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PAGE 4 THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, May 14, 2003 www.durhamregion.com Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardt Editor-in-CIlief 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 Efjc Cmmbtmt Statesman Rhone 905-579-4400 Classifieds 905-576-9335 Distribution 905-579-4407 General Fax 905-579-2238 Newsroom Fax 905-579-1809 E-Mail newsroom@durhamregion.com 865 Farewell St., Oshawa ON L1H 7L5 Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 HiVlny 14,2003 Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd. infodurhamregion.com EDITORIAL e-mail letters to ncwsroom@tlurliamregion.com Budget blues proof of poor Tory decision I t might have been a poor recommendation recommendation from his advisers; advisers; it might have been a desire to do something completely different. different. Whatever it was, Premier Ernie Eves is the person left responsible responsible for what might be the worst decision he has made in his 15 months as Tory leader. That call was the plan to release release tire budget outside the legislature. legislature. On March 27, Mr. Eves made history when he strode to the podium at a Magna auto par ts company in Brampton with Finance Finance Minister Janet Ecker to present the provincial budget. It was the first time, and may end up the only time, the budget has ever been presented outside the legislature. legislature. Instead of opposition members across the aisle, instead of a lively debate on the merits of the budget in the days after its delivery, delivery, the document was delivered delivered before an invitation-only crowd that clapped in all the right places and offered nary a discouraging discouraging word. It simply didn't have to be this way. Premier Eves had to have a budget delivered before the end of tire fiscal year, which meant it had to be presented by March 31. That could have occurred if he had not extended the winter legislature recess recess to April 30, when the throne speech was delivered. His idea to present the budget at Magna drew the wrath of fellow fellow Toiy and Speaker of the legislature legislature Gaiy- Carr, who made it clear he believed Mr. Eves was showing contempt for the democratic democratic process. But Premier Eves either didn't care about the Speaker's position or believed it would all blow over in time. It hasn't. More than six weeks after the speech, the issue of what was in the budget has virtually fallen off the map, while the question of where it was presented remains in the news. It is almost as if Mr. Eves went looking for a bizarre issue with which to cause himself additional political problems. Surely he should have understood the political opposition delivering the budget at a private company would engender. It's hard to understand understand how the premier and the Speaker, both of whom are part of the same caucus, could be so far apart on the appropriateness of the budget delivery decision. Finance Minister Ecker believes believes the decision to present the budget outside the legislature "was a step to engage more people people in the process than normally occurs. ...any steps a government takes to involve more people in the democratic process is a good thing." The problem is the budget was delivered at a private business, business, owned by Magna, instead of in the legislature, in which every Ontario citizen lias ownership. While it makes sense to involve people across the province in the development of the budget, there is no excuse for not delivering it in the proper place where, ideally, debate on it can take place. Premier Eves and his MPPs should support a bill currently under debate which would prohibit prohibit any future provincial budget, from being delivered outside the legislature. That would be the proper way to conclude this de bate. OPINION e-mail letters to ncwsroom@clurliamrcgion.com Judgment lapse shown by MPP O'Toole W e all make mistakes. mistakes. It's the way we deal with our errors by which we are judged. And on that score, Durham MPP John O'Toole blew it this week. Mr. O'Toole had a mental meltdown in the legislature Monday when he 'flipped the bird' at NDP MPP Peter Ko- rmos during an acrimonious debate over the March 27 budget. Next, he fumbled badly when asked to explain his actions actions outside the chamber and made the most critical mistake of his eight years as an MPP. He lied. "I don't remember and I didn't do it. There were a lot of things happening at that time and so 1 wouldn't say I did that. No, I didn't," said Mr. O'Toole. Just 24 minutes after those comments, the MPP was back in the chamber to put an end to one of the shortest political covcrups in history. Fingcrgate came to a swift conclusion when Mr. O'Toole abruptly apologized: apologized: "I sincerely withdraw the offence that I gave... It will not happen again." But, and this is critical, he failed to account for his clumsy denials. Everybody could