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PAGE 6THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, FEBRUARY 7,2001 & Opinions FOR 147 YEARS, OUR FIRST CONCERN HAS BEEN OUR COMMUNITY Publisher - Tim Whittaker Editor-in-Chief - Joanne Burghardt Managing Editor - Judi Bobbitt Advertising Manager - Brian G. Purdy Advertising - Lavcrne Morrison, Christian Ann Goulet Office - Junia Ilodge, Nancy Pleasancc-Sturman Editorial - Brad Kelly, Jennifer Stone, Jacquie Mclnnes ®be Cattabtan Statesman Former Publishers and Partners Rev. John M. Climic and W.R. Climic 1854-1878 M.A. James 1878-1935 • Norman S.B. James 1919-1929 G. Elena James, 1929-1947 • Dr. George W. James 1919-1957 John M. James, 1957-1999 Produced by Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Also Publishers of CLAR1NGTON THIS WEEK P.O. Box 190,62 King St. W„ Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 TEL: 905-623-3303 FAX: 905-623-6161 HOURS: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.M. E-mail: judi.bobbitt@durhamnews.net Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 EDITORIAL Cabinet shuffle a stage for change Is the premier setting the table for election or his own exit? It's just not going to be the same for Mike Harris without without his best political pal, Ernie Eves, there to share a desk in the legislature. Mr. Eves and Mr. Harris are 20-year veterans of the Queen's Park wars. The two have been the only Tories to hold down Northern Ontario ridings, Mr. Eves in Parry Sound, Mr. Harris in North Bay. Mr. Eves has been a loyal soldier over the last dozen years as Mr. Harris took on the role of leader of a party in the wilderness, which he vaulted vaulted to a stunning win in 1995 and solid re-election in 1999. But all good things must come to an end. When Mr. Eves received a Bay Street offer he simply couldn't refuse, well, he didn't refuse it. Mr. Harris is sure to have been sorry to see Mr. Eves go. if That leaves the key question of replacements for Mr. Harris. jj In a caucus short on lawyers, the premier may decide to ij leave Whitby-Ajax MPP Jim Flaherty in the role of attor- <• ney general. Mr. Flaherty, expected to run for leader when jj Mr. Harris steps down, has done a good job in the position, | pushing forward new legislation and ultimately working to fj make crime less profitable in Ontario. |i The solid bet to replace Mr. Eves as finance minister is js Chris Hodgson, another leadership hopeful. Mr. Hodgson (! has gained plenty of experience over the past six years, jj holding down several portfolios and is ready for the next ll step. jj Two other leadership candidates, Elizabeth Witmer tj (Health) and Education Minister Janet Ecker are likely to i' remain in their posts where they're holding their own. Ms. 8 Witmer has run the rocky waters of a demanding position ij and can now reap some of the benefits of a massive fund- rj ing increase from the feds. Ms. Ecker has made little head- gEtoioM to the pws want) increke mps gams | It'S not tllC UB 5ER10U5?/ ... 1 TUCtoUT IT Wte TUOT WJmSOF HUMOUR AND CUIBIW/ CLEVEK WIT TUK l-AAKK W1A 50 DARN LOVABLE C#n< LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Get facts on flu shots To the editor: I am writing in response to an article in Clarington This Week, Sunday, Jan. 21,2001, "Children urged to get second flu shot." Reading yet again how families families are "urged" to get even one flu shot, let alone two, prompts me in anger to respond. Before you "urge" children to : with the province's .teachers but it's get flu vaccines, or any oflier vac- not clear how much power she has td;nfegotiate. The;pre-:t. cinaf way on creating peace dnatiqns^why don't yoüjh jj mier's office may be giving her marching orders on a ddfly^. ^ the, parents and others pf eitactly^^^,. jj basis. k eV# ;.v.;x^Twhfltjls!nffie&vacôinations! Lèt' •'■_sübj<5 ij Mr. Harris no doubt is mulling over his own future. The premier seems less interested in governing now than at any time since the day he was re-elected. It may be time for a change and no doubt, by the new year the premier will either either stay the course or join his friend Ernie in the private sector. puss! Formaldehyde, a known cancer-causing agent, is part of the flu shot. When it is used to preserve a coipse, that's fine. They're dead. It also contains the preservative thimersol, a derivative derivative of mercury, a known neurotoxin, neurotoxin, linked to brain damage and autoimmune diseases. Aluminum Aluminum is yet another flu vaccine ingredient. Mercury and aluminum aluminum are two toxic heavy metals metals that have been associated with an increased. incidence of Alzheimer's disease. These toxinsjire,injecf w| - • the flu, which are obtained from natural infection. Children who get the measles, mumps, chicken pox, etc., have their immune system system strengthened fighting off these invaders, instead of using a poisonous foreign substance that could contribute to forms of chronic-fatigue, asthma, fibromyalgia, fibromyalgia, even cancer: all side effects of a non-functioning immune immune system. The only way to get natural and permanent immunity immunity to a strain of the flu is to recover recover naturally! If vaccinations id healthy for us, why iere is not an insurance are hot -.Lutid^pyfjfejr who will offer liabil- ' cfrxninf'li't' ifxr nr\\rtaro dm rnr rirnrr prxmnfiniPC ij We welcome your opinion. Please E-Mail your comments on [j our opinions to judi.bobbitt@durhamnews.net. Submissions ft. which include a first and last name, as well as the community jj! of residence, will be