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8 - Orono Weekly Times Wednesday, November 30, 2011 NOISE Continued from pg 7 a level that a berm, which will reduce the sound by 10 dBAI will not alleviate the problem. Leskard Road residents came to council in September complaining that the noise emanating from the gun club has escalated to such a level that many residents can no longer enjoy their properties. The club which traditionally offered club shooting on Sundays and Wednesdays, now rents out their facility to groups like the RCMP and the CP Rail Police for shooting practise. Residents told councillors there was shooting at the club 28 out of 30 days in June of this year. Residents unsuccessfully urged council not to grandfather the Club allowing a 70 dBAI level rather than the 50 dBAI allowed for clubs formed after 1980. Testing will also be undertaken at the Union Rod and Gun Club on the 4th Concession in Newcastle. There have been very few complaints from neighbours surrounding this club other than the noise from OPG guns when they use this club for shooting practise. Alex Shepherd tribute dinner by Christopher W. Brown Liberals from across Durham gathered in Bowmanville last Thursday night to celebrate the contributions Alex Shepherd made to both Canada and Durham Riding. Alex Shepherd was elected in 1993 as the Federal Member of Parliament for the Durham Riding when Jean Chretien's Liberals swept to power winning 100 out of the 101 seats in Ontario. Alex was re-elected twice after that in 1997 and then again in 2000 before retiring from office in 2004. The night was full of humour and reminiscing about Shepherd's time in office. Most of the night's jokes were poked at Shepherd's hearing aid. Mr. John McCallum Liberal Member of Parliament for MarkhamUnionville told the group of about 50 Liberals, that he remembered once that there were leaks coming from within caucus. The press would have stories about their private meetings and the Prime Minister's Office wanted to know who was leaking the stories. After RCMP officers did some investigating, it had turned out that it was coming from Shepherd's hearing aid, the frequency that it was transmitting from was being picked up by some local media outlets. McCallum also spoke about the first time he encountered Alex, stating "He was questioning me over the Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal merger in 1999. He had (former Liberal MP and Liberal MPP) Gerrard Kennedy, the manager of the Toronto Food Bank and myself at a finance committee hearing. Alex was grilling me and Gerrard about the practicalities of the merger." McCallum said looking back on that time it is hard to think of the merger being a good thing and some of the points that Alex had brought up gave him good reason to leave Royal Bank and run for public office in 2000. Former Member of Parliament Dan McTeague of Pickering-Scarborough East spoke about his time in office with Alex, saying he was one of the "financial guru's" that helped bring in the 1995 balance budget. McTeague said he can remember meeting with other MP's and talking to Alex about "bringing a balanced budget that was right for Canada." During that time it was hard for some members, to go back to their home ridings and sell something that wasn't popular according to McTeague, but Alex was SHEPHERD see page 9 Alex Shepherd thanked the assembled guests at the tribute dinner in his honour for the years of support while he was the Member of Parliament for the Durham Riding.