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Page 12, Whltby Free Press,, Wednesday, Decomber 6, 1995 Macean takes over as sehool board chair By Mark Reesor There were leadership changes at the Durham Board of Education as trustees began the second year of their term Monday night. Oshawa truste. Audrey Macean was elected board chair, defeating Pickering trustee and vice-chair Ruth Anne Schedlich's bid te take over from Whitby truste. Patty Bowman who chose not -te let her name stand for another term. First-term Ajax truste. Sherrili Willard beat out Scugog truste. Bobbie Drew for the position of vice-chair, and Uxbridge's trusteeFaith Neumann, another firat-termer, was voted chair of standing - comïittee, defeating Brock truste. Bihl Fairburn. Oshawa trustee Kathleen Hopper is the new standing conimitte. vice-chair, handing Drew another defeat. The liaison trustée for employee By Mike Kowalski Whitby counicillor Marcel Brunelle wil not ha a candidate te become the next chair of Durham Region. Brunelle told The Fre. Press on Tuesday that he will b. supporting Ajax Mayor Jim Witty when regional council selects a new chair today te replace the recently deceased Gary Herrema. "Aler taling te many people the support was not there," said Brunelle. Its tured inte a two-horae race and I couldn't get enough people to move:" h. .aid ini reference to comzitted votes for Witty and relations is Pickering truste. Jili Hamilton; fellow - Pickering representative Susan Kular takes over finance and transportation, Drew gets program and Oshawa trustee Mike Nicholson property and planning.. Whitby truste. Tom Oldman was acclaimed for another term as chair of the separate board at their meeting Monday night. Oshawa trustee Paul Woodcroft was lected vice-chair and Ajax trustee Todd McCarthy was voted chair of .the English 'language section.. Pickering rep Fran Pereira was elected vice-chair of the English language section. Elaine Legault, who represents Oshawa, Whitby, Brock and Scugog, was acclaimed chair of the French language section, and Samuel Montas, who represents Ajax, Pickering and Uxbridge, was aclaimed vice-chair. Pickering councillor Rick Johnson, the two leading contenders te become Durham's third chair. 'There are people who are supporting me, but I wouldn't want te take them inte a loeing situation. Ill be supporting Jim Witty."0 Although Pickering Mayor Wayne Arthurs has also expressed *interest in the $78000 a year job - one-third ofit tax-free - the race is expected 'to e a ashowdown betwe.n Witty and Johnson. Herrema, who served as chair for 15 years, lost a long battle to cancer and died two weeks ago. DEAR READERS: Send u~s your Christmas poems, short stories, or letters to Santa. We wilI be publishing a selection of these on Dec. 2Oth WHITBY i FREE PRESS 151 Brock St. N. Box 206, Whitby LUN 5S1 r;- How you choose to pay tribute to a life lived or make an expression of remembrance is a personal choice. Y our Municipal Cemetery serving the Town of Whitby since 1951. For information cail: 905-655-3493I GKOVESdDE MUNICIPAL CEMETERY Fewer service .s expected at hospîtal By Mike Kowalskil Last week's provincial government spending cuts likely means fewer services at Whitby General Hospital. Although Whitby General officials do not yet know theïr share of the $1.3-billion reduction in transfer payments te Ontario hospitals, they do anticipate cutting services as a result. The only uncertainly is how extensive the cuts wIll b.. "Quite frankly, I've no idea. I haven't seen the details and how they will apply, " said hospital board chair Jim Souch of the spending cuts announoed by Finance Minister Ernie Eves. 'm looking at the economic statement and I can't see if they're taking the dollars out of the (overall) Ministry of Health budget or just the hospitals," said Souch. "We should know next (this) week, but I would say that Whitby has got a lot of room te manoeuvre ... a $1.89 either way." Souch said Durham's five other general hospitals face the same problem as Whitby - no way of trimming the budget without affecting the current level of services. "I don't know of any hospital in Durham Region that's got any flexibility," h. said. "Sinoe the government will not allow us te operate at a deficit,. there will be less services." Soucha forecast i. echoed by the president of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA). According to David Martin, an 18 per cent redusFtion in transfer payments over the next three years will significantly alter the way hospital services are delivered in Ontario. "The public will have te change their expectations and use of hospital services because it will not b. business as usual," said Martin. "For example, there will b. fewer emergency departments, longer waiting lista for non-emergency surgery, program and services reductions, mergers and closures. 