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2 - Orono Weekly Times 1937 - 2012 · Celebrating 75 Years Subscriptions $38.09 + $1.91 GST = $40.00 per year. No Refunds. Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund for our publishing activities." Wednesday, May 16, 2012 ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON L0B 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax: 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Production and Display Advertising - Roxanne Johnston Classified/Sports The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. Pride in our police by Tracy Tonkinson Last weekend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Musical Ride performed in the grounds of Windsor Castle for Queen Elizabeth II in her Diamond Jubilee Pageant. On June 14 the RCMP bring their equestrian spectacular to the Orono Fair grounds. As police forces go, the RCMP is a great tourist attraction. Anyone who watched the Paul Haggis penned television show, Due South that ran from 1994 to 1999, could be forgiven for thinking that the only function of the `mounties' was to look handsome and behave nobly. The accepted history of the early years of the North West Mounted Police -- the precursor to the RCMP has it that Sam Steele, the third officer to be signed up to the newly formed force for the Northern Territories, was instrumental in putting down part of the 1885 NorthWest Rebellion led by Louis Riel and the Cree leader Big Bear at Loon Lake, Saskatchewan. It was the last battle ever fought on Canadian territory. While the Mounties got little or no credit for it at the time, Sam Steele himself became a romantic legend in the history of the RCMP. Some today might view Steele's activities as less than romantic, but he was doing what he was called on to do by the jurisdiction that he served. In that he was a product of his time. It's an argument the present day RCMP might be tempted to fall back on as it struggles to shake off the numerous controversies it has been embroiled in since Sam Steele's day. By the time it became a national force the history of the RCMP was already littered with accusations of racism and excessive force, in later years once women were recruited sexism was added to the list. In the early part of the 20th century the Mounties were used as strike breakers in labour disputes. J. S. Woodsworth, first leader of the CCF, so recently invoked in parliament by the Tories John Baird to taunt the NDP with, was an early victim of the RCMP's dubious surveillance activities. In the 1970's the Quebec provincial government found the RCMP implicit in planting stolen explosives in order to implicate the FLQ in terror related activities. There were also allegations and charges laid against 17 officers in Quebec for other `illegal police activities'. In light of its past one would hope the RCMP has been less controversial in the 21st century. In 2006 RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli issued a public apology of sorts to Maher Arar for the part the RCMP played in supplying the American Immigration and Naturalization Service information resulting in Arar's imprisonment and torture in American custody on suspicion of terrorism, a charge never proven. The most high profile case of recent times involved the RCMP in the Robert Dziekanski case. Dziekanski was a Polish immigrant who arrived at Vancouver International Airport on October 14, 2007. He was disturbed and had been waiting for 10 hours to be picked up at the airport, having no English he was unable to ask for what he needed. The actions of officers that day, in tasering a disturbed Polish national five times resulting in his death, shredded the reputation of the RCMP and opened a debate on the proper use of tasers for law enforcement agencies. All police forces face controversy and none of them are asked to do an easy job. Along with the troubles there have been tragedies for the RCMP. The Mayerthorpe tragedy of March 3, 2005 saw the worst one-day loss of life for the RCMP in 100 years. On a property north of Edmonton four young constables were shot to death while executing a property seizure on the farm. As Canada's national police force the RCMP are asked to cover some of the most remote areas of the country, with special needs that a provincial force would never encounter and for that they do need to be recognized. But for a force that licenses its trademark to film companies and merchandisers, trading on the romance of fictional Benton Fraser in Due South or the real life Sam Steele or the iconic red tunic and Stetson that the Musical Ride showcases so well, the RCMP needs to look to its operational activities and agency discipline if it is not to find itself broken up and replaced by smaller more local agencies. When the RCMP Musical Ride comes to Orono there is no doubt it will produce a swell of pride for the Canadians in the audience and an eye popping spectacle for the rest of those present at the fair grounds. That positive impression must come from more than just pageantry and tourism. It must be reflected in the interactions of every officer that puts on an RCMP uniform and goes out to do a dangerous job every day. GRCA shuts out delegations To The Editor: Clarington Citizens have just been told that they are not allowed to voice their opinion of the vote to be taken by the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority (GRCA) on issuing a third permit for fill to be brought to the Morgans Road commercial fill site. According to GRCA staff, their lawyer has advised them not to allow delegates to speak at their May 17th full authority meeting on the issue. The concern is that our statements may create bias. If the proponent has a dispute about a permit compliance issue and a tribunal is necessary, all members of the GRCA need to be free of any conflict, including our own Clarington Councillors who are members of the Board. This leaves us, the citizens of Clarington paying at least 44 percent of the GRCA levy with no voice until after the permit is issued. Our municipality has set in place a strong site alteration by-law stating that only soil originating in Clarington may be dumped in Clarington. However, as the Conservation Authority on behalf of the Ministry of Natural Recourses governs our watershed, this by-law does not apply to lands 120 metres from Provincially Significant Wetlands. Now we are left in limbo, with no way to speak out. Beth Meszaros Clarington Citizens for Clean Water and Soil From The House At The Centre Of The Universe Now that's graft that I like by Tracy Tonkinson Years ago my husband's family had a property with a small orchard on it. There were plums, pears, apples and cherries and when we had a house of our own, even though we only had a thirty foot wide lot we managed to plant a really pretty cherry tree that produced a lot of good fruit. Unfortunately every year there was a race to harvest the fruit before the birds and other wildlife ravaged it until there were only pits left, so hard graft was needed to save any of the crop. This week I needed a gift for my husband's birthday (I won't say which one) and my son suggested a tree. We have long harboured grandiose ideas of having an orchard here at the House and we do have quite a few trees but sadly none of them are fruit trees. Off to the garden centre we went in search of just the right tree. Plums, pears and cherry trees were all on offer and tempting, but then we spotted a thing of wonder; an apple tree. Nothing special about an apple tree you might think. FRUIT TREES see page 3