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t, > PAGE A6 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ December 14,2005 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 i ; Janice O'Neil, Cheryl Haines Composing Managers Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 ®l)£ Canatriaii Statesman Opinion | DECEMBER 14, 2005 durhamregion.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@durhamregipn.com 5 865 Farewell St., Oshawa ON L1H 7L5 : J Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 j infodurhamregion.com EDITORIAL e-mail letters to newsroom@durhamrcgion.com Durham has nuclear solution The long-awaited energy report ' from the Ontario Power Authority Authority struck all the right chords in its recommendation for a massive investment in nuclear energy. The 1,100-page document, turned over to the Province on Friday, says Ontario should spend upwards of $35 billion on nuclear in the next two decades to maintain the province's energy energy needs'. Such a recommendation, should it be accepted in full by the Liberal government, is music to the ears of Durham Region politicians, businesspeople and citizens. It could well mean à huge investment here where we have the expertise, facilities and workforce workforce to make more nuclear a success. If Ontario goes ahead and builds more reactors at Darlington, Darlington, it will mean more high-paying high-paying jobs and more investment in our region. It can only boost the nuclear education programs at Durham College and the University, of, Ontario Institute of. Technology. And it will reinforce Durham's claim as .Canada's energy-pro-;; ducing capital. Why spend so much on nuclear? nuclear? There are a number of reasons, reasons, says the OPÀ report, The clock is clearly ticking right now on the lifespan, of. , OiiÉîo'S current reactors.;? " Whether it be the six operating units at Pickering or the four at Darlington or those in opera tion at Bruce, nuclear reactors do not last forever. In fact, OPG recently made the decision to not restart two laid-up units in Pickering due to the high cost for what would be a short lifespan. At about the 25-year mark, reactors reactors begin to wind down. Yet, nuclear remains the most reliable and dependable energy source we know of. Renewable energy, like water, wind or solar, is not reliable enough to power a growing industrial society. Coal-fired plants are being eliminated because of the pollutants pollutants they produce. And, the price of gas is simply too variable. While expensive, nuclear is efficient. We know it works. But, there is no time to waste. \ The McGuinty government must begin the long drawn-out process of completing environmental' environmental' assessments, and planning planning and budgeting to get new reactors built within a 10-year timespan. ' Nuclear ' reactors, which. are among the most complex industrial industrial creations known to man, take many years to construct. • . .So we must act now, to avoid felling into a pit where it will be , . necessary to import most of the, power 1 we will ■ need in : future. . . We can't be held hostage to other provinces or to U.S. states for our energy needs. , , | "\Ve can and we must beresponjvj ^sibteW our Wii energy needs'. T" Ail'd nuclear allows us to do just l that. CLICK AND SAY | Today's question: 4 r Do you favour construe-..,, tion of more nuclear reac- " tors in Durham Region to meet Ontario's future energy > needs? Cast your vote online at * t infodurhamregion.com Last week's > ... u"/ question: j Do you plan to use the new Durham regional transit system when it launches in .*') the new year? . . - P1 No 61.1% Yes 38.9% Votes cast: 280 "A . gm doJighan.com HAVE YOUR SAY _--: : I.,1 Do you plan to watch or follow the federal election />;! leaders' debates later this Uj week? lor* LETTERS TO THE EDITOR e-mail letters to newsroom@durhaniregion.com Let people decide how money is spent, not politicians To the editor: Re: Be suspicious of a politician willing to cut you a cheque, Ian McMillian column, Dec. 11. To Mr. McMillan's thoughts BACKWARD GLANCE Church, graveyard, 1900 i.' • Statesman file photo Ebeneezer United Church, south of Hwy. 2, is shown in the background, while a gravestone at thé old cemetery in Courtice takes pride of place in the foreground. ings' on how things : turned out in Ontario aftêr that cheque were ' interesting. Yes, the Tories under | : Harris did do some things that raised the ire of people in Ontar- io. ' 1 Let's contrast this with what the Liberals propose.They want to spend large sums of money to give the provinces to provide a service that many of the people who need child care will never see. . I am tired of the government telling me that they know what I want and need and will spend my money accordingly. What Conservatives Conservatives have always advocated advocated is that there are cases where they think the taxpayers know better what they need than government.' government.' Imagine that, people making decisions for their own welfare; we can't have that, this is Canada! Mark Little , Bowmanville GM daughter defends work of Dad, Grandpa To the editor: Re: GM employees had layoffs coming, Leonard Gilbert letter, Dec. 11. I am a firm believer in everyone everyone being allowed to . have an opinion, but Leonard Gilbert has crossed the line -- and that is not the line at General Motors. My father worked,very hard for 40 years at General Motors. With his one salary, he raised two kids, paid off one house, and' always, put his family first. We had our first and only family vacation in 1976 by driving down to Disney Disney World in Florida, and we didn't stay in fancy hotels - we |;rùughed it at the KO?, 'kifffbyUl : ~~My grandfather also worked at General Motors, for 44 years. ' ; He was the one who, after rais- ing a daughter and saving every penny, bought, a cottage that took years to make into a place for his family to watch over the sunsets near Caesarea. When he died, the cottage was sold. Both these men are now deceased, and by the way, Dad was 18 when he started at GM. He