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PAGE A6 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ July 5,2006 Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardt Editor-In-Chief Chris Bovie Managing Editor Fred Eismont Director of Advertising Eddie Kolodziejcak Classified Advertising Manager Kirk Bailey Distribution Manager Lillian Hook Office Manager Janice O'Neil, Cheryl Haines Composing Managers Todd Blayone Interactive Media Manager Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 Efje Canadian Statesman Opinion | JULY 5, 2006 durhamregion.com Phone 905-579-4400 Classifieds 905-576-9335 Distribution 905-579-4407 General Fax 905-579-2238 Newsroom Fax 905-579-1809 E-Mail newsroom@durhamregion.com 865 Farewell St;, Oshawa ON L1H 7L5 Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 infodurhamregion.com EDITORIAL c-mail letters to newsroom@durhamregion.com Desecration of war memorial a travesty Men deserve to be taught a severe lesson for behaviour The immediate visceral reaction' to disgraceful pictures of young men urinating on the national war mehiorial near Parliament Hill on the evening of Canada Day celebrations is to "press gang" this trio into the Canadian Forces and send them straight to the front 1 lines in Afghanistan, pronto. That would be only fair punishment punishment and a clear illustration to these fools about the true meaning meaning of sacrifice and what it takes to be a war veteran. It would certainly be an object lesson and might possibly be the only way to make this threesome see how wrong they were to do what they did. It's no excuse to blame it on too much booze and no toilets in sight. The retired vet who took the pictures of the urinators said there was plenty of laughing and cheering when one of the men took a leak. Disgusting. ' Understandably, Canadian veterans veterans from coast to coast are seeing seeing red over the desecration of a memorial which represents over 100,000 Canadian war dead from the First and Second World Wars, Korea and international conflicts since. The area also includes the tomb of the unknown soldier, dedicated just a few years ago. It's hoped police will at least make an arrest in the case and that the sheer embarrassment of. being caught will shame these people. And, if. convicted, these three should be forced to spend some community time with war vets as they go around to schools this fall and speak about the bravery of combat and the loss of life they've closely experienced in war. Beyond any teaching moments, there may be ways to effectively protect our war memorials from being stained. There may be a way to increase • patrols near Parliament Hill to make sure nothing nefarious is going on, especially in the wee hours. A less palatable option - - because it shouldn't have, to come to this but might - would be to build a wrought-iron fence around the memorial so nobody could get close enough to desecrate desecrate or vandalize it. That would be an unfortunate outcome, precipitated by. the despicable actions of a few, but it might be the only way to ensure nothing like this ever happens again. Of course the vast majority of Canadians has nothing but contempt for this trio and their actions should be seen for the reprehensible behaviour they are. BACKWARD GLANCE Lockhart's Band Photo supplied by Clarington Museums and Archives Lockhart's Band. Lockhart is a small community west of Newcastle. There was a schoolhouse in the area known as Lockhart's. ; v AV'V ':;A; '• LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CLICK AND SAY Today's question: With the moves they've made how do you think the Maple Leafs will do next year? Worse About the same Better Stanley Cup champions Cast your vote online at infodurtiamregion.com Last week's question: Do you think Fraser Institute Institute and Education Quality Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) test results are a valid assessment of our schools? No 78.4% .Yes 21.6%. Votes cast: 380 HAVE YOUR SAY Do you think waiving development development charges to attract more businesses here will be good or bad for the community? community? Reader calls on mayor to step down To the editor: Re: Mayor faces assault charges ' News, June 28 . • I was intrigued to read that Mayor John Mutton was recently , • arrested on charges of assault. I would be the first to defend the "innocent until proven' guilty" ideal of Canadian society, but our community must come before personal problems and legal troubles. While I understand that this is a personal issue for Mr. Mutton, he is .an elected official. As such, he is obliged to inform his constituents of his actions, especially in this, an election year where his job is on the line. Mr. Mutton represents our community community to representatives across the province, nation, and through • his taxpayer funded world travel. How can he maintain such a position while enduring legal troubles? Simply put, he cannot. Mr. Mutton must step aside as Mayor until this matter is solved by the Canadian justice system. Joshua Terry Bowmanville New nukes not the way to go To the editor: Re: Nukes a reliable energ)' source, editorial, June 14. Nuclear energy is the most expensive, unreliable arid dangerous dangerous source of energy, as well as being environmentally unfriendly. We are still paying down the debt from the previous venture. The Pickering station constantly needs repairs and often one or e-mail letters to newsroom@durhamregion.com more reactors are shut down due to problems. There can be accidents with catastrophic consequences. The storage of nuclear waste is also a serious problem that has not been solved yet. Until that problem alone has been solved, there should be no more nuclear reactors built. There are much better alternatives alternatives available that are widely used in othèr countries, such as wind power, solar power, high efficiency coal powered plants. We should investigate