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PAGE 4 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ JUNE 22,2005 Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardt Editor-In-Chief Chris Bovie Managing Editor Fred Eismont Director of Advertising Eddie Kolodziejcak Classified Advertising Manager Kirk Bailey Distribution Manager Lillian Hook Office Manager , Janice O'Neil, Cheryl Haines Composing Managers Todd Blayone Interactive Media Manager fjjc Cmmtiinn Statesman Opinion | JUNE 22, 2005 EDITORIAL durhamrcgion.com Phone 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 .4 ,4 .1 infodurhamregion.com J 'i À e-mail letters to ncwsroom@durhamregion.com Smog days, deaths, will get worse M LET AOUTTIL mu CLICK AND SAY Today's question: It's thick, hazy and makes going outside unpleasant. But smog doesn't just make you feel bad, it also kills. And the problem of smog in Ontario is getting worse -- fat- worse -- in a June that lias featured featured boiling hot, muggy days. For instance, we've already had a record 21 smog days this year and summer just started yesterday. It promises to be a smoggy summer, one that could see well over the 5,800 Ontarians killed that the Ontario Medical Association Association says smog accounts for each year. And it gets worse: the OMA is predicting yearly smog deaths in the province could double, in the next 20 years. It doesn't help matters that the promise made during the last provincial election campaign by Dalton McGuinty that, Ontario's four coal-powered- electricity plants would be closed by 2007, was broken the other day. Premier McGuinty said the power generated by the plants will be needed; however, it's worth noting the Nanticoke coal- fired plant is the single largest source of air pollution in Ontario. Ontario. And while Lakeridge Health officials claim the shutting down of asthma clinics in Oshawa, Bowmanville and Port Perry will have little effect, it can't be lielp- ful to shut out areas of relief for citizens as the region grows and as breathing problems increase. The bottom line with smog is that we, as a society, have created created the problem and only we, together, can solve the problem. Changing long-held habits that can induce smog will offer the only solutions to reduce the number of smog days we will have to live through in future. Common sense rules the day and if you're keen to take the one-tonne challenge and do your part to reduce emissions, you'd be wise to take public transit or carpool whenever possible. The Smart Commute system, which is on its way to Durham, may offer relief in pairing up people who live and work in similar locales. There is more we can do: turn off the lights and tiy to keep your air-conditioner on low; avoid using aerosol sprays, oil- based paints and other chemical products; don't smoke or use the barbecue; : stick to a moderate speed when driving and avoid idling. Governments, of course, will have to continue to work hard to reduce air pollution and to develop programs and incentives that induce businesses and industries industries to pollute less. But, in the end, we'll all have to chip in. If we all do a.little, a lot gets done. 1 a 1 2 Should Durham municipal!- ii ties put a question on the * next municipal election ballot ballot asking voters if they want to vote for the regional chairman? chairman? Yes j No _ Cast your vote online at j infodurhamregion.com j V"*1 Last week's question: In the wake of last week's , court ruling, do you think » Canadians should be allowed to purchase private health insurance.? No 49.5% Yes 50.5% Votes cast: 212 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR BACKWARD GLANCE Darlington gets built, 1980s This Week File Photo Construction at the massive Darlington Nuclear Station is shown in this aerial photo from the 1980s. The multi-billion project, which generated some protest, took years to complete. Gay Durham piece didn't discuss other side of issue To the editor: Re: In their own words, pulling , a face to gay Durham, Carly Foster column, June 19. Images are powerful things. They strike emotion. They are hardit6'argue l 'witiiuL V-X > : ? ,X, •£"" Images, however, do not invite • intellectual discussion..... Newspapers and media in general general are masters of the game, and your newspaper plays it well. So it is that we are presented with your recent image-laden piece on the gay community of Durham. But how much have we really really intellectually discussed the issue? Nowhere in all this have I seen any attempt at open dialogue, dialogue, and Carly FosterVattempt falls very short of putting "a face to a very divided issue." If she really wanted to do so, why are we not presented with similar pieces on people who represent a different opinion? Oil yeali, they're the "go to Toronto" and "blasphemy to God" crowd, aren't they? Why are we bombarded with "rights" talk'when all that represents represents is. the opinion of our Supreme Court? It seems trivial to mention that the UN Human Rights Commission Commission has already rejected the • idea as a universal human right. After all, the fact that about 1-2 per cent (according to Stascan) surely means "I'm just like you," because really, what is a "norm" anymore if we 98 per cent can't just be a little more tolerant? As a matter of fact, why not give every group that's undergone undergone thoughts of suicide, ostracism, ostracism, and hatred whatever they want? True justice means "I've been wronged, therefore I deserve e-mail letters to ncwsroom@durhamvcgion.com whatever ! want" seems pretty decent, doesn't it? As a matter of fact, let's just forget intellectual discussion all together. After all, with media like the Oshawa This Week filling in our minds with the proper images and emotion, intelligence is, • probably just a conceit we don't need anymore. S.J. Biersteker Oshawa More than cash needed to fix health care : ' y ■. . ■ ; • 1 -.1 . To the editor: Re: Cash required to fix health care, Tim Kelly column, June 15. Will there ever be enough cash to fix our health care system? We complain about waiting times, cutbacks to essential services, services, and whether or not the Province should be the one to come up the money. Tim Kelly feels that we are the tragic