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The Canadian Statesman. Bowmanvillc, Wednesday, December 16, 1998 Pace 4 tile Canadian tatesiman C Ol*T> ^ Former Publishers and Partners Rev. John M. Climie and W. R. Climie 1854 -1878 M. A. James, 1878 - 1935 • Norman S. 13. 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 Clnriugionl Court ice 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 - slatesman@ocna.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, Tim Bowers, Kevin Britton, Suzanne Christie, Sharon Cole, Laurens Kaldeway, Barb Patterson, Sean Pickard, Tyler Sellick, Jim Snoek, James Stephenson, Vance Sutherland, Jim Tuuramo Advertising Editorial Laverne Morrison Brad Kelly, Jennifer Stone Office Supervisor - Angela Luscher, Junia Hodge, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman, Marilyn Rutherford, Libby Smithson Editorials The Future Of GTSB The Greater Toronto Services Board is now enshrined in provincial laws. But, the role of that board still lies in the hands of the politicians and the public. . Government MPPs arc quick to point out that the task of the mega-board is to advise and co-ordinate decision making among Greater Toronto Area Municipalities. It will also direct and control transit in the Greater Toronto Area. It is not to become our next level of government. ' Regional councillors, on the other hand, see the board as a potential threat to their authority and possibly the first step towards the creation of a bigger, GTÀ government. government. Who is right? Only events in the next decade will give us an answer to that question. Politics is an ongoing process and the eventual role of this new mega-board will be decided in that process. ; Those who fear that the GTSB will mean the absorption absorption of Durham into Toronto can see some precedent for this philosophy in past actions of the provincial government. government. These were, after all, the folks who created one big Toronto mega-city and eliminated the Metro municipalities municipalities at the stroke of a pen. ; However, the bill that establishes the GTSB has two provisions which might prevent a repetition of the Toronto scenario. Durham East MPP John O'Toole introduced an amendment to the bill which allows ipunicipal councils to opt out of the GTSB system. A second amendment to the GTSB legislation concerns rural and agricultural policies which must be included in a "countryside plan." The lack of attention to the agricultural agricultural sector was always a criticism of the GTSB process, since it appeared as though plans for a megacity megacity always overlooked the substantial agricultural heritage heritage in the communities surrounding Toronto. - In the view of Durham MPP John O'Toole, local municipalities can opt out of the GTSB. And that should come as welcome news to the Durham Region which is strongly opposing the concept. Ontario Residents Smart, Healthy and Law-Abiding Ontario's Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism, has launched a billboard campaign to pronto pronto tc Ontario's economic benefits to potential investors in major cities across the United States, i And, in announcing the campaign, the Minister released some other statistics on the Ontario economy which show we have much to be proud of. They may not fit on a billboard. But, here are some statistics which illustrate how the Province of Ontario measures up against the competition in U.S. states. ; In describing the Ontario economy, Minister A1 Palladini notes that Ontario is expected to grow faster than any of the G-7 industrial countries over the next three years. :: During the 1980s, real growth averaged 3.6 per cent annually in Ontario. That's faster than all the G-7 countries countries except Japan. Ontario also leads the Great Lakes stales in growth in manufacturing capital investment. The statistics also reveal that Ontario's citizens arc healthier. In Ontario, life expectancy is 78.5 years for a male, compared to 72.5 for a male in the U.S. Female life expectancy is 81.2 years in Ontario, compared with a national U.S. average of 79.2. " Ontarians arc also thinner. A total of 35.1 per cent of U.S. citizens arc considered to be obese, while only 28 per cent of Ontarians are in that category. This province also has fewer incidents of cancer, AIDS and ischemic heart disease. ' Ontarians arc also more law-abiding. The statistics from Ontario show that 1.7 homicides occur in a population population of 100,000. Those numbers arc higher in all of the comparable U.S. stales and range from 3.6 homicides per 100,000 in Minnesota to 10 per 100,000 in Illinois. In the category of education, the surveys show Ontario has higher adult literacy levels than the United States. Moreover, Ontario reports that close to 53 per cent of the province's adult population has attended post- secondary school institutions. In the United States, the overall rate of citizens with some post-secondary education education is 48 per cent. Of course, Ontarians arc part of the country whose ranking has consistently topped