considered for publication. people make their own informed decisions. Vaccines consist of mainly three categories of ingredients. The first are cultured bacteria and viruses. The second ingredient is the medium in which they are cultivated. This may be chicken embryo, chicken or duck protein, pig or horse blood, dog kidney tissue, monkey kidney tissue, calf serum, rabbit brain tissue, aborted aborted human fetal cells or cowpox to the'* stomach's hydrochloric hydrochloric acid. The enzymes or digestion are absorbed into the blood and carried directly to the liver. Mercury and aluminum accumulate accumulate in die brain. There is no safe level of formaldehyde injected injected into a living organism. The flu vaccine has never been recommended recommended in the past for healthy children. One consideration with the mass use of the flu vaccine today in healdiy children is the removal of natural antibodies to ity coverage for drug companies in the event any of their vaccines cause the death or disability to die recipient? People should be "urged" to become educated about the flu and its benefits and risks and the vaccine and its benefits and risks in order to make an informed decision, decision, riot a decision based on fear of losing one's job or expulsion expulsion from school. Linda Spires Bowmanville Picture can't do premier any good Cigar-smoking golfer not a pretty sight LOOKING BACK WITH THE STATESMAN 25 YEARS AGO jii Feb. 4,1976 p! Newcastle Town Council decided to replace the clutch in a jj' truck used by the town's animal control department. There p .... ... h _ | the $75 expenditure, given the listed $100 to $150 value of S! the truck. w jj: was some argument by councillors as to whether to make Ij 50 YEARS AGO jj Feb. 1,1951 jj Members of the local police force began a campaign to enforce enforce the one-hour parking limit in Bowmanvillc's downtown downtown core. Merchants were hoping the new limit would stop cars from parking in one place all day. 75 YEARS AGO h Feb. 4, 1926 B Editors of The Canadian Statesman said they did "not re- 8 call a January more fickle and with more frequent changes jj in this part of the Province than the one just closed." In one jj 24-hour period, the temperature went from -5 degrees F to 38 degrees F. Information taken from the archives of The Canadian Statesman ! Sometimes - a columnist hates to admit it - a picture is taken of a political figure that has more impact than a thousand words and Ontario now has one of Premier Mike Harris. The Progressive Conservative premier was not around the legislature legislature to answer legitimate questions questions about a friend who got planning restrictions on a development development removed after, according to a senior civil servant, he took his case to the political level. So an enterprising newspaper photographer tracked Mr. Harris to an 'exclusive' golf resort in Florida and took a picture of a burly man, running a little to seed, in rumpled shirt and baggy shorts, with a cigar almost as long as his club hanging from his lips and his good buddies in the background. It reminded graphically of what many have read often, that Mr. Harris spends too much time away, often relaxes in warm climes while constituents plod through weary winters and devotes devotes a lot of time to playing golf, in and out of Ontario. (Although even his critics would have to admit he must be home working sometimes to conjure up all those programs they complain of.) It reminded also he hangs around with some who do well out of government and, while saying he is still the guy next door, lives off the fat of the land. That cigar would have kept a welfare recipient in food for days. The premier has urged Ontarians Ontarians to exercise and smoke less and can be seen as setting a bad example. A security guard with Mr. Harris also said what occurred to even the non-partisan, that the picture made the premier look like a mafia boss in TV's 'The Sopranos' and ticked him off. This is a picture that, because of the way it shows the premier, Eric Dowd At Queen's Park will be shown and mentione'd again and again. It will be surprising surprising if opponents fail to revive it in an election. Ontario politics have had few such memorable pictures. The better-known have been federal, such as Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau doing a pirouette at a formal, state event, for which he was rebuked for lacking dignity, dignity, and Tory leader Robert Stanfield, Stanfield, often called the best prime minister Canada never had, dropping dropping a football thrown to him, for which he was unfairly and forever forever cast as a political fumbler. One picture that was used willt some effect by Mr. Harris's Tories was taken when they followed followed Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty on his pre-1999 election election travels and snapped him looking tight-lipped and grim, although although for all we know lie may merely have got a piece of rubber chicken stuck in his teeth. Mr. Harris's party ran it in TV commercials scoffing 'Dalton McGuinty? He's not up to the job,' and it may have helped them, because the Liberals lost the election. New Democrat premier Bob Rae, who preceded Mr. Harris, was generally pictured in a neat blue suit, looking earnest and sincere, sincere, as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, which may have been partly an attempt to convince a skeptical business his government could be sober and restrained. But the best-known pictures of him came when he was [mind to be something of a pianist and