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SECTION TWO WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21,1991 Efit Canadian Statesman Durham Region's Great Family Journal © Established 137 years ago in 1854 . « m Also Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second Class mail registration number 1561 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited 62 King Street West, Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 416-623-3303 CD Fax 416-623-6161 John M. James Editor - Publisher Richard A. James Associate Publisher Peter Parrott Brian Geo. Purdy Donald Bishop Associate Editor Advertising Mgr. Plant 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. Although every precaution will be taken to 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 to 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 If any error so noted Is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman its liability shall not exceed such a portion of the entire cost of such advertisement as the space occupied by Vie noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. Interesting Mayor's Race Amateur election strategists must be having a lot of fun discussing the Town of Newcastle mayoralty race. As was the case in the mayoralty battle three years ago, the contest will be anything but dull. In the running are three experienced experienced municipal po.liticians. The incumbent, incumbent, Marie Hubbard has three years in her current post and is looking looking for another term. Councillor Diane Harare, an 11-year veteran of local politics, politics, is the most experienced of the candidates. And this year she has apparently apparently heeded the suggestions that she try to put that experience to work in the municipality's top job. And then there's Ann Cowman who is likewise no stranger to local government, having having served several terms as the crusading crusading regional and local councillor for Darlington. What does it all mean? Well, most of the armchair experts would tell you that the entry of a third candidate makes it easier for the incumbent incumbent to win. That's because opposition opposition can be split between two credible opponents while the incumbent can, presumably, hold onto a core of support. support. On the other hand, it might be noted noted that since two of the candidates are current members of town council, both could feel the anger of taxpayers not satisfied with local government. As a former councillor, even Ann Cowman cannot totally distance herself herself from those actions taken by some of the previous town councils. Of course, she had nothing to do with the decisions of council for the past three years. It might even be suggested that there's room for a fourth candidate with no previous political experience to claim the support of citizens who are fed up with anybody who is or has been an elected official. A. final factor is the recent growth in population in the municipality. Given Given the fact that over 1,000 new homes have been built here in each of the last several years, we have a very large contingent of new voters. Their perceptions perceptions of what the municipality needs in the way of leadership will be a factor. factor. And certainly the new residents - if they bother to vote -- could sway the outcome. And so, like most armchair strategists, strategists, we offer no predictions. Or, at least none that we'd care to commit to print. We can only offer a promise: The 1991 municipal elections will be among the most interesting yet. Major Players are Doing The Port Granby Shuffle In the words of baseball great, Yogi Bera, it's a case of "déjà vu all over again." Last week, it was announced that consultants will begin holding public meetings aimed at selecting a site for a new Durham Region garbage dump. In addition, we also hear that the federal government will soon be proceeding proceeding with further plans leading to the decommissioning of the Port Granby Granby dump site. The reader of these news tidbits might think he or she has heard all of this somewhere before. In a dream, perhaps? In a flash of precognitive psychic insight? Not at all. Ten years ago, one might have quite likely read of plans to decommission Port Granby's dump site. There's absolutely no progress being made towards resolving either the landfill or the nuclear dump site headaches. headaches. There is, however, a goodly amount of futile paper-shuffling, consulting, consulting, meeting, talking, and reportwriting. reportwriting. Consider this: Five years ago, if one asked about the progress of the Port Granby cleanup, one would have been told that the site would be decommissioned decommissioned in due time, once all of the proper public consultation had occurred occurred and the technical questions related related to the decommissioning were resolved. resolved. Today, the same sentence would more or less describe the situation. Is that progress? Progress is not occurring at Port Granby because of the fact that the political political mess which is connected with the dump site is even