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L PAGE A4 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ September 6,2006 Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardt Editor-In-Chief fchris 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 ®je Canabtatt â>tate£man 0 0 SEPTEMBER 6, 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 ncwsroom@durhamrcgion.com We need to hurry up on waste plans No doubt, Durham Region staff e and politicians are breathing breathing a huge sigh of relief after the Province was able to make a deal with Michigan to keep the trash rolling stale-side until 2010. While the garbage stay-of- execution reached between the McGuinty Liberals and Michigan's Michigan's two U.S. senators buys . the GTA time to find trash alternatives, it doesn't mean ' our troubles are over. After all, when it. comes to long-term planning for our refuse a span of less than four years is not much time indeed. ' For decades we have dithered . over what to do as landfills inevitably ran out of space and the option of sending our trash to the Adams Mine in Northern Ontario was dismissed. We finally found a willing host in Michigan but recent demands by Michigan legislators legislators that the border be closed to Canadian garbage have meant we must discover a made-in- Ontario solution. At the very least we've already made some strides by incorporating incorporating the green bin program across the entire region and drastically reducing the amount of garbage we send to landfill. We have to continue to find ways to green bin and blue box more material so we cut down on the amount of excess waste we have to deal with. Still, there will be a significant significant amount of detritus ' that requires an answer. That will undoubtedly lead us to the concept of incineration incineration which Halton Region has decided to go ahead with. Halton will, build a large incinerator, to open in 2009, which just beats the Michigan ' deadline. Durham and York are also at work on an incineration option and it's clear, given the deadlines deadlines and what is at stake, that we must act quickly to find a solution for the more than 1.5 million people who live in the two regions. A field-trip 4o three European sites which have long practised waste-to-energy incineration this past spring ' was revealing and showed those who attended attended that the technology is safe, practical and something that Ontario can easily adapt.. Time is of the essence. All the proper approvals will be needed and they are never a quick process. But we have reached the point where it just doesn't make sense nor is it the best'answer for the environment to truck tonnes of garbage hundreds of kilometres away to dispose of it. We need to find our own longterm longterm solution that provides answers to our waste dilemma. . t '. " „.trs UkE NWNA WOM HW CLICK AND SAY Today's question: Do you believe our soldiers should be brought home from Afghanistan? Yes No Cast your vote online at infodurfiamregion.com Last week's question: Do you believe all who travel in personal watercraft should have to wear a lifejacket while on the water? No 23.6% ; Yes 76.4% Votes cast: 369 HAVE YOUR SAY Are you excited about it being back-to-school time • again? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Concerns raised about hospital services c-mail letters to newsroom@durhamrcgion.com out the services of the radiology department how is that possible? Patty Rout > Clarington BACKWARD GLANCE Beech Avenue home, c. 1905 Photo supplied by Clarington Museum and Archives A picture taken c. 1905 of the home now at 35 Beech Ave., Bowmanville -- on the east side, second soiuth of Concession Street. To the editor: As a long-time resident of Clarington, Clarington, I am appalled at what is happening to our health care at Lakeridge Health Bowmanville. In a previous article Lakeridge Health announced it will be cutting cutting ultrasound and X-ray services currently done at the Bowmanville Bowmanville site to make way for a new doctor's clinic. A group of doctors and radiologists radiologists from the area have purchased a licence to offer these services in their clinic. The running of this service was offered by the doctors to the hospital but the hospital declined the offer to run it. . Eighty per cent of the work presently presently performed in Bowmanville hospital will move to this clinic. There will be less than one frill- time person left in the ultrasound department and not enough X-ray technologists to offer the coverage which presently exists for Clarington. Clarington. So what does this mean for the emeigency department in Bowmanville? Presently there is a three-week wait in Oshawa for ultrasound. Could some of this work be done in Bowmanville? Many cancer care patients in the area have their ultrasound done in the Bowmanville hospital. Where will they go for service? Will patients have to travel to Oshawa for their emergency services? services? What sort of wait for services services will that create in the Oshawa emergency department? There has been no offer of employment with the new employer. employer. What will happen to the equipment equipment at the Bowmanville site? Recently, in a report made to the OHA it stated that ultrasound and X-ray services are a core service and are to be offered in rural hospitals, hospitals, so why not Bowmanville? The patients in Clarington deserve a full service hospital and with- Make sure you clean up after your kids To the editor: \ While walking my dog at a local park this morning, I was disconcerted disconcerted by the amount of litter left on the ground around the. players' benches. I counted 10 popsicle sticks, and as many popsicle wrappers and four empty water bottles. There were also three empty paper coffee cups and several fruit bar wrappers. wrappers. All of this was left even though the waste receptacle was less than 15 feet from the bench-, es. Please parents, children learn by our example. Show them you respect the environment and hope- .fully, they will too. Mary Mercer 1 Coûrticè Cartoon draws attention to problem To the editor: Re: Cartoon insensitive to those with weight problems, Kathy Gal- luzzo letter, Sept. 1. With