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• Total Market Coverage of Clarington from the Publishers of The Canadian Statesman • A James Publishing Community Newspaper F riday, May 28,1999 145th Year Circulation: 21,265 The holiday Victoria Day Weekend brought race fans to Mosport Park For a full three days of racing excitement. Following the practice practice and qualifying sessions on Friday, many of the feature races were held on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Former Hampton residents residents Randy MacDonald, and Terry MacDonald-Cadieux, became the first brother and sister team to combine their efforts in a race. They finished seventh overall in the Motorola Cup three hour endurance race. In the above photo, Robert Sak, of Michigan, did.some damage to his right front tire after spinning out exiting one of the turns. ■Photo by Brad Kelly Four Candidates Square Off Health Care And Education Remain Top Issues by Jennifer Stone Staff Writer The gloves came off Tuesday night at Bowmanvillc High. School. Several verbal punches were landed as four of the five local candidates in the June 3 provincial election sparred over the issues during a forum hosted by the Durham Region Labour Council. Gail Thompson of the Green Party, Progressive Conservative incumbent John O'Toole, New Democratic Party candidate Jim Morrison, and Garry Minnie of the Liberals were on hand to take questions from the audience of about 120 people. Jacinthe Miliaire of the Natural Law party was the lone candidate not to attend the debate. Hot Topics As at previous debates, health care and education emerged as the hot topics. "Since 1995 (when the current government took office), we have seen massive cuts to education and health care in communities only to benefit the top six percent of people in communities," said Morrison. But O'Toole said he thinks the government is simply doing what is has to do to ensure the best use of taxes. The changes to education arc a prime example, he said. "The wise thing for the government to do is to find better better use of taxpayers' money," he said, adding he feels his government has tried to get the dollars back into the classroom. classroom. "The most portables in the province arc in Durham, and the best Board of Education office is in Durham. Something's out of whack." O'Toole said the situation in education in Durham is not as bad as one might think. "What we are exposed to is Toronto media," said O'Toole, adding every board of education in Durham Riding has seen increased funding since 1995. "You'll have to consult with the trustees on where they're spending the dollars," said O'Toole. Education Cuts But Minnie had a different set of numbers -- he said per pupil funding over the past four years has dropped by $152. Special education, he said, has been especially hard hit. -i "Special education students in the classroom across this board and across this province arc not receiving the support they should be. I hear it at the doors as I canvass the riding," riding," said the former Courticc Secondary School teacher. Minnie said his party intends to rc-invest $850 million into education. The $152 drop in per pupil funding has had a serious effect on the province, he said. "That puts Ontario'55th out of 63 in jurisdictions in North America," he stated. Continued on page 3 Natural Law Candidate Independent Flyers Keeping A Low Profile by Jennifer Stone Staff Writer With less than a week to go before the June 3 provincial provincial election, many people are asking the same question -- where's the candidate? While hopefuls for the Liberal, Progressive Conservative, New Democratic, and Green parties parties have all been maintaining maintaining a fairly high profile, attending debates and campaigning campaigning throughout Durham Riding, one candi date has been noticeably absent. Jacinthe Miliaire, the candidate for the fringe Natural Law party, has yet to show up at a single debate held in the riding. There have been no reports of active campaigning on the candidate's behalf. Not a single sign has cropped up. All of this had led to speculation speculation about the very existence existence of Miliaire. But it turns out Miliaire does exist. The Durham Liberal Riding office has tracked down the candidate to a phone number in Gloucester, Ontario, near Ottawa. Though repeated phone calls from The Independent went unan swered, local Liberal campaign campaign manager Marilyn Pearce says she did have a chance to catch up with Miliaire on Thursday morning. morning. . "There was a long pause and she said, T only speak French.' But she said it in English very clearly," says Pearce. Repeated messages left for Millairc's Chief Financial Officer, Clarissa Stevenson, were also not returned to The Independent. Pearce says the local Liberals have one major concern with what they arc describing as the "phantom candidate." Because candidates candidates will be listed on the ballot alphabetically, without without the name of the party they represent, Miliaire will appear first, before Garry Minnie, Jim Morrison, John O'Toole and Gail Thompson. "We know a certain percentage percentage of the vole goes to the first name on the ballot. (Voters) could mistake the name" with that of the Liberal candidate, worries Pearce, adding the local Liberals feel every vote will count in Thursday's election. election. "If it's won or lost with this candidate in what we. think is an extremely close election, we'll have a problem," problem," says Pearce, a former Durham Regional councillor. councillor. Pearce says the situation points to a number of "very glaring errors in the Election Act." One of the major problems, Pearce says, is the fact candidates aren't required to show up, produce produce identification, or even have their signatures verified verified when filing nomination papers with the returning office. Durham Riding Returning Officer Ralph Werry says the nomination papers do require signature's signature's from 25 nominators and the witnessed signature of the candidate. But, the candidate does not have to attend the returning office at the time of nomination, "Someone can come in their place as long as they Continued on page 2 Appleton Makes Court Appearance A man accused of murdering a Bowmanvillc bank teller made a brief appearance in court on Tuesday, May 25th. Robert John Appleton, a 29-year-old Oshawa man, was arrested following the stabbing of 24-ycar-old Jennifer Copithorn, Copithorn died of multiple stab wounds after being attacked on her way to work at the National Trust Bank on King Street in Bowmanvillc. 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