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I ^ f (a>®y r^v if iv n 1 1 11 ^ v> Ww s t> 4u4v x%#-< "sy^ *' i <'y- 4^-^v • SINCE 1854 • AMALGAMATED 1999 WITH CLARINGTON THIS WEEK • Pressrun 21,400 26 Pages Wednesday, January 26, 2000 Optional 4 week delivery $5/$l newsstand The truth about literacy skills News, page 5 Taurus takes Ford into millennium Wheels pullout 'The pressure from Pickering residents has been higher than at Darlington Clarington councillor Clarington welcomes nuclear cancer study The site selection for a pilot project monitoring cancer rates among people living near nuclear facilities is good news for Clarington Clarington residents, local politicians say. Councillor John Mutton says he was pleased to hear Pickering was chosen as a pilot site because the project is expected to expand to oilier nuclear facilities throughout Canada, including the Darlington plant. "The pressure from Pickering residents has been higher than at Darlington because there is more residential development closer to the plant in Pickering," he says. "In Pickering they have had all kinds of other safety concerns whereas in Darlington (staff) have maintained a pretty damned good record." The cancer surveillance pro gram is being undertaken by the Atomic Energy Control Board, in co-operation with the federal ministry of health. Clarington Mayor Diane Hamre says she was also pleased to hear the cancer study will be going forward. She notes other studies of the Clarington area have been conducted over the past decade, not only for cancer rates but also for birth defects and other indicators. As well, Ontario Power Generation conducts its own measurements using sampling sampling from the air, ground, water and even local cows' milk. When the nuclear station first opened in Clarington, Mayor Hamre says, there was a strong lobby group of concerned environmentalists environmentalists and residents who wanted assurances the plant's effect effect on the community would be monitored. Those groups have not expressed concerns to council for many years, a fact she takes as a positive sign, the mayor says. Although monitoring has been done over the past decade in Clarington and throughout Durham Region, there have been limitations, says Irene Kock of Durham Nuclear Awareness. She says a Darlington Pre-Baseline Health Study Committee was formed prior to Darlington becoming becoming operational and has done some monitoring since that time, including a 1995 report. However, However, she adds, monitoring hasn't been as consistent as was originally originally hoped. Earlier AECB-sponsored studies have indicated higher- than-average rates of childhood See STUDY page 5 ■r. : >2y.- - " 'A. ÉF" T "'«w - > '"r" T-, !-*S~ - ' V Report highlights confusion in Durham police organization 'Broad structural change' suggested to chain of command • - ' v ' ' ' - V >"■ - • Z: r s'*"' , ' "it .... - • ■ .y, ■ T--u . ■ - à ■:v.' . i-Z i ■ P-:: ;' -I ' ' ' V ':- 1 RON PIETRONIRO/ Statesman photo It s all downhill for this Courtice family The Jingco family of Courtice knows how to make the most Park, Oshawa, for some sledding fun. From left are Joe, of winter. They took to the snowy hills of Grandview South Maria, Tracey, Jade and Kaitlyn. All-day kindergarten money requested BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer A dollar spent today on fulltime fulltime kindergarten and junior kindergarten education is "$7 saved down the road," says a Pe- lerborough-arca school board trustee. And that's part of the reason why the Kawartha Pine Ridge School Board will ask the Province to fund all-day, every day schooling for kindergarten and junior kindergarten students. A motion put forward by trustee Helen Osborne, asking the board to write a letter to various various government bodies asking for the extra funding, won a narrow narrow 5-4 victory at Thursday's school hoard meeting. The re- c ,/S'dx. ONTARIO'S DRIVE CLEAN ACCREDITED TEST & REPAIR FACILITY ♦An nfficlul murk of the Vrotlnce of Oulurhmst'd under licence. WHITBY - OSHAWA 1110 DUNDAS. ST. E., WHITBY LOCAL (905) TOIL LINK (905) 666-1772 686-1745 www.hont1at.com quest will bt? sent to Minister of Education Janet Ecker, as well as to other boards, provincial leaders leaders of opposition parties and the Ontario Public School Boards' Association, looking for support for the idea. Ms. Osborne cited a number of studies, indicating the benefits of full-time schooling ■ for younger children. In one study presented at a 1996 Ontario Public Public School Boards' Association symposium, the Perry Preschool Project said that $1 spent on a program for three- to six-year- olds exposed to a number of different different risk factors results in $7.16 in savings in odicr areas, including including à 50-pcr cent decrease in ar- El* âtottiman WHERE TO FIND IT Editorial Page 6 Sports 8 Classified 10 GIVE US A CALL General 623-3303 Distribution ,, ,579-4407 Death Notices .683-3005 Sincerely Yours 1-800-662-8423 Web site durhamnews.net statesmn@durham.net General FAX ., .623-6161 Newsroom FAX .623-6161 rests and convictions, by the time the child reached the age of 27. "The research.is there" to support support full-time programming for younger students, says Ms. Osborne. Osborne. "There's an abundance of research." But, in spite of the research, some trustees arc concerned about the practicality of full-time kindergarten programming. "There's no question that the information is available that substantiates substantiates that early exposure