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6 Orr~o eekyThns. Wdneclay Feruary 18, 1998; 'Ladies, Tîme Outý'group serves delîclous dinner On Saturday, February 7th, at the Orono United Church the enterprising 'Ladies Time Out' Group served a delicious Lasagna Dinner to 120 people. During dinner the crowd was able to bid on various items at a 'silent auction'. The donated goods and talents ranged from children's colouring books and story books to gift baskets, hardwareitems, and baking plus much more. Before the auctioned items were sold we had a talent show. There was singing from the Orono United Church Junior and Senior Choirs, solos from Rev. Mervyn Russell, Donna Monrison and Ashlyn Monrison as well as Stayi*ng. in Touch John O'Toole Durham East MPP February lSth was Canada Flag Day. As 1 watched some of the Olympics from Nagano, Japan, I was thrilled to see Canadian athietes doing so well. I hope to watch some of the hockey later tonight and witness, Adami Foote, score a goal for Canada. Adam, makes bis off season home in Clarington and when he scores, it will complete the connection from Nagano to Canada, to Ontario to Durham and Clarington. All the athietes and supporters truly experience pride when their flag go es. up for their country. Family L.iteracy Week is celebrated February 21 to the 28th. Local schools and libraries will mark the occa- sion to reinforce the "Freedom to Read" theme. The freedom to read and literacy are fun- damental to a just and demo- cratic society. Each one of us must stress the importance of readlng by setting an example for our children. Tumn off the TV, read to your cbildren or visit a library. This past week, I partici- pated in the pre-budget con- sultations at Queen's Park. I was surprised when Liberal finance critic, Jen Philips insisted that there should be piano solos by Brenda Burt and Januie Stewart and danc- ing by Cathy Stewart. For many years we will remem- ber the good sportsmanship of Gordon Werry, Bill Morrison, and Jeif Doucet as well as the back-up singers - Noreen Nixon, Donna Morrison, Carla Doucet, Parnela Werry, Elaine Dillon and Marlene Risebrough as they performed the songs: "Song of the King', "Poor Pharaoh', and 'Pharoah's Dream Explained' from Joseph and His Amazing Technlcolour Drearn Coat. The 'Ladies Time Out' Group would like to thank al who donated items to the dessert table as well as to the a uniform educational prop- erty tax for Industrial and commercial properties. I have a lot of respect for Mr. Philips but this is unacceptable. This approach to tax fairness would mean dramatic prop- erty tax increases for all municipalities outside Toronto. Our government does not subscribe to this Liberal definition of fairness. Moving to a uniform tax rate on industrial and commercial educational tax would mean an immediate 50% or more tax increase for most munic- ipalities. This is unacceptable to our government. MPP Philips represents a Toronto ridIng and perhaps this explains why he supports the view-that the rest of Ontario should fix Toronto's tax prob- lems. Our ullimate goal is to move toward a uniformn edu- cational tax rate for business as Toronto adjusts its spend- ingin ine with areas like Durham. Between 1985 and 1995, the Liberal and NDP governments aliowed busi- ness educational property tax to Increase 87%. At the same meeting, the auction table and to the busi- nesses who also donated to the auction table., 'The Ladies Time Out' Group are members of the Orono United Church Women and meet bi-monthly on Wednesday mornings. If you are interested ln joining please contact Donna Monrison at 983-9107. SEE YOU NEXI YEAR - THE FIRST SATURDAY IN FEBRUARY.' Pictured above are The 'Ladies ime Out' Group from left to right: Pam Werry, Caria Doucet, Marlene Fisebrough, Noreen Nixon, Donna Monrison and EMaine Dillon. Ontario Secondary Teachers Federation (OSSTF) president challenged the government on Its spending on education. I reminded Mr. Manners that we are spending more now than the previous govern- ment, I reminded him that we are spending more as a result of our obligations to the Ontario Teach ers pensions fund. I reminded him