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The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanviilc, July 15,1998 Page 4 ®|l t Catiabiati Statesman Former Publishers and Partners Rev. John M. Clirnie 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 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited Also Publishers of The Claringt on! Court ice Independent P.O. Box 190,62 King St. W., Bowmanviilc, Ontario L1C 3K9 623-3303 HOURS: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. 623-6161 Internet - statesman@ocna.org Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 Tel: 905 Fax: 905- For 144 Years, Our First Concern Has Been Our Community Publisher - John M. James 1 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 Laverne Morrison Brad Kelly, Lorraine Manfredo, Jennifer Stone Office Supervisor-Angela Luscher,Junia Hodge, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman, Marilyn Rutherford, Libby Smithson Editorials Fur Factory Faces Long, Slow Process The proposed fur garment manufacturing centre on rural land northwest of Orono still requires a considerable considerable number of approvals before one new job comes to Claringlon. It's something newcomers to municipal politics don't always realize when they sec a vote taken at a committee meeting. Claringlon has, it would seem, rendered its verdict on the development. The decision of Claringlon Council is to allow the project, so long as the site in question is only used for fur manufacturing. This form of site-specific rezoning is somewhat rare in municipal planning circles because it means the property property in question could only be used for one purpose. It could not, at some time in the future, be used to manufacture manufacture electronics parts, for example. As we understand it, such a move would require another rezoning and official official plan amendment. Next, the Lishman proposal enters a new arena, namely namely the regional municipality of Durham. Here, a decision must also be made and the very same arguments used over the past year will once again surface. It will be interesting interesting to sec whether the Durham Region allows the same kind of site-specific zoning. introduced by Claringlon Council. In any event, it will be some time in September before regional council has a chance to vote on the Lishman proposal. It will also be interesting to see if all the questions related to access to the site and the entrance on Taunton Rd. also reappear at the regional level. In the past, much of the debate had focused on the use of country property for commercial purposes and the impact of any development on the environment -- especially especially the nearby Wilmot Creek and a tributary which is even closer than the creek itself. The access issue is another topic which has appeared at recent meetings. Finally, even if the project clears the Durham Regional Council, it is unlikely that it could avoid a referral to the Ontario Municipal Board. The OMB is a kind of appeals court for decisions made by Ontario's municipal councils. Given the fact that this was one of the most controversial controversial proposals ever to come before local government, the possibility of an OMB hearing is certainly strong. And, even if there were no OMB procedures, the site plan agreement associated with the development would be yet another hurdle. Because of the rural nature of the site, it must meet additional criteria not normally covered in developments occurring on a commercial properly .within an urban area where development is expected. Matters such as the construction of the unique carth-inte- grated building, the disposal of sewage and the rehabilitation rehabilitation of the former gravel pit site must all be addressed. It will be a process requiring a considerable amount of time. Clarington Council has made its choice and certainly indicated the direction in which it wishes to proceed. But, this is a topic which is months away from a final resolution. The Wrong Tactics It is with some trepidation that we comment on the anti-abortion demonstration at the four corners of Highway Two and Regional Road 57 last week. Emotions run high on both sides of the issue. But, the method of the protest does deserve comment. The images described by the pro-lifers as documented photos of aborted fetuses undoubtedly shocked passers- by who traversed the Bowmanviilc intersection last Thursday morning. But, is this the proper way to express opposition to abortion? Isn't this something like showing enlarged frames from explicit pornographic movies' in order to protest pornography? Isn't it like showing enlarged photographs of dead and dying car crash victims in order to promote safe driving? Citizens have a right to express their views on any topic of public interest. But, what about the public's right to not be forced to view such material? What about the passing motorist with children who would prefer that his or her kids not be exposed to this kind of image and the many issues surrounding surrounding the abortion debate? If the pro-life lobby wishes to hold meetings and rallies rallies where such