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1 [ Editorial Comment "] Please be Generous Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, September 19, 1984 3 It used to be a simple task for neighbours to help their neighbours. neighbours. The pioneers could gather donations by passing the hat. They could build a new school, church or barn by the work bee. And a basket of food could help a family requiring requiring a helping hand. In some ways, the world has changed since those simpler times. The neighbourhood is bigger, for one thing. And so is the need. But the tradition of neighbours helping neighbours hasn't changed all that much. And that's the idea behind the Oshawa - Whitby - Newcastle United Way. In the three communities, United Way helps a total of 38 agencies. Just a few of those groups working today in the Town of Newcastle are the Block Parents, Y.W.C.A., Community Community Care, Girl Guides, St. John Ambulance, Victorian Order of Nurses, and the Red Cross. From this partial list of community community groups which benefit from United Way, it's easy to see why the campaign underway this month is the community's most important single fund-raising activity. Its activities help dozens of organizations organizations right here in our own backyard. And through a single drive for funds, the public avoids being approached by major campaigns campaigns throughout the year. United Way makes sense because it provides a single front for fundraising. fundraising. Without it, each of these groups would have to launch their own campaigns and we would be deluged with requests for assistance assistance throughout the year. Moreover, a single fund-raising drive is more efficient, allowing more dollars to go directly to the groups and agencies which deserve our support. United Way spends only 7 1/2 per cent on expenses and administration. administration. The rest goes directly to those who need it. And we should also note that by donating to these groups directly, we avoid the high costs which would be incurred if government agencies were left with all of the responsibility for helping these community groups. Agencies which are on the receiving receiving end of United Way funds benefit by banding together to share the proceeds. But they are not the only partners in United Way who benefit by this co-operative approach. United Way volunteers also join forces to ensure that the annual goal is reached. Representatives from all walks of life take part in the project. United Way volunteers include business executives, farmers, farmers, auto workers, tradesmen, and professionals. And that's where we come in. By adding ourselves to the long list of United Way supporters we can guarantee that this year's goal of $1,728,000 will be quickly achieved and perhaps surpassed. The objective is high. But not when you consider that there are approximately 200,000 residents to support that goal and literally hundreds hundreds of businesses and industries who will continue to provide leadership in donating funds. The old days of work bees or passing passing the hat may be over. But it's nice to know that the spirit of neighbourly neighbourly co-operation continues. In this first week of United Way fund-raising, let's not forget to be good neighbours. Sam at Queen's Park Convert-To-Rent Means More Rental Housing In Ontario September 24, 1984 Ontario is offering interest-free loans of $7,000 for each new rental unit to help create more moderate rental-housing throughout the province. province. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing's $18.2 million Convert-to-Rent program will produce produce 2,600 new apartments province-wide province-wide and improve the appearance appearance of our neighborhoods. The program is a timely alternative alternative to the traditional reliance on new construction to fulfill our rental housing needs. Convert-to- Rent not only adds to Ontario's rental housing stock, it results in the better utilization of existing structures and services as well. There are a range of properties which qualify for financial assistance assistance under Convert-to-Rent. For example, new rental units could be added to existing housing projects or non-residential buildings. Non- residential property such as an empty school or office or space over a retail store could be converted into rental housing. The whole community will benefit benefit from Convert-to-Rent projects. projects. Much needed, moderately priced rental housing is more available. available. New income is generated for property owners. Water, roads and sewage services are used more productively. productively. Beyond improving our housing situation, the program is helping to create work opportunities opportunities in the construction and renovation renovation areas. The Convert-to-Rent program began as part of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing's $25 million series of rental housing initiatives to encourage the creative creative development of new housing and the preservation of