those methods and also stress conservation conservation of energy before considering considering new nuclear power plants. Renate Roy Ajax Waste from energy means more air pollution To the editor: Energy from garbage, that's wfiat the Region of Durham has decided on. . /> Do you know that means incineration? incineration? ' After recycling and composting composting they will bum all the plastic, Styrofoam arid toxic junk that's left polluting our air and still have a very toxic ash to send to landfill. Do your children suffer jrom asthma? Mine do. Why? I say build a sorting factory and take out everything usable, then have a cleaner landfill close to home, reducing transportation pollution. Spare your children's lungs. Please speak up. Call Durham Region's director of waste management, at 905- 668-7711, ext. 3464 or e-mail mirka.januszkiewicz@region. durham.on.ca. Sherry Brown Ajax Are all the householders composting, reader asks To the editor: I do not have a problem with recycling, it is a good move, (this household has been recycling • and composting for years), but I wonder how much of the burden is being put on the householders alone. ■ So far I have. heard nothing about how condos, apartments, food chains or restaurants are handling this. What onus is being put on these areas to pull their weight? I also think $ 1.50 per extra bag is steep. For anyone moving houses . this can be an. enormous extra expense. Kathleen Slater Ajax Paula Doucet '"'It might be a good thing if it would draw people in." Mena Gilkes "No, because I think we arp developing fast enough." LETTERS We welcome letters that include name, city of residence and phone numbers for verification. Writers are generally limited to 200 words and one submis- , sion in 30' days. We decline announcements, poetry, open letters, consumer complaints, congratulations and thank you notes. The editor reserves the right to edit copy for length, style.and clarity. The newspaper newspaper contacts only those people people whose submissions have been chosen for publication. FAX: 905-579-1809; E-MAIL: Newsroom ©durhamregion. com. Bryan Pettman ""I am pro business. Yes." Clarington weighs in on thorny issue Will look at all options with regard to pesticide use It's about time Clarington put health ahead of esthetics. Council has directed its operations operations department to produce a report, looking at best practices practices in Ontario with regard to residential use of weed-killers, including full bans. Of course, no decision has been made as yel; in the fall, staff will bring back a report looking at all the possibilities. But, 1, for one, hope Glaring-, Ion follows the lead of 14 oilier Ontario municipalities-- and 118 in Canada -- that have already Jennifer Stone approved residential pesticide bans. Newmarket was the most recent in Ontario to approve such a prohibition, prohibition, passing its bylaw just a little over a week ago. Theban will lake effect Sept. I, 2008, and between now and then, the Town is expected to roll out a public education program to let residents and business owners owners know both about safe use of pesticides and alternative means of controlling pests. The . Newmarket bylaw "respects the 'precautionary principle' of international law," says a .news release from the Town of Newmarket. "This means that to achieve sustainable development, environmental environmental policy must anticipate, prevent and attack the causes of environmental degradation. It also states the lack of scientific scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures measures that would prevent environmental environmental degradation," says Ihc press release. There is plenty of proof, as far as I'm concerned, that the risk far outweighs the reward when it comes to most pesticide use. Barring major infestation of something potentially critically damaging, 1 don't sec a good reason to use them. The Ontario College of Family Physicians appears to think the same. ' More than two years ago, the organization put out a comprehensive comprehensive review of pesticide research, which that body said showed a link between serious illness and disease, and pointed out that children Were most vulnerable, vulnerable, That gave me two very good reasons not to.use pesticides. pesticides. The review indicated there were "positive associations" between a number of cancers -- like brain, prostate, kidney and pancreatic - and pesticide exposure, Leukemia Leukemia and pesticide exposure were also linked. Nervous system ailments were also thought to be potentially related to exposure to weed-kill ers. "Many of the health problems linked with pesticide use are serious serious and difficult to treat -- so we are advocating reducing exposure exposure to pesticides and prevention of harm as the best' approach," said Dr. Margaret' Sanborn of McMaster University, one' of the review's aulliors. It's a matter of weighing what's important, said retired physician Dr. Ken Ranncy to Clarington council last week. "Many things in life arc a tradeoff. tradeoff. We lose some things to gain another," said Dr. Ranncy. I'll lake the health of my kids over a weed-free lawn any old day of the week. Reporter Jennifer Stone ,v column appears every other Wednesday. E-mail jstone@duriuunregion. com. David Schulz "Yes, it would be good." The Canadian Statesman is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing group of newspapers. The Statesman is a member of the Bowmanville Clarington Board of Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce, Commerce, Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Circulations Circulations Audit Board and the Ontario Press Council. The publisher reserves the right to classify or refuse any advertisement. Credit for advertisement advertisement limited to space price error occupies. Editorial, and Advertising content of the Canadian Statesman is copyrighted. Unauthorized re- Aocnafmni (+CNA one