deep respect toward Ms. Gulluzzo's feelings, I believe she has missed the point of your "fat cartoon." As an elementary school teacher who has spent the better better .part of the last nine' months - researching and educating myself about the obesity epidemic and programming to combat its effects in my school, it's obvious to me the cartoon in question highlights the domestic component of the problem. Though "physical/biochemical/psychological "physical/biochemical/psychological reasons for weight gain" are undisputed contributors to child obesity, current current research reveals the pivotal factor affecting weight gain of this kind are lcamecl behaviors in the home environment with respect to diet and exercise. ' Family life has been overwhelmed overwhelmed by sedentary activity and poor eating habits. Exhausted par- - ents find peace in quickly ordering fast food, and feel their kids are safer on the couch with an X-Box than playing on the streets where "who-knows-what-could-happen" just might. As well, many Canadian Canadian parents exercise less than ever and lack the ; knowledge of what constitutes healthy eating, so it's . no wonder one in three Canadian children are either overweight or obese. Our kids are essentially "learning what they're seeing." I congratulate Ms. Galluzzo for now being a "mother of a former 'fat child'" but. also ask her to take heart over the-intent of your cartoon. At its core, the image was intended to foster discussion oh a serious issue, facing our kids and their future. In this, your cartoon has apparently succeeded. Ian Dewell Grades 6-8 Teacher John M. James Public School Bowmanville Alex Scott "No, because it is not fun." Katie Shaw "Yes, because I am a nerd and I like school." Cody Turcotte "No, I have the worst teacher." LETTERS We welcome letters that include name, city of residence and phone numbers for verification. Writers are generally limited to 200 words and one submission submission 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 newspa- • per contacts only those peo : pie whose submissions have been chosen for publication. FAX: 905-579-1809; E-MAIL: Newsroom® durhamregion. com. Kaitlynn Wright "No, because I am going to a new school and I have to ■ meet new people." Leader May turn Canada Green The next federal election could be a few years offbut has already become just a little more interesting interesting with last month's choice of Elizabeth May as Green Party leader. Ms. May, for those who'vc closely watched the federal scene over the past three decades, is a firebrand with plenty of experience experience and loads of knowledge to back up her words. Her long resume -- she's a 52-ycar-old, bilingual lawyer - - includes many posts in the environmental world. She's most famous for starting up the Sierra Club of Canada back in 1989 and turning it from a one-person, $ 10,000-a-year operation into a multi-miilion-dollar non-governmental non-governmental organization with dozens of employees and a real say in Canadian environmental policy. Prior to that Ms. May worked as an adviser to the Environment Tim Kelly Minister in the Brian Mulroncy government for two years. It all started for her, however, when she led the successful resistance to widespread pesticide spraying in Nova Scotia in the late 1970s. In short, she has impeccable environmental credentials and can probably speak with more knowledge, passion and experience experience on all tilings environment in both official languages than anybody else in this country. Wlmt does all this mean for national polities and the future direction of Canada? Could Ms. May become the first federal female leader to actually advance the cause of her party? The record of Tory chief Kim Campbell and NDP heads Audrey McLaughlin and Alcxa McDonough was grim. None were able to make much headway over the past 15 years, but then again, none had the longstanding record of achievement achievement and experience that Ms. May brings to her new position. Several other factors enter the picture. Every political party with aspirations of long-term success is trying right now to find the magic touch with young voters. It stands to reason a parly that puls the environment first with a charismatic leader at the helm has an excellent chance of breaking breaking through to young people in a big way. And it may not take much. There arc literally millions of votes up for grabs as only about a quarter of eligible voters under 25 cast a ballot in the last federal election. Arc they disaffected, apathetic or just divorced from the whole political process?, Whoever can find the answer and capture a large chunk of these current non-voters will instantly generate credibility across the nation. Perhaps the first exhibit is to have as many people as possible watch An Inconvenient Truth, the chilling documentary by former former U.S. vice president AI Gore which makes it crystal clear we are destroying our planet and have no more than a decade or so to stop Ihe carnage. Ms. May might he able lo lap into Ihe crowd which sees global warming as our No. I challenge. She has beaten the odds numerous numerous times before and it would be foolish to bet against her this time around. She also has the not inconsiderable inconsiderable challenge of getting elected. Whether she runs in her native Nova Scotia, in Ontario or in the place most likely to elect a Green, British Columbia, she must win a scat and bring several others with her. In her dream scenario, file election election is a close one with a third straight minority government chosen and her Green group holding the balance of power. Her long-term goals are surely to encourage sound environmental policy and to find a way to make a serious difference in Canada. She just might do it. Copy editor Tim Kellys column appears every other Wednesday, E-mail tkclly(d)diirhamrcgion. , com. The Canadian Statesman is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing group of newspapers. Tfie Statesman is a member of the Bowmanville Clarington Board of Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Com- i merce, 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. 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