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i C Tiie Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, October 25,1989 Sfit Cattafrtatt statesman Durham Region's Great Family Journal Established 135 years ago in 1854 Also Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second Class mail registration number 1561 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited 3K9 416-1 cn 62 King Street West, Bowmanville, Ontario L1C3K John M. James Editor - Publisher Geo. P. Morris Business Mgr. Richard A. James Associate Publisher Brian Purdy 623-3303 Fax 416-623-6161 Peter Parrott Associate Editor Donald Bishop Plant Mgr. rdy Advertising Mgr. All layouts and composition of advertisements produced by the employees of James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. Subscription Rates Six Months--$11.00 One Year--$20.00 Foreign --$60.00 per year Although every precaution will be taken lo avoid error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising In Its columns on the understanding that it will not be liable for any error in the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof of such advertisement Is requested In writing by the advertiser and returned lo The Canadian Statesman business office duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted In writing thereon, and In that case H any error so noted is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman its liability shall riot exceed such a portion of the entire cost of such advertisement as the space occupied by the noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. United Way Needs You This year's $2.9 million United Way fund-raising drive is at the midway point. As we write this, we have yet to receive receive the latest update on the campaign campaign progress. But it's safe to say that the project is by no means over and it will take continued effort to see the 1989 fundraising fundraising reach a successful conclusion. By now, you probably don't need to be reminded of the fact that your sin-, gle contribution helps over 40 agencies serving the public in so many ways within the Durham Region. Nor do you need to be informed, once again, that this method of fundraising fundraising uses the bare minumum of overhead expenses, thereby ensuring that practically every penny you give to United Way goes to the people who need it. Nor do you need to be advised that literally thousands of volunteers are canvassing for the Oshawa Whitby Newcastle United Way and that they rely on your contribution to make their efforts a success. If you have already given to this year's United Way effort, then you deserve deserve the thanks of the entire community. community. If you have yet to give, you can rest assured that there's still time to do so. Let's help put this year's United Way effort over the top! Better Looking Future Two significant steps have recently been taken at the local and provincial/ national level to combat pollution. And the respective government officials officials at both levels deserve commendations commendations for their efforts. Locally, regional government has announced its first-ever leaf composting composting project. This will divert tonnes of autumn leaves from the local landfill sites and turn them into a soil- enriching compost. The project will save money by eliminating the need to bury leaves as landfil ana will, thereby, ensure that more space is available for the plastic and paper that still are produced in such large amounts. At the national level, a recent meeting meeting of Canadian environment ministers ministers produced a plan to clean up the Canadian atmosphere by creating stricter controls on the emissions from automobile exhausts. By the 1994 model year, all new cars will have to meet the same strict standards now in place in smog-bound California. These two actions may not mean much on their own. But they are an important part of an ongoing process and they certainly represent a good start. In the case of the car emission controls, controls, some may argue that it's a matter matter of too little too late. But if new initiatives initiatives for cleaning up the environment environment can occur at the rate of one or two per month, we will be well on our way to at least delaying the environmental environmental crisis. Interestingly enough, the measures introduced at the local and federal/ provincial levels were endorsed unanimously, unanimously, which suggests that pollution control is something which will be practised regardless of which particular particular brand of government is in office. Canadians are even prepared to pay for the added costs of clean air and water. water. As Ontario's minister of Environment, Environment, Jim Bradley, pointed out: "Canadians "Canadians have indicated clearly on every every occasion that if there are funds to be invested by themselves or the government government to improve the environment, that they are prepared to pay." It's unfortunate that the desire to protect ' the environment is not as much a part of our culture as are some of the wasteful consumer habits which created the need for environmental protection in the first place. But, times are changing. Composting leaves in the Durham Region and clamping down on exhaust emissions throughout Canada are important important steps toward an environmental environmental cleanup. Unfortunately, they're only the beginning. And even more radical actions will probably be needed in the future. Now, if only they could make automobiles automobiles from shredded leaves, maybe they'd have a truly remarkable idea. Never Prepared Enough The San Francisco earthquake disaster disaster is an opportunity for the public to think seriously about the subject of emergency planning. To some degree, the topic is in the category of "thinking the unthinkable". unthinkable". No one likes to believe that our civilization or our particular niche in the world will ever be threatened by