to the education system enhances lives. I don't think one can dispute dispute the fundamental value of this," said Clarington trustee Bob Willsher, vice-chairman of the board. His major concern, he said, is finding space for the chil dren in existing facilities. Space isn't the only worry trustees have. Cobourg trustee Judi Armstrong said she would be concerned the Province would pick up part of the tab and leave school boards to foot the rest of the bill. "I really think we have to be very careful what we ask for," she said. Nonetheless, she agrecd'in- crcasing the current all-day, every second day rotation kindergarten students in the KPR board are on would be an improvement. "I'd personally like to see five-day, half days," she said. "If we could have everyone taught in the morning, and going home for their afternoon nap, I think that would be perfection." BY STEPHEN SHAW Staff Writer A private consultant hired to study the way the Durham Regional Regional Police force conducts its business has found service delivery delivery is suffering from confusion regarding officer responsibility and a lack of communication. The final report, which was commissioned by the Durham Regional Police Services Board at a cost of roughly $60,000, suggests suggests "broad structural change" to the department's upper chain of command. The report prepared by the HayGroup, titled 'Organizational 'Organizational Renewal,' was undertaken to help the force identify changes needed to improve service delivery delivery and comply with provincial adequacy standards regulations, which come into effect next year. Oshawa Regional Councillor Bob Boychyn, chairman of the police services board, described the proposed recommendations as "relatively minor," saying the report indicates the department needs "some fine-tuning. "Quite frankly, I think some of the recommendations speak well of the way we have been delivering delivering service for the most part. There are no major systemic changes proposed, mainly readjusting readjusting responsibility," he said. "It has helped us identify (areas in need of change) more clearly. I think it was money well spent." As part of the study the firm conducted one-on-one interviews interviews and focus group discussions discussions with upper management and officers across the region. The following were some of the conclusions: • An imbalance currently exists exists between police operations (the delivery of effective police service) and administration, with the current emphasis placed on administration "rather than the former, which is the primary purpose purpose of the organization," states the report. • The various roles of units and officers "do not seem to be clearly defined or understood. As a result there is confusion regarding regarding who is responsible for delivering delivering various aspects of adequate and effective police service." • A lack of communication between various support units has resulted in "inefficiencies in getting work done." To address some of the shortcomings, shortcomings, the report suggests "broad structural change," starting starting at the highest level of command command down to the rank of inspector. inspector. The - recommendations include include partially redefining the existing existing roles of the chief and deputy chiefs as well as the creation creation of several new management management positions such as superintendents superintendents in charge of crime management, management, community policing and service support. Another problem raised in the report is confusion surrounding the definition of the broadly-used . term 'community policing,' the law enforcement philosophy adopted by many forces including including Durham's in the 1990s. "There are perhaps as many views of community policing and what it encompasses as there are community police officers," Pat Bibb, a HayGroup consultant, consultant, said during a presentation to the board, "There is a need for us to come to a common definition." Ms. Bibb said the focus of the study was directed at the upper level of command, but the proposed proposed changes would ultimately have an impact on front-line officers, officers, "where we felt there were See POLICE page 5 MPP, school board lock horns over review Board's 'best report card' claim is 'plain wrong', says Dr. Doug Galt DR. DOUG GALT School hoard is 'misleading ' the public BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer Northumberland MPP Dr. Doug Galt says the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board is "misleading" the public over a recent evaluation by the Province's Education Improvement Improvement Commission. The EIC issued a progress report report Jan. 14, based on information information gathered during a two-day October visit to the hoard by the commission. KPR was the last of 72 boards across the province to be examined, and board chairman Catharine Tozcr, Port Hope trustee, said at the time the review was "the best report card on a school board that the EIC has given." But Dr. Galt doesn't agree. "Comments by the board chair following the release of the EIC's report are misleading to the public," he said in a media release, release, "The chair's claim that the Kawartha Pine Ridge Board got the best report card in the province is just plain wrong. The EIC does not rank school boards against each other. I am cotisée cotisée SCHOOL page 5 CATHARINE TOZER 'Bewildered' by MPP '.v comments PONTIAC-BUICK GMC TRUCK 166 KING ST. E., BOWMANVILLE 623-3396 tfi! mm Mm