existing accommodation. accommodation. Launched initially in Toronto and Ottawa, Convert-to- Rent has been extended to every community in Ontario. For information on this program and an application package, you may write to: Convert-to-Rent Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing 77 Bay Street 2nd Floor Toronto, Ontario M5G 2E5 Congratulations and best wishes to Allouise Fashions. I had the pleasure pleasure of attending their official opening in Bowmanville. Congratulations Congratulations also to the Oshawa Ambulance Ambulance Service who placed first at the International Rescue and Emergency Care competition held in New Jersey in August. Thanks to you it works. FOR ALL OF US Unibed W/^y ®tft (Canadian Statesman 623-3303 (*CNA Durham County's Great Family Journal Established 130 years ago In 185-1. Also Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mall registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62-66 King SI, W„ Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 vt * O O L h JOHN M. JAMES Editor -- Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. All layouts and composition ol advancements produced by the employees ol The Canadian Slnlosmnn. The Newcastle Independent and The Jamas Publishing Company Limited aro protoclod by copyright and inusl not bo reproduced without written permission ol the publishers. $15,00 n yonr -- 6 months $8.00 strictly In advance foreign -- $-15.00 a year Alttn)iit)lr ovary precnulwn will bo lakon to avoid orror. Tiro Canadian KUIvsiwn accepts advert,tuna in if; column', on tliu tiiidmi.tnmlim] ttr.it it will rail lor any or,or in tiro advmlisoimmt rnihli'iliod Unround,., uiiiov, ., „, c() | 0 | MU." arlvortii.onionl r". i"<|u.",lml writuii) by in,, ndvniln.m and llm Canadian Claim "Mir." duly Million try tin, advrM and with uuoi, mm, , y , ull „d wiilimi Him,urn and th.it r.o „ d any mini Mi muralnot uhiw.IoiI by I ho Canadian Claim,man its liability '.hull rail Mich a „„,i,„n ol i.o.l ol Mu.ti idvuituUmmil a 1 , llm Muu.u ou.iiiural by llm iioivd ormr bran-, to llm y.linln muc uu:uiiii>ii by -.uch mlvoflr.nrniMil Beautiful Sunset SUGAR and SPICE A Small Hotel Just a few rather dour comments on a few things, as summer drags to a close. I now know what it is like to run a summer hotel, without benéfit of staff. I undertook to take my grandboys for two weeks. They were here for four. Their mother joined us "for a few days" and stayed two weeks. Their Uncle Hugh has been up from the city at least every other •weekend, often with friends. Trouble is that it's beautiful around here, with trees, swimming in fresh water, breathing in clean air, and eating fresh food' sweet corn picked today, green or yellow beans the same, real tomatoes instead of those hard, bitter little pellets from Florida or California, strawberries and raspberries and blackberries just off the vine. I don't blame them. The city can be pretty gruelling in a hot summer. But next summer I'm going to lock up the big brick house with the jungle in back and the massive oak in front, and take a motel room, with one bed, no swimming pool. First two weeks with the boys were fine. Made their sandwiches every night, popped them in the freezer (the sandwiches, not the boys). Drove them away from the television at 11 p.m. (they have, at home, a tiny black and white with two channels). Turfed them out of a sleep like the dead at 7 a.m. Supervised breakfast (kids can drink a barrel of orange juice in a week). Checked to see they had sandwiches, an apple or banana or pear, wrapped their bottle of pop in their towels, made sure they had their swim suits, and booted them out the door in the general direction of summer camp. Tried to keep them in clean clothes, no easy feat. Speaking of feet, they have the happy faculty of playing football or baseball or basketball in the back yard in their bare feet, just after the lawn sprinkler has been on for two hours, then rushing inside, across the rug and going for a pee, then rushing back across it to resume activities. It didn't seem to bother the boys, but it played hell with the rug. I don't think I can get it cleaned. Might as well throw it out. Their Gran would have killed them. On the spot. But there are so many spots now, it doesn't seem worth it. Dinner was fairly simple. I didn't fuss around like Gran, getting a wholesome meal, with chicken thighs, taties, salad and dessert. Small boys love hamburgers and chips. Needless to say, we dined out quite often. Thanks to Ben, the younger of the two, the back lawn looks as though several goats had been grazing on it, and, after eating all the grass, had started eating dirt. Ben, to the amusement of my neighbors, can play any game without equipment, or opponents. Baseball: he can take a called strike, scowl at the umpire, foul one into the stands, then hit a double and stretch it into a triple, sliding into third base. He can dribble a basketball, flip it to a team-mate, get it back and drop an easy basket, walking away, dusting his hands. He's eight, and at