bigger than the radioactive mess which is buried on the land in question, There's no easy answer to the cleanup cleanup First, let's look at the procedural red tape which must accompany the re-location of the 650,000 cubic metres of nuclear waste currently perched precariously close to Lake Ontario. It is necessary to hold meetings to seek public input here, where, the waste is located, and in the communities communities which might eventually become the repository of the waste. Then there must he public consultation over the process used to excavate the Port Granby material and move it to a safer location. Conceivably, every community community along a highway through which the waste would travel would have to be consulted and given the full opportunity opportunity to turn up at public meetings with their questions, criticisms, and picket signs. The chances are indeed, very slim that the public hearings will discover any way of removing the Port Granby material which is acceptable to everyone. everyone. If it's impossible to get a constitutional constitutional agreement among the Canadian provinces, how much more impossible will it be to got an agreement on the Port Granby decommissioning which moots all the requirements of residents, residents, environmentalists, farmers, activists, activists, members of the nuclear industry, industry, government agencies, and all the other parties having something to say about the topic. The truth of the matter is this: The Port Granby dump is too environmentally environmentally dangerous to leave on the lake- front. And it's too politically dangerous to move. Although .it's easy, to hire consultants, consultants, form committees, draft reports and call meetings, sooner or later all the paperwork will lead to the practical practical problem of moving the radioactive material from its perch on the lake- front to some other location. And, at that point the objections will occur. Since no one wants to have nuclear waste in their own backyard, any recommendation recommendation that is imaginable will just not work. There is. no solution which will not offend a heck of a lot of people. And therefore, governments are stalling for time. We can understand the frustration of John Veldhuis, who has vowed to camp out at the site and not eat or drink until there's an indication from the government that the process of relocating relocating the Port Granby trash will be resumed. Mr. Veldhuis, and all the rest of the citizens in this municipality have been waiting about 15 years for a resolution to the problem. We expect the federal politicians will announce a resumption in the site selection process which is supposed to lead to the clean-up of Port Granby. But, even then, we aoubt that the process process will lead to any immediate conclusion. conclusion. For, you see, there is yet another curve ball which can be thrown in the general direction of Port Granby: It's certain that an election will be called within the next few years. It's possible that the election will lead to the defeat of the federal government. In that case, it's equally possible that the whole site selection process established by the current government will be replaced by some new concept designed by the new government. And the process would then begin again. To see what we mean, we need only direct your attention to an equally controversial controversial dump proposal. This one is to be located in the Durham Region, possibly by 1996. However, due to a change in the provincial government, a new process for selecting a Durham dump site was developed and a brand new agency - called the Interim Waste Authority - was established to find the best location. location. This Authority's first job is to call meetings and seek public opinion on the topic. And that's the very same thing the Durham Region was attempting attempting to do about one year ago. _ Once again, we find that officials arc essentially re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The public is being being asked for input into the selection of a now dump site. That's_ the same public which gave their opinions about a year ago. It's also the same public who asked 15 years ago for something to bo done about Port Granby. It seems as though the more things change, the more they romain the same. CüU^j'9/j _ / NOjIM SORRY. II | ki/l&Qf sut he isn't h&£. AK. MVLRONBY STRlr-H fust STttrtpmtt roR WAITING FoR PNi> lum. TO RESPOND-'/ W, MOcM MsreS RECEPTION $ Response from Subdivision I am beginning to think our Prime Minister is right, when he says we're becoming becoming a country of whiners and hitchers. Here we have a resident of twenty-five years in OUR Village of Newcastle, Newcastle, who is having a bad time of it. She now has the use of a beautiful park and playground, playground, which before the new pump station was built, was an unused and ugly plot of land. By the way, PUBLIC PUBLIC input was welcomed and asked for during the planning stages of this project. project. Now, summer students can maintain this property for this twenty-five year resident resident to. look