victims of the unfair funding game between the province province and the federal government. While I do agree with this, I also feel we need to look at ourselves. ourselves. Why are there huge waiting times in the emergency department? department? I have been sitting there next to people who "think" that they have the flu, or have had a fever for an hour and haven't taken Tylenol yet. I know that there is a doctor shortage, but alternatives exist! Can we not take on a little more responsibility responsibility for our own health and use a little more common sense? . We all heed to take a part in reducing waiting times in our hospitals so there aren't any more tragedies for people who truly have an "emergency" situation situation and shouldn't have to wait. Don't forget -- when the health care system needs cash and we look to our government for the money -- that money will come from all of our pockets. Anita Bouma Newcastle Two-tier health care not fair To the editor: Re: \MedicaI wailing times may soon be over, editorial, June 15. This Week's stand for two-tier medical care in Canada alludes to the notion that Canadians will get better and faster heath care if, , as the courts suggest, we allow for' the creation of private clinics. clinics. How wrong from the truth could this be. Sure, Canadians will get faster care in a two-tier system, it's just that what isn't said is which Canadians will get faster care. It will be two-tier: one for those who have and another for those who have not. I am sure everyone knows who is who. Universal heath care, regardless regardless of wealth, goes to the heart of Canadian society. A two-tier system will make access to timely health care even „ longer for those who can't afford private care, as doctors shift to private facilities- and effectively reduce the number of doctors at public facilities. How does this improve Canadians' Canadians' right to timely care? The courts are there to interpret 1 the law, not make new laws. Parliament is elected to enact the laws of the country, and for more than 40 years Parliament and Canadians have voted for a single public health care system. Simply, two-tier health is -not healthy for "all" Canadians. Bill Hepburn Whitby Big decisions ahead for council Must look at more than current needs Clarington council has a big job on its hands over the next few days, Councillors must set the guidelines guidelines to help map the future of Bowmanville's west end. In doing so, they will. also help determine the impact on other areas of the municipality, especially especially the downtowns in places like Bowmanville, Newcastle and Orono, That's where smaller merchants wait to find out how much of their business will be lost to big box retailers, who are lining up at town hall, so to speak, in hopes of getting the go-ahend to build Jennifer Stone here. The shoppers are already here, and more arc coming, says a consultant's report about the market, which indicates that only 17 per cent of department store dollars spent by Clarington residents residents arc being spent within the municipality's confines. Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Loblaws, under the pseudonym of the Real Canadian Superstore, all want to build in Bovvmun- ville's west end. There are also proposals for large residential development in that area. There may be some high-density high-density growth there, as well as construction construction of single-family dwellings. dwellings. Eventually, the west end of Bowmanville will be home to thousands more people than currently currently dwell there. Municipal planning staff have a vision of a pedestrian-friendly area, with street-oriented retail businesses, a grid street system allowing car users to get to and from the shopping area. Design and construction must be of high quality, they say, Though consultants say there's room for two home improvements improvements centres in the Clarington Clarington market, some planners hold that Home Depot doesn't fit the west Bowmanville puzzle, that it's more of a light industrial use, and might be better placed elsewhere, (One home improvement centre centre is already in the works, with Rona planning an 85,000 square foot store at Baseline Road and the Waverley Road exit of I-Iwy. 401. Construction on that site is expected to begin as early as September.) But Home Depot lias brought forward plans for dramatically different construction of their store than is seen elsewhere, To say the least, the design they've showed council is an enormous improvement, aesthetically, aesthetically, over what they usually build. There's also the issue of what will go there if not Home Depot. Could a developer decide to go ahead with a mass HAVE YOUR SAY What are your plans for the j summer? Kim Harding "I work full time, so I'll spend time with the kids, do some gardening and go on day trips." Jeremy Czechowski "Kick back, relax and enjoy the hot weather." Danielle Xavier "Camping and fishing. I work; two jobs, so I'll hang out with friends and try to save money for a car and school." Charlie Nash "Going to Nova Scotia for two months to visit family." of smaller stores that might be in greater competition with Bowmanville's Bowmanville's downtown? This, too, must be weighed. Not to be disregarded also is the fact that elsewhere, the Ontario Municipal Board has said Home Depot is retail, not light industrial. industrial. That it could rule that way again, should Clarington council vote against allowing the Home Depot, is a definite possibility. it's a lot to consider. But at the end of the day, council must find a way to balance balance existing business with new development, and make Clarington Clarington a place where residents can live, work, shop and play. Reporter Jennifer Slone '.v column appears every oilier Wednesday. E-mail jsione@diirhamreüion.com. The Canadian Statesman is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing and 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 Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Circulations Circulations Audit Board and the Ontario Press Council. 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. Unauthorized reproduction reproduction Is prohibited. A ocna B ^GNA ET i* ,.1 i "s*ti