the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). Since 1994, Canada has placed first on that listing, while the U.S. has posted a ranking of between second and eighth. Ontario, it would appear, is contributing towards Canada's excellent showing in the United Nations listing of countries that arc the best places to live. But, as with any first place ranking, the challenge will be to hold onto that record. It's something all citizens and politicians must consider consider as they ponder reforms in our governments, public institutions and business practices. Bank Mergers Merely Delayed 'flic federal authorities have closed the door on bank mergers, for now. But, the bankers will be back! In a free enterprise system, where mergers among big companies are a daily occurrence, it's difficult to see any other fate for Canada's chartered banks. We'd be surprised surprised if the banks do not proceed with some kind of public campaign to illustrate why mergers are good for not only the banks, but also the customers. It will be a hard sell because the general public already thinks hanks are too big. But the merger plans will only he delayed, not deferred altogether. The only thing that might stop them will be a change in philosophy towards smaller institutions and a belief that they can he just as effective as the Goliaths of the business world, Sooner or later, the pendulum will swing in that direction. But, not yet. Letter to The Editor Distinguished Visitor Jolly Old St. Nick was on duty in downtown Bowmanvillc last Saturday as part of the Bowmanvillc BIA's Christmas festivities. Many of the younger shoppers took the opportunity to drop by and chat with Santa in his sled at the corner of King St. and Temperance St. The North Pole visitor is pictured above with his helpers, Megan Bydal and Andrina Matthie. Santa will be back one more time this Saturday morning and afternoon, before he heads back to the North Pole to finalize preparations for Christmas. Of course, he'll return December 25th. Editor's Letters Ratepayers Praise Councillors For Rejecting Raise Dear Editor: We, the Newcastle Ratepayers Association, applaud the intestinal fortitude fortitude shown by Local Councillors Charlie Trim and Jim Schell and Regional Councillor John Mutton for standing up at Monday's General Purpose • and Administration (GPA) meeting and publicly announcing their decision // to forgo the salary increases increases for elected representatives. representatives. Salary increases for elected officials were never ait issue nor let alone discussed at the time of the election little over a year ago. It is this decision of conscience and listening to their electorate on this emotionally charged issue that renews our faith in the political process. It is unfortunate that the three Councillors could not have been unanimously unanimously supported by the other membbrs of council present present at the G.P. and A. meeting. meeting. Newcastle Ratepayers Association Willie Woo Gliairperson, Frank Hoar Secretary Pay Increase Dear Rick: , I wholeheartedly agree with the comments comments submitted by Ernie Roberts, pertaining pertaining to the inflated increases our councillors councillors and Mayor gave themselves recently. It seems to me that common sense with taxpayers' money has eluded Not Realistic" our elected officials. Perhaps, taxpayers of Bowmanvillc could find a consultant to tighten up the public purse. An increase of almost 30% for the Mayor when ordinary workers are scratching for 1 % - 2% or 3% is not realistic. Ron McLean Thanks For Helping Big Brothers UGLY Server Contest Dear Peter: On behalf of Big Brothers of Clarington, I wish to thank you and your staff for the excellent coverage we received during during Big Brother Month and our first U.G.L.Y. Server Contest. Big Brothers of Clarington attempts to recruit Big Brothers throughout the year but makes a special effort during during September which is Big Brother Month across Canada. Your support in helping us reach potential Big Brothers and reminding reminding the community of our services during this time was greatly appreciated. It is heartwarming to see the friendships that develop between the Big and Little Brothers. Thanks for helping us reach men who will volunteer volunteer their time to be a Big Brother to the young boys who are still waiting for a friend. Thank you also for pro-, viding weekly updates of our first U.G.L.Y. Server Contest. Our agency receives full funding from the Clarington Community and your help in promoting our fundraising fundraising endeavours is greatly appreciated. All the best to you, your friends and family for a safe and happy holiday holiday from everyone at Big Brothers of Clarington. Nancy Scott, Executive Director r Thoughts Unlimited by Rick James Get Ready for Computer Chaos Unless you've been living under a rock, you must have heard about the Millennium Bug that threatens to shut down computer systems systems around the world on January 1, 2000. I've mentioned it here several times encouraging everyone to check their systems