material is displayed, that's a different matter. People can choose whether or not to attend such a meeting and view the material in question. Displaying shocking billboard-sized photographs on public thoroughfares gives the public no choice at all but to sec the horrific photos. It could lead those same members of the public to view pro-life supporters as extremists who will stop at nothing to get their message across, And that's a strategy which could backfire on the pro-life movement. There's also a danger that the photos in question could simply raise the level of tension and anger between prolife prolife and pro-choice factions. Rather than informed debate, such pictures arc all too likely to result in shouting-matches. shouting-matches. From our cursory look at the protest, the participants were not extremists, but fellow-citizens who happen to hold strong convictions on a matter of public concern. They should, however, re-think their tactics. No Room In a bid to get cars off urban streets, Clarington's elected officials arc looking at the idea of requiring larger larger garages or two spaces for cars in urban driveways. It seems to us, however, that space in garages has a way of disappearing regardless of how large your garage happens to be. And, unless urban lots arc made much bigger, bigger, it's doubtful that two cars parked in a wider or longer driveway will be any more advantageous from an aesthetic aesthetic point of view than cars lining the streets. It may, however, help ease traffic and street safety concerns. Another idea might be to require overflow parking lots in subdivisions where excess vehicles can he placed, Residents could park their extra car and walk to their homes or visitors could use the free parking spaces and not contribute to crowding the streets. We've seen such parking in condominium-style developments. Perhaps the same principle could apply to subdivisions if it isn't already being done, Letter to the Editor How to Receive Copies of School Curriculum Guides Dear Editor: I would like to ask for your help in letting parents in your community know how they can obtain copies of the new elementary school curriculum for Arts, Health and Physical Education and French-As- a-Sccond language. These new curriculum documents were released at the end of June as part of the government's plan to boost student achievement achievement and give Ontario students students a higher quality education. education. As part of our commitment commitment to increase parental involvement in their children's education, we would like to give parents parents an opportunity to study the new curriculum documents over the summer, summer, so that they will have a clear understanding of what their children will learn in the new school year. Members of school councils may be particularly particularly interested in having copies of the curriculum documents, so that they can share information with other parents in their community. community. Copies of the Language and Mathematics curriculum, curriculum, already being used in Ontario schools and of the Science and Technology curriculum, released earlier earlier this year, are also avail- able.lt is expected that the Social Sciences curricu lum will be released later this summer. The new curriculum documents arc more rigorous rigorous and specific and, unlike the previous curriculum, curriculum, the new curriculum curriculum for Grades 1-8 spells out exactly what each student student must learn grade by grade. Teachers will be receiving receiving the new curriculum materials through their boards during the summer, and training sessions have already been planned to make sure that each teacher has the information information needed to begin to introduce the new program in the 1998-99 school year. To get copies of the documents, parents should write to: Public Inquiries Ministry of Education and Training 14 Floor, Mowat Block 900 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario M7A 1L2 The Email address is:- info@edu.gov. on. ca, Telephone: 1 -800-837- 1077 or (416) 325-2929. ; Thank you for bringing this opportunity to the! attention of parents in your community. Sincerely, , David J. Johnson', Minister Letter to the Editor Critical Situation for Disabled Children Dear Editor: As one of the parents who attended Queen's Park to hear Frances Lankin, the NDP critic for children's issues question Health Minister Elizabeth Witmer regarding regarding children's treatment centres, the experience can only be described as disheartening. Together with other Durham parents, parents, whose children are cither on a waiting list or receiving limited services services at Grandview Children's Centre, we have written and called the local MPPs to discuss this situation. situation. Every one of them - Janet Ecker, John O'Toole, Jerry Ouellett, Jim Flaherty and Julia Munroc have indicated they have either spoken personally or forwarded mail to the Minister of Health on this important issue and yet, when questioned in the Legislature, Mrs. Witmer clearly showed she had little understanding or concern for this issue. Not only did the Health Minister