Clarington Digital Newspaper Collections

Canadian Statesman (Bowmanville, ON), 23 Nov 2005, p. 6

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PAGE A6 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ November 23,2005 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 Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 ®fjr Canadian Statesman Opinion | NOVEMBER 25, 2005 EDITORIAL e-mail letters to iicwsroom@durhamrcgioii.com Beacon shines a ray of hope through gloomy GM news So the other shoe has finally dropped. Five months after General Motors of Canada employees nervously heard parent company company GM Corp. was cutting jobs and closing plants south of the border,, the grim news shifted to Ontario and Durham Region. Oshawa Car Plant No. 1 is set to lose its third shift next year, while Car Plant No. 2. will be shut down after the current product product line runs out in 2008. In all, about 3,500 GM employees employees will be affected in Durham Region, with another 100 losing losing their jobs in St. Catharines, where another GM facility is to be closed. This is bad news for Durham's economy and for the retail sector just before the holiday shopping season. Employees facing the loss of their jobs are unlikely to spend generously during Christmas, Christmas, and it's been estimated that GM's 14,000 local jobs create up to 50,000. spin-off jobs in the community. GM, which expects to save $7 billion U.S. annually by shutting down 12 plants company-wide, has been losing market share to overseas competitors. The writing writing was on the wall last June, when the company announced plans to cut 25,000 jobs in the U.S., with little mention at the time of its Canadian operations. We have not escaped unscathed. While it can be little' comfort to the Durham employees who need to find new jobs, there are BACKWARD GLANCE Red Cross rally, 1916 durtiamregion.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 L1H7L5 Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 infodurhamregion.com reasons for optimism, primarily primarily with the $2.5 billion Beacon Beacon Project, which GM says it's still committed to. The Beacon Project, expected to create 500 new jobs, will support new skills training, automotive engineering, and research and development. If GM can honour its commitment commitment to the project, with the federal and provincial governments governments chipping in as planned, it will go a long way to becoming Durham's saving grace in the shadow of this economic disappointment. disappointment. And there are other reasons to be optimistic as well, such as if the Oshawa Census Metropolitan Area' achieves the average 3.8 per cent growth between 2006 and 2009, as projected by the Conference Board of Canada earlier this year. Opportunities are arising due to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Technology, science parks in Clarington, new industrial lands at Salem Road in Ajax, and construction of the Seaton community in north Pickering. All is not lost with the closure and cutbacks at GM's Oshawa plants. But local municipalities, municipalities, especially Oshawa, and the Region of Durham should strongly lobby the provincial and federal governments for new investment, fair trade policies for domestic auto manufacturers, and call for confirmation of support support of the Beacon Project. We must ensure Durham Region still has a rosy future. CLICK AND SAY Today's question: Do you believe the local economy will be hurt by *~j impending job cuts at GM in - the months ahead? D Cast your vote online at r infodurhamregion.com (j Last week's question: ya jq3 Is It too early to have Christ- ;i mas music and displays in -j local stores and malls? -,u\ !i« r lw No. 47.8% Yes 52.2% Votes cast: 471 HAVE YOUR SAY Should Clarington be the site of new nuclear reactors? m ,.f!l iv ,i(> LETTERS TO THE EDITOR e-mail letters to newsroom@durhamregion.com Photo supplied by Clarington Museums and Archives This 1916 scene took place on the streets of Bowmanville. It was a rally for the Red Cross. Letter provided inspiration To the editor: Re: Don't give up on your soulmate, soulmate, Genie Goulet letter, Nov. 11. I just wanted to reply to your recent article by saying how very moving and true it really was. At a time in our lives, both working full-time, two small children, a house, housework, dog, hockey games and soccer games; it really takes a lot of work and time to remember that it was the same two people who created this chaos and that your relationship does get pushed to the side, but should never be forgotten. This article really made me stop for just a moment, really read and take in all that was written, especially at a moment in my life where this was exactly how I was feeling. It was a really down day and reading this article brought me some happiness to think that there are others out there who feel the same way. I did cut out this article, attach it to my husband's cellphone for him to read. He came upstairs, gave me a kiss and thanked me for sharing it with him. Thank you for making our day a little brighter. When I'm feeling feeling down I'm going to read it. Penny McCarthy Bowmanville Downtown business loses a customer To the editor: There is often an article in your paper where the downtown merchants merchants are rallying against big box stores. Perhaps certain- businesses in our local downtown should look On a recent morning I stopped to shop in a local store, prepared to buy certain items totalling about $45. The store hours sign on the door said open at 10 a.m. (which is late enough to open •when our local big box store is open at 9 a.m.). At 10:20 a.m., the store was not open. There was no sign of life in the store at all, therefore, I did my business in Oshawa. This is the second time that I have encountered this and both times Oshawa has gotten my business. Lynn Cummins Newcastle Thieves wrecked more than windows To the editor: This is an open to letter to the individual(s) who, finding themselves themselves with time on their hands, decided