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PAGE 6 THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, July 3,2002 # Editorial&Opinions FOR 14 6 YEARS, OUR FIRST CONCERN HAS BEEN OUR COMMUNITY Publisher - Tim Whittaker Editor-in-Chief- Joanne Burghardt Managing Editor - Chris Bovie Regional Editor - Judi Bobbitt Advertising Manager - Fred Eismont Circulation Manager - Kirk Bailey Composing Manager - Barb Harrison Office Manager - Lillian Hook Etje Canadian Statesman Former Publishers and Partners Rev. John M. Climic and VV.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 Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Also Publishers of CLAR1NGTON THIS WEEK P.O. Box 481, 865 Farewell St., Oshawa, Ontario L1H 7L5 TEL: 905-579-4400 FAX: 905-579-2238 E-mail: nevvsroom@durhamregion.com Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 DROP OFFICE: James Publishing, 66 King St. W., Bowmanville, 8:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. weekdays e-mail tellers to iiewsmom@ilmliamregUm.eom Delay for Hwy. 407 unacceptable Growing Durham Region needs 401 bypass now Durham Region Chairman Roger Anderson didn't mince words when he informed Durham council he estimated the Hwy. 407 eastern extension from Brock Road in Pickering to Hwy 35/115 in Clarington would be delayed at least until 2010. "This is a joke," said thé feisty chairman, clearly furious the much-needed Hwy. 401 alternative is obviously obviously a low priority with the Province. The electronic toll highway, which opened to much fanfare in the late 1990s, has already had several several eastern and western extensions. Its chief purpose is to offer a high-tech, efficient northern alternative through more than 100 kilometres of the Greater Toronto Area. Commuters and truck traffic, for a price, can get around bottlenecks and bumper-to- bumper traffic along the clogged 401. But in Durham, it appears there won't be any relief for nearly a decade. The delay is ridiculous, particularly when you consider Durham took part in an environmental assessment assessment for the 407 back in 1994 and has spent much time and money preparing a route for the extension. extension. Now, regional politicians are being told another environmental assessment must be completed (because (because the first one was never filed with the Ministry of the Environment according to an official). More public consultation will be required and the entire process will take years and years. Meanwhile, development north of Taunton Road continues apace with Whitby and Oshawa subdivisions subdivisions sprouting up monthly. Add to those communities communities the construction of the University of Ontario Institute Institute of Technology, a massive recreation complex and big box stores, and the need for a 407 eastern extension extension becomes critical. The extension is not just a Durham problem. With the constant growth in southern Ontario, truck traffic going east or west through the region requires an alternative alternative to the 401. Being able to skip more than 100 kilometres of 401 congestion is a time-saving, economic economic advantage for businesses eager to make just- in-time deliveries. What's most upsetting is that it's been clear for more than half-a-decade the 407 will link up with Clarington, so why wait another eight years? The extension extension is needed now. Members of Parliament and the Ontario legislature, along with local and regional councillors, must bring all the resources they have to bear to gel the project moving quickly. Certainly the process can be fast-tracked and several years shaved off the completion date. For the sake of progress in Durham and southern Ontario, let's have the 407 finished finished no later than 2005. Question: What arc you doing for your summer holidays? Iris Rozario "Staying in Orono and going in the pool." Charlotte Walters "I'm going to Pennsylvania - il's a camping trip in Pennsylvania, and then when I gel back, I'll probably probably go shopping, I'll probably probably be going swimming again." Brittany Manson "I'm going to the cottage. I'm going to go boating." Kyle Hooper "I came from Nova Sen- lia down here for two-and- a-half weeks and I'm staying staying in Bowmanville with a couple of friends, We're going to Toronto." LETTERS TO THE EDITOR e-mail tellers lo iiewsroom@iliirliamregion.com Designation open to interpretation To the editor: I would like to share, some thoughts and concerns I have with respect to the proposed heritage conservation designation designation of the residential area bounded by Concession, Wellington, and Liberty streets in Bowmanville.' As a homeowner within the affected area, I support individual individual homeowners' rights to obtain obtain a'historical designation for their own homes, however I do not believe such restrictions should be imposed upon home- owners who do not wish to participate. participate. Mandating that permits and/or consultation be obtained prior to undertaking tasks as routine as landscaping, changing changing house trim colours, or replacing replacing windows will not only make the projects more time- consuming, but may also discourage discourage creativity and diversity, and inflate material costs. I fear such conditions will also significantly significantly reduce the number of homebuyers willing to move into our neighbourhood, extending extending the time it takes to sell our homes and quite possibly reducing their resale value. The Municipality of Clarington Clarington recently incorporated feedback from local residents# when planning the reconstruction reconstruction of Centre and Concession streets. The impact of a heritage conservation designation on such a process is doubtful, as municipally owned property and infrastructure are not legally legally required to comply with the regulations of the designation. If our municipality currently lacks the tools to prevent inap propriate development within existing residential areas, perhaps perhaps a solution other than the designation of one small neighbourhood neighbourhood would better serve the needs of the entire municipality. municipality. The costs associated with developing and enforcing the designation, including the fees of outside consultants, further further concern me. Will all Clarington Clarington taxpayers bear the burden burden of these costs, or will only local residents be subjected to increases, whether or not they support the action? The ability of the municipal and provincial governments to proceed with the designation if they feel it is in the best interest of the area, regardless of the level of support from affected homeowners, seems to indicate we don't truly own the homes we have worked so hard to purchase. purchase. Kim Goyne Bowmanville Premier gets a laugh from all sides Something unusual happened in the legislature the other day - all MPPs in all parties laughed at the same time. This was because new Progressive Progressive Conservative premier Ernie Eves, who is definitely not Mike Harris, sent a cake across