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PAGE 4 THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, August 20, 2003 www.durhamrcgion.com Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardt Editor-in-Chief Tony Doyle Managing Editor Fred Eismont Director of Advertising Eddie Kolodziejcak Classified Advertising Manager Kirk Bailey Distribution Manager Lillian Hook Otlice Manager Janice O'Neil Cheryl Haines Composing Managers Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 Œtjc Canabtmi Statesman ■ ■ August 20, 2003 Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Rhone 905-579-4405 Classifieds 905-576-9335 Distribution 905-579-440i General Fax 905-579-2235 Newsroom Fax 905-579-1809 E-Mail ne\'Jsroom@durbamregion.com 865 Farewell St., Oshawa ON L1H 7L5 Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 infodurham .com EDITORIAL I'-niiiil Inters to newsroomtfl'durliamrcuioii.com We could all use a power readjustment Upgraded grids, conservation necessary W hile Mother Nature hasn't clone us any favours with the blazing temperatures we've suffered over the last week, the great blackout of 2003 may have been the long-needed long-needed jolt we've all required. While much talk about energy conservation has been bandied about over the past few years, it's been followed by little action. Mow much have we all really tried to reduce our personal energy energy consumption? Consider the vehicle you drive: is it a gas guzzler guzzler or a fuel miser? Do you have home appliances that reduce or save as much energy as possible? Is your home insulated? Do you make an effort to keep the thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer? Are your lights off when you're not in the room? The list is endless. Like most things in life, it all adds up. No one person can make the difference but we can all, working together. together. make a huge difference. Not to be alarmist, but it will be an uphill battle. Demographics indicate Durham Region will nearly double in population over the next 20 years and with such increases in our residential use, along with industry and commercial, will come a massive jump in energy energy demand. The rest of the Greater Toronto Area is set to also expand expand in population so that an area now made up of about 4.4 million million people will be well over six million within two decades. How will we deal with it? For starters, the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government government must work together to offer real incentives (tax breaks and rebates come immediately to mind) to home and business owners showing they are committed to energy conservation. The feds are already looking at offering a program, but it's time to get something concrete off the ground. In addition, the answer also comes from long-range planning and serious efforts by government to develop alternative energy sources and to get our nuclear plants running at peak efficiency. We've already seen Pickering 'A's four reactors idle since 1997 with just one only starting to return to service recently. The Province must push to have all the units up and running as soon as possible. Ontario and Canada must also co-ordinate with the United States and with American state governments to make sure the current current out-of-date electricity grid feeding eastern North America is state-of-the-art. That will be the only way to ensure the next power outage does not have the disastrous efffc'Uf's this one did. it will all be extremely expensive and will not be accomplished overnight. But it is vital and necessary;*We are so dependent on a solid energy supply. The lifeblood of our economy, our daily lives are completely tied up with it and we are -- nearly -- helpless without it. We need to find workable answers. - Have your say! Question "How did you deal with the power blackout and how did it affect you?" Amy Wright "We covered everything tip to try to salvage it because we didn't know how long it was going to last. We cooked up dinner by Coleman stove and used candles. It was nice we got to spend quality family lime together. We looked at all of the stars and the big clipper was especially especially nice to see. I mean, what else are you going to do?" Elissa Wood "My husband got chased away from the gas station after waiting for hours. The police told him when he was almost at the front of the line that he was blocking traffic and told him to leave. He had barely enough gas to get home just around the corner. That night we cooked on the barbecue and the kids felt like they were living living in the pioneer days. They didn't like that much. We cooked the meat we had and shared it with neighbours." Joanne Nelson "It was too hot to sleep. The dog was panting. 1 have a young girl and I was worried worried about how she was going to sleep. It didn't seem to affect affect her though. We heated her bottle up on the stove and she ate her food cold. But she ended up sleeping like a log. The street we live on was having a great time. Everyone Everyone was out having a beer with friends." to Kayla Ghersini "1 thought it was so fun because it is not every day you get to use candles. Most , blackouts don't last that long, We filled up water balloons with all of our friends and had a balloon light. It was hard to sec them when it got dark though. We also had a barbecue and went swimming at my grandparents' pool," LETTERS TO THE EDITOR e-mail letters to newsroiim@(lurhamregion.eom Church has no monopoly on sanctity of marriage To the editor: The Catholic Church doesn't doesn't recognize any marriage that isn't performed in a Catholic church, yet they'll refuse to marry anyone who has been divorced, divorced, regardless of where the original marriage was conducted.^ conducted.^ Why are they not as vocal about the use of the word marriage marriage in any number of other denominations denominations or institutions? They have no monopoly on the sanctity of marriage. It doesn't affect them and nobody is forcing forcing them to participate. What business is it of theirs how someone outside their membership membership behaves? Perhaps they see this whole issue as further evidence evidence of their increasing irrelevance irrelevance and isolation from the real world. I have mixed feelings as to the use of the word marriage to describe a legally binding union of same-sex couples, l am not sure what the answer to it is. But I am sure it is not important enough to me that I would mount a crusade against anyone who simply wishes to live in a world free of stigma and persecution. persecution. For God's sake, and I have never seen evidence that God is Catholic, how can anyone anyone deny anybody a little peace and love in a world so easily prone to violence and hate? Michael Thompson Courtice Marriage issue handled improperly To the editor: Re: 'Same-sex marriage must be appealed,' letter from Melinda Melinda Crawford of Aug. 3, 2003. '*concur with the letter of Mctinda Crawford. Along with maffy others, I believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of others. others. What infuriates me most is the way in which this definition is being changed. The Ontario Government completely abdicated abdicated its responsibility to appeal appeal the Ontario Court's decision, decision, and then our Federal Parliament Parliament decided not to appeal at a cabinet meeting held when Parliament had already recessed for the summer. There has been no discussion discussion or debate in Parliament, let alone the process of hearing from Canadians. Is this democracy? democracy? We are now left with no alternative but to plead with our MPs to reject any change in the present definition of marriage by a free vote. We, as Christians, and many others, are challenged even more today to be dedicated to the truth, while at the same time loving all people and showing compassion and forgiveness. Kate Hudson Whitby Don't call gay marriage 'homiage' To the editor: Re: 'Law is immoral if it supports same-sex marriage,' letter from D.B. McDowell of Aug. 6, 2003. We were wondering why other people would care if two people of the same sex were to get married. It is still considered marriage even if they are of the same sex, because they take the same vows and will do everything everything just the same as a man- arid-woman marriage would do. AVe don't call people with cancer or diseases another name just because they are different, so there is no reason for a homosexual homosexual marriage to be called 'homiage.' Please take into mind what we have said and remember that we are all people living on god's earth and there will always be some of us who are different than others. Nicole Belanger and Aniek Cavallari Courtice CLICK AND SA Today's question: % Do you think you're doing enough to power down this week? □ Yes □ Could do more □ No Cast your vole online at infodurham .com Last week's question: With speculation continuing > to swirl, when should Premier Ernie Eves call the next provincial election? □ As soon as possible 73.8 per cent □ This fall 12.8 per cent □ Next spring 13.4 per cent Total votes: 172 Story appreciated To the editor: It was with great joy I read the article today on your front page regarding Daniel Patterson. For the past four long months. I have spent a great deal of time talking with his father, Dave, and anxiously awaiting news of his safe return home. I am one of the nurses who work at the plant where Dave has worked for many years. I remember reading the first article of Daniel in Baghdad sitting on a curb with two young boys in the middle of all the frenzy, frenzy, and seeing a very relieved fa-' ther who had just discovered his son was safe. His pictures and articles articles arc proudly on display in our medical unit. As parents we continually worry about our children's children's well-being and Dave and Roberta are more than worthy of the media attention. As a parent of two daughters very close in age to this young man I cannot even imagine the Pattersons have been through and am thrilled to join them to welcome welcome Daniel home this weekend. I congratulate them on raising a fine young soldier and look forward forward to meeting Daniel after a very long tour of duty. Thank you for bringing this very important story to the attention of Durham Region, you have made my day. Shelley Lemick Whitby OPINION e-mail letters to nc\vsroom@(lHrliiimieyioii.com Nightmare was only a dream after all F unny how sometimes we see more of our real self when there is no light. Many of us looked into the darkness of our souls during the blackout...and many of us did not like what we saw. It is dusk on Thursday evening. The first night without power, the first night of total darkness. The shadows creep up on my little town, somehow blacker and more ominous without the sentinel hum of electricity through the wires overhead. I am alone, Suzanne and the boys, fortunately, away at my parent's cottage. A blessing. The house seems cavernous and lonely and so I opt to go out and walk around. After ment or two I notice for the first time in years the voices in my head are silent. No more frantic 'They're all staring at you!' or 'Your fly's undone! Your fly's undone!' or 'Those pants make you look fill you know.' I make a mental note lo gel a thorough MRI when the power conies back. If Ihe power comes back. Yes, that's the real question isn't it? The one none of us wauls to ask ourselves on this Neil Crone Enter Laughing a mo- night of questions. Main Street is cloaked in an inky, dangerous darkness when I arrive. The looting and pillaging pillaging has already begun. Normally Normally decent, law-abiding citizens have somehow, with the advancing advancing blackness, become greedy, bug-eyed monsters. Here a man emerges from a broken broken storefront window window clutching a tub of Kawartha Dairy Ice cream under each arm. There two elderly elderly women have smashed in the glass of the beauty parlour and sit illegally under hair dryers. Down Ihe street rival gangs of farm thugs battle viciously viciously for the rights to a stolen manure spreader. The dark underbelly of a small town. I decide I had heller get home and I arrive not a minute too soon. A pack of wild-eyed Lion's Club members-gone-bad are roving up and down my street bullying people into wearing purple vests. I slip into my house through the buck and lock the doors. Peering cautiously cautiously through the front curiums curiums I notice Ihe pack of Lions lias now swelled to nearly twice its original size, having been joined by a sneering gaggle of Daughters of the Eastern Star. The women heckle passers by as they defiantly wave quilts with all manner of profanity delicately stitched into them over their heads. That can only be bad. I slowly close the curtains. curtains. And now I am alone. Truly alone. I get into bed, fully dressed and although the night is asphyxiatingly hot and humid I pull the comforter up around me. Slowly, thankfully, against the horrible backdrop of the Masons setting fire to the post office, I fall asleep. Sometime later I awaken to horrible screaming. Sitting bolt upright in bed I realize with relief relief it is only the radio playing a Yoko Ono song. The power is back on. The sun is up, the birds are singing. And look, through my bedroom window I see a group of Lions in purple vests picking up litter, I slump back against my pillow pillow with a smile on my face. Yes, I think, we have our dark side, bul this is still a pretty nice little town. Sunderland resident Neil Crone, aetor-eomie-writer, saves some of liis best lines for Ins columns. Cite Cnimtiimt Statesman is one of the Metroland Printing, Printing, Publishing and Distributing Distributing group of newspapers. The Statesman is a member of - the Bowmanville Clarington Board of Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce, Commerce, Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Circulations Circulations Audit Board and the Ontario Ontario Press Council. 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