died at 58. You do the math. As for that "gold-plated" v GM pension? Try living on what my mother does on survivors' benefits and you'll change your mind in a hurry. , . Laura Feeney ' Courtice Report proposed waste solutions To the editor: Re: Province must lead way on waste policies, editorial, Dec. 7. You say the province is to . blame for our waste disposal situation. situation. I feel much of the blame lies with our regional level of government. In the mid 1990s, the region : set up a "Waste Management Advisory Committee" made up of citizens from throughout the region. This group met monthly for approximately a year and a half. The mandate was to come up with a long-term waste management management strategy for Durham Region. A comprehensive study of the many options available was undertaken. Visits were made to existing facilities, such as a wet dry system or energy from waste. The region received a detailed report of some options for a long-term strategy. If this report had been acted upon, we could be leaders in waste management, management, Instead, we . followed ' Toronto and sent our waste to Michigan. You should obtain a copy of this publie report and let ■ the citizens of Durham Region know what was proposed years -ago. ; ; - Mark Ashcroft Oshawa Former Member Durham Region Waste Management Advisory Committee >;:i| Jeannie Carter "No. Honestly, I don't believe anything they say. I'm fed up." Wendy Milburri 1 - z "No. I thinkdt's the wrong timef • of year and I'm tired of listening to them.". For more letters go to durhamregion.com or electiondurhamregion.com 1 LETTERS We welcome letters that include name, city of residence and phone numbers for vérification. 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. AiivU V.Ul Ron Collis "Yes, definitely. I'm interested; in politics. I think it's an im 1 - : portant election and a long campaign. The messages that come out of the debate really define the campaign." Don't take pleasure in GM cuts Schadenfreude: German word meaning "pleasure taken from someone clse's misfortune," We've received a lot of mail about the GM layoffs over the past few weeks, not surprising when you consider the scope of General Motors in Durham and the depth of the cuts: nearly 4,000 jobs in Durham alone. Some letter writers have complained complained about GM's unimaginative unimaginative product lines, its lack of competitiveness when compared with import vehicles or the belief that General Motors hasn't kept up with what drivers want. And then there is the letter which appeared Sunday and which is responded to by another writer today. The letter which appeared on Sunday, I believe, represents what quite a lew arc thinking but which only he has stated so far for print: a clear case of schadenfreude schadenfreude if there ever was one. Tim Kelly In some ways, you can't blame the odd person for having a giggle giggle at the expense of GM workers. workers. After, all, auto assemblers do make a terrific wage (more than $30 per hour, much more for overtime) and get great benefits. There arc many in the community community who would think they'd died and gone to heaven if they could just get in the GM factory door and land on the line. The notion of earning two or even three times as much money is cause to drool, at least. The belief that those fat-cat autoworkers had it coming is probably not that uncommon. And while everyone is entitled to feel however he or she wishes, such thinking is off base and short-sighted. Consider the pure spending power in Durham of all those. GM workers -- and their dependents. dependents. : Think about all the businesses who rely, at least in large part, on the patronage of GM families, And then, try to think of local municipalities without the income to draw tax revenue from GM workers, who, as they have earned more over the years, have bought bigger arid better cars, homes, cottages, etc. Think of all the local professionals professionals (doctors, lawyers, dentists, insurance agents) and retailers (restaurateurs, bar owners, owners, hairstylists, gas station own ers) who have made a go of it here because GM has thrived locally. And then, of course, there are the suppliers who depend so much on GM contracts: Think of. Lear' in Whitby and Ajax, A.G. Simpson in Oshawa, and Johnson Johnson Controls in Whitby, to name just a few. Thousands are employed in these plants and while many don't make as much as GM workers do, they need GM to keep in business. Complaints about GM workers also ignore all the blood, sweat and tears early autoworkers suffered suffered to establish a union and to win gains in wages, hours of work, safety, pensions and many other labour areas. Read up on the 1937 or 1956 GM strikes - they were long, brutal affairs that pushed union solidarity to the absolute brink. As to problems General Motors Corporation faces worldwide, don't blame GM's Canadian con-. tingent, Plants in Oshawa have rated right at the top in productivity productivity and quality over the last few years. Canadian social programs, especially health care coverage, eat up plenty of. the worker costs which must be absorbed by the parent company in the U.S. for American workers. Even the Canadian dollar has made building, vehicles in Canada Canada cheaper than in the U.S. Ultimately it has been poor management and , marketing which has hurt GM, And good Canadian workers who have done the job well, shouldn't have to pay the price for that. Copy editor Tim Kelly's column appears every other Wednesday. E-mail tkelly@durhamregion. com. Anrie Gibson "I, certainly will, I think it's important. I .think we need a change, plain and simple." ; The Canadian Statesman is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing group of newspapers. The Statesman is a member of ' £ the Bowmanville ClaringtOn J Board of Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Com- > merce, Ontario Community f- Newspaper Assoc., Cana- dian Community Newspaper J Assoc., Canadian Circula- * lions 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. Arena TOWl (tqsA. due «fi m