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Page 6, Wltby Fiee Press, Wednesday, November 29,1995 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whîtby resîdents for Whitby resîdents! MEMBER 0F: CANADIAN O NTARIO COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION 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 outrets in.Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 27,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $34 + GST Outside Canada $80 + GST Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario mc. Box 206, 131 Brook St. N., Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-61 il Out of town: 1-800-668-0322 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% 4w recycled content using vegetable based inks. cAlil written material, illustrations and advertising conlained 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 credît lune to the Whitby Free Press. s ' t e it r.s Lack of quality To the. odltor: Copy af letter ta Whitby Hydro EloelcCommission* manager Tom May~ Dear Mr. May: You muat belleve that aIl residents ai Whltby have extremely short meniares and are wvllIlng ta swalbow uiy explanatian yau thraw theîr way. The autages ln WNhy were created by management tallng ta recagnîze that the summer loads woul have disastius repercussians stemnilng tram Iengtby systern shutdowns fai upgradlng construction purpases. Pîaceedlng wth system Impravements ater deîays ln Implementatian resufted ln many af your custarners (lncluding myseif) experending Iengthy, unprecedented lbasés of power. I was dumblaunded ta tfind Whtby Hydra had put thernsehies ln this planned autage position, and had trucks and workers sitting on sideroals, waiting ta switch the bads tram an. transformier ta another ta prevent burnout. When you flnaily aot that baille, our lights went ouI and stayed off for six haurs.' The second major outage was caused by a taulty ln-lne swltch. ln- ne switches are not prane ta tailure. I did not receive a vald explanation as ta why this lailure occurred and suspect h was a result af overloadlng scheduling. There were saveral other large and small ouages experienc.d thraughout WhRtb durlng this perlad ai Urne. Whllby Hydra went ta great expense and pleced ads in the local papers apaloizing ta is custamers. Yau pointed your linger ad a contractai wha had been hired ta Instail the compulertized management. systern SCADA. In your ad, you spoke of consulting with a Iawyer wilh the express Intent af brlnglng legal action againat the contracting fin. Apparently, Whitby Hydro faet the vwork should have been completed two days priai ta the major muages. Was th3re a penalty clause? What was the resuft af your consultation? Why was there na 10110w-up information sent ta yaur custamers? Why dîi..WhItky :HYdro' management ellow tbis shutdown Io begîn when h waukl have'been ln the best Interest af your custoniers Io delay the construction until the tail?. What eve happened Io the task foice the commission was ta set up io roiew Whitby Hlydros procedures and emeigency response? Why was this committe. madie up ai peaple excluslvely wlthln the commission? 1 appled and was tald tha no outslde volunteers, would b. accepted on the conimitte.. Since these problems have been generated within the commission, yau should welcome Independent, constructive crticdsn i amed at Improvlng your praduct and service. Naw you have the gailIot tell us that aur rates wil Inciease as a a remut af upgraiies ta the systeni Ihat were prompted by six major power disruptons In June and JuVy (Fre Press, Nov. 22,1995). lsnl th about time that the commission realîzed and aridressed the seriaus concenis rounling withln the consumer base, that there has been a Iack af qualty and stbilty ln your service. Dant p ut the cart betore the hoise. Establish a qualty praduct belore you tell the consumer that bis or her rates are golng up. 1 WU expect ta hear tram you regarding my concerna and questions. Suîely yau MiI want ta set the record stialght withaut gbossing over the Issues. Stan McGookîn Whitby so theedtor. Do the job,. politicians Ta the edîtor: Re: Trucking standards lndustry sage Durham Centre MPP Jlm Rlaherty says he would have been happy ta present the 30,000-name petitian asking for change and whlch was presented ta the legîsîature an Nov. 22, 1995. The Warana family had discussed the issues wvith Mr. Flaherty. but decided ta ask Uberal MPP Mke Colle ta present the petîtion lnstead. They tet Mr. Flaherty dîd not have the necessary commîtment ta the task. Mr. Flaherty gave the reason that as a meniber ai the legislature, he couldn't Interfere or comment whlle the lnquest was belng canducted. la that a reason or an excuse? Much has been reported concemîng tougher truck safety laws aller the numerous deaths and serlous Injuries ln the recent past an aur highways. The Worana/Tyrrell cases have been ýwIdely publldized. 1 remember reading the reports of the accidents and also af the ensulng truck Inspections which brought ta Ught the dispraportionate number af trucks on the roads whlch vlolated serlous safety standards. On Aug. 27, 1995;* my mother, Jacqueline Wood, and ber companian, Julien Bauwens, were kilIed, through no fault af their awn, by a transport truck et Kenora, Ont. on the TransCanada highway. The TransCanada was clased for the better part of two days. The truck was carryng steel. We had ta identify their bodies thraugh physical characterlslics and jeweîry. h is impossible ta make enyane who has not experienced this trauma understand the devastatîan caused ta the tamiles. The result? The driver received the maximum fine under current legislatian - $500. End of story - except for the lamilles. These accidents continue ta occur. There was na local media in my mather's case because the accident happened in Kenara. How many cther cases of deaths have accurred ai whlch we are nat aware. The Warana lamily and my tamily both ve in Whitby, sa if you think that R happens ta sameone else, well, yau cannat gel much dloser. The Worona lamlly has' been actively pursulng the government ta rchange the lais for stricter truck safety legîslatian- and appropriate tinandial penalties. Theresa Worana rnoted that many af the same recammendations of the October ilnquest had been made In 1983. Twelve yeers later, and stilI nothlng has changed. 