The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PAGE A6THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, DECEMBER 12,2001 ^Editorial&Opinions FOR 146 YEARS, OUR FIRST CONCERN HAS BEEN OUR COMMUNITY Publisher - Tim Whittaker Editor-in-Chief- Joanne Burgliardt Managing Editor - Judi Bobbitt Advertising Manager - Brian G. Purdy Advertising - Laverne Morrison, Christian-Ann Goulet Office - Junia llodgc, Nancy Plcasance-Sturman Editorial - Brad Kelly, Jennifer Stone, Jacquic Mclnncs W\)t Caimbtait Statesman Former Publishers and Partners Rev. John M. Climie and W.R. Climie 1854-1878 M.A. James 1878-1935 • Norman S.B. James 1919-1929 G. Elena James. 1929-1947 • Dr. George W. James 1919-1957 John M. James. 1957-1999 Produced by Metroland Printinu, Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Also Publishers of CLARINOTONTHIS WEEK P.O. Box 190, 62 King St. W„ Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 TEL: 905-623-3303 FAX: 905-623-6161 HOURS: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.M. E-mail: newsroomts'durhamregion.com Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 EDITORIAL e-mail letters ta newsroom®ilurlnmirct;iim.com Budget a major disappointment Health care, transit ignored in favour of security The events of Sept. 11 required a response from Finance Finance Minister Paul Martin, but lost in the terrorism hype arc other serious concerns facing average Canadians. Mr. Marlin dealt with our security needs in his eighth budget since becoming finance minister in October 1993. The minister, who delivered his first full budget since February February 2000, pledged $7 billion over five years for a variety of anti-terrorism measures: airport .security ($2.2 billion), screening of immigrants ($1 billion), defence department improvements ($1.2 billion), intelligence and policing ($1.6 billion), border security and efficiency ($1.2 billion). These are important needs; but what of health care? The state of our national medicare system is the No. 1 concern concern among Canadians. Every province across the country is clamouring.for more health care dollars. Mr. Martin brushed aside those worries maintaining an accord signed by the premiers in September 2000 addresses addresses federal spending on health care for the next few years. No new money would be coming to provinces begging for funds. Ottawa still only pays a meagre 15 cents of every dollar spent on health care. The provinces have asked the feds to contribute 18 cents to help offset constantly rising costs. It's hardly an outrageous request. Mr. Martin's contribution to rebuilding our military makes a dent in the desperate state of our combat readiness. readiness. Clearly, the war in Afghanistan has shown our allies we are not prepared, in a significant way, to fight the enemy on his turf. As Foreign Minister John Manley said in the wake of the Sept. 11 attack, Canada must put more money into defence if it wants to speak up and take its rightful place at the NATO table. It's hard to understand how Mr. Martin can refuse to cut substantially employment insurance payroll taxes. The auditor auditor general last week made clear the program was running running at a massive surplus of about $30 billion. It could get by on half that amount. So the cost of funding the program, program, paid for by individuals and businesses, could easily be cut. In the end, we may wind up with a safer Canada but at a substantial cost. Air travellers will be forced to pay $24 per return ticket to pay for much of thé airport security which includes armed marshals on about 10 per cent of all flights, in addition to improved bomb and weapons detection detection devices. As for transit needs in the GTA; these were overlooked. Some money was set aside to make sure goods flow smoothly to and from the United States, but the demands of the engine of Canada - southern Ontario - were largely ignored. Let's hope Mr. Martin has more to offer next time out. HIGHER PAY AND MEANS TAX HIKES PENSION GOODIES AND SERVICE COTS FOR FORME,,, THEE! Durham residents best note, the gluttony of this non-recoM vote! 75 YEARS AGO The gift to give for Christmas was a new radio. At Corbett Corbett Motor Sales, Bowmanville, the Atwater Kent Radio was being touted as the model to have installed in your home, while at Empire Sales Co., Bowmanville, it was the King Radio that would give the "most radio per dollar." With a King Radio under the Christmas tree, "all the family family will thank you a thousand times a year for bringing them the great things on the air." 50 YEARS AGO More than 50 Bowmanville residents together with hundreds of generous people throughout the district responded responded to the 'Help the Hickeys' of Pontypool appeal. The family of four lost all their belongings in a fire. 25 YEARS AGO Darlington voters approved liquor in dining lounges but only if some food was served at the same time. Voters gave the nod to serving liquor in restaurants with