The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

l PAGE 4 THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, November 13,2002 www.durhamregion.com Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardl Editor-in-Chief Chris Bovie Managing Editor Judi Bobbitt Regional Editor Fred Eismont Director of Advertising Eddie Kolodziejcak Classified Advertising Manager Kirk Bailey Distribution Manager Lillian Hook Office Manager Barb Harrison Composing Manager Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 Canatriati Statesman ■ i Nov. 13,2002 Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Phone 905-579-440C Classifieds 905-576-9335 Distribution 905-579-440/ General Fax 905-579-2235 Newsroom Fax 905-579-1805 E-Mail newsroom@durhamregion.com 865 Farewell St., Oshawa ON L1 H 7L5 Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 infodurhamregiosi.com EDITORIAL e-mail letters to ncwsroom@diirliimiregion.com Premier sends shockwaves across Province I f Ernie Eves planned to win the next election, he had to come to grips with the Hydro bill nightmare now. One thing you can say about the premier: he heard loud and clear the howls of protest from one end of Ontario to the other and has admitted the move to open-market electricity pricing was a terrible mistake. Years in the making under Mr. Eves's predecessor, Mike Harris, the vaunted hydro deregulation deregulation finally occurred May 1. Nobody noticed much for the first three or four months - until the bills began to roll in. It was tmly a black October for many as some received invoices double and triple the amounts they paid before. The explanations of an uncommonly hot summer, that paying down the stranded Hydro debt of $38 billion was part of the new system, just didn't wash. People screamed for relief. The premier heard the message message and realized if he didn't act fast, he, and not just we, would pay a crippling price. Small businesses businesses were looking at closing up shop, those on fixed incomes were worried about surviving the winter, and municipal governments governments were warning taxpayers they'd face a double-whammy: higher property taxes to pay for skyrocketing government hydro bills plus their own increased electricity costs. Why did it go so wrong? Ontario' Ontario' simply doesn't produce enough low-cost power to meet its immense demands. As a result, result, suppliers had to purchase power from out-of-province at premium rates to meet demand during the summer. When the bills came in a month ago, they reflected that expensive power. Mr. Eves has scrapped the entire entire system as of Dec. 1, capping the cost at 4.3 cents per kilowatt hour. Refunds will also be provided provided to all who paid more than 4.3 cents, retroactive to May 1, 2002. In addition, an investigation investigation into delays at restoring power at the Pickering nuclear generating station will be undertaken, undertaken, hydro bills will be simplified simplified and standardized across Ontario, Ontario, tax incentives for conservation conservation will be provided, and the Ontario Power Generation (OPG) board of directors, which came under heavy criticism for excessive salaries and benefits, will be revamped. The'freeze is in effect until at least 2006. While relief has been provided, provided, the problem of eventually coming to terms with the real cost of hydro remains. At some point, some generation of Ontarians Ontarians will have to face a growing hydro debt, which will only increase increase due to this latest freeze. We've got short-term gain for long-term pain. Mr. Eves must go back to the drawing board and figure out a better way. In the meantime, he's bought his government some time. : • OPINION e-mail letters to newsroom® <lurhamrcgion.com Guilt and grief are common when you lose a beloved pet C asey died Friday morning, at home in his sleep. He was a 13-year-old poodle who was showered with love and knew how to give it back, in spades. He owned T-shirts and sweaters and had his own Christmas Christmas stocking every year. I doted on him, and when he died, I was devastated. I was also consumed with guilt. I was full of 'should haves' all weekend. I should've taken him to the after-hours emergency clinic. I should've known he was dying and I should've held him. I should've cuddled him more. I should've paid more attention to him Thursday morning, the last time I saw him alert. 