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we RE FE Ee PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, February 3, 1987 -- § Viewpoint by John B. McClelland A major controversy is swirling around Prime Minister Brian Mulroney over the Oerlikon affair, specifically the allegations that somebody made a lot of money by "flipping" the property where the plant will be located south of Montreal. The RCMP are in the process of investigating to find out if any laws were broken, but the smell of a major scandal is already heavy in the air: And there are some other ma jor concerns starting to surface in this nasty affair. Oerlikon is a Swiss-based company which landed the federal contract (worth about $1 billion) to build a low level air defense system for Canada. Co In the first place, there are some who wonder if the Oerlikon system is the best possible one for Canada. in light of the fact it may not function properly in adverse weather conditions. . If there is one thing Canada does not need in defense system, it's something that may be suspect when the weather turns nasty. ER" Secondly, Switzerland is a non-NATO country. In fact, Switzerland is a decidedly neutral country and has been for the past 400 years or so. Some people are begin- ning to wonder just what effect this policy of neutrality might have on the. Oerlikon system in the event of hostilities. If Canada was involved in a war and Switzerland . remained neutral, would Oerlikon stand by its contract to maintain, service and supply parts for the system it build for Canada? That's a good question that has not been answered clearly to date. One would hope that when the federal government signs a contract for construction of a defense system, it is the very best money can buy, and every possible detail is fully covered in the fine print. The Swiss make good watches, good chocolate'and have a reputation for Being good bankers. But the Swiss have been steadfast in their policy of strict neutrality in times of conflict over, the past few centuries. There are a lot of un-answered questions about the Oerlikon deal. Aside from the questions about the land "flipping," there is the more important question of whether the system is the best possible one for the defense of this country. Will it work when (and if) we need it most? THE FAIRGROUNDS [ hate to say it, but the quagmire surrounding the Fairgrounds dispute in Scugog Township is getting deeper and deeper and the chances of an amiable end to this squabble appear pretty thin. The Fair Board last week decided it wants to go back to the table with Scugog Township council in an effort to bargain for a better re-location compensation package to include construction of a race track. One could say the fact the Fair Board is willing to at least talk is a positive sign. But in all honesty, the atmosphere right now is filled with animosity and anger. That anger bubbled over several times during the Fair Board annual meeting last week. It may be fine for council and a Fair Board special committee to agree to sit down and talk, but there is a lot of fence mending that must be done as well if the talks are to be constructive. Name calling, fingerypointing, insults and accusa- tions won't solve anything in this iSsue that is splitting the community in such a way that the wounds will be a long time healing, if ever. Both the Fair Board and members of council feel they have been backed into a corner, and the time is long over-due for a little compromise on all sides. As one member of the Fair Board said at the . meeting last week, the time has come to start trusting each other again. Amen to that. Hanging over all of this is the expropriation process launched by the Durham Board of Education to get the seven acres it wants for a new school on the present Fairgrounds. The School Board has obviously done its legal homework on this and obviously is prepared for any legal battle that may pop up. Having gone this far, there is no way the Board is going to back away now. It has been suggested that when the Fair Board committee and council sit down to talk about negotia- tions, that the meetings be held "in-camera." Under normal circumstances, we would question the need for behind closed doors meetings, but these are not normal circumstances. It will be advantageous in this issue for the two sides to meet privately, if necessary really "'clear the air' and then get down to some serious talking in good faith. There is a lot at stake here. If the issue is not resolv- ed over the next little while and the School Board's ex- propriation runs its course, there will be winners. And. the losers will be pointing the fingers at each other for a long time to come. * Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO Wed., February 7, 1917 'Miss Clara Pearl Barrett of Manchester was married to Mr. Letters -- # / Outdoor rin "To The Editor: ~~ town. . pm k a delightful sight \ are responsible for starting this lit- Harry C. Thorn of Indian Head, Saskatchewan. Mr. Leslie James and family have moved from Prince Albert to Manchester Station. Rev. John Ford commenced his duties as treasurer of the Cor-. poration of the Village of Port Perry in the place of J.H. Brown. 