The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanvillc, July 8,1998 Page 4 ®jte Canabtatt Statesman Former Publishers and Partners Rev. John M. Climie and W. R. Climie 1854 - 1878 M. A. James, 1878 - 1935 • Norman S. B. James, 1919 - 1929 G. Elena James, 1929 - 1947 • Dr. George W. James, 1919 - 1957 'N» Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited Also Publishers of The ClaringtonICourticc Independent P.O. Box 190, 62 King St. W., Bowmanvillc, Ontario L1C 3K9 Tel: 905-623-3303 HOURS: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Fax: 905-623-6161 Internet - statesmanQocna.org Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 For 144 Years, Our First Concern Has Been Our Community Publisher - John M. James Assoc. Publisher - Rick James Plant Manager-Rick Patterson Ad. Manager - Brian G. Purdy Editor - Peter Parrott Production Supervisor - Ralph Rozema, Suzanne Bennett, Tim Bowers, Kevin Britton, Sharon Cole, Laurens Kaldeway, Barb Patterson, Tyler Sellick, Jim Snoek, James Stephenson, Vance Sutherland, Jim Tuuramo Advertising Editorial Lavernc Morrison Brad Kelly, Lorraine Manfredo, Laura J. Richards Office Supervisor-Angela Luscher, Junia Hodge, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman, Marilyn Rutherford, Libby Smithson Endangered Species? Queen's Park is casting a long shadow over the proceedings proceedings at Durham's regional government. At the final Regional Council session before the summer, summer, elected officials could be seen glancing over their shoulders more than once as they considered the impact of their actions at the provincial level. The regional council salary increase was debated in terms of whether or not the provincial government would use the pay hike to criticize regional spending. The bulk of the regional tax increase was blamed on Queen's Park's inability to deliver financial assistance of about $28 million. That translates into a 15 per cent tax hike for an average citizen. But, when you consider other tax increases not directly attributable to the downloading, downloading, the increase is over 18 per cent. Also at the regional council session, elected officials were discussing the impact of the Greater Toronto Services Board on the Durham Region. They argued that the mega-board to co-ordinate government in the GTA should be shelved because it is likely to become just one more level of government. Councillors also called for a moratorium on provincially-inspired changes to municipal municipal government. As the senior level of government, Queen's Park has always been carefully studied by municipal politicians. Wringing more dollars out of Queen's park is a regular pastime for politicians toiling in towns, townships, cities and regions across Ontario. The difference seems to be that Queen's Park is attempting to change the long-established local government government scene. There is the fear that either the local or the regional level of government will disappear in the name of efficiency. And anyone who doesn't believe that possibility possibility need only look at the City of Toronto where the restructuring has.already happened. Moreover, there is evidence that the provincial government government is trying to push the municipalities towards more spending cuts. This is the only possible outcome if municipalities are given additional financial responsibilities responsibilities under the downloading strategy without all of the extra money they are asking for. In effect, Queen's Park is telling municipalities to cut spending. Municipalities : like Durham reply that they have been trimming costs long before the Tories came - to' power : and they have ; already made many t of the: tough' decisions that the provincial government is only now facing. Still, the shadow of Queen's Park lingers. Regional councillors can be forgiven if they are behaving like there's a meteorite the size of the Ontario Legislature headed in their direction. One might understand understand why they are acting a little like endangered species. Perhaps, in the eyes of Queen's Park, they are. . We Need New Schools "We spend a lot of time talking about curbs and gutters gutters and streetlights, but we don't spend the same time talking about the education of our children." That's how school trustee Bob Willsher describes the approach to building new schools in our rapidly-expanding rapidly-expanding urban communities. Vacant farm fields around Bowmanvillc, Courtice and Newcastle arc yielding a new harvest of homes. But, the schools arc pot being built as fast as the singles, semis and townhouses. What's the answer? Bob Willsher has suggested a freeze on new development development until adequate school facilities are available in the new communities. But, there arc those who will argue that available school facilities, although they may consist of portable classrooms, are perfectly acceptable under today's growth conditions. Should development, which produces jobs and new homes for families, grind to a halt merely because politicians haven't got their priorities straight when it comes to schools? Another possibility is to encourage school boards to get out of the business of maintaining and building property. property. Why not have