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Efje Canadian Ütfatesman • SINCE 1854 • AMALGAMATED 1999 WITH CLARINGTON THIS WEEK • Pressrun 21,900 26 Pages Wednesday, January 31, 2001 Optional 4 week delivery $5/$l newsstand TV*' --' What's on tap in Durham News, page 7 The scoop on martial arts Sports, page 8 v " • 0M Provincial panel meets with local public school board Grappling with extracurriculars BOB WILLSHER 'If we're going to have volunteers...it's going to be parents again.' BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer A provincially-appointed panel looking into extracurricular activities • at Ontario's high schools may have sought input from the local public school board this week, but it still isn't allowed to look at the main issue, says a local teachers' union spokesman. Hydro Are we in for a shock? ; ■ BY JACQUIE MclNNES Staff Writer l A California Christmas tree 'stands like a beacon, warning of ■everytiling that can go wrong -with electricity deregulation. I Just 35 minutes after California's California's official state Christmas tree • was lit this past holiday season, -Governor Gray Davis gave a directive directive to tufa out the lights, state is in an electricity crisis. As California tries to increase its electricity production to meet the needs of its booming economy, economy, sortie ; Ontarians are beginning beginning to wonder if they aren't headed down a similarly treacherous treacherous path as the provincial government government works its way toward a competitive electricity market. does not begin and end in these two jurisdictions. Nor Way, Swe-, den and other US states, including including Pennsylvania, are boasting success stories, he claims, adding, "Ontario is more like Pennsylvania which has a very healthy supply situation." High prices and low supply have been the markers on Cali y\ .1,1 • A: §ggggi "Hj '■ir;Vç ANDREW IWANOWSK1/ Statesman photo Along for the ride BOWMANVILLE - Nikos Kougias, rear, and Jon Hamilton ham it up during some afternoon sledding at Roenigk Hill. "It's clear from the Minister (of Education Janet Ecker) that workload is not going to be on the table, and (workload is) the issue," says Dan Fewings, local vice-president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation. Federation. Mr. Fewings was among those at the Monday meeting between advisory panel member Colin Hood, two ministry officials and members of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board community, including trustees, administration, principals, teachers' teachers' union representatives, students students and parents. The education minister set up the five-member panel earlier this month to gather advice on ways to ensure students' access to ex tracurricular activities. The panel's report is to be submitted in March. Mr. Fewings says stakeholders stakeholders raised issues such as fundraising fundraising for teams and late busing for students. "We did recommend that they look at both the Liberal plan, which was just adding time to eveiy class....and the OSSTF plan," which calls for teachers to Shane Pospisil, director of communications for the ministry of energy, science and technology, technology, says he wishes everyone would stop alluding to that tree and all the problems it has come to represent as this province makes its own way into a deregulated deregulated market. "In California and Alberta there are some very different bringing home a ■}nessagi'"moft^rcortditrcjtts"'than- in Ontario," he Californians already- knew. The says, emphasizing deregulation WALTER PASSARELLA/ Statesman photo Before retiring, Courtice resident John Wells, above, shared his engineering expertise with both British Gas and Ontario Hydro. He's been following the global changes to the electricity electricity industiy and says deregulation could have a severe impact on electricity supply and the economy. Ministry of energy, science and technology director of communications Shane Pospisil disagrees. fornia's journey from monopoly to free market. In Alberta, which like California relies heavily on natural gas for electricity production, production, the experience hasn't been. much better. That province's venture has been hindered hindered in part by high gas costs from its suppliers in British Columbia Columbia where prices have been driven up by demand from California. California. In contrast, Pennsylvania "has undeniably benefited," from deregulation, claims John Hanger, known as an architect of the Pennsylvanian model of deregulation. Mr. Hanger is a former commissioner for the state's utility and is currently president of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Pennsylvania's Future, an industry watchdog organization. Like Mr. Pospisil, he's also tired of the attention attention California's experience has