to smash the windows on our van Saturday evening (Nov. 26th) while my family and I where attending mass at St. Philip the Apostle. The money that I. am going to have to use to replace these windows is unfortunately going to have to come from money we had set aside to purchase presents presents for our children. I need my van to get to and from work in Toronto and can't drive it that far in its current con-, dition. I hope you are pleased with your actions as you have basically basically taken presents away from my children in order to satisfy some waiped sense of enjoyment you have. Maybe you would like to lose some of your gifts as a result of someone else's selfish behaviour. Merry Christinas! Kevin Thomas Oshawa Good deed done for naught To the editor: Most youth are brought up to be helpful to people in need. My son recently helped someone someone with car trouble. The fellow made up a story about how he couldn't make it to his bank, and . asked if my son could deposit à fin cheque for him and hé would let him keep a large chunk of the money for helping him. Of course, my son thought this sounded like a great idea. Low and behold the cheque was phoney phoney and even if it were good, the bank would reject the cheque because it wasn't made out to the i person depositing it. My son now has to pay the bank back the' full amount and has a black mark on his otherwise otherwise spotless banking record. We actually made a police report and this fellow has been known to do this type of thing before. Do we wonder why no one is willing to help anyone anymore? • Parents, please warn your children children about this scam. Denise Dugal Ajax !UH 'im Dot McGill 3rd "Oh yes, there's so much talk v.O about nuclear energy. I think A there's enough in the area ' already though." uoj Doreen Ferguson v.i 1 "I would say so, they're doing dm everything they can to get a ip new nuclear plant here. We jm really need it." LETTERS We welcome letters that include name, city of residence and phone numbers for verification. Writers are generally limited to 200 words and one submission submission in 30 days. We decline announcements, poetry, open letters, consumer complaints, congratulations and thank you notes. The editor reserves the right to edit copy for length, style and clarity. The newspaper newspaper contacts only those people people whose submissions have been chosen for publication. FAX: 905-579-1809; E-MAIL: Newsroom ©durhamregion. com. Rick McEachern "I think for the most part, : most people don't understand enough about it. It's here whether we support it or not." at their own practises. We're paying for too much, and not getting enough No wonder all predictions point to double-digit Regional tax increase If you listen to the heads of both our local and regional levels of government, it's no wonder there arc dire doom-and-gloom predictions of a double-digit tax increase at the Regional level this year. First, Durham Regional Chairman Chairman Roger Anderson, speaking at a Clarington Board of Trade luncheon recently, said downloading downloading early 1990s resulted in' money Jennifer Stone being taken from regional budgets budgets to pay for tilings like land ambulance, which was previously funded by 'the Ontario government. government. Not only that, but pooling of social service costs with the City of Toronto also results in an unfair Then, there's Clarington's mayor, John Mutton, who has been saying, for the past three years, but much more loudly and frequently of late, that Durham needs to take a good look at what it's paying for, For example, the Region currently currently funds three homes for the aged. But, really, it's only mandated mandated to have one such facility. So, Regional taxpayers arc footing footing the bill for two additional such facilities each year, to the tune of millions of dollars, when they really don't have to, Sadly, a decision to not pay for such a service would come at the expense of one of the most vulnerable groups in society: the impact to Durham Region, with,. elderly, many no longer able to own and cure for than mcy'rc collecting, themselves, There is the argument that there is only one taxpayer, and it really doesn't matter to which level of government we make out the cheque. There is some validity to that idea, especially in terms of Chairman Apdcrson's complaints about downloaded services like land ambulance. It all comes out of our pockets, whether we send it to the Province or the Region or the local municipality. But, there is also the issue that the Region does have core services, services, like regional roads, for which it is responsible, And, when items arc cither added or unmandated, it means' one of two tilings: a tax increase, ora deterioration in existing man-' dated services. The proof lias been in the pudding. pudding. Some existing services, like Regional roads, are beginning to crumble. As Chairman Anderson said, "The cracks in this funding arrangement are literally beginning beginning to show in potholes and leaky sewers," he told those at the Board of Trade luncheon. "And the repairs will cost more later, as the structures involved continue to deteriorate." So, since it seems unlikely the Province is going to take back anything downloaded under the previous government, there aren't a lot of choices: either the Regi6h> 1 lets go of some of the unmandated unmandated services it currently pays for, or taxes rise dramatically. It's a tough choice. Reporter Jennifer Stone's column runs every third Wednesday Tracy Tepfenhart "Of course it is because John Mutton went all the way to China for it. I think there are enough nuclear facilities in the area, we are stuck between between two of them." The Canadian 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, 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 limited to space price error occupies. Editorial and Advertising Advertising content of the Canadian "Statesman Is copyrighted. Unauthorized reproduction Is prohibited.

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