either natural or man-made disasters. But, the disaster in San Francisco is evidence that a large, North American American city can be hit by an emergency over which its residents have no control. control. Interestingly enough, this disaster disaster occurred in a part of North America America where earthquakes have long been predicted by not only bearded eccentrics eccentrics in flowing robes but also by scientists. scientists. You would think that a place like San Francisco would be the first community community to prepare for an earthquake disaster. Yet the events of last Tuesday Tuesday still appear to have caught much of the city off-guard. Moreover, when the dust had settled, the experts were forecasting that the west coast is still due for a major upheaval which will be at least ten times the magnitude of last week's tremors. In other words, although the San Francisco quake is a big one, and may take the pressure off the immediate area in the near future, it is not the really big disaster which has been predicted predicted for the west coast. That quake is one which would make the San Francisco rumblings of '89 look like the vibrations set in motion by a passing passing streetcar. If this disaster caught San Francisco Francisco by surprise, one can scarcely imagine imagine how much more ill-prepared Canadians Canadians are for a similar event. Indeed, the amount of money spent by Canada on emergency preparedness preparedness amounts to mere pennies per person person per year. Now we'd be the first to agree that one cannot go overboard in getting ready for disasters which may never strike. And, by definition, a disaster is something for which you cannot plan in advance. You cannot give chaos an orderly and bureaucratic shape. The injured will not be persuaded to arrive in neat, alphabetical order. However, the San Francisco inci- St. Marys Meets the People V, / ii. Sf IX . w6a Last week, the St. Marys Cement Company held an open forum for the free exchange of dialogue between the citizens of the Town of Newcastle and a barrage of technical technical experts hired to hear their complaints and concerns. concerns. The.information will be compiled into a central . source and studies will be done in order to see how the problems can be alleviated. Cliff Meta, St. Marys Plant Manager; Ian MacNaughton, organizer of the forum and Yvon Michaud a resident attending the October 18 Open House pause, for a moment during their discussions in order to smile for the camera. The Open House was held at the Port Darlington Marina. A civilized confrontation occurred recently at the Port Darlington Marina. Marina. The confrontées were the St. Marys Cement Company and concerned citizens citizens of the Town Of Newcastle. The citizens were mainly concerned about the proposed dock expansion and the expanded extraction operations operations which involve increased blasting. St Marys was taken by surprise at the storm of protest raised by its recent recent request for re-zoning to allow ex- rnnsion of the docking facilities to alow alow handling of increased shipping and receiving. "I don't think that people really know what we're doing," said Cliff Meta, plant manager at St. Marys. 'The two main issues under discussion tonight are the exapanded manufac- ing facilities and the proposed rezoning rezoning for dock expansion. I think that r, this forum will explain our situation and determine the concerns of the citizens. citizens. There are some things we can improve and we'll find those out tonight." tonight." The St. Marys Open House took place on Wednesday, October 18th, at the Port Darlington Marina. The residents, who feel that the blasting operations and the proposed dock expansion has, and will, adver- sley affect their lives, met one-to-one with numerous hired experts. The experts experts sat at tables with their company names and their fields of expertise prominently displayed. They listened closely to the various concerns expressed expressed by the residents and took notes that will be compiled into a study which will provide the basis for solutions when it is finished. Ian MacNaughton, of MacNaughton Hermsen Britton Planning Limited, a Regional & Urban Planning & Re source Development Company, was hired by St. Marys to liaise with the company and the ratepayers. He said: "My objective is to understand the concerns concerns of ratepayers, then to obtain knowlegeable advice from experts in the areas of the concerns and, with that in hand, to make recommendations recommendations to the company. In some areas, concerns will be allayed tonight. However However there is still a lot of work to be done, and maintained over a long period period of time. The job isn't done." Mr. MacNaughton was instrumental instrumental in setting up the meeting which he described as "communication between neighbours." Cynthia Van Dinten, of the Town of Newcastle, Strategic Planning Planning Branch, said that the meeting was a "good idea." She added: 'The Town of Newcastle suggested this forum forum because of concerns expressed by residents." Although the basic issues discussed were the proposed dock expansion and the blasting, residents state that the existing operations already affect them. Noise, dust, mud, traffic, environmental environmental and personal property damage damage were cited as present worries. Mr. MacNaughton defends the company's company's position of expansion by citing the economic and environmental advantages advantages of shipping over trucking. "Shipping is the cheapest mode of transport for bulk commodities," said Mr. MacNaughton. "Trucks not only have a higher social and environmental environmental cost but product can be shipped to Detroit for tne same cost as trucking it to Toronto." Mr. MacNaughton maintains maintains that the proposed dock expansion expansion would allow safer, more environmentally environmentally sound shipping and receiving of goods and delivery of the finished