'The challenge for hospitals i. te adapt te these major changes while still maintaining the quality of care." - With $365 million bass in funding during the next fiscal year and further cuts of six and seven per cent in the following two years, most of Ontario's 219 public hospitals will be impacted, Martin predlicted. Martin said the government's creation of a Health Services ]Restructuring, Commission will accelerate. implementation of niany restzucturing projects across Oiptario,, such as the one now under way by the Durham Region District eéalth Council. "Rteallocation i. essential for hospitals which do not have the capacity te absorb...major, across-the-board reductions," said Martin. Fuil impact- on sehool board flot yet -known. Although exact figures are not available, the'Durham Board of Education could loe up te $12 million in transfer payments alter last week's announcement of $400 million in cuts for Ontario achool boards. No details have yet been given on how cuts will ha applied te transfer payments, and rUntil that detail is provided, we are unable te asseas where these cuts will have te occur and what impact they will have on our students and staff," says board chair Patty Bowman. She noted that some other recommendations made by Ontario Minister of Finance Ernie Eves, including echool .community councils and standardized tests,. are already in the developing stages in the Durham board. Bowman also noted that while the minister reconmaended more effective use of new technologies te. educate students, "this mutual priority is in direct conflict with the massive cuts which will have1 te be made 'as' a result of tiis economic statement." The Durham board has a multi-year plan based on a technological review of system needsand it will ha included in the board's 1996 budget taika. - Ev.. also said boards should try te cut administrative costse, now awxxun ig for 30 per cent of every education dollar. Bownan says the Durham board "spends les. on administration than most boards in Ontario," and she hopes the minister will provide a "definitioxn of administration because to continue te focus on administrative ýexpenditures without providing this framework i. inappropriate." "Interes ting" PROM PAGE 1 which basically don't'give you any control over wages - the only control we have now i. we can fire people... Whtyou're really talking' about is more leverage; you can basically say'this i. what we think is a reasonable salary package for this position and that's what ifs going te ha -! and if you don't 11k. it, I guess you can't go to a provincial arbitrater and get about an eight per cent increase."' Mitchell says aIl of the studies, he'. seen indicate there'. about a 25 per cent spread hatween public sector and private secter wages for comparable jobs. "Now that's a huge, huge spread and a spread that ha. grown even through the boom times of the '80S.... I think most of the people have been assuming for the last few years that once the social contract came off, there'd ha (wage) increases - I. doubt it" But taking on the big public sector unions will ha a major test of the Harris governxnets political will, he sa-ys, and the hard-nosed negotiating requlred on the local level "will ha a gut check on everybody here." Durham Cllege faces a $3.4-million, or 18 par cent, reduction in provincial funding as a result of last week's Ontario government economic statement. But college president Gary Polonsky says the impact of the cuts won't ha fully known until the amount of both federal and Ontario Training & Ajustment Board funding te the college i. known, sometinie within the next few months. Polonsky says legislation outlining guidelines for arbitration settlements could also have an effect on the -colleges finances. What is known i. that students registering for college progranis will pay 15 per cent more for tuition. Tuition f... had already increased 10 par cent in each of the past two years. In November, in anticipation of a provincial funding cutback, Polonsky announced there would ha staff layoffs, although he gave no details on the %iming or extent of layoffs. Brunelle won 't run for Region chair Tui1t ion hke, .fundi1ng reduction at college mou 1