon, but there will be others -- too late, I guess. But I won't forget who put business and money ahead of quality of life. If anything can be done, let's do it. Quit the politicking and take a stand. If the houses are built, maybe they won't seli. Who wants to live where the mosquitoes are so thick they can carry away your kids? Greg Goring Whitby Rebuttal to Rose To the editor: In the Jan. 18 edition of the Whitby Free Press, Stephen Morrison, president of the Rose Corporation, alleges that they have taken "protective measures" to preserve expensive barrier plantings near the Lynde Shores wetlands. He also states that this was done "With the full knowledge and consent of the Town of Whtby." He also states that I committed "factual misrepresentation." I disagree on all counts. I quote from a letter from the Town of Whitby, dated Dec. 29, 1994, from Robert Short, director of planning, to Ken Ferguson of K.W. Ferguson Consultants (representatives of Rose Corp.): "This department also reminds you, with respect to your letter to Mr. Hancock dated Dec. 5, that no municipal approvals have been given to barricade Jeffery Street or for clearing and grubbing." Mr. Morrison either doesn't understand the letter or, has never read it, in which case I would be glad to fax him a copy. Pat Perkins Whitby A done deal Cancel.the plans