developers build new schools in their communities and lease them back to the boards of education? education? Later on, if population trends changed, these buildings could have a second life as apartments, community community centres or seniors' facilities. Yet another option is to levy a tax on each new home in order to accommodate schools. This, however, is not a popular move because it would add to the price of homes. It doesn't seem fair for a family moving into a new subdivision to have to pay a lot levy for schools, while a family moving into an established neighbourhood neighbourhood does not. If schools arc a universal right, then it's up to the society at large to fund them -- not just the parents. After all, it is the society at large which benefits from a well-educated population. It seems to us that, whether the provincial government opts for earmarking more money for building schools or opts for a rental scheme, we need more schools. Families moving into new subdivisions do not have to put up for long, if at all, with temporary sewers or storm drains, roads, gutters, sidewalks, streetlights and parks. All of these things arc seen as necessary for a healthy community. Yet, on the other hand, communities arc required to wail for years before local schools arc completed. completed. In the meantime, sehooling is provided in portables portables or sometimes by convoluted arrangements to bus students to wherever schools are available. It's time for the provincial government, which controls controls the educational purse-strings to take a second look at school funding in growth areas of Ontario. And that means Clarington. Sounds of Canada Day Members of the Clarington Concert Band performed at the Orono Park last Wednesday, July 1, for the Canada Day celebrations. The tuba section is shown here. Letters to the Editor By-laws Should Stop Cats From Roaming Dear Editor: I am a responsible dog owner and find lately every time I read the newspaper newspaper there is an article about dogs and their behaviour. Has everybody forgotten about the troubles troubles that cats have been in our society? For instance, my six- ycar-old son is now taking a battery of drugs for the cat feces disease called Toxoplasmosis. This disease disease is very serious for pregnant women, but young children can be infected too. My son received this disease by playing in the sandbox or helping me plant the garden and unknowingly came in contact contact with cat feces. My son now has to have a blood test every week for the next four weeks, because of the affect the drugs might have on him. (Do you know how hard it is to take blood from a six year old when he doesn't want, to give blood?) We now have to take my son out of school every week to see the doctor and to get his blood work done. Also, he is not allowed to play soccer for the next two to three weeks (try to explain that to a six year old boy who just loves soccer.) Now let's talk about the inconvenience to me. I have to go to school every day to give him his afternoon afternoon pill. I have to take him to the doctor's every week and pay for parking. I had to go to all my neighbours neighbours and tell them the situation situation that my son is in and inform them about this disease that their children could have been in contact with. Last week ten children plus myself on the street were tested for this disease. disease. It was not a pleasant scene for the parents. Some kids fainted, some kids vomited, some kids just screamed. All this has occurred because cats arc being allowed to run around freely in our yards. For some reason cats are exempt from the bylaws bylaws of being restrained on a leash and arc allowed to roam freely to get into our garbage, get into cat fights, stalk and kill our beautiful birds and to do their business anywhere they feel like doing it. As a dog owner I must keep my dog under control at all times. It has to be on a leash when we go for a walk. When we arc on our walk wc scoop our dog's poop and when our dog is not on a leash it is in a six foot fully-fenced yard. I also have to get my dog license every year with the city. Do you think that a dog wouldn't love to roam free too? I believe the only way to resolve this type of situation situation is to change as well as enforce the by-law regarding cats and their boundaries (restrain to their own back yard) to reflect the same by-laws that arc required for dogs. By the way, I don't own a cat and look at the situation situation I'm in. Pauline Bryan Courtice Fund-Raiser Shows Community's Strength Dear Editor: Wc would like to sincerely sincerely thank all the people who attended the B.B.Q. fundraiser for our son, Matthew, at Loblaws Sunday, June 28. The kind words, sincere best wishes and generosity helped make the day an overwhelming overwhelming success. A total of $2,362.77 was raised. This is a testament of the strong character of this community and one that sets it apart from others. We would also like to Continued on page 5 Thoughts Unlimited by Rick James Windows, Smindows Have you upgraded to Windows '98 yet? With the recent release of Windows '98, Microsoft will again demonstrate the world's most successful sales strategy -- the software software upgrade. Bill