claim that a review of children's treatment centres was underway - which it is not - she boasted that the government was "protecting" funding funding for the centres. This, of course, is political double-talk for "freezing" "freezing" funding. It is hard to imagine how Mrs. Witmer thinks that freezing freezing funding for the past five years for critical services for disabled children, is something to boast about. I hope that our local MPPs understand how critical the situation has become for disabled children and their families in Durham. For many children, receiving therapy.; now could mean the difference between functioning independently, as adults, or the need for institutionalized institutionalized care later in life. As our representatives representatives at Queen's Park it is imperative that our MPPs convince the Minister of Health that this inequity in funding in Durham for children's services can no longer continue. A Concerned Parent, Cheiyl Lupton The 25th Column Out of all the jobs on a newspaper, writing a column is probably the one thing most folks think they'd like to try. Not everybody would want to sit through a day of debate at the local council meeting. Not everybody would want to spend Canada Day taking pictures of people having more fun than they were. Nor would too many folks -- aside from budding journalists -- want to cover a fire or an accident or talk to the eccentric folk who occasionally occasionally arrive at the doorstep of our newspapers with conspiracy theories that would make the X-Filcs look like a lea party. Moreover, few people think it would be enjoyable to run a press, sell an ad, lay out a page or type up the week's classified listings. All those things sound too much like work. But, many people think it would be fun to dash off a column. Well, they're only partly right. Whenever someone says they'd like to write a column, I jokingly suggest that they show me their twenty-fifth column. That's because, just as it's been said everybody has the makings of a book in their life, everybody everybody also has half a dozen good columns in them. It's only around the time you hit column column 25 that you can get a handle on whether or not you have the right stuff to be a columnist. columnist. By the time you reach column 25, you have told the big fish story and the hilarious wallpapering story, and the talc about your accidental brush with a celebrity or your appendectomy. Then, you hit what's sometimes called "the wall" among those who race marathons. That's the day when you stare at your computer computer screen with nothing to inspire you except a press release announcing the beginning beginning of asparagus season. That's when writing a column stops being fun and starts to he about as enjoyable as a root canal procedure. That's when it starts to look suspiciously like a job. Writing a column for a weekly newspaper is especially lough (not that I'm complaining or anything) because those of us who do it don't have the luxury of just being a columnist. There's also the other nineteen and three-quarter pages to think about filling too. The V big city columnists can take their kids to school, have a three-hour lunch, pick up dry-cleaning, mow the lawn and generally do whatever whatever they please because all those activities just might inspire the next column. Community newspaper writers, on the other hand, are squeezing in columns between ribbon-cuttings, sod-turnings and town council sessions. It's probably close to 10 years ago that I decided to take a few months off from the column rat-race. For a while, I'd been writing a weekly piece called Byline, which was about kids, dogs, taxes, and any other topic that caught my fancy before deadline time and didn't require more than 15 minutes of research. Sometimes, like the Seinfeld show, it was about nothing, There were a few occasions when those were among the best columns of all. Anyhow, like Dave Stcib, I'm making a comeback on the columnist's motind. Okay, so I'm not like Dave Stcib. But, you get the picture. This time, things will be a little easier because we have decided that the columnist duties will be shared by all of us responsible for the editorial side of The Statesman. You'll continue reading columns by Publisher Rick James. But, from time to time, you may sec columns from Sports/Layoul Editor Brad Kelly; Reporters Lorraine Manfredo and Jennifer Stone and Yours Truly. This way, our readers should be guaranteed guaranteed a fresh perspective. Better still, when someone complains that the columns arc boring, boring, it'll be harder to blame one person. Incidentally, I've taken the liberty of writing writing my 25th column today, It's usually the 25th column in which you resort to discussing discussing the pitfalls of writing a column. This should not he confused with the 53rd column in which you write about not having a topic for that particular week, By getting my 25th column out of the way immediately, the reader reader can he assured that my next offering will he about something more weighty, dignified and well-researched. And, if you believe that, you don't know me very well. J