a 64 per cent majority. But the idea of serving liquor in licenced lounges lost out with only 59.7 per cent support, just shy of the required required 60 per cent approval rating required to change the law, Information taken from llte archives of The Canadian Statesman LETTERS TO THE EDITOR e-mail letters ta newsroom® dnrhamregion.com Cloning humans improper To the editor: I have recently found out that we, the human race, have found out how to clone ourselves. ourselves. I completely disagree with cloning. Not only are we killing a human (although still in the embryo embryo form) but in essence, we are killing ourselves to save ourselves. By using the stem- cells of our embryo, we can save ourselves. We can do this because stemcells are the only way of regeneration of the natural natural world. I'm all for science, but this has just gone too far. Ian Dasti Councillors out of line on raises To the editor: I can see most of us are working at the wrong job. Other than being in politics, where on earth can a person give themselves a hefty raise in. pay? All done behind closed doors with the public excluded, and retroactive. Retroactive pensions, give us a break. Perhaps if some of these regional regional councillors were paid in accordance with what they actually actually accomplish, they might try harder. I, for one, will be voting differently next election. Louise McPherson Bowmanville Tories should be fair to Witmer Only woman among five candidates to succeed Premier Elizabeth Witmer is the odd man out in the race to become Ontario premier - she is the only candidate who will not be judged mainly on her record. Ms. Witmer is the only woman among five candidates to succeed Progressive Conservative Conservative Premier Mike Harris and on performance should be considered considered among those who have a good chance of winning. Ms. Witmer has run three of the most important ministries. She was labour minister when a Harris top priority was stripping power from unions in organizing and picketing in strikes. Partly because of her handling of unions, this issue never became quite the huge uprising against the government that might have been expected. Ms. Witmer, while firm on basics, was conciliatory at times and never used an extraneous word that might have inflamed. Unions also found it wiser to attack attack Mr. Harris on wider issues than themselves. She went on to be health minister minister and is now in environment and both ministries have had faults to put it mildly, but been under-funded, which is some excuse excuse for Ms. Witmer if not for the Tories. She has personal assets that compare well with rivals. She speaks clearly and confidently, although without much emotion. She is not going to come across like everyone's favourite Auntie May. She is cool and calm and has not been known to lose her temper, temper, which traditionally was a characteristic Tories valued in leaders, examples including William Davis and John Robarts. Ms. Witmer has never called an opponent an 'asshole,' as Mr. Harris did a Liberal, or 'silly,' as the leadership candidate with most support so far, Ernie Eves, Eric Dowd At Queen is Park quickly dubbed one rival. Ms. Witmer, at 55, also is stylish and highly presentable (she would still be in the running for most elegant woman in the legislature) which may sound chauvinistic, but it is important on TV. She still has to show that as well as managing ministries she can generate ideas that appeal, which was Mr. Harris's strongest suit. She has indicated she will be to the left of Harris, saying his Common Sense , Revolution which veered sharply right was needed in its day, but is over, However, she has not spelled out how much to the left. Ms. Witmer also has said she will be less confrontational than Mr. Harris, but not specified how and, because physically hugging unionists will not be enough, Tories Tories will look for more precise proposals. But one big concern is whether the Tories will judge Ms. Witmer on what she has done and proposes to do. The most common comment on her among Tories around the legislature legislature is she is a worthy candidate and the second is a woman leader cannot win an election. Those who say this point to women leaders not doing well in elections, particularly Lyn McLeod, Kim Campbell, Audrey Audrey McLaughlin and Alcxa McDonough. McDonough. Liberal McLeod, the only woman to lead a major party in Ontario, led in polls before being crashed by Mr. Harris in 1995 and never managed to project a powerful personality the way Mr. Harris did. But Mr. Harris also grabbed far right-wing policies that appealed appealed at the time, tapping a well of discontent over taxes, and it is difficult to see how any male could have beaten him and remained remained a Liberal. Tory Campbell, Canada's only woman prime minister, was dragged down mostly by resentment resentment against her predecessor, Brian Mulroney, although she made mistakes including saying some issues