Gates knows that you can just change the version number of your program and half of your customers will buy a new copy, no questions asked. It's a strange thing, this need wc have to be current, in style and in software. It must be a powerful force to get us to spend so much for so little over and over again. The Microsoft marketing machine is going to prey on this weakness weakness over the next few weeks. For the $200 upgrade, Microsoft is going to make Windows 98 sound like computer heaven. But in reality, reality, compared to the new Macintosh G3 and System 8.1, it lags far behind in functionality, ease of use and speed. When comparing the Mac O/S to Windows, the best analogy I've come up with is that whenever I have to use Windows '95 instead of my beloved Macintosh, it feels like I'm playing hockey with dull skates. Unfortunately, most business software programmers were so entrenched in the complex world of DOS, they didn't feel the simplicity simplicity of the Macintosh could handle the tough number crunching they demanded. Ironically, it's the Macintosh with its powerful interface that has to handle the really complicated files of the graphic graphic arts industry. It's too bad because the computing world would be a lot simpler for everyone if the Macintosh dominated the market like Microsoft. If you consider the Macintosh has always been able to handle the Year 2000 and beyond, that issue alone should have been enough to steer businesses away from DOS and Windows, Should you upgrade to Windows '98? I wouldn't, at least not yet. Windows '95 was filled with hundred of bugs that '98 is supposed to fix. But, I'd wait until someone else test drives it for a while. The risk of system failure is not worth the limited number of new features in '98. Golfing Paradise If there's one thing I love as much as my Macintosh, it's the opportunity opportunity to play new and challenging golf courses, Two weeks ago, Ron Strike, Karl Vcrmuclcn and I headed west to London to take part in a Liver Foundation golf tournament with a former Bowmanvillc legal eagle, Ed Finlan. You may remember Ed's name appearing in this column years ago following one of the World Backyard Hockey Championship reports. His son was listed as one of the few casualties of the tournament after someone challenged the young Finlan to lick the frozen door knob of Strike's Beech Avenue Ice Palace. It wasn't a pretty sight. Our first stop was Ed's home course in London. The Oaks is a new private course that's attracting a lot of new members from other area clubs. And so it should. The front nine is a classic links style layout with rolling fairways, waste bunkers and tricky greens. The back nine dives into the lake and stream infested valley that challenges any golfer's inventory of Titlcists. My favourite hole on the back nine is the 15th. It's a 135 yard par three to an island green, just like the famous one at TPC Sawgrass. The shot has to be perfect or you're wet. If you make it through there, you might think you're going to sail home untroubled. I did, until I hit the 18th. It's a narrow 620 yard, dogleg left, par five that requires three perfect shots to reach. I walked away from there quickly with a bogey and said thank you very much. After a few refreshments and a dip in The Oaks' pool, it was off to what has to be one of the world's most private golf courses. If you haven't heard about a place called Rcdtail, you will. It's so good, Nick Price says he would go there to prepare for The Masters if the weather were better in April. Located in Port Stanley, Rcdtail is the dream of two avid golfers who turned their successful business venture into a golfer's paradise. There arc no members, only the owners' 100 selected friends and their invited guests. The maximum number of players allowed per day is 48 and the annual play is restricted to 3,000 rounds. For comparison, comparison, most courses will see about 40,000 rounds per year. Needless to say, the golf course is immaculate. The most distinguishing feature about Rcdtail is the blowing fescue fescue that lines most of the fairways, A good drive is rewarded, while an errant tec shot is severely punished, While not a long course at 6,600 yards, it is full of risk for those who wish to dare, and offers rewards for intelligent play. The 18th is a good example of how a final hole should play. It's a par live that passes directly in front of the clubhouse. Two good shots could find the green and set up opportunities for eagles and birdies. But, disaster also looms in the tec shot landing area and around the green. The thought of an eagle can quickly turn into a double bogey, exactly how the owners and course architects planned it. If anything, perhaps the clubhouse might be just a little too close to the fairway for some spectators. Just ask Ed. His second shot ricocheted ricocheted off the chairs and tables on the patio, Fortunately, it was still early and nobody was having lunch. If you ever get the opportunity to play either of these courses, do not turn down the invitation. They are both spectacular and challenging challenging for avid golfers. Just remember to stock up in the pro shop before teeing off. You're going to need lots of ammunition on both courses.