seven decided his given name, Balind, was not for him, so re-named himself Ben. Quite a kid. Lives in his own world. And pretends to be deaf when you try to call him out of it. As soon as their mother arrived, of course, the boys went ape. Every grandparent knows about this. Don't ask my why. I'm not a child psychologist. Dear Kim has an over-abundance of talent. She composes music, writes like an angel, is an excellent teacher, and has been stone-cold poor ever since she got married. She's a bit sick of being poor. But she's an excellent mother. Sick of being poor, she spent most of her time here writing new songs that were going to make a million, and pumping me to find out how to be a syndicated columnist within a month, at the outside. And we fought. She is a bristly feminist, and I, as she thinks, a male chauvinist. But we love each other and when the fights got near the blood-letting stage, one of us would grin and declare truce. She took me for about one grand this summer, counting everything, but you can't take it with you, so why not? Hugh is another fettle of kish. He lives in one room in the city, with cooking privileges, but doesn't cook much. When he's home, he is either standing at the fridge, door open, as he used to do when he was 16, or standing over the stove, cooking some infernal but delicious concoction full of almonds, raisins, garlic and whatever, with a pasta base. He's not an old waiter or nothing. This weekend he brought a friend, Elena. She's on a very strict diet, because of allergies, and brings her own food. Not wanting to be beholden, she bought some food. I came down to the kitchen yesterday, and she had out for dinner eight huge lamb chops. I asked how many were coming to dinner. She said just the three of us. Two chops each and a couple to share. I turned green. But she and Hugh ate two each and Hugh had another couple for breakfast. I bought some home-made bread and Elena had six slices. Hugh ate the rest of the loaf, at the same sitting, except for one slice, which I surreptitiously snagged while they were sitting around belching. Tough diet, eh? Threw them onto a bus to the city this morning, laden down with plastic bags full of corn, beans, blueberries, tomatoes and green onions. All fresh, local stuff. They left me with a refrigerator full of Elena's diet soup (ugh!), Hugh's dried corn, and a lot of other delicacies from the health food store that are going straight into the garbage. It's a lot of fun, running a summer hotel. With no staff. Next summer, there's going to be no manager, either. Letters to the Editor Sept. 14,1984. Dear Editor: Re: Extension of Funding to Roman Catholic Secondary School System. The following is an open letter to Premier Wm. Davis authored by the Northern Ontario School Trustees Assoc., Ontario Public School Trustees Assoc., and the Association of Large School Boards in Ontario which may be of interest to your readers. We regret that our meeting scheduled by you for August 28th was postponed until September 24th. We have therefore decided to use this method to communicate with you in the interim. "From the outset, as the secondary schools grew to become an integral part of the public school system, they have been determinedly and deliberately non-denomina- tional and non-sectarian. Such has been a fundamental characteristic characteristic of government policy, from the lime of Ontario's first Prime Minister, (lie Hon. John San- ficld MacDonald, and this policy lias been supported by every party while in power since that time. ...However much the question question is argued, the conclusion is inevitably based on the general merit anil value of a single, universally accessible, publicly-supported secondary school system, and it is this fundamental conclusion that in the the government finds itself compelled to restate and reaffirm." reaffirm." William G. Davis, Premier of Ontario August31,1971 Ontario Education, Volumes, No. 5 Public School trustees Ontario are opposed to abandonment of this fundamental fundamental principle enunciated so clearly by Premier William G. Davis on August 31,1971. To have adopted the position announced on June 12, 1984 without prior and full consultation consultation with the education community is incomprehensible. incomprehensible. Public school trustees were astounded that no White Paper was prepared by the Government to elicit comments comments from the education community: no details were released describing those conditions which will be attached to the establishment of (lie new system; no indication indication was given of the proposed legislative amendments necessary to accommodate the extension of (lie separate school system. Public school trustees in Ontario have accepted and operated their school systems on the basis of the slaloment made by the Premier's Minister Minister of Education, The Hon. Bette Stephenson, on October 11, 1983 to the Legislature's Standing Committee on Social Development: "...I think it is important and necessary to reaffirm the general merit and