were too complex to debate in an election. It is highly unlikely another Tory would have won. McLaughlin and "McDonough "McDonough were unable to revive the federal New Democratic Party, but appeal for NDP policies has shrunk almost everywhere, including including Ontario where it never has had a woman leader. The Ontario Tories have to choose a candidate they feel can win an election and it would be ludicrous to suggest they choose someone merely because she is a woman.. But they would be shortsighted shortsighted to rule out a candidate because she is a woman and should think also of women who won, including Margaret Thatcher Thatcher in Britain, Indira Gandhi in India, Golda Mcir of Israel and heads of countries ns diverse as Turkey, Iceland and Sri Lanka - can Ontario be so far behind? The Tories also have a burden because they rejected Dianne Cunningham for leader in 1990 and Bette Stephenson, possibly their smartest minister, did not even run for leader in 1985 because because her party fell a woman could not be elected. The Tories arc under a lot of pressure to give Ms. Witmer a fair hearing. Jacquie Mclnnes Sta ff Writer. ' 1 jmciiwcstft iliirluimrcxion.com Oh what fun The Christmas party hasn't really started until the first bulb is broken. So I guess the season started at my house last week when some prankster decided to throw one of my neigh- . hour's Christmas lights against my back patio door, smashing the light to smithereens. Fortunately, 1 managed to sec the mess of glass before my dogs cut up their paws running through it. Happy holidays, kids. Some traditions never change. Fortunately, relatively few of the I kids on the block have similar Christ- ; mas activities planned. In fact, the newsroom has been inundated by teachers and parents calling over the past few weeks, all very enthusiastic ;• to tell of the kind gestures their young •! charges have been passing along to those less fortunate financially or just in need of some good cheer. Many schools, Guide and Scout troupes have outings planned at local seniors' homes or the Bowmanville hospital where they're singing, handing handing out flowers and visiting those who cannot get out for festivities elsewhere. At Courtice Secondary School, the students have outdone themselves this year, says co-op teacher Dave Dobson. Not only has each of the approximately approximately 40-homeroom classes adopted a child for Christmas, but different student groups have taken on other projects as well. There's a food drive organized by the student council, a carol sing at White Cliffe Terrace retirement lîome and a visit to Lakeridge Health Bowmanville where the students will sing carols and distribute cards and poinsettias they purchased with money they raised themselves. Grade 5 students at Dr. Ross Tilley Public School are touring not one but five nursing homes with their ukulele band tomorrow. The list of good deeds goes on beyond beyond the space available here. No, one needs to tell these kids the true meaning meaning of Christmas. For anyone looking to capture a bit of the spirit themselves, on Friday, Dec. 21, Saturday, Dec. 22 and Sunday, Sunday, Dec. 23 beginning at 7 p.m., St. Paul's United Church in Bowmanville Bowmanville will feature a live nativity. Everyone is invited to share in this family event that will include real people playing the parts of the holy family along with assorted local animals animals doing their part to bring the story to life. Carols will be sung, but dress warmly as this is an outdoor event. And for those looking to play Scrooge - after the coming of the spirits, of course - a toy and gift drive for children and teens continues at The Canadian Statesman office, 62 King St. W„ until Tuesday, Dec. 18. And last but not least, along with all the hustle and bustle, remember to have yourself a merry little Christmas. Christmas. THE CANADIAN STATESMAN is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing Publishing and Distributing group of newspapers. The Statesman is a member oi'lhe Bowmanville Claring- ton Board ofTrade, the Greater Os- liawa Chamber of Commerce, Ontario Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Circulations Audit Board and the Ontario Press Council. The publisher reserves the right to classify or refuse any advertisement. Credit for advertisement limited to space price error occupies. Editorial and Advertising content of the Canadian Canadian Statesman is copyrighted. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. prohibited. The Canadian Statesman welcomes letters to the editor. All letters should be typed or neatly hand-written, 150 words. Each letter must include the name, mailing address and daytime telephone number of the writer. The editor reserves the right to edit copy lor style, length and content. We regret regret that due to the volume of letters, not all will he printed. Pax letters to 623-6161 or emailed to ncwsroom@durhamrcgion.com lAHMl mMilUJUNCII. Aocna HÉia