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On Feb. 28, 1997, Jim and Betty Stutt soid their interest in Stutts Pharmacy to anoth- er husband and wife team. The new owners are Tino Montopoli and Christine Maloiey. Tino and Chris have known JMm and Betty since tbey graduated 20 years ago from the University of Toronto. The pharmacy will contin- ue to operate as Stutts Pharmac~y Ltd. and will con- Stayîngu In. Touch John O'Toole Durham East MPP Bill 104. the Fewer Scbool Boards Act 1997, is current- iy an important topic. Qer the past few weeks, 1 have bad demonstrations at my con- stituency office. 1 have taken the Urne to listen. Many of the demonstrators were people that 1 know and respect. 1 reported in my February l7th weekly coiumn that 1 had written to the Education Improvement Commission, opposing the outsourcing of custodians, secretaries and educational assistants. It is my view tbat we must consult witb the CUPE workers and determine if there are any opportunities to eliminate duplication and improve effi- ciency. I will state again, that any bard working person earning under $30,000.00 in our scbool system is niot the cause of the bigh cost of edu- tinue the tradition of provid- ing quality and friendly ser- vice. The only immediate changé hIll be tbe extension of hours on Wednesday so that the pharm'acy xiii be open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Tino and Cbris look for- ward to meeting the pharmna- cy needs of the community of Oron-o. cation. Note, Bill 10,4 does NOT deal with classi-oom cur- riculum or teacblng issues. Some individuals who were demonstrating last Friday, February 28th, asked me to review every section of' Bill 104. The English edition is 13 pages long and deals with reducing the number of school boards (129 to 66 plus 37 isolate and bospital boards). Tbe bill reduces tbe number of trustees from some 1900 to 700 and reduces their renumeration. Section 327 of the bull defines the four constitutional groups to be f ,unded. 1 believe that the Canadian Constitution mnust be respected. Section 333 outlines the eigibility of board members. 1 bave long lèlt that teachers or their spouses shou-ld riot be trustees. Section 335 deals with non- teaching positions. Subsection (f) states: The Education Improvement Commnission shall: consid- er. conduct. research. facil- itate discussion and make recomimendations to the' Minister on how ta prompte and faciitate the out-sourc- ing of non-instructional ser- vices by district school boards. My response is. 1 do not have a problem withl examining ail options, as this is a sound business practice in any tendering for service in the public or private sector. Examining this option does NOT mean it bas been decid- ed. The protesters at my office emphatically stated that many of the educational assistants, schooi secretaries and other support staff con- tribute as mucli as some teacbing staff. 1 cannot dis- agree that people witbout the professional degrees do con- tribute substantively to our school communities. for much less money. 1 respect the teachers who were out supporting their non-instruc- tional CUPE staff in their Board, said in the December 1996, edition of, Education Today, "The need for reform is acknowledged and support- ed". 1 agree that students, parents, teachers, business people and indeed the entire community must be fully committed and involved. Our Durham Board of Education certainly bas demonstrated excellence by winning the Carl Bertelsmann Foundation Prize f'or excellence in the fied of State and Public Administration. This pnize is a great place to start and per- haps other boards could repli- cate Durham's best practices. Perhaps we sbould examine the lest practices in ail parts of Onitario, Canada and per- haps the world. For our chil- dren and our collective futures, were ail want the bîgbest quality, most cost effective and accounitable educational system in the worid. I would ask that every per- son wbo reads this article to share it with those who asked me to respond to Bill 1041 in some detail. Any person or group wbo want to discuss this legislation in more detail, please call my office at 697- 1501 or 1-800-661-2433. Recycle Please Snowbirds Begin Their Return It is that time of year when the featbered Snow- birds begin their return. A process which willi continue aimost for the next two montbs. Many will remamn for the summer in this area while others pass-on to an area farther .'orth. The purpose, of course, to raise their summer brood and tben repeat the cycle once more. Yes, the Robins are back wlth Bill Bunting reporting the sightlng of three hast Saturday in the sub- division. Perhaps a little eariy. Mid March is a norm but then there is aiways 'the early bird'. .Another early returnee, the Redwlng Blackbird, bas been sighted on two occasions at different loca- tions'. The maie Redwings return some &~eeks prior to the females and niaturally bave the "Home Sweet Home" signs prominently dlsplayed. The cholce, 1 suspect, becomes that of the female. Another bird that always is in the front line to retumn is that of the Homed Lark. It passes tbrougb, in the most, witbout ariy great fanfare. It bas been sighted alongside the back roads in the area but not in great numbers. It often feeds along the road and could look like a large Sparrow. It does bowever bave two dark horns, black side- bums and black breast. The Northern Race, the most F RA.u ARA OTA UC PORT iI 1±IJs]~HOE ±h :IJ[ common in the area bas a yèllow tbroat and yeilow stripe across tbe eye. A Prairie Specie bas white across the top of the eye and down the cheek patcb. It came tbrougb Bill Buntlng from Eric and Donna Mudd that they had sigbted a Prairie specles., The fact of two species was a new one for me. A report on the Internet, bad Bunting and Forrester off to tbe Cobourg Harbour Frlday afternoon to look over a few thousand Gulîs in searcb of lWo Glaucous and two Iceland Gulîs. The two Gulis would bave been new slgbtlngs for both of us. Botb Gulîs are larger tban the abundant Ring Billed Gulîs wbicb inhabit the barbours and as well tbey are pure white. Tbey certainly would bave stood out. No luck but we did see tbree Greater Black-Backed Gulis along witb a number of ducks in their breeding finery,. Old Squaws, Bufflebeads, Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneye, and of course, many Mallards. Every Urne 1 visit Cobourg Harbour 1 bave to think that no otber municipality in this area bas wbat Cobourg bas at the waterfront-wlde open to tbe public, spaclous and dlean. 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