product. However, residents like Yvon Michaud Michaud fear that their houses may come down around their ears from the blasting blasting vibrations. "I came here tonight to get more information information on the blasting." Michaud said, "Certain times when they blast my house shakes and my basement is cracking. My window valance has fallen fallen off. The blasting has to be doing some damage." Tony Yan, President of Vibration Assessment Limited, was kept busy fielding questions from people like Mr. Michaud, Loretta Thompson and David David Lawson of Cedarcrest Beach who voiced concerns over "beach erosion" and the changes in the beach since the present dock was erected in the 1970's as well as the effects the present blasting blasting has on the environment. "People have a lot of misconceptions about blasting" said Mr. Yan. "What we're talking about here is controlled blasting ana the vibrations are well within the guidelines set down by the Ministry or the Environment which are the strictest in North America. I could stand beside one of my controlled controlled blasts and not get hurt." Mr. Yan's experience in blasting includes the "taking down" of houses without causing structual damage to surrounding surrounding buildings. "The real need," said Mr. MacNaughton, MacNaughton, "is to understand each other's other's point of view. Then both sides have to be willing to solve common problems. I sense a real desire on both sides to get away from rhetoric and find solutions." Andrea Adair dent should cause us to think clearly about the possibility of a major disaster disaster in various parts of Canada and there should be a logical plan of action. action. It's true that with the end to the Cold War, we're no longer concerned about the possibility of a nuclear attack attack by the Soviets. But what of the other possibilities? But using one's imagination, it's possible to develop a number of "unthinkable" "unthinkable" scenarios which would constitute constitute a disaster here in Canada. And that's setting aside the obvious jokes we could make about those disasters arising from acts of various governments. governments. A winter oil embargo or a failure of major components of our electrical grid would be two events that could produce disaster. Or, what about a major chemical spill in the Great Lakes which would render municipal water undrinkable? What about a train derailment or airplane crash in a major metropolitan centre? What about the consequences of a major hurricane or winter storm? Or, suppose there were a medical disaster disaster resulting from a new strain of flu virus or other disease? Each of these possibilities would put a serious strain on a society such as ours. This is especially true because of the fact that few of us lead lives which are anything close to self- sufficient. If important lines of communications communications or production were to be cut off, it wouldn't be long before we would be without essentials such as food, water, or heat. In our experience, a crisis does bring out the best in a community. People generally work together in order order to help one another in ways that they might not otherwise consider. But, it seems to us that without getting getting overly paranoid, government might move emergency planning a little little nigher up the agenda. The quake in San Francisco is a warning not just to residents of the west coast but also to governments, agencies, and individuals who may have grown complacent over the possibility possibility of a major disaster. Such a thing can happen here. Sixty years ago last week, land half of Canada's Canada's population became "persons". On October 18, 1929, five Canadian women: Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby, Emily Murphy and Henrietta Henrietta Muir Edwards were successful in getting the government to recognize recognize that the word "persons" "persons" applies to both men and women. I find it hard to believe, believe, having always been thought of as a person, that the government had to pass a law to make women people. If it weren't for those early ^suffragettes, perhaps perhaps the£ fight for that status Would/still be raging; raging; Fortunately, the battle was already fought and won, long before I learned about such words as equality. Sixty years isn't a very long time for women to be regarded as persons but, we tend to take for granted granted those condition's that are in place before we are born. Many women don't think about feminism or feminists except when they want to denounce them and claim them selves victorious for the success they've achieved on their own. I overheard a conversation conversation last week a woman was having with other people. She mentioned listening to a younger woman who said she didn't need the feminist movement. Apparently the young girl thought she was . equal with men and didn't need anyone, namely feminists, to help her succeed. The girl perhaps was unaware, or chose to forget, forget, that it was because of the early feminists that Thanks from Big Brothers Dear Mr. James: Big Brother Month has concluded for another year. Once again the organization wishes to express their thanks to you for the continual continual support you give to our agency. The coverage you give helps keep the Big Brother profile high within the community. community. As a non-profit organization organization we would not be able to afford the same coverage coverage without your support. This coverage gives our agency a better opportunity to recruit Big Brother Volunteers. Volunteers. At present, we have II little Brothers waiting for a match. Big Brothers are wanted immediately! If any man over 18 years has three free hours a week, please call 623-6646 and find out Electrical Tax Seems Unfair RE: Federal Goods and Services Tax Brian Mulroney's tax on goods "and services won't bring the Federal government government any more money? So says Michael Wilson. Yet the tax on electricity