1 Well, Mr. Flaherty, I was et 1Queen's Park on Nov. 22, 1995 1along wlth many other members ai ternîMes who have been lnvolved ln trucklng deaths and/ar serlous injuries. I dld not see you there. Arn I mistaken? Is there a reason, or shaîl I say, an excuse? There have been lots of reasons why nothlng has changed since 1983, but after 12 years, they are just: excuses. Tell my why the 1aWrona tamlIy or any other tanilly wauld wait for you or eny Cther electedoffidial ta do their job - and that la ta pratect the people whomn Buy Ic To the edItor: I would Ike toa dd ta the camments made by Daug Anderson in the Nov. 15 editarial abaut shopping Iacally. Fanfily faim advocate Wendell Berry says tawns and ciles shauki lve aff food praduced locally because that ocdiverslfes local tarming, supports the local terni ecanamy, reduces transportation and ather casta, puts lresh food an the table and Incieases local emplayrnent.0 We hear a great deal about the plght othe family fam- Ils sald ta be out of date, inefficient and imrpiIca1 ln this global econony. Sînce w. purchase fodanly on he basis af price, not quality or locale, local lainers are hard pressed ta compete vlth bow-wage countries and corporate tacory ternis. Sa we lose al the benefits Berry autines and maie: w. are also loslng aur abllty ta feed ourselves. Many tamuly faris ln Durhamno n longer praduce food crps because they cannot compete. Similai trends cen be seen ln the manufacturlng and textile sectors - aven aur electronlcs and they represent. Why should we have ta, dlad wlth the worst nlgitmare we wU am experience and also have to tackle the govemment et the sanie Urne? The problem Is that nothlng I change until someone else gels kdlhd. Isthia what Rt wauld take? The media attention MiI soon wane, as Rt wIllI be *aId news.u WiII that be your mother, tather, sister, brother, chlld? I1 say ta ail past and present elected affidiais that, as a taxpayer, I pay your salar. Through your lack 0of action, these tragedies continue ta oeur. You, colîectively, as members ai parliafflent are nat doing your job. f the recammendations ai the OC>obeuinquest had already been ln pw, qulte possily I would stilI have my mother. There are no reasons or excusée. You, the elected menibers, are pald ta, do a job - so just do R. No excuses. Sandre Pnlauskas Whftby >cally telecommunlcations sectors. This means oui 9, loal eonomny and sanudard of Cng are id rlsk because we shop àony on the'basis'of puce. We have' been persuaded ta, be smart consumners, but are, ln tact, %nickel and' <imlnge oui own nelghbours and o*urselves.' 1To have any real control *over oui destîny, get the ldnd af community we want, we need to strengthen aur local ecananles. We have ta buy what Is pioduced locally tram Iacall operated businesse. By spendIng ourmoney lacally so aur nelghbours can eam it here, aur money -stays ln the communlty and benelit al of us lving here. Otherwlse IR ends up ln'sanie corporae. heoei office in the U.S., Europe ai Japan. Our bcal econamies have become sa weakçened lhey can't provide the varlety of cheap gaods and-faads we are now used ta. But local businesses niake Up for that ln frîendly service and generally hlgher Shopping bocally.cen not only b. more enjoyable, R Is a positive act that strengthens aurcommunlty. Steve Leahy Brooklin New, different ways may have healed the 'f rog'5 To th. edîtor: Re: Letter, 'Expensive tiles,' Nov. 15 lm sarry ta see thet yau didn't take tbe time ta cere for your tmog. Vau enjoyed h whîle ht did what you wanted, but wMen h atapped performing you lot k fade away. Juat think what tmg empire you might have had if anly you hed sought out new and diferent ways ta heal your lrlend.u Vour nomn surpnised me. Moma usuallyteach chîlien ta respect and .wfotbplr roip dogq and othor - related crealures. She albwed a cruel and unnecessery avent ta occur. Odds are that the tmrg wasn't dead and aquick triptIothelfrog doc would have started you ta an Illusrious yet slimy. occupation - breeding champion jumping traga. I think in >vur scenaria, the politicel and bureaucratic lunctiansarae the trag. Whitby isn' dead. Friday nlght we drove ta the centre of Whltby and had an excellent meal In a warld- class restaurant; greet food, full hou", gr"at-hosts alA grpipuce. This mornlng I had a cotfee with one af Cenada's leading marketing people wha, afler reeding your letter, commented that there are a Large number afIcites that have lai less ta, aller than Whity but that are Infinitely more successlul. Why? Simple ... the management and elected officiais af aur tawn won't toîlow tried and true methads. The playbacks are staggening. lt does talce a lot of work. They need vision and guts. Tbey need ta take risks. Try samelhlng, R may nI wark, okay, try sometbîng else. Babe Ruth was also the strikeaut king. ,This aiea bas wasled ha ,resources lrorn one end af the. tawn ta th. ather. Whitby is the mai who bunied bis talons. The bureaucratalargot where the documentation was lle and the politiciens are smiilng and talking about baw great my ids aie turnîng out. W. shauld also look e ani e af the bylaws which don't albow a."ve pleying field loi the local business people. Tom Whlte Broolin