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A very fitting funeral procession Art auction in support of Bethesda House Immediately following the funeral service for Ron White (Sparky), the body was placed on the rear of the Orono Fire Department's 1933 pumper. The pumper then led the procession, accompanied by the six pallbearers on foot, onto Main St. and up to the cemetery at the north end of town. Pallbearers were: left side of truck - Doug Taylor (front), Scott Yeo (back), right side - Norm Tillson (front), Kevin Mercer (back). Jack Mercer was drivîng the truck while Ross Mercer occupied the passenger seat. Riding on the rear of the truck were: Dave Forrester (L) and Terry Hardy (R). For the second time, the Z Art Gallery of Pickering is hosting an Art Auction in support of Bethesda House, Clarington's shelter for abused women and children. The Charity event will be held Sunday, April 26 at the Garnet B. Rickard Complex 2440 King Street West, Bowmanville. Featured works are by Robert Bateman, Trisha Romance, Laura Berry and Carl Brenders, plus many more. Previewing begins at 12 noon with the sale following at i p.m. Mary Howard, Chairperson of the Bethesda House Board of Directors and Fund Raising Committee member, Is excit- ed about the event. "We raised over $2,000. at last year's sale and hope to do even better this year. The Shelter's operating expenses are over $336,000. each year and we're grateful to the Z Art Gallery for helping us to reach our goal." Be sure to drop in to the Garnet B. Rickard Complex on April 26th and support a worthwhile cause. For more information about the sale, call (905) 837- 0144. ACanadian law professor trom McGill University, John Peters Humnphrey, was involved in the drafting of the Univeral Declaration of Human Rights. He was the director of the Human Rights Division of the United Nations. NC M I FROM PARLIAMEN HILL Alex Shepherd Have Canadians lost their vision of the North? Writingfrom Churchill, Man., Canada's northern seaport, you can't help but wonder who is replacing the visionaries of the past. I travelled to Churchill on the historic Hudson Bay Railroad (HBR) after three days of committee meetings with the chamber of commerce representatives, academics and bankers in Winnipeg and Saskatoon. Since I chair the Economic Caucus, the banking commit- tee, which reports on me, asked that I be present for the western portion of the hearings. With deliberations over, and a long weekend starting, I thought I would go and see just what an American company called OMNI got in the way of rolling stock and track when the Canadian government sold the HBR to them. The trip from Winnipeg to Churchill is a 1000 mile, two- and-a-half-day excursion on an 80-year-old rail line through bush and frozen north. "Why would anyone want to travel through all this wilder- ness for anyway?, the VIA rail conductor said to me. To me that comment alone spoke volumes as to why the service is always reaching into the pockets of taxpayers as I gazed out the window fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of Caribou herds and an eagle soaring over an isolated native village. Some how I don't think the Australian or the American, travelling separately, but shar- ing their excitement of travel- ling to Canada's far north together, would have cared much for the conductors com- ment either. As well as the Japanese come here in droves to see the northern lights even though hotel accommodations are inferior. I told the conduc- tor that his job is subsidized by Canadian taxpayers and if he is correct then he should be unemployed. Posessing some knowledge of Canada's history I thought about the pioneers who estab- lished Fort Prince of Wales at the mouth of the Churchill River and I later saw the rock they carved their names into in the mid 1700's. If they had thought like the train conduc- tor, Canada would well be a different place today. I later went to the Fort in a tracker buggy traversing the frozen Churchill River. Sadly, I found the work of the pio- neers badly decayed because there are no funds to properly restore it. As I said the government sold off the track and rolling stock, and in addition gave ONNI money to boot. But the sale guarantees the continuance of the Port Churchill which is closer to European markets if only open six to eight weeks a year. How is it that OMNI can have a vision of making this work while Canadians sit and watch? Thousands of visitors show up in Churchill each summer, few are Canadian. The local non-profit Polar Research Institute cannot find $500 for a website, although they sponsor university credit and non-credit courses on northern environ- mental ecology. They have two employees. I'm prou our government brought the Internet to Churchill via the Community Community Care (continued from page 5) past year over 600 volunteer hours have been provided. Program Director Sue Haines says, "We couldn't manage without them." In 1997, COPE Mental Health Program voliunteers helped over 650 people in Durham and gave 9,800 hoursof their time. On April 20,1998 COPE will host a Volunteer Recognition Evening at which long time COPE volunteer, Jessie Mulholland, will become the first recipient of the "Lynn Morrall Memorial Award." Lynn was an occupational therapist at Whitby Mental Centre who actively promoted the volunteer program for her mental clients. Her family will present the award. At this very special event, Dr. Wanda Taylor, a psychiatrist from Uxbridge, will speak on "Empowering Clients." Community Care wishes to publicly acknowledge the enormous contribution that our volunteers give to help our clients. In Durham Region volunteers truly do "Make It Happen." Anyone who would like more information on volun- teering should check their local telephone listing for the nearest Community Care office. Access Program. At least now they are plugged into the rest of the country. Down the coast the National Research Insititue (NRC) once ran a cold weather and atmos- pheric facility. Now an American company, Akjuik, is there, I think, setting off rock- ets to test global warming. I say "I think," because there is too much secrecy about the launch. The employees would not talk about it which I found strange given that the people are proud of what they do. The launch is April 27 and I am making it a point to fur- ther investigate. The point is that whatever it .is the Americans are doing it is them doing it and not us. Canadians are ignoring the great potential of our northern frontier. Some of our greatest resources lay in decay or are being put to use by other nationals. From NAFTA to television we have been sucked into the southern void while not living up to the challenge within our borders which frame the sec- ond largest country on earth. KIM LITTLE (905) 983-0512 Competitive Term Life • Permanent Insurance Disability Income • Group Plans - Mutual Funds G.I.C.'s • R.R.S.P.'s R.R.I.F.'s CONFIDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES (1969) LIMITED TF Complete Car & Truck Repairs• Diesel Engines • Cummins, Detroit & Cat• • Radio Dispatched Tow Trucksa Mobile Mechanical Service Truck• RR 1, Orono 4 Miles North f Hwy 401 on TRUCK & AUTO REPAIRS LTD. (905) 983-9151