songwriter and this produced novel pictures of him, on and off TV, tieless and in shirtsleeves, playing and singing. It was also, because politicians politicians lose no opportunity to help themselves, an attempt to soften his image. Liberal premier David Peterson Peterson was photographed so often at the theatre, ballet and book launches in tuxedo and red cummerbund cummerbund that opponents scoffed at him as Ontario's equivalent of the popular TV series, 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,' when many were needy, and this helped lose him an election. The most celebrated picture of Tory premier William Davis was taken a few months after he took office in 1971 and entered Ontario Place a changed man, with his short-back-and-sides Brampton haircut and baggy brown suits replaced by stylish long hair and sideburns, double- breasted jacket and wide tie. Mr. Davis was never said to have charisma, but as he stepped into the amphitheatre students propelled by the pop star craze of the age rushed to surround him and he used the picture in his election leaflets. At his right shoulder was a trusted young aide, David MacLeod, who became a Hollywood Hollywood producer (he was a cousin of Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine) anil 27 years later a fugitive on sex charges, the only former aide to an Ontario premier premier ever to be on the FBI's most wanted list, and was found dead in.a chilly Montreal street with a can of lighter fluid he had been drinking beside him. Mr. Harris is not going to share quite the same fate, bill he must worry the picture of him likely to be most remembered shows a rumpled, cigar-smoking golfer in Florida in baggy shorts, Judi Bobbitt Managing editor As you read this, regional politicians in Durham are already at the Fem Resort Resort near Orillia, where they'll spend today and tomorrow in budget-related meetings. Later this month, Clarington council will follow suit, spending Feb. 21 to 23 and taxpayers' money at the posh resort, where they promise to hammer out a three-year business plan for this council's council's term of office. Amidst the news of shutdowns at GM, a lock-out at Co-Steel Lasco, job layoffs at DaimlerChrysler - all of which employ local taxpayers - our elected representatives see nothing amiss in these junkets. They raise a great cry and hue during regional council meetings, blaming the Province for a tax "mess" that threatens to place a big tax burden on homeowners. homeowners. In the next breath, they justify dipping dipping into the tax dollars collected from those very same homeowners to finance the Orillia trips. Clarington Chief Administrative Officer Officer Frank Wu points out the municipality municipality is a multi-million dollar corporation, corporation, and the $9,000 Clarington will spend is a minimal cost of doing business. business. He has a point, though that point should not have been left to a bureaucrat to make. For their part, our elected officials officials in Clarington claim doing business at the resort will mean fewer disruptions and allow for more creative thinking. Pshaw to all that. Never mind that $9,000 really is a drop in the bucket for a multi-million dollar corporation. Politicians should be more concerned about the perception they are creating by taking such a trip at this time. Regional councillors recently supported an increase in our water and sewer rates; they are currently considering considering how much of our tax dollars cain support a $100-million need by Lak- eridge Health hospitals. Clarington is facing several budget hurdles this year. Natural gas prices are on the rise; Veridian hydro rates are going up. Add to this Regional Chairman Roger Anderson's Anderson's dire warnings to local councils that tough times are ahead as they grapple grapple with downloading and take a hard look at tax rates and service levels. A hike in our property taxes is surely not far off. A trip to the Fem Resort in this fiscal climate? Obviously, politicians believe Clarington Clarington taxpayers' interests are best served if they're up there in Orillia, discussing discussing local business surrounded by hot tubs, massage therapists and horse- drawn sleigh rides. I'd say the time is right for putting these kinds of business trips on hold. The money might be better spent on a good public relations consultant. THE CANADIAN STATESMAN is . one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing Publishing and Distributing group of newspapers. The Statesman is a member of the Bowmanville Clarington Clarington Board of Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce, Ontario Community Newspaper • Assoc., Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Circulations Circulations Audit Board and the Ontario Ontario Press Council. The publisher reserves the right to classify or refuse any advertisement. Credit for ■ advertisement limited to space price error occupies. Editorial and Advertising Advertising content of the Canadian Statesman is copyrighted. Unauthorized Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. The Canadian Statesman welcomes letters to the editor. All letters should be typed or neatly hand-written, hand-written, 150 words. Each letter must include include the name, mailing address and daytime telephone number of the writer. The editor reserves the right to edit copy for style, length and content, We regret that due to the volume of letters, not all will be printed. Fax letters to 623-6161or emailed to judi.bobbitt@durhamnews.net 0 ,-- f am-^u to SHE < IAFHI ni'AUMXIl A°cna