that al revenue to finance education comes from taxes, either local municipal taxes or from provincial taxes. We spend $ 14.4 billion dollars; there are 2 million students and to me that is over $7,000.00 per student. We are the second highest spending province ln Canada after Quebec. I asked him how much union dues teachers pay to the 4 or 5 dif- férent teachers' unions. With 126,000 teachers each pay- ing about $1,000.00 dues, which is $126 million educa- tional tax dollars that are not going to the classroom, I asked him how could he jus- tify this? -The $40.00 per day relief for parents due to the educa- tional protest Is now being distributed. The province will make up any shortfall by a board. There will not be any student or classroom bur- dened with this expenditure. In my riding,* Durham Public bas a surplus of $384,000.00, Durham Separate has a surplus of $468,000.00 and Victoria County surplus is $567,000.00. The Northumberland & Clarington Board bas a short- faîl of $233,356.00 and'the Peterborough, Victoria, Clarlngton Separate Board shortfall was approximately $131,707.00. The total sav- ings due to the educational protest was approximately $397.7 million. The estimated cost of the $40.00 per day parent support wfil be $3 16.1 million. The -province is pay- ing boards a fiat administra- tion fee to process the dlaims. There may be a surplus of some $50 million. 1 amn rec- ommending that we do not cut this from the educational grants but rather reinvest in our classrooms. 1 would like to see each parent school community council make suggestions. Wednesday, February l8th, at 7 p.m. a forum on Canadian Unity will be held at the Strathaven Nursing Home in Bowmanville. Everyone Is welcome to, attend and participate. Thursday, February l9th, I will be speaking to the Oshawa Chamber of Commerce on the work of The Red Tape Commission. The Premier has commis- sioned a committee chaired by Frank Sheehan, MPP for Lincoln to examine regula- dions. As part of this commis- sion, we have passed 10 "red tape elimination bills", and made 132 recommendations to the government. One example is our consultation on the feasibiiity of a "one window"' approach to build- ing regulations and the approvai process. We are interested in listening to any size business to determine if we cari eliminate red tape and barriers to growth. Also, Thursday afternoon, I will have the Minis ter of Consumer & Commercial Relation, the Hon. Davis Tsubouchi and others in my riding to visit OCALA Wines to recognize their recent suc- ces5sful listing with the LCBO. This very successful small business is just one example of the Inventiveness and diversification of the agricul- tural sector of our Durbam economy. As scheduled lime permits, we will be meeting and spealng wlth other busi- ness leaders. In the comlng weeks, 1 arn very interested in meeting constituents. Any school, church or communlty group or individuals interested In speaking to me on any Issue, please call our office at 697- 1501 or 1-800-661-2433. gel èemIlre a! i/e _7ün es/ Choose From Our Book By Rainbow Invitations Or Have Us Design One Unique For You! Drop In Today! BY-LAW NO. 93-144 Formai Notice to Clean Snow and Ice from Sidewalks Occupants and property owners are required to remove snow and ice from the public sidewalks in front of, and be side their properties WITHIN 12 HOURS affer a fal of snow, freezing rain, or hall and to KEEP THEM CLEAR. These requirements apply whether or not a house or any other building is erected on the property. If you fail to clear and keep clear the entire surface of sidewalks abutting your property. the Municipality wil remove the snow and ice and charge the cost of such removal to the property owner's realty taxes. Clearing snow and ice makes the Municipality's side- walks safer for ALL pedestrians. Your co-operation' in keeping sidewalks clear of snow and ice AT ALL TIMES wilI be appreciated. ~~MUNICIPALITYOF ONTARIO Dates of Publication: Nov. 19, Dec. 24, 1997 & Jan. 28, Feb. 18, Mar. 18, 1998 Heather Jones, By-Law EnfarcementlClerks Telephone: (905) 623-3379, Municipality of Ciarington 40 Temperance St. Bowmanville LiED 3A6 P.O. #6093