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2 - Orono Weekly Times Subscriptions $38.09 + $1.91 GST = $40.00 per year. No Refunds. Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs." Wednesday, April 28, 2010 ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON L0B 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax: 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Production and Display Advertising - Roxanne Johnston Classified Advertising - Sue Weigand The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. Elected Chair would serve the urban population by John Thomson The current flurry of interest in electing an at-large Regional Chair is found in the following numbers. The urban/rural representation of Durham Region is split, with approximately 60-percent (19 councillors) urban, and 40-percent (9 councillors) rural -- with Ajax, Whitby, Pickering, and Oshawa being urban, and Clarington, Scugog, Uxbridge, and Brock being rural. The percentage population split is projected to be over 75-percent urban and 25-percent rural by 2014, with the Region's population continuing to increase with the majority of the growth in the urban communities. The population of the Region is projected to be close to one-million people by 2021. Some in the urban communities are promoting this change to an elected at-large Regional Chair. The switch would serve the urban communities and the Regional Chair would in effect become the Super Mayor of the Greater City of ????, thus placing the smaller (by population) rural communities of Durham Region in the position of no voice and no input. The Region of Durham was created by the Province of Ontario in 1974, and is comprised of the cities of Oshawa and Pickering, the Towns of Ajax and Whitby, the Municipality of Clarington and the Townships of Brock, Scugog, and Uxbridge. The Regional Council is comprised of eight Mayors, and 20 Regional Councillors. A Regional Chair is nominated and elected by the members of Regional Council at their first meeting of the new term of office. This position is currently not elected by the population of the Region at-large. One of the pro-election at-large touchstones is that the current system is undemocratic. If the switch is made, a candidate from the larger (by population) urban areas will always win. How democratic is that? In 2007, Clarington Council was vehemently opposed to an atlarge election of the Regional Chair. By 2010, Council's position had changed, as one councillor claimed he had become "educated." At that same Council session, the proposal to "educate" the taxpayers of the Municipality of Clarington was defeated. This so-called "education" by some members of Clarington's Council is confusing. An at-large election of the Regional Chair can only mean less, not more, of a voice for Clarington at the Region. Why would the current members of Council vote to diminish Clarington's voice at Regional Council? The Region of Durham is a large, diverse area, and there are certainly large population blocks along the 401 highway, but if the election at-large of the Regional Chair was to become a reality, Clarington and the other rural communities would be on the outside looking in. One interesting idea: there are eight elected Mayors on Regional Council; each could rotate through a six-month term as Regional Chair. The sequence for rotation could be drawn from a hat at the beginning of each new four-year term of Regional Council. Inexpensive, democratic, and most importantly representative of our diverse communities. Letters to the Editor Orono Park a thing of the past? To the Editor: My husband's great grandfather was from Orono, one William Batten - whose father was named in Reflections of Our Village. Kevin's Gramma - Glady - would often tell us stories of her childhood memories in Orono. She would spend summers with an aunt; they were the very best of times for her - the Orono Fair and the Orono Park with the gardens - and she would say how beautiful it was. When Kevin and I were looking for a place to live and make our home, we moved here to Orono and fell in love with Orono - especially the Park. The kids and I would spend all summer there with swim lessons, "Y" camps, playing in the creek and all the wonderful things kids do.... I hear stories of how Orono kids for years did exactly what my kids did. They would all bike to the park and spend the day in the pool ( it would have been cold water in those days right out of the creek) and play wonderful kids games and PARK see page 4 Enough is enough Enough is enough. It's time for the "silent majority" to speak out in support of the Energy From Waste (EFW) facility that has been proposed for Durham Region. The cold, hard fact is that we generate in excess of 100,000 tonnes of garbage every year and somehow, we have to dispose of what cannot be reused or recycled. A Toronto Star newspaper editorial, published on Tuesday, April 6, spoke in favour of Durham's EFW and noted the following: 1. Dr. Robert Kyle, Durham Region's Medical Officer of health has given the EFW facility the green light; 2. The facility meets Provincial environmental regulations; 3. Modern incinerators of this type, which turn waste into energy, are safely used across Europe and, closer to home, in Peel Region; and; 4. A well-run, modern incinerator meets all of our health, environmental and safety standards. ENOUGH see page 4 Letters to the Editor Two well-loved souls missed To the Editor: When Mary Rutherford was 84-years old, her family thought it best to move her from Orono (where she had lived most of her life with husband Sidney, namesake of our walking trail), to a wonderful facility in London to be near her son and his family. "There must be someone there who needs her more than we do," I remember saying to grieving friends, who were not at all mollified. She settled right in, taught Tai -Chi, swam daily, made friends everywhere, and, in no time, became hall monitor. TRIBUTE see page 4 Enviro-f friendly farms To the Editor: I'd like to wish a Happy 40th birthday to Earth Day! My family farms and raises beef cattle, pigs and sheep in the Courtice area and I'm proud of the things we've done to improve the environment on our farm. Our sheep and cattle graze on pasture that couldn't be used to grow sweet corn or cereal grain. They co-exist quite beautifully with trees, wetlands and wildlife, including too many geese, coyotes and blackbirds to count. At a time when too many people in this world go to bed hungry, I'm thankful we are blessed with good quality, affordable food and the good sense to look after our own backyard while we grow it. EARTH DAY see page 4