see what had happened - you don't gel away with much in a digital world. On Tuesday, Mr. O'Toole told this newspaper, "I didn't know what he (reporter at his Monday press scrum) meant by 'flipping the bird.'" C'mon now. If we lake Mr. O'Toole at his word, his explanation sounds ludi crous. Most schoolchildren know what the term means. He also said he wasn't used to being in scrums, nor did he have media training to deal with the publicity glare he engendered. The man has been an MPP for nearly eight years, not eight weeks. Even Tory cabinet minister minister Chris Stockwell, himself a former Speaker, mocked his PC colleague. "Yeah, that's the strategy, to flip people the bird and lie about it," Mr. Stockwell joked to reporters. Ultimately, Mr. O'Toole has to deal with the fallout from this low point in his term at Queen's Park. His political career will forever be dogged by those few seconds seconds when he lost it in the legislature and those few minutes when he blew it in his media scrum. He will be remembered for a long time to come for this, not the type of memory a representative wants to create for the voters in his riding. The image of the angry Durham MPP is not a pretty picture. Mr. O'Toole has apologized apologized for what he did in the legislature, but the smart thing to do would have been to release a statement right after leaving the legislature on Monday afternoon, putting a quick end to the matter. Instead, he let it slew overnight and his responses to questions put to him Tuesday Tuesday were scarcely believable. The next time, John, admit you were wrong, apologize, apologize, and move on. Nothing fuels the fire more than a politician caught in a whopper whopper who denies it. Ok,THE BEALTEUTH worn time m NOT LWâ... „.lW&TCYim TOW MV PWlLEMD AfflDOTLV RAED MY FlN&tR INSTEAD poptm. www.dollghan.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR c-miiil letters to ncwsmom@(l iirhiimrenioii.com Bravo to St. Stephen's rugby squad To the editor: This is a letter to let you all know what a privilege it has been to see the St. Stephen's Rugby team play this year. These teens are a young team but they arc might in their deeds. The Friday, May 9 game was tremendous. It was a David (St. Stephen's) and Goliath (St. Thomas from Lindsay) game. Three, boys from St. Stephen's were ,l)urt Badly but the gre.at sportsmanship and quick attention attention of first-aid knowledge of the team trainers were sure put to the test! Thank-you St. Stephen's girls for your cheers and support. St. Stephen's, keep up the great teamwork. Blessings to you all for a wonderful school team and great school spirit! Marlene Reed Bowmanville Wilcox Road issues known to off-roaders To the editor: Riders who are aware of offroad offroad riding issues in this municipality municipality are well aware of the Wilcox Road issues. • - Riders who are. responsible and conscientious will truck or tow their motorcycles to designated designated parking areas in the Garniras Garniras ka Forest, unload and ride their machines in the forest. There are three designated parking parking areas in close proximity to ITwy 115, one of these areas being at the end of Wilcox Road. Wilcox Road residents report 'offroaders' travelling at unsafe speeds, in the middle of the road and darting around cars. This road is a paved municipal road. The Durham Regional Police only need to park a cruiser on this road and ticket offenders as they arrive. There is no need for the Regional Regional Police to spend money on ATV machines to patrol a paved municipal road. I ride my motorcycle in the Ganaraska Forest. I would welcome welcome and appreciate Durham Regional Police having a presence presence in this area. Police presence would serve to preserve and protect protect my privilege and the privilege privilege of other law-abiding riders to ride our motorcycles in this multi-use forest. Paul Mooney Bowmanville OPINION e-mail letters to ncwsrooni@(Iurhunircf;iun.coni Eves can't find support among traditional allies O ne barrier to Premier Ernie Eves winning an election is so many of his friends are mad at him. The Progressive Conservative premier keeps hearing he is no leader, lacks backbone, flip- flops, betrays his cause, wastes money and has no vision of where he wants to go: these arc all comments by some who normally normally support the Conservative party and not by opponents. opponents. The Canadian Taxpayers Taxpayers Federation, which advocates keeping keeping down government spending and taxes, protested Mr. Evcs's presentation of a budget in a makeshift TV studio studio instead of the legislature legislature to evade scrutiny, saying it was an affront to electors and criticized criticized him as fiercely as the opposition parties. When Mr. Eves postponed for a year the plan by Itis predecessor, Mike Harris, to cut income tax, the federation said he broke a trust and it could not have confidence he will keep campaign promises. After the provincial auditor