Clarington Digital Newspaper Collections

Orono Weekly Times, 8 Jul 2009, p. 5

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Wednesday, July 8, 2009 Orono Weekly Times - 5 Politically Speaking by Bill Stockwell That old ball-park cry "you can`t tell the players without a program" has been resurrected in the Canadian political world. The last time I looked we had a Conservative government in Ottawa and a Liberal government in Queens Park. Now, I accept the fact that the Conservative government in Ottawa is a minority government, attempting to keep the leftwing opposition parties happy enough to continue their support of government legislation and not force another general election. (Something that Canadians don`t want any part of). However, this being the case, the legislation being brought forward by the government is far removed from standard Conservative policy. Ergo, Cap and Trade legislation to lower carbon emissions, a definite sell-out to the Climate Change debate at a very high cost. At Queens Park we have a Liberal government that is in the tank for Cap and Trade. One would think that if they are that committed to lowering the carbon emission levels across the province they would bend over backwards to support nuclear energy rather then those coal fired furnaces that they promised to close down and never did. Well, not so, over the past week Energy Minister, George Smitherman announced that the McGuinty government is indefinitely postponing their plans to build new nuclear reactors at Darlington, claiming that Atomic Energy of Canada is planning to spend "billions" of dollars more than what Ontario is prepared to pay to construct the reactors slated to be built in 2018. Smitherman went on to say that Ontario is also concerned about "uncertainty" at the troubled nuclear company owned by the federal government. He called upon the federal government "to clarify the future ownership of A.E.C.L.", that is rumoured as being on the sales block. Now, if we are gullible enough to believe that the McGuinty Liberals have transformed themselves into born-again fiscally responsible governors, we should give them three cheers and a tiger. However, that is hard to believe given their cavalier attitude at spending taxpayers money. What I think we are seeing here is a public display of pushing the Feds into crafting a better deal for Ontario in delivering an expanded Darlington plant. So, it`s all about money. Our money... whoever we pay it to... the province or the feds. As mentioned before in this column the supporters of Climate Change (previously known as Global Warming) never seem to want to listen to anyone who disagrees with them on the subject. This was repeated recently when the U.K. Telegraph reported that the renowned Canadian, Dr. Mitchell Taylor, one of the world`s leading experts on polar bears, was told not to attend a gathering in Copenhagen of the Polar Bear Specialist Group set up under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature/ Species Survival Commission. It seems that the good doctor had the audacity to say that his studies show that the Polar Bear population is far from shrinking, but in fact is much higher than they were thirty years ago. He also stated that he doesn`t believe that EFW Continued from page 2 issues, errors and omissions must be identified and addressed, especially by the host municipality. It should be obvious that the final EA study documents will require as much scrutiny and stakeholder engagement as did past stages. Information that did not appear in earlier reports should be reviewed to ensure the interests of the municipal corporation and the public are protected and that key commitments are kept and captured in the final documents this does not happen automatically, especially not with hostile proponents. Mayor Abernethy, Councillors Trim and Novak, once again joined by Councillor Robinson, appear not only content to lie down and roll over for the Region, they have cut loose Clarington residents to fend for themselves during the MoE review. Linda Gasser, Orono the warming of the Arctic waters has anything to do with rising levels of CO-2 ( as dictated by the computer models of the UN`s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ) but by currents bringing warm water into the Artic from the Pacific and the effects of winds blowing in from the Bering Sea. The result of his findings was no Copenhagen for Dr. Taylor. Meanwhile, back in Washington, CBS News reported that the Environmental Protection Agency had suppressed an internal report, challenging the entire Global Warming myth, while the Cap and Trade legislation was being pushed through the House of Representatives. Canada and the United States have three major problems when it comes to Global Warming/Climate Change. They are trying to address a problem that just may not be a problem. First of all the jury is still out on the validity of Global Warming and its cause. Secondly, no matter what the North American governments do to advance the cause, without the participation of countries like China and India, their efforts are a spit in the ocean, Thirdly, the question of Cap and Trade is devastating to the CanadianAmerican economies. Even the United Nations, who are great supporters in the fight against Global Warming, has just recently released a study showing "that Cap and Trade legislation would be expected to have significantly harmful economic consequences". The only thing that is clear is that both the federal and provincial governments are hell bent to get into anything that shows that they are doing their bit against Climate Change. As Kermit the Frog says, "It`s not easy being green". We can expect such a thing from the tax and spend Liberals at Queens Park, but the Conservatives in Ottawa should be ashamed of themselves. Now accepting your unwanted treasures! PORT HOPE - The Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority (GRCA) and the Building for Change Fundraising Committee are preparing for a yard sale to take place at the GRCA administrative offices on Saturday July 18th at 8:00am. The committee are seeking donated items for the yard sale which will be in support of the redevelopment of the Ganaraska Forest Centre. The Ganaraska Forest Centre (GFC) is an outdoor education facility located in the central section of the Ganaraska Forest. Each year thousands of visitors make their way to the forest and the Centre to enjoy recreational activities, school outings, corporate gatherings, and our natural environment. The authority will welcome the public to tour the Centre and enjoy other fun activities from 12-3 pm on Saturday, October 3rd during the annual Ganaraska Forest Open House and Members' Day, in partnership with Cameco Corporation. To learn more about this campaign or to donate items for the yard sale in support of the redeveloped outdoor education centre, please contact Amy Griffiths, Marketing and Communications Officer at the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority at agriffiths@grca.on.ca or 905.885.8173 ext 235. Don't forget to come out on Saturday July 18th at 8:00 a.m. to the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority on County Road 28, just north of the 401; because you never know where you'll find your next treasure! ORONO TIMES 905-983-5301 oronotimes@rogers.com

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