at and use at her leisure. Who will pay for this nice park and pump station? station? How about those dreaded NEW SUBDIVISION SUBDIVISION PEOPLE and their new tax dollars! Then our twenty-five year resident says Sunset Boulevard is in poor condition, condition, because of the NEW SUBDIVISION CHILDREN and their school buses! I remember remember looking at houses on this street before this NEW SUBDIVISION was built, and this street and most others needed a helluva helluva lot of improvement then. I wonder why improvements were not made then or before? before? Maybe it was the lack of tax ■ funds from thé low residential tax base! Since those darn NEW SUBDIVISION PEOPLE moved in to town, what has happened to the nice Village of Newcastle? Streets are now being re-constructed with new water, sewage, natural gas and hydro lines. We have a new and larger bank, another drug store, more Doctors, Dentists and Lawyers, a bigger and better grocery store, a new strip mall, another service club, and a whole bunch of nice caring family NEW SUBDIVISION SUBDIVISION PEOPLE! I'm sure a little inconvenience inconvenience will be worth the improvements. improvements. Thanks to the NEW SUBDIVISION PEOPLE PEOPLE for their tax dollars. Hopefully, it will not take twenty-five years for us to become Newcastle Villagers. Your truly, Phil Martin, Edward St., NEW SUBDIVISION, Newcastle, Village. P.S. If you can't get out of your Subdivision again, why not take a stroll along your new walkway into the NEW SUBDIVISION and say Hello! Hello! We're pretty nice people! Postal "Ignorance or Apathy" Dear Sir/Madam, We would like to submit the following as a "Letter to the Editor" in response to the letter of Corrie House- land (A Compliment for the Post Office), which appeared in the August 7th edition of your newspaper. In response to the letter of Ms. Houselander complimenting complimenting Canada Post for its "new attitude", we fail to understand understand what is so praiseworthy praiseworthy about a group of well paid employees merely performing performing their jobs in a competent competent manner. Perhaps it is the rarity of the phenomenon phenomenon that deserves comment? Our own experience with Canada Post has been somewhat somewhat different. Since the installation installation of a so-called "Super "Super Box" in our neighbourhood . we have been the regular recipients (at least once a week) of other other people's mail, usually our neighbours', but often with addresses bearing no simi-. larity to ours. Our repeated complaints have brought only form letters and empty blandisments that it "will be looked into." Even waiting for the letter letter carrier at the mailbox and getting him to inscribe our names on the inside of' the appropriate mail slot brought no relief. Next day, more misdelivered mail. Is it too much to ask that we should expect a learning factor factor from Canada Post? How is it that people who are found at one address 3 days of the week, suddenly live at another on the other 2? If we regularly receive other people's mail, then who's getting ours? The answer clearly is that due to the impersonal nature of the Super Box service, service, there is no attempt to learn individual names and addresses, and consequently, consequently, no accountability for mistakes. mistakes. The only remaining question is: is it ignorance, or apathy? Mark Williamson Esther Paszt, Newcastle. Crops Club Meets The 5th meeting of field crops was held on August 6th, 1991 at the farm of Eric Bowman Enniskillen. We discussed different kinds of crops and forages. We reviewed reviewed what crops to plant for the different heat units and growing season. We also discussed the different types of harvesting procedures that have to be done. We talked about the older ways compared to the new and more efficient ways. Our appreciation appreciation was given to Mrs. Bowman for the enjoyable snack. The meeting was adjourned adjourned 8:30 p.m. Congratulations Congratulations to everybody for the great weed projects that were handed in on time!! Remember to get your project ready for Achievement Achievement Program on August 23,1991. 15s by Laura J. Richards W Racism. It can start with someone someone mentioning that they don't like a particular person. Then it can grow into disrespect for other people. people. Then it changes color. Hate propaganda and racism. Not many people actually think about the topic until they read an article in the paper .or happen to be watching television. Unfortunately, there are a lot of hate propaganda propaganda peddlers out there. Having never been one to judge a person by what others have said about a person's heritage or color, I find racism to be disgusting. disgusting. The other day, in one of the major Toronto newspapers, there was an article about John Ross Taylor's hate conviction. Mr. Taylor had been convicted of running a dial-a-racist-message service. service. In 1979 he was ordered ordered by the Canadian Human Rights Commission Commission to stop using the telephone telephone to preach racial hatred. Two years later he was found to