45 YEARS AGO Thurs., January 29, 1942 Mr. Fred Christie Jr. was elected president of the Port Perry - Fair Board. . Mr. John Orde has joined the Canadian Ordinance Corps, and is at present stationed in Peterborough. Te Tr ------------ -Flight Officer J.W. Kerr, a former teacher of Port Perry High School now serving in the R.C.A.F. was honoured at the High School - President of the student council, Miss Doris MacGregor read an ad- dress and presented Mr. Kerr with an interesting parcel done up in red, white and blue. / 30 YEARS AGO -Thurs., January 7, 1957 At the Annual Holstein Friesian meeting held in Toronto, Mr. Hugh Ormiston received the Master Breeder shield from Dr. C.D. Graham, Deputy Minister of Agriculture. - Mr. and Mrs. Colin McLaurin and family, Epsom, have moved to Evanston, New York, where Mr. McLaurin has taken a position. Names of competitors from Port Perry and district competing at the Kiwanis Music Festival in Toronto are Joanne Mosienko, Don- na Samells and Graham Powell. 20 YEARS AGO Thurs., February 2, 1967 [ Members of Port Perry Figure Skating Club and other interested residents gave an enthusiastic welcome to three local skaters Sun- day evening on their return from successful participation in the Cana- dian Figure Skating Championships. Anna Forder and Richard Stephens placed third in the Senior Figure Skating Competition and David Porter with his partner, Janet D'Altroy placed third in their class, Novice Dance Pair. | Visitors to Port Perry for the dinner at the Oddfellows Hall on Saturday evening in honour of the Grand Master of the 1.0.0 .F. in- cluded Mr. and Mrs. Ron Wanamaker, Mr. Mansell Gerrow and Mr. Fred DeNure, Oshawa, Mr. and Mrs. Stan Foster of Whitby, Mrs. S.V. Sleep and Mrs. George Murphy of Lindsay. P. Hvidsten, publisher of the Port Perry Star was in Montreal last week along with 200 publishers from across Canada who had an interesting preview of Expo 1967. 10 YEARS AGO 3 Wednesday, February 2, 1977 = * Mr. Ken Sturman and Mr. Frank Branton are heading up a com- mittee to undertake the costly and ambitious project of renovatin bo the Seagrave Church basement. High winds and snow all but closed schools throughout the Township Monday morning. Most schools remained open but more than half the students were absent from classes. Herb Richards, Blackstock and Irwin Smith, Port Perry will compete in the Mini-Tractor Pull events at the Canada Farm Show in Toronto. One of the most delightful sights to be seen in Port Perry these days is the "'old Bowling Green" with its skaters of every age. It has the aura of a Christmas card or a Grandma Moses painting. In that natural set- ting, use of that area makes a good ~ "open space" in the ever expanding To The Editor: : As I look out my picture window, I see a few snowflakes falling, and as I see each fluffy, furry, feather Disabled parking To The Editor: In regards to your letter 'Roy Walker Smith" I agree with you. There is nothing more inconsiderate than watching normal, healthy peo- ple, park in the disabled parking spots, to do laundry, shop or visit their doctor. When there are only a very few disabled parking spots in Port Perry (4). While these people park in the disabled spots, the Han- dicapped have to park in the back of the lot and find a way to get to the doors of the building without falling - down or dumping' their wheelchair in the snow. I personally think that the disabl- ~ ed should be allowéd to hand out the fines to these'inconsiderate people. I have a handicapped child, and | know how frustrating this can be. Next time you can't find a park- ing spot or don't feel like a short walk, please remember 'Not © Everyone Can Get Out and Walk." Yours truly, ~ L. Middleton Scugog Island The only flaw that I. could see would be the possible conflict bet- ween skaters and hockey players. It doesn't seem like a good mix and lit- tle folk skating. near players could get hurt. Perhaps a certain day could be set aside for the hockey if necessary. Otherwise, I commend those who gently floating to the ground to 'whiten and brighten the earth as though it were icing on a cake, I en- joy the feeling of silence and peace and restfulness as the flakes descend. I think Wack when I was a child and I would run and play in the magical surroundings. The snowdrifts were eight or ten feet high and out would come the sleighs and the toboggans. Snowbanks were built up to twelve feet or more to make a slide for us. Water was thrown on it the night before in the thirty-five below weather to make a good run. We children would build walks of snow and make two forts, then make a supply of snowballs - May the best team win. We would make angels in the white fluff and build snowmen and tle rink. It is a great recreational asset to Port Perry. : Rockefeller Centre look out! Yours truly Patricia Love, R.R.2, Port Perry. Winter pla ys magic in Scugog ~~ | see who could make the biggest one. We were excited and heavily dress- ed and didn't mind the cold. Our winter' carpet to play on' Our fairyland! I remember each delicate snowflake lightly touching my cheek *- softly as though it were a kiss and then melted away. As we walked home from school, we would catch a ride on Farmer Brown's open sleigh. He was going to town for grain and seemed to en- joy the laughter and excitement of the children. The horses puffed heavily and the sleigh bells rang out the happiness of the Winter Wonderland. There seemed to be no fences but some of them would have to be repaired in the spring. As | now look out, the cedar (Turn to page 6) : Letters to the Editor ~... our policy It has always been the policy of this newspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, hgwever, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel thére are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will th to the editor. is paper print an anonymous letter While we enjoy receiving letters {rom our readers, we must continue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. --_------ --