attracted. "Pennsylvania had a very, veiy different experience than California," he relates. "Everybody "Everybody pays more attention to the ship that sinks than the one that sails across the ocean. Pennsylvania's Pennsylvania's ship, so far, has safely crossed. "Eveiy consumer in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania is paying no more or is paying less," than they were prior to the markèt opening, he says. He points to $2.8 billion in savings and 80,000 users who See ONTARIO page 2 Durham prosecutor feels Supreme Court ruling 'clear' Local child porn cases involve distribution over Internet BY STEPHEN SHAW StaffWriter It's business as usual for Durham Region police and prosecutors prosecutors in the vvake of a high court ruling upholding the ban on possessing child pornography. pornography. At least three cases involving local men had been in legal limbo since 1999 when a B.C. court declared the law against possessing child porn unconstitutional. unconstitutional. All are now expected to continue to proceed through the justice system, said Assistant Crown attorney Bryan Davies, a senior prosecutor who's in charge of most of the child-porn cases in the region. In its ruling last week in the case of retired B.C. town planner planner John Robin Sharpe, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously unanimously upheld the law making it illegal to possess child pornography, but created two exceptions: Diaries or drawings made privately and videos or photographs people take of themselves, are legal as long as they do not depict illegal acts and are for private use. Mr. Davies said the exemp- BRYAN DAVIES 7 don't see the loopholes as being any impediment' to Internet-based cases. lions will not impact the cases currently before the courts in Durham, nor are they likely to be factors in future prosecutions. "In my view, the judgment is very clear. The exceptions set out by the Supreme Court of Canada appear relatively narrow. narrow. Considering the vast majority majority of child pornography cases prosecuted in this region and in this province are Internet-distributed Internet-distributed and computer-stored images, the exceptions arc not likely to have an impact, except maybe in the rarest of cases," he said. "I don't see the loopholes as being any impediment to the effective effective prosecution of these In- See POLICE page 2 Inside file âtateaman WHERE TO FIND IT Editorial Page 6 Sports 8 Classified 10 GIVE US A CALL General 623-3303 Distribution .. .579-4407 Death Notices 1-905- 683-3005 Sincerely Yours 1-800-662-8423 Web site durhamnews.net e-mail judi.bobbitt ©durhamnews.net FAX 623-6161 be able to use the increased teaching time requirement to provide provide extra help for students. But he says he doesn't hold out much hope for either. "The minister has rejected both," he says. Still, Mr. Fewings says he feels confident "the panel member certainly listened" to See PANEL page 2 BOWMANVILLE - A Bowmanville intersection will get a facelift to assist traffic flowing to the Ontario Power Generation station and the site of a proposed fusion research facility. ; Approximately $300,000;; will be spent from a munici-" pal/regional reserve fund to pay" for light fixtures and other im-1 provenants to Hwy. 2 and Holri Road, following a request from' the Power Workers' Union and! the OPG health and safety comri mittee. ; At a Jan. 22 meeting, Mayor; John Mutton, who earlier rev quested a financial investigation; into the project, told the general- purpose and administration committee, "When GM (General (General Motors) wants something for the ebb and flow of traffic the Region and the City (of Os- hawa) come out very quickly. , I'm glad to see we can accommodate accommodate OPG and the possible ITER (International Thermonuclear Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) site." Clarington is Canada's bid site to attract the ITER project, an international energy research • project. Scientists and dignitaries dignitaries are expected to visit the site over the coming year. Phil Lesauvage, spokesman for OPG, says the company is "pleased to see" the approval of- the project by the municipality. ■ "We've been concerned for some time with the heavy use on Holt Road," he says, noting when shift changes occur, "it's quite busy at Hwy. 2." The committee of councillors councillors approved the project funding, funding, but approval must still come from Regional council prior-to a release of funds. The money will be drawn from the Station A Reserve Fund which has a balance of approximately $3.8 million. L Sps. ' . @ G ONTARIO'S DRIVE CLEAN ACCREDITED TEST & REPAIR FACILITY ♦An ollldul murk of the Province of Ontario used under licence. | WHITBY - OSHAWA HONDA 1110 DUNDAS. ST. E., WHITBY J l.OCAl, (905) TOR. 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