the value of a universally accessible, publicly supported school system, a system which I believe contributes to consensus consensus and is a countervailing force against social fragmentation. fragmentation. In a pluralistic society such as ours, which can be characterized characterized as multicultural, multiracial and multilingual, a shared educational experience experience is important in fostering a common culture. Unity through shared experiences can be a countervailing force to factors which split and fragment fragment society. Indeed, the school system may well be the only common, noncommercial learning and socializing experience for our young people." We arc now concerned that movement away from these principles will radically affect our province and the quality of community life. Since 1971 our Province has been in a period of growth as a result of immigration. Our school communities have adapted to the introduction of new languages, cultures, religions and races. Within the diversity we found a new concept: unity in Hie midst of individual differences. This unity will change with the announced policy and will create practical and philosophical philosophical problems for public hoards of education. If the Premier persists with his plan to establish a parallel, public- l.v-fumicd Roman Catholic secondary system, it is vital that the views of public school trustees and the resources available through boards of education be employed throughout the implementation implementation stages. But before implementation discussions can occur between boards, it is imperative that several key questions be addressed by the Premier at our initial meeting with him on September 24,1984: 1. Does the Premier support and will he enforce the principle principle of universal (equal) access for all students to both the public school system and the Roman Catholic separate school system? 2. Will the Premier mandate universal access to both publicly-funded school systems? 3. Will the Premier guarantee guarantee adequate provincial funding funding for both publicly-supported publicly-supported school systems to ensure the maintenance of the high quality programs and services now available through the public boards of education? 4. Will the Premier guarantee guarantee that all teaching and nonleaching nonleaching staff will have equal opportunity for appointment to and advancement within the publicly-funded Roman Catholic separate school system regardless of their religion? These questions must he answered so that the Planning and lmplemenlalion Commission Commission will have appropriate guidelines within which to begin its task. Public school trustees are distressed that equal opportunity opportunity for input into the deliberations deliberations on implementation has been denied to the public boards of education. The mandate of the Planning and Implementation Commission does not provide them with any opportunity to present their plans and to participate in the adjudication process. Unless there is opportunity for representation on behalf of public school boards to the Planning and Implementation Commission, its guidance and advice will suffer from the lack of the collective expertise, expertise, intellectual deptli and resources resources that now ensure the optimum educational grams and services for Ontario students. There arc numerous other practical matters which we believe must be given extensive extensive consideration by the Planning and Implementation Commission: 1. Duplication: personnel, facilities, equipment 2. Adult Education 3. Trustee Representation 4. Designation of School Support f>. Rights to Secular School Access (I. Oilier issues Ontario Public school students require guaranlees that their system will conlimic to provide the highest quality programs and services the province and community can pro- all afford. Public school boards, representing the vast majority majority of students in the province, do wish to "work cooperatively cooperatively and prudently" with the government to "complete this task without compromising the quality of our public schools." (William G. Davis, June 12, 1984.) The public school trustees' associations will therefore be developing position papers on each of these areas of concern. We therefore request that the Commissions' terms of reference be amended to ensure ensure that public boards of education have the same rights as the Roman Catholic separate school boards. Wc also seek the opportunity to submit briefs, attend hearings and be observers during the entire adjudication process. Prudence further dictates that more time will be necessary necessary than is presently indicated indicated for the submission and full consideration of briefs prior to implementation. To proceed within the time frame already announced will prohibit I he demonstration of "the essential essential justice and good failli of our society." Yours truly Donna M. Fairey Bowmanville Trustee Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education Keep Canada Beautiful