found huge waste in government, the taxpayers group called it a nightmare and said the Tories should "remember this is not their money. It belongs to taxpayers." taxpayers." The National Citizens Coalition, Coalition, which expresses a conservative conservative view, complained Mr. lives betrayed Tories by such aels as postponing tax cuts and urged members to hold off donations until he acts more like a conservative. conservative. The news media that normally supports the Tories in their editorials editorials and speaks lor many Con servatives have been highly critical critical of Mr. Eves. The Toronto Sun asked "where was the premier while the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) controversy was exploding around us," and called him a wimp for his handling handling of the issue. The newspaper said Mr. Eves "miscalculated badly when he delivered his budget in a factory instead of the legislature," and, when Mr. Eves explained explained his party had difficulty communicating, communicating, suggested "when a parly is experiencing a failure to communicate, it usually starts ;\t the top." One Sun columnist said Mr. Eves is scattered and undisciplined and lacks an over-arching vision of where he wants to take the province and "the majority majority of Tory supporters supporters yearn for a time when they knew who their leader was and what he stood for," meaning Mr. Harris. Another said Mr. lives risks defeat because he has alienated the Tory core vote by acts such as delaying lax cuts and abandoning plans to privatize the hydro transmission transmission network and allowing hydro rates to be set by the marketplace. marketplace. Instead, he is providing taxpayer subsidies to keep rates artificially low, which could discourage discourage building new generating facilities and cause a power shortage. A third declared, "voters are embarrassed. We want our man to be more like his mentor, Mike Harris, who had an agenda and stuck to it." A fourth Sun columnist found, most ominous of all, the Toronto Star, which mostly sup ports the Liberals, "seems to approve approve of Mr. Eves and Ibis is a reason for Conservatives to start worrying." The National Post, normally pro-Tory, complained Mr. Eves "reverses any government policy about which 50 per cent plus one of Ontarians express even the mildest concern. It called Mr. Eves spineless for abandoning selling the hydro transmission network and refusing refusing to let the marketplace set hydro rates. The Post said Mr. Eves is governed governed by polls and "unlike Mr. Harris, who was motivated by his own convictions, Premier Eves's only goal is to squeak through the next election. Whether lie does or not, Ontarians will be feeling the economic effects of his weak- kneed decisions for many years to come." One Post columnist predicted dircly Mr. Eves will not last long as premier, but will be remembered remembered because his policies on hydro will bring about "the worst fiscal catastrophe in Canadian history." The Globe and Mail, which supported Mr, Harris in the 1999 election, accused Mr. Eves of not being a leader on SAILS and doing little to restore confidence, ease apprehension, dispel misconceptions misconceptions and raise the spirits of residents and health-care workers. Most of these critics of Mr. Eves probably will discover on balance they have more in common common with his party than others in an election, but they may not come back to the fold with the passion they had before. For decades, Frie Dowd has been covering provincial politics as a freelance columnist based oat of Queen's Park, Eric Dowd Queen's Park CLICK AND SA^ Today's question: Do you support the provincial government's proposal to rescind rescind mandatory retirement at the age of 65? □ Yes | □ No Cast your vote online at' infodurhamregi0jji.com Last week's question: ) Do you support the provincial government's proposal to rescind rescind mandatory retirement at the age of 65? i □ No 53.5% □ Yes 46.5% Votes cast: 155 ; HAVE YOUR SAY Question How do you like the new Clarington municipal library? Brad MacMaster "For sure, I like the new library. It's bigger, and the design feels good." Aaron MacDonald "I love the new place. The toWn needed it. Better facilities, great computers." Alexandria Martin "Yes, I like the new building. It has great atmosphere." atmosphere." Dave Schmitt "I like it very much. It has a calming atmosphere. I love the design. It has a great selection of books and the computers are great." Eljc Cnimbimi Statesman is ope of the Metroland Printing, v Publishing and Distributing group of newspapers. The Statesman is a member of the Bowmanville Clarington Board of Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce, Ontario Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Circulations Audit Board anci the Ontario Press Council. 1 The publisher reserves the right to classify or refuse any 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 0 ™ ln=tSl ifiiuM r»r*u