be in contempt of the order for the continuance continuance of the messages. In 1984, he was once again held in contempt and was in custody for one, month before he was released to appeal the conviction. When people buy into the hate ' propaganda, what are they really saying saying about themselves? And here's another question: How can people actually defend hate propaganda? People who decide that other people's opinions are better than their own really don't use the brains given to them. What a waste of grey matter! How pitiful that people have so little confidence confidence in their own beliefs beliefs that they must rely on someone else's. It kind of makes me wonder why people let themselves be lead around by the nose. It is so easy to come to one's own opinions if one doesn't let other people's opinions sway them. For instance, there are plenty of words that were invented by people to refer refer to people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds. backgrounds. It seems that the people people who regularly use these derogatory words in their daily lives are just as racist as white supremacists. supremacists. Many of my friends who moved up to Ontario have become racist over the years. Is this going to become one of the new things activists are going to have to fight against soon? While going to college in New Brunswick, I inadvertently inadvertently heard about some strange goings-on in the neighboring state of Maine. It seems that the Ku Klux Klan has been making headway in the New England State and had mounted a tremendous tremendous membership drive in the area. However, what really blew me away was the fact that some of the citizens citizens in the area I was liv ing in at the time were members of the KKK The village I grew up in was far from being as multi-cultural as Toronto, but we had our share of diversity. I went to school with children from the Mali- seet reservation a few miles away and there were some black children. I have to admit that there were more whites than anyone else, but the color of a person's skin did not tell us if we could or could not play with the non-white kids. Why is it so important to some people to say they don't like someone just because of skin color or ethnic background? Maybe I am naive, but I was brought up to look at each individual as they are. Pre-judging people is a harsh weapon of hatred. hatred. It is too bad that people people won't, in many cases, take time to get to know each other rather than passing judgement based on one bad experience or on somebody else's opinion. opinion. Life must be boring for them. After all, meeting new people is one of the ways to enjoy life. Merchant Says Thanks to All Dear Mr. James: On behalf of the management management and staff of Hooper's Jewellers Ltd. we would like to thank your paper for the publicity, and our customers for the vote of confidence in being selected "Merchant of the Week". Once again Thank You. Yours truly, Ron and Dan Hooper Qi leen's Park Rep< by Drt Gord Mills,, M.P.P. Following my return to Toronto on Wednesday from Justice Committee hearings in Ottawa, Kingston, and Peterborough, Peterborough, I was disappointed to learn that the Ministry of Transportation Transportation had withdrawn plans for subsidized subsidized private bus service in our area. However, after reviewing the high costs involved and the concerns raised by municipalities, unions, and bus companies, I support the Minister's decision. decision. The Ministry of Transportation originally estimated the service would cost approximately $500,000 per year. When the proposals were received, it was found that a subsidy approximately approximately four times higher would be required. required. Based on those figures, the per trip subsidy for the provision of four bus services proposed would have been $13.52. The provision of a single train service would have called for a per trip subsidy of $29.30. In this time of recession, recession, neither proposal would have been seen as fiscally responsible. The ministry is now undertaking a study to develop a long term passenger passenger transportation strategy for south central Ontario, which will assess the future role of the rail system and opportunities opportunities for bus transportation as alternatives to increasingly congested automobile travel. The study is scheduled scheduled for completion by the end of the year. I believe this review is encouraging and will lead to a better plan for our area. I am committed to seeing Durham Durham East getting the best public transportation system. No one will work harder towards achieving that goal. But I need to hear from constituents constituents about the kind of transportation system we want. All of us must work together on this important issue and I look forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions. On Saturday, I was pleased to visit with two constituents celebrating 90th birthdays. Congratulations and best wishes to Mrs. Marjorie Johns of Prince Albert and Mr. J. Wesley Pearce, of Blackstock. Also on Saturday I was pleased to open a new