the floor to the Liberal finance critic, Gerry Phillips. Mr. Phillips, normally among the most reliable MPPs, had predicted predicted on TV a couple of nights earlier Mr. Eves would not postpone postpone the tax cuts Mr. Harris promised before he retired and offered to eat his hat if he did. Mr. Phillips had good grounds to feel safe, because Mr. Evcs's Tories hinted they would not postpone the cuts despite a revenue revenue shortage and the Tories under Mr. Harris even passed a law forbidding any delay, which they had to change. Mr. Eves sent over a cake shaped like a hat and Mr. Phillips took the ribbing in good heart. He said he deserved it for believing believing the Tories would never back down on such a lundamenlal and now accepts they will do anything anything to slay in power. Mr. Phillips said Liberal MPPs and staff munched it with relish, allhough the thick layer of icing, Tory blue naturally, took some swallowing. The last lime Mr, Phillips was involved in an exchange with a premier il was with Mr, Harris, who called him an "asshole," Mr. lives has created a friendlier friendlier atmosphere in the legislature. For a stal l, he is there more often to lave questions, which makes MPPs feel more important, Mr. I larris was criticized lor frequent absences, The new premier also is a loi more accommodating in his policies. policies. He backed off selling the electricity transmission network outright, as Mr. Harris planned, and his budget that delayed the tax cuts gave the opposition parties parties some of what they asked for and left them less to attack. Mr. Eves also has come up with some pleasant surprises in the legislature that make MPPs wonder, 'what next?' The Liberals Liberals demanded he repay $78,000 severance pay he took when he quit for a year and the premier disarmed them by revealing he repaid it a month earlier. Mr. Eves removed another thorn when the opposition said taxpayers should not pay Mr. Harris's legal fees in a $15 million million libel suit he launched against a newspaper and Mr, Eves said he agrees and they won't. The new premier raised eyebrows eyebrows pleasantly when he accepted accepted private member's legislation legislation brought in by New Democrat Democrat Marilyn Cliurley as the basis for his government's landmark law aimed at assuring sale drinking drinking water after the deaths and illnesses illnesses at Walkerton. Attorney General David Young, discussing government legislation that will enable social workers and police lo remove child prostitutes from streets, commended l.ilternl Rick Bnr- lolticci lor paving the way with his private member's bill. Governments Governments often adopt opponents' ideas without recognition. Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty also was warmer than the normal formalities in welcoming welcoming Mr. Eves back. He said the new premier's companion, former minister Isabel Bassett, is "a fine person and you arc lucky to have her on your side" and "draw strength from your loved ones, because they, more than anyone, can sustain you." This docs not mean MPPs from all sides arc rushing to throw their arms around each other, Mr. McGuinty says it has been painfully amusing to watch Mr. Eves trying to put so much distance between himself and his predecessor. It would hurt partly because Mr. Eves is trying to trespass on the Liberals' turf. Mr. McGuinty has accused Mr. Eves, as lie did Mr. Harris, of lurching from crisis to crisis and added the new premier has thrown away any convictions. Mi: Eves, who always had an inclination to be testy, has accused accused Mr. McGuinty of yipping and yapping and squealing and whining and said he must he hard up lor questions because he asks such poor ones, He dismissed Liberal George Smitherman by saying he will understand better when he has been 20 years in the legislature like himself. Mr. lives put down another young Liberal whippersnapper, Michael Bryant, by saying he thinks he is the most articulate, intelligent lawyer ever on the face of the earth and the whole world must bow lo his expertise. These are harsh words, but not quite as spirited as Mr. Harris's, Crystal Crimi Staff writer ttCwsmom@durliamtv8ion.com Principals must be visible The role of principals has changed in recent years, and like many of the Province's education initiatives, it's not necessarily for the better. It hasn't been so long since I kicked open the doors and waved goodbye to small desks, hard plastic chairs, and the dusty chalkboards of high school forever. forever. My diploma represented the end of the road for high school life and the on- ramp to the highway of adulthood. I had heard about the elimination of OAC and the implementation of the new curriculum. It hadn't occurred to me the whole education system was heading down a new road too: a narrow, dark dirt road with potholes and flying debris. Things have changed, especially for principals. In senior public school we had a full-time principal and vice principal principal and there was nowhere to hide from either. If you said something inappropriate, they would hear about it. If you hid something, they would find it, and if you did something wrong, they would see you. Nothing seemed worse than walking around the comer and seeing the vice's eyes lock onto yours like an infra red dot as she stopped her soldier's march, bent her' neck forward and raised her index finger to motion you forward for sentencing. sentencing. The drop of cold sweat that fell next from your forehead would echo throughout the school. And if your courtroom was the principal's office, you knew to kiss this weekend's plans goodbye. When the Province decided to give education more attention, one of the things it decided was special education would have to be applied for and filling out the applications for claims would be one of many new jobs for principals. That took them out of the halls and into the office where they're tied up with paperwork paperwork instead of people work. The time principals had to enforce the school code of conduct has almost completely disappeared and some past duties, such as suspensions, have been passed directly on to teachers. Within the last year, the Province decided teachers could give students one-day suspensions. In a time where the government has caused boards to take so much out of schools, some of the misunderstandings parents have with the situation are taken out on teachers and principals. Some of those parents can be irrational and their children are likely to mimic that behaviour behaviour in school. Principals play an important role, not just as leaders for staff, but in helping develop the attitudes of students. Their positions should not be optional, despite enrolment figures. Most importantly, they should be given enough time lo run their schools smoothly and effectively, because if they don't, who will? THE CANADIAN STATESMAN is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing Publishing and Distributing group of newspapers. 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