in Ontario Ontario alone will bring them over half-a-billion dollars from this previously untaxed untaxed necessity. Now Otto Jelinek says he'll need almost 4,000 new collectors to collect the same amount of money. There seems to be room for some correction. Brian Mulroney should try NOT taxing electricity. In other countries with a value added tax, they have recognized electricity ns a necessity. D. Curl Anderson Chairman Municipal Electric Association more about our program. Bring happiness and friendship friendship to a little boy while bringing personal growth and enjoyment to yourself. It isn't difficult to be a friend!!! The Agency would also like to thank all the businesses businesses and individuals with in the community who have supported us during the past year. Without your commitment we' would not exist. Sincerely, Nancy Scott Executive Director Big Brothers Association of Newcastle. she will succeed. It won't be without help. There are women today today who worked to get equality guaranteed in Canada's constitution. It is my understanding that the section in the charter that guarantees equality among races and sexes didn't become law until April 17, 1985. That's only four years ago. Legal cases continue to arise today that involve women's rights. An organization organization called LEAF (Legal Education Action Fund), (consisting of feminists, feminists, I believe), gets involved involved and argues those cases. There are even politicians politicians who are doing their part, without being asked, to battle inequality. inequality. Over the weekend there was an article in the Toronto Star that brought the issue to light, A Toronto councillor asked her fellow- councillors to support a ban on beauty pagents at the city hall square. The councillor believed that the contests sent out negative messages to young women: Such messages messages state that women can succeed and survive because of their looks. She said she wanted rules enforced, that supposedly supposedly were already in existence at city hall, protecting protecting human dignity. Alter some discussion and, from what the article article said, "pot shots" from fellow councillors, the ban was supported. By supporting the ban, the councillor and her colleagues colleagues were acknowledging acknowledging that women, sixty years later, are people •fR- and not just something to. gush over and applaud for their beauty. All these women, the early suffragettes and the present-day feminists, worked and are working for equality. They continue to work because they, contrary to what some women think, believe that while some womèn now can make choices in their lives, such as choosing to work or choosing to remain at home, a large number of other women can't. And women today, similar to the so-called Famous Five of yesteryear, yesteryear, continue to keep working for equality. They do it so that the woman who believes she doesn't need the help of feminists or other women, women, won't have to ask for it. Thanks to Firemen To the Editor: Early Sunday evening, October 15, a severe storm hit north of Tyrone. The lightning struck a transformer, transformer, our home twice and the neighbour's barn causing causing it to catch fire. The barn is located close to three residences residences and with the wind there was a real possibility of great damage. The Town of Newcastle Fire Department,with trucks from Bowmanville and Orono was great -- not only containing the fire but saving the barn. We extend our sincerest thanks to the firemen who were on the scene for a professional professional job so well done. We are all looking forward forward to our new North Fire Station and know it will Serve us very well manned by the firemen of lire Town of Newcastle Fire Department. Department. Sincerely yours, June Smith, R.R. 5, Bowmanville. Annual Poppy Drive Runs Until Nov. 11 The 1989 Poppy Campaign Campaign begins October 23 and runs until November 11. Conducted by the Royal Canadian Legion, the Poppy Campaign raises money which is kept in trust and used to assist needy Canadian Canadian ex-service members and their families. Veterans of Commonwealth and allied countries who arc resident in Canada may also qualify for assistance through the Poppy Funds. The Poppy is a visible reminder reminder of the sacrifice made by some 114,000 men and women who died while serving serving in Canada's armed forces forces during two World Wars and the Korean Conflict. For each donation given during the campaign, a visible symbol symbol of remembrance is provided, provided, either in the form of a single poppy, a wreath or spray, or, in the case of group donations, a certificate. certificate. Poppy material is assembled assembled by disabled veterans and their families. This not only provides them with a small source of income, but allows them to take an nc-_ five part in the tradition of remembrance. During 1988 some $5 million million wore distributed in accordance accordance with the general bylaws of the Royal Canadian Canadian Legion. f f O \ iiffi : mmm «il w* Deaf Speaker Addresses Bowmanville Rotarians Ray Richer, Director of the Oshawa Deaf Centre, spoke through interpreter Bette McPhee at the Rotary Club luncheon last week. Mr. Richer zeroed in on the need for better facilities to educate young deaf persons and young people who arc hard of hearing. Dennis Mackey, a Durham Regional Police Officer with the Youth Bureau, is the Chairperson for Building Restoration Fund for the Centre. The talk was lively and informative and brought home the need for improved facilities not only for the deaf, but all disabled people in the Durham Region which the Centre services. On October 28, the National Hockey League Oldtimers will play the Ontario Ontario Deaf Association team at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium at 2 pm. Proceeds will go to the Building Fund, In the photo, from left, arc: Mr, Richer, Mr. Mackey, Mr. Mothersill and Bette McPhee.