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(0) Orn o WeyTisWdeayMa131998 A ORONO %...W-EEKLY TimvEs, Subscriptions $2 1.50 + $1l.50 G.S.T. = $23.0Olyear. Publications Mail Registration No. 000368 Publishmng 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB ÎMO E-Mail Address: oronotimes@gspeedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/ Editor Mlarg Zwart Mean-spirited by Roy Forrester, The issue over additional funding and extension of hepatitis C compensation is flot one of compassion as some leaders would have us believe but nothing more than raw politics, devoid of aily compassion. It is remarkable that it was Premier Mike Harris of Ontario who after two days broke rank with other provinces and the federail government ti a compensation package that had been agreed upon for victims of hepati- tis C. Harris ti breaking r anks was firing from the hip as the Tories of Ontario have a habit of doing ending up with more damage than repair. Harris has neyer shown, since becoming Premier, compassion i dealing with any issue. As in health or i dealing with the less fortunate, or the issue of 20 percent of chfldren living in poverty, compassion is not a reality with the Premier. There is a nif between Ontario and some other provinces including Quebec with the federal government. It's ail about power and it lias become mean-spirited. There is a feeling that it is democracy that we, have to worry about. Democracy is about compassion. Monday, May 11/98 Dear Marg, Some rather "odd" things going on ti the rews as of late. I-very much enjoyed Bill Stockwell's letter to the editor last week, in which he elabo- rates about the federal gov- ernment's, decisiori on com- pensation for those, Canadians who have contact- ed Hepatitis C. 1,amn not farnil- tar enough wlth this issue to understand how they came up with 1986 as the cut-off date, but, what axnazes me is that EVERY member of the Liberal govemnment voted to stand pat on their deciston, in spite of heavy opposition. That's odd. This isri't the first timre Chretien has put the gun at his own people's heada, however, it would appear there are no more John Nuriziates this time around. Democracy is cer- tainly a wonderful thing! So, Jean the shepherd now has his flock of sheep under con- trol and beflaving weil, thanlk you. I doni't know whether or not their decision willbcb, as Mr. Stockwell 50 eloquently points out, a defulning moment in Canadian history. I sup- pose that remains to be seeri. 1 wîll remember, however, this flock of Liberal sheep when the other Shepherd, ramely Alex, wants to put up one of bis electiori signs on the front lawn next time around. Another oddity, ti the after- math of this thing, is Mike Hanrs looking somewhat like a knight in shining armour. I believe Mike The Slasher offered somewhere in the neighbourhood of $200 mil- lion to the vtctims who were ignored by the feds. To see Mr. Mike in any kind of hero role is odd, if not almost impossible to imagine. Another thing I fInd odd is ail the media coverage con- cerning dogs (and cats)- attacking innocent victims in and around the GTA. I don't mean to triviabize the case of the poor little 8 year old girl, who was killed by a bull mas- tive a week or so back, which was indeed a horrible thing,, but, the Toronto Sun gave front page coverage three days last week to other inci- dents livolvtng dog and/or cats. Maybe it was a slow week for riews stories? At any rate, what I ftad interesttag about this relatively new fas- cination with animal related items is howeverybody ta screaming that the dog must be put dowri immnediately. Yet, when a humnan being attacks another person, it usually is hidder ihaif way into the paper, if it gets any coverage at ail, that is. And seldom ta anybody calltag for the attacker's head. There is something wrong with this picture, and, maybe we rieed to reorganize our priorities? Very odd indeed. R~egards Bob Rotz Kirby, Ont. May il, 1998 Dear Editor: With reference to the arti- cle in your Wednesday, Apnil 29, 1998, edfitiori re "Stop hunting south of the 8th Conc. ", I "vtsh to comment as a taxpayer in the Durham Region. I note that a small number of residents allege that hunting should be restrlcted in the area. .Prellminarily, it should be noted that shotgun hunting has been allowed, as opposed to rifle hunting, because of the shorter ranges of shot- guns when fired. The intent has been, to- avoîd potential injury to residents and per- sons beyond the vision of the hunter. Responsible hunters do honour no trespassing and no hunting sigris, and engage in safe hunting practicea. The municipality cari indeed restrict hunting; how- ever, before doing so it should corisider Well the conse- quences of such action. Hunting is a means of keep- ing the population of deer, coyotes, and certain other wildlife from getting out of coritrol. If the populations of these animals are riot con- trolled, farmners and even res- ideritial homeowriers can begin to suffer losses of crops, gardens. pets and other live- stock. Deer respect no bound- aries, and take their filI of field cropa, apple orchards, nursery plantations, vegeta- bles, and flower gardens. Coyotes are notorious for tak- ing smaller dogs, cats, lambs, calves, and the like. The dol- lar value of predatory and crop losses cari be consider- able. In recognition of this, the government of Ontarto has enacted a compensation scheme whtch calîs for reim- bursement of such loases to farmers. The compensation cornes from we, the taxpay- ers of the municipality. The higher the losa total, the Iùgh- er our tax bill. Further, the munlcipallty may even ti some cases be legally hiable for compensa- tion for loas of property, bod- lly injury, and perhaps even death, aising from vehicle accidents caused by Impacts with uncontrolled wildlife roaming our roads and high- ways. SThe Departmerit of Natural Resources has set a yearly season to control wtldlife to reduce over populations of animaIs and to reduce possi- ble liabiity of governments for damages. Once the munici- pality closes an area such as has been suggested in the April 29th article, i my opin- ion, the municipality should accept full resporibility for consequential bosses. As a taxpayer, I prefer hunting to additiorial taxation to, cover such consequential losses. Perhaps as a common ground, if the petitioners mentioned In the April 29th article insist upon such dlo- sure, then they should assume all the burden of any additiorial taxes icurred as a resuit... and relieve farmers andothers who recognize the benefits of seasorial hunting of any such tax liability. The wtser course, i my opinion, would be to refuse the peti- tiori of those who would restrict such hunting. Sincerely, Carnan L. Irwin Letters to the Editor' (continued page 3) May 12, 1998 TOPIC: Stop Hunting south of the 8th Con. . ..Wednesday, April 29, 1998. Orono Weely Tlimes. To the Editor: I would like to clear some of the rntsinformation intrthe above article. First you have a better chance of being injured on fllght from Toronto to New York, than walklng your dog during hunting season. In ref- erence to Mr. Stephenson's commenta, these activities take place duning the sum- mer and early fali. Few people swim in October or November, nor do mountain bikers ride in December or January and as for skiing, I have yet to see enough snow In September or October in the Kendal area. Hunting sea- sons are only a few weeks long. In thue rest of Ontario al resource users get along quite well during tis time. Why ta it different south of the 8th Conc.? Mr. Eric Atkins has been against hunting and in par- ticular the controlled Pheasant Hunt at Kendal Crown Forest for some twen- ty years. He has gone to the Minister of Natural Resources (MNR). the Onitario Ombudsman, MPP John OToole and the residents of Kendal and Clarington Town Council, ail to no avail. This time he wants to end the dis- charge of aIl long guns south of the 8th Conc. Has he con- sidered ahl of the conse- quences that this will tmpart on ail sheep farmers or alI livestock for that matter? Predators such as foxes, coy- otes and wolves will grow out of control. Three years ago The Ontario Federation of Anglers DO