1 should've told him 1 loved him one last-time. Guilt is probably the most common emotion resulting from the death of a pet, according to information information I found on the Internet Monday. As the pel's primary caretaker, all decisions regarding the pet's well-being are made by the owner. Trying to turn back time and 'rewrite the script' is a natural natural response in people who are grieving, And people grieving a pet can experience "more intense" symptoms symptoms than people grieving people, people, says Julie Chatterton, bereavement bereavement co-ordinator with I lospicc Durham. That's because people put all their feelings on their pet, she says. The Web site pelplacc.com points out pels provide the closest thing to unconditional love we'll ever experience, and yet, as another another site acknowledges, the grief we feel over their loss is minimized minimized by society, "l ie was only a dog," or "get over it already," are Judi Bobbitt Regional editor folighon.t LETTERS TO THE EDITOR common responses we might hear. Three days after Casey's death, I'm still having trouble. Whether you're" grieving a pet or a person, there's no difference in the process, Ms. Chatterton says. "Grief isn't a tidy process," she notes. "It can take years sometimes." She suggests creating some kind of a memorial for your pet, perhaps with photos, and have a ceremony where you light a candle candle for him. Each member of the family can describe a special memory or thoughts about the pel. "Celebrate "Celebrate his life," urges Ms. Chatterton, "It may get weepy, but that's OK. It's a big loss, a big hole in your life right now." If you get teary at inappropriate inappropriate moments like I do, such as at work, Ms. Chatterton advises deliberately focussing your thoughts on your pel loss when you're alone, and "let the tears come." Seven months after the death of her own pet, she still experiences tears. "It's very, very normal," she assures. If you feel very guilty over your pet's death, it means you loved the animal a lot, she suggests. suggests. Animals can sense how much you love them, she adds. I try to hold that thought. I couldn't find any pet bereavement bereavement support groups in Durham Region, but the Ontario Veterinary College at the University University of Guelph has a pet-loss support support line al 519-824-4120, ext. 3694. Private grief counsellors may also offer pel bereavement support, and I found a number of Web sites on the Internet offering advice, chat rooms, articles and recommended books, Child care services vital To the editor: Re: 'Governments must think about their legacies,' column of Jane McDonald of Oct. 6, 2002. I am writing in response to both Jane McDonald's column as. well as some of the letters responding responding to her column. As a working parent and a professional professional in the child-care field, I would like to make the following points in support of a quality child-care system: •Yes, the raising of children is a parental responsibility, but that does not mean all families can do so without support. Whether we choose to accept it or not, 78 per cent of women with young children children are currently employed in our work force and this requires good options for quality child care. ' • The employment status of a child's parents is not directly related related to how well-adjusted their children will grow up to be; however, however, the quality of care and education education they receive when they are young does. It is a large leap to jump to the conclusion parents who work don't raise their children children properly and/or don't care (as Mr. Smith suggests). • 'Universal' child care does not mean every baby and preschool child in Canada will be e-mail letters to newsroom@<liirhnmreyion.com in day care (as Ms. Wainwright suggests); it means every child will have ACCESS to affordable, quality child-care services. This could include full-time care, part- time care, a nursery school program program that supports the parent at home, an integrated program for children with special needs, an after-school program for the older child, etc. •Yes, child care is an industry, and as such it supports our economy. economy. The'child-care industry employs employs hundreds of people in our communities both directly (child- . care professionals) and indirectly (accountants, maintenance staff, food industry, etc.). It also allows others to be employed thus making making this social sendee one that generates a great deal of tax dollars. dollars. • Child care is a social service that may not be accessed by all. But neither are group homes or prisons or court services or countless other services. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't add value to children and families within our society. • Yes, the child-care industry is looking for government funds...just as social services look for funding and just as corporations corporations look for tax breaks. Because it is "child care" does not make it less important than other industries. industries. • While other European nations nations invest tax dollars in promot- OPINION ing the care and education of children, Canada has yet to even implement a National Child Care Plan as promised so many years ago...and as a result we have a patchwork quilt of services that fails to meet the needs of families within society as it exists today. Denise Gilbert Newcastle Photo was appreciated To the editor: ; Congratulations to photographer photographer Ron Pietroniro whose photo appeared on the front page of the 'Canadian Statesman' on Nov. 6, 2002. I can only hope the young boy will grow up to truly appreciate the emotional impact of the moment moment as perceived by this reader. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this one evokes a novel, or at the least a short television television film. Congratulations also to the newspaper for publishing the front-page photo, and for the other pictures at the top of the banner relating to Remembrance Day. You do know how to capture and promote a community spirit. Keep up the good work. Timothy Cadan Newcastle e-mail letters to ne\vsro<mi@<lurhumrej;ion.coni Visit to the principal s office a real education principal'! I educatic Neil Crone Enter Laughing I liad to sit in the school office the other day. Nothing important, important, just a routine routine visit to sort out some school stuff for one of my kids, but I still hated it. You sit in the school office and every person who walks through that door gives you the look. You know, the "I know what you're in here lor" look, Good kids don't get that look. Only had kids, bad kids who have been sent to the office. And it's powerful, believe me. I am 42 years old, I have been out of public school for a good 10 years, and the look was still creeping me out, still making me feel like I'd clone something really reprehensible. reprehensible. After the first couple of looks I started to feel like maybe I should try to defend myself. "I'm only here for my kid," I said with what I hoped passed lor an easy, guiltless, chuckle. No dice. They smile at you, hut you know Ihey're still thinking you're rotten to the core, They give you a nice wide berth too as though whatever badness landed you in there might be catching. And it's not just staff members cither. cither. Pretty soon all manner of goody two- shoes students start sauntering by to have a good gawk. They snicker amongst themselves, themselves, holding their neatly organized binders full of completed completed homework like badges of honour. I try to sit up straight, try to look confident, mature and adult, but I can't. It's the damn chair. It keeps forcing me into a serial killer slump. You could put Mother Teresa in one of those chairs and inside of two minutes she'd look like she had a pack of smokes rolled up in her sleeve and was spoiling for a fight. After a while I just give in, I splay my feel out in front of me and shove my hands into my jacket pockets, like I'm fingering fingering a Zippo I just ripped off from the drugstore, I glare at people until they break eye contact. contact. I mouth breathe. The principal principal comes out of her office and walks briskly past me. I don't even look up, but instead CLICK AND SA^ Today's question: Is the Province's hydro rebate and capping of costs the right answer to controlling higher prices? □ Yes □ No Cast your vole online at infodurhamreg^on.com Last week's question: Do you plan to participate in any local Remembrance Day ceremonies? □ Yes 56.1% □ No 43.9% Votes cast: 41 HAVEYOUR SAY Question How do you feel about your hydro bill? Frank Lockhart "I don't really know if there has been a change or not. I didn't notice the last (bill). Maybe it Steven Camacho "Since I've actually bought into a plan it hasn't affected me "mulch. Personally, I think it's a bad thing and the government is in big trouble." Trevor Poechman "Not good. I heard about the increase but I didn't think 4 would sec it. I'm quite surprised. It has almost doubled for us." John Jordan "Mine was quite reasonable. 1 1 couldn't complain about it at ,,. r x j nil. I was Y. .,' i expecting an jfaif* 85 increase." ■ v flick the hair out of my eyes with a disdainful whip of my neck. Then I realize I am 42 with a receding hairline. The longest hair anywhere near my eyes is growing out of my ears. I try to save face by passing it off as some kind of anger-induced anger-induced nervous tick. 1 do it again but slop because it hurls my neck. Still, I am enjoying this bad- boy thing. This is the closest 1 have ever come to being a rebel. It feels kinda good. I'd like to scoff some nerd's protractor and carve my name and Suzanne's into the bottom of this stupid chair. That'd be wicked awesome. After a moment my dark reverie is broken by someone calling for some uptight doofus named Dad. I look around and see my son standing there looking looking at me, quizzically. "Dad, let's go home," I hound up out of the chair and I can feel the badness slide into a slick on the floor around me, I put my arm around his shoulder and we walk out of the office, out of the school and into the sunshine, I make a mental note to hook an appointment appointment with my chiropractor. My neck hurls like hell. tEljr Cmmtimi Statesman is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing Publishing and Distributing group of newspapers. The Statesman is a member of the Bow- manville Clarington Board of . Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce, Ontario Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Circulations Audit Board and the Ontario Press Council. The publisher reserves the right to classify or refuse any advertisement. advertisement. Credit for advertisement advertisement limited to space price error occupies. Editorial and Advertising content of the Canadian Statesman is copyrighted. copyrighted. Unauthorized reproduction reproduction is prohibited. A° ena fTFlîl (Qna