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6 - Orono WeekiyTimes, Wednesday. February il, 1998 Glasses galore Mrs. Norman Hooper of the Memorial Hospital Foundation received a cheque for $2,5 80.00 and 516 pairs of glasses from Dr. Karen McPherson. This is the 2nd year that Dr. McPherson has encouraged ber patients and their familles to donate their old and unused glasses. Dr. McPherson matched each pair. of g lasses Staying In Touch John O'Toole Durham East MPP This past week, i was please *d to have Ontario Premier Mike Harris, visit Cullen Gardens in my riding. Residents from ail over Durham were lnvited to dia- logue with the Premier. Any citizen wth suggestions for the future is invited to for- ward their comments, 1 will ensure your input is heard. On Tuesday, February lOth, at 12:10 (noon) at Durham College (Room 1- 110 Gordon Wlley Building), there will be a forum on Canadian Unity. On February l8th, at 7:00 p.m., at Strathaven Nursing Home, (264 King St. Bowmanviile), there wili be another oppor- tunlty for you to make your views known on the Calgary Framnework for national Unlty. All Canadians are equal and must have rights protected by law. Dernocracy is a participatory process. please cail my office at (905) 697-1501 or 1-800-661-24133 for more informnation. in the next few weeks, 1 il have a couple of differenit Ministers visiting ny riding. with a $5 donation for the pur- chase of special "eye" beds- stretchers for the hospital. These "eye" beds are used for cataract surgery patients, allowing the patient to rernain on the stretcher from admnission to discharge. The glasses will be donated to the Lion's Club of Bowmanville in their fighit against blindness. There are many issues and my intention is to let the Ministers see and hear about Durhamn flrst hand. Higl3way #410 1is in need of attention. Over the past sum- mier, 1 was pieased to have the concrete medium safety bar- rier completed east of the highway 35/115 intersection. 1 am pieased that the Ministiy of Transportation has begun repairing the pot holes east of Bowmanviile. I arn assured that' rejjairs will continue west of Bowrnanvilie very. soon. I have had a number of calls and as 1 drive the 401 aimost every day, 1 can assure you that I have contacted the Minîster directly. in iast week's colirnnl, I discussed heaith care and] ho)spitail services ini Durham.i 11 have spoken dir ' ct1y to eachi of the adminîstrators at ait 1Ihree hospitals ini rny ridling. You wiii hecar reporits using ternis ta dto b I~eirets(PD?)are requests put in place by a hospital, whien cnereren.y beds are full but technricat resources to han)diejfethleaternng cases are Stijli availablje at a partic- ular hospitai. Criticai Care Bypass (CCB) is Put in pla'ce when a hospital is full in emiergency and technical resources are extrernely limit- ed. To this point, Port Perry hias not had to go on RD)C or CCB. However, there is a doc- tor shortage in the Uxbnïdge, Port Perry and Bownanvllle area. Chris Kooy at Memorial Hospital in Bowmanville reported this week that this aréa hias already instituted an after hours ciinic to relieve the congestion at emergency and also hias worked wlth commuriity agencies to ease congestion. Oshawa General Hospital hias initiated (CCB) three tirnes in Januaiy'. 1 watcbed an information program this past week on CBC and ieamned that other provinces are experienclng sim-ilar problemis. As our pop- ulation is aging and living longer, demnand for services is incr easing. Dr. Gray, President of the OMA also agreed on Focus Ontario this week that restructuring of health care deiivery is needed. We need doctors in rernote communities, education of people to use hospital emer- gency facilities only for an emergency and see the doctor at the cllnic or at the office as needed. The role of nurse practitioners must be expanded which shoulid include access to the OHIP fundmng. It is imnportant that our Minister of Heaith, the Hon. Elizabeth Witmner lias announced a GTA task force to examine these unusual dernands for hospital erner- gencies. 1 have again written the Minister to support the expansion at Oshawa Genieral Hospital Ernergency/Criticai Wing. My guest this week on my Rogers Comrnunity TV show was Mr. Merv Bowen, Provincial1 Assessrnent Commissioner for Durham. The topic was the new Actual Value Assessment systern. You will receive your new assessment notice very soon. There will be public meetings in March. The base value year will be June 1996. Residential, farm-s, cormmer- cial and indu striai property assessrnent wiil generally change. if you disagree with your new* assessment, an appeal must be initiated before June 1998. For busi- nesses, there are significanit changes. The Business Occupancy Tax (BOT) wili be eiiminated. Landiords with gross leases wili have to nego- tiate with their tenants to ensure this tax is paid. The Mînister of Finance announced that he willl amend legisiation to assist with the BOT and the BIA levy problem. Minister Eves also announced important con- cession to Durham and other communities around Toronto this past weék. 1 arn encour- aged that we are not sending your tax dollars to Toronto. There are regulations, which 0&Tea on Proprietors: Gary & Carol Vre-eker Main Street, Orono allow miuiicipalities to ease this transition of assessmnent changes over an eight-year period as we11l as provisions for seniors and others that see changes. Remember that the revenue to a municipality will not go u-p because of assessment changes alone. For every property whose assessment goes up. one will corne down. The municipaiity or region wiii determine the tax rate (formeriy mili rate) to be applied to your assess- mient. The province wlll set the tax rate for education. Please cali my office if you want a copy of my video or other information on the new assessment system. A friend gave me the foi- lowing piece of advice, "It is in the cornpany of a good frlend that the heart finds a home". Happy St. Valentine's Day to ail. Special Vanilla or Chiocolate \5 heart-shaped Cakes for ~ $5.99. We also have boxed Truffles &i Cookies for Valentine's Day! 983-9779 Ciosed Suinday & Monday TREAS VUE COVE - CATALOGUE SOON AVAILABLE SNow located at "BOOKS ETC." Main Street, Orono ~ L Telephone (905) 983-6460 S GiftBl3askets, for All Occzions Aoe Sub &r Restaurant or7 Subs * Iurgers Sou viaki *Salads liwvy 1 15 just north of 3rd Conc. I*B uoneonValentine's Day erlitfles yout o..to 2nd Sub .the same 1kànd for 99c, Brigitte Brown FMGift Certifcaes FIVE HEARTS aviae Pedicures Valentine's Day Manicures Special Waxing 10% OFF Nalil Extensiops NEW- Far Candling ESTHETIC STUDIO Eyelash Tinting 171 Mill St., Orono, Ontario LOB iMO a 905-983-8169 ý 1 1