laboratory at tne Clarke Museum and Archives in Orono. This is the only laboratory of its kind in Durham and it allows staff to restore artifacts in a controlled environment. The Clarke Museum is a great place to spend a couple of hours with the family family and I hope you will try and get out and support our community museum. Till next week - be kind to one another. another. Pressing Matters In One Small Town - by John E. James - w TAKE ME OUT OF THE BAWWWL GAME, AND MHCHALL GORBACHOV Shoulda done this column two months ago, but better late than never. never. Earlier this summer, during the after after shock segment of the third (and most recent) '91 attempt at respectable respectable golf, the Toronto Blue Jays became the table talk topic. The Jays were blistering hot, looking as though they'd run away and hide from tne other American League East Division teams. All the folks at the table were old ball players. All follow the major league season with keen interest. None believe the Jays will win the Division Division title. Why? Because, almost to the last man (long live Mookic!), the Blue Jays aren't winners. They are whiners. Most Jays worry too much about things that don't win games. They worry about contracts, They worry about other players' contracts. They worry about batting high or low in tne order, plntooning, performance bonuses, personal statistics, not enough coaching, too much coaching, etc. They're too concerned about the consequences of "extra effort"... which might win a game, but could also result result in personal injury, and ruin a career. career. Their agents are more important than the manager who plays them. Imagine what would have happened if David Wells had pulled his mound tantrum thirty years ago? Tossing the ball towards the outfield would nave been the last pitch Wells ever threw in the Majors. And the team captain's spikes (if the Jays had anyone with leadership qualities) would be buried in his backside before he hit the locker room. What bugs us most is how many Jays ignore the game itself, while checking to see if the tv cameras are aimed in their direction. Watch after somebody makes a potential potential highlight play...you'll see eyeballs eyeballs peeking in the direction of the closest tv camera. Often the ball cap comes off, to better expose the kisser. Some hot dogs can't even run off the field at the end of an inning without taking off the cap. Perhaps Dave Stieb should be excluded excluded from the latter group, He doesn't know fans -- or tv cameras -- exist. If stats were kept, Stieb would outright own the major league record for athletic supporter acjjustments in a regulation nine inning game. We prefer prefer to believe this is a subconscious act. Hey, the Jays aren't a total writeoff. writeoff. They may even be the best team - on paper -- ever fielded by the Toronto organization. (Any team without George Bell merits consideration) If they are the all-time best, that alone should tell us something. Look at the starters who weren't even with the team last year: Roberto Alomar, Joe Carter, Devon White, and, most recently, Candy Moldonato. These players had amazing impact, much like Mookie Wilson did earlier. If this team is hot, why do so many guys become pseudo-superstars simply by showing up? "Sorry excuses for super super stars," he sez derisively. Who ever heard of a lead-off batter (Devon White) so incapable of performing the lowly sacrifice bunt that he isn't even given the opportunity to advance a man at first base in the late innings of a one-run game? If this is playoff baseball, baseball, then the game itself is in serious trouble. Wo predict the Jays will choke again in 1991, despite tne weekend series series in Detroit. Overlook the worrisome worrisome fact that Sparky's disentombed Dozen could easily have won all three games. Results of that matchup are much more a damning indictment of the American Loajjue East Division, than a preview of some inescapable destiny about to descend upon Toron to's 1991 Blue Jays. (Note to all rabid Blue Bird fans: don't worry about saving this column for two months. A fastidious young brother will do it for you.) In other news... The above seems fairly trivial in light of what transpired in the Soviet Union over the weekend. Mikhail Gorbachov has been placed under house arrest by the Soviet "Old Guard," which you can interpret as 'The Army' and a bunch of corrupt Communist Party members about to lose golden arm chairs. Definitely not the best news we've ever had, folks. For a better idea of what may be in store during the .next few months and years in the U.S.S.R., run down to the video store and rerent rerent Dr. Zhivago. Whether Mikhail was right or wrong no longer matters. What did matter most was Gorbachov's failure to clearly explain and prepare Soviet citizens, so they'd be able to endure the terrible transition period between communism and capitalism. Just like' everybody over here those days, the Russian people expected instant rewards. rewards. No pain, no gain. In this case, the pain could be a doozer for us, as well as them.