now before you have to re-mortgage your house to find a Y2K programmer programmer in December of 1999. Actually, we don't even have to wait that long to find out what's going to happen. The poop is going to hit the propeller in a few weeks when some computer programs start projecting dates into the Year 2000. "Huh, what do you mean, Rick?" Let's start with an easy scenario and one that is close to home. If you buy a one year subscription to The Canadian Statesman a month from now, the expiry date will extend into January of 2000. Many publishers in the newspaper industry have just realized this dilemma and arc scrambling to find software that will handle the problem. Unfortunately, we arc a notorious bunch for fixing a problem when it becomes a problem. I think newspaper publishers invented the phrase, "Necessity is the mother of invention.." Although the subscription dilemma can be put off using a pen a paper for those subscriptions affected, the Y2K problem gets a little more complicated when financial companies start projecting interest rates on mortgages and investments. Bean counters arc starting to panic since their budgets for the coming year will extend into 2000. And even if the "millennium bomb" does not explode in the world's computers just over a year from now, 1999 is likely to see rising panic as people take precautions against computer failure triggered by the year 2000. The time bomb has trivial origins. In the early days of computing, computing, programs saved what was then precious space by abbreviating years to the last two digits, Programmers knew this could cause problems at the turn of the century because computers would read "00" as "1900" rather than "2000" and crash or spew out Hawed data,But they thought these programs would be history by then as technology raced ahead. They were wrong, Now the fear is that old data systems carrying carrying the millennium bug could trigger disasters around the world in everything from defense, transport and telecommunications to energy energy and financial services. I suspect around August or September there will he some panic with hoarding of food and bank notes. Then the whole thing becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Early trigger dates are likely to provide sneak previews of the chaos that may hit as clocks strike midnight on Dec. 31. 'flic first is Jan. I, 1999. As I mentioned earlier, programs used in some accounting systems systems operate a rolling year ahead as they set renewal dates for insurance insurance premiums or bank loans and may crash when they reach out beyond Jan. 1,2000. There arc other dates next year that might trigger computer failure. failure. The two to watch are April 9,1999, the 99th day of the year, and Sept. 9, 1999, which might be recorded as 9-9-99. This is because programmers often used nines as a cutoff for a program. A row of nines meant, "Stop, don't do this anymore," If you think today's programmer has a handle on the problem, you'd better start hoarding some food. Microsoft Corp. has announced it found a Year 2000 problem in its popular Windows 98 computer operating system and has issued an update to correct it. The company said the problem was a minor one which might result in the incorrect display of dates but posed no risk of data loss or computer damage. Nevertheless, the finding was one more sign that not even the leading high-tech companies, let alone thousands of other small businesses, had rooted out all potential "millennium bug" problems. And what am I going to do about it? I certainly won't be flying in a plane or sailing on a ship December 31, 1999. You'll be able to find me snuggled up in my house with a blanket and my ceiling high cartons of firewood, food and booze. As for Christmas, I would like a new AC/DC generator and a gasoline truck parked in the driveway. I should also probably have a couple signs ready to hang on the front of the house. One will say, "I told you so!" The other will say, "Yes, the Y2K village idiot lives here." Speaking of Bugs In all the years I've been using computers, I've never had a virus infect any of our systems. But, there's a new one on the streets that's very nasty. It's called the worm and just like the slimy thing that crawls around in the dirt, it burrows deep in your hard drive and starts eating. eating. , ... All our systems run the most up-to-date virus protection systems, systems, so I assumed we were safe from invasion until one of my colleagues colleagues tipped me off that his system has been infected. My second warning came from an industry magazine that supplies supplies software on CD. I used the CD and a week later, a warning came from the manufacturer that their CD has been infected by the worm. A neat little program called "WormGobblcr" accompanied the warning and sure enough, we had the worm in our system. Fortunately, early detection minimized the damage. You can find "WormGobblcr" and similar programs on the internet, internet, Do it now or you won't have to wait until tile year 2000 for some major computer problems.