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( 2 - Orojno Weekly lies, Wednesday, -Mardi .17, 1999 J ORONO WEEKLY TivEs Subscriptions $23.36 -+ 1.64 G.S.T. =$25 .0l/year Publications Mail Registration No. 000368 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication 5310 Main Street,,P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB lMOI E-Mail Address: oronothmes@speedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/Editor Marg Zwart The scoop on the poop. When will it end? Last week 1 lamented the fact that the local media have given Orono more than its fair share of coverage, and for ail the wrong reasons. Then, Thursday's Toronto Star ran>an item titied, 'Orono seeking a sewage solution'. The first line of the item reads, "Durham Region is being asked to help solve a smnelly problem in the Clarington hamiet of Orono."- Councillor Mutton is quoted saying, "Our concemn is that raw sewage is flow- inginto Wilmot Creek," and, "on warmn days in the summer you can smell the creek as it flows through the bamlet." Councillor Mutton told me he couldn't actually smell the creek, but had heard from someone who did. As far as the raw sewage running down the Main St., Mutton said he heard tbat from, Murray Taylor. When 1 asked Murray if he ever saw raw sewage running down the Main St. he said he was quoting from the 1990 Totten Sims Hubicki report; a report that is considered to be less than adequate. Tony Wong, the Manager of Environmental Health for the Region of Durham, stated in a phone conversation Friday that the Ministiy of Environment (MOE) has d one source water analysis tests in the creek, and they dlaim the creek water quality is stili very good. Wong bases his opinion that tbere is no health bazard in Orono due to break down of sewage systems on two tbings. One, a lack of complaints from residents, (oniy 5 in the last 5 years), and that the Ministry of Environment (MOE) has not notifled him abouit poor water quality in the creek. Mr. Bob Shaw, MOE's Central Region Director, confirmed yes- terday that mon itoring of the Orono Creek was done fromi 1964 tlti 1990. Since then, the MOE bas not test sampled the creek water.. If indeed Orono has a sewage problem, the solution lies with each and every property owner. A weIl maintained private septic system is effective, economic and environmentally acceptable. Considering that communal sewers are far more costly to instali and operate than a municipal urban systemn, it's not very likely the Region would approve a communal systemn as a short tenu solu- tion. That must be a strong odour coming from the Wilmot on bot summer days if you can actually smell it flowing-througb the bamn- let 'as stated by Mutton; since tbe Wilmot runs west of Ochonski Road. An Enjoyable Outing by.Roy Forrester 1One thing about bçing retired is tbe fact one can-pick and choose what's on the menu for the day and just where time will be spent. That may flot b e entlrely true but t is somewhat true. Let's say openings and options'are avail- able. Such an opening or option did arise Iast Saturday after- noon with the opportunity to travel to Port Hope with Marg Zwart, Jante Dodds and John Thomson to meet with six members of the Port Hope LACAC conimnittee. What a pleasant group they were'in Port Hope and as well being most knowledgeable, interesting and free witb information. 0f course in Port Hope this group has been through it ail with the abundance of heritage buildings that do exist in tbe Town. In fact we met in the Beamrish House whicb I suspect bas been designated. Rt now bouses a small restau- rant, pub and comnfortable meeting rooms. Most-of the Port Hope group bad visited downtown Orono a few weeks back and altbough saw littie remnaining of a historical facade nature said tbere was a great feeling of comfort and tbat tbere were great potentials. Tbis was not said lightly and tbere is no doubt tbat the group, witb tbeir background, can see anid feel wbat tbe majority would mniss. Take a look the next time you drive downtown. t is open, it is brigbt and it does bave a feeling of comfort. We do bave somhe interesting LACAC designations witbin the downtown area beîng the Town Hall, the John Thomson with the ownership being in the hands of the Municipality. But listening to the Port Hope group it is more than his- torie buildings. t is a living community and sucb potentials are bere in Orono. t does take effort, an understanding and a degree of pride in youir commun"t. A number of years ago the Sid Rutherford lrail was to be one node of a 'living communlty' linking business witb recreation and the outdoors. The initiative is iacklng and must be revitalized. We must see the effort and tbe degree of pride or ail wili go for not. The outcome of anafternoon in Port Hope. Impaect Von comminon s ense revol,,utionm& hits%.% you in wallet Tbe Ontario Alternative Budget for 1999-00 shows that tbe Mike Hanris revolu- tion bas not only devastated public services, it bas bit the average Ontario farnily riglit in the pocket-book. The 1999 Ontario Alternative Budget bas calcu- lated that an average Ontario famiiy (tbree people at the median income) will save $738 from the $6 billion Hanris tax cut. But the same family will be out-of-pocket by $766 as a resuit of increase heaitb care costs, bigber property taxes, user fees, and interest charges on the debt incurred to pay for tie tax cut (OAB pp 6,7). Taking the 16 family exam- pies used by the Governiment in its 1998-99 budget, the Ontario Alternative Budget demonstrates that 7 of the 16 famý-ily types lose between, $132 and $266 a year. Only, biousebolds with earnîngs above $120,000 record gains above $500. And behind these averages is tbe stark reality that many families are getting clobbered by Mike Harris. An average farnily wi th one cbild going to university bas already iost more than a lifetime of Harris tax cut benefits because of tuition fee increases (OAB pp 8-10). A typical seniors couple with an incomne of $44.000 would fmnd their entire Harris tax eut eaten up by increased seniors drug plan user charges. As for public services, the Harris dlaimns about increased investment in health and education are definitely debunked. After inflation and popula- tion growth are taken into account, Ontario's bealtb budget bas been eut by $2 billion since Harris was eleet- ed. The new funding formula for elementary and secondary education takes $1.2 billion out of the schooi system, or in other words, $570 for every cbild in scbool. Ilt is well known tbat the welfare cuts of 22% and the termination of Ontario's bousing supply program, bave left a catastrophe of bomelessness and depriva- tion visible on every city street. Less well known per- baps is the sorry fact tbat rentai bousing starts bave plummeted under Harris. Even witb the abolition of rent control, rentai bousing starts bave dropped from 18,000 in recession year 1992 to 800 new units in 1997. So mucli for'private sector solutions to the bous- ing crisis. And finaiiy on the jobs front, the Ontario Alternative Budget points out that whl' Harris bas reacbed only 65,- of bis promlsed 750, 000 jobs. Worse, a full 48% or 235,000 out of the total number of new jobs since 1995 are "self- employment." Ln response to tbis myriad of Harris infllcted crisis, the Ontario Alternative Budget calis again for a -massive, reconstruction, of 0ntario's essential public services and programs, paid for through fair taxation and wlthln a, framiework of balanced bud- gets. By restorlng the tax eut for the top 20% of taxpayer, returnlng tobacco tax to pre-ý 1994 levels and eliminating pointless and expensive Harris tax breaks for busi- ness, together with the "fis- cal dividend" from economie growth, the OAB generates enough revenue to restore public services to 1995 1ev- els, adjusted for inflation and populating growtb. We wouid do this witb a balanced bud- get in fiscal 2000-01. The OAB for 1999-00 pro- poses a spending program -iof $53.2 billion, This compares witb the Harris Government's reail spending on ongoing pro- gramis and capital of $47,68 1. (Once restructuing and other ..one-time" expenses are removed from the inflated Harris budgets). AMI Dýý