The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

j Clarington Communities/5 Enjoy Winter WonderLearn k\ Wheels/Insert Smart duo conquer the big screen Canatan Statesman durhamregion.com ♦ Pressrun 24,150 ♦ Founded 1854 ♦ FEBRUARY 22, 2006 ♦ 48 Pages ♦ Optional 3 Week Delivery $5/$1 Newsstand Clarington looks to jump on fake guns bandwagon Not gun control; but child protection, says police officer BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer ; CLARINGTON -- A proposed bylaw that would restrict young people from possessing replica or imitation firearms in public is not aimed at gun control, but rather child protection, says a police officer leading the local charge to get the law in place. Clarington will look at following following Scugog in passing a bylaw to "ensure kids aren't out in public with firearm clones, after a number number of recent instances in which people; have been caught with such items. It's often hard for police to tell the replicas from the real thing, Constable Todd Petzold, of the "Ndrth Durham Office of Durham Regional Police, told Clarington . councillors Monday, "As police officers, we're responding to a gun call. We see â gun. We're going to be responding," responding," he said. And, that can have dire consequences, consequences, the constable said, pointing pointing to one such instance in Florida in.; which police, responding to a/gun call, shot a teen who was brandishing an imitation firearm. Incidents involving fake firearms firearms aren't just happening elsewhere, elsewhere, he noted, pointing to many local incidents, including one recently at Bowmanville High School, in which a former student was arrested after a man entered a , classroom classroom and fired eight rounds from a BB gun. Though there were six students students in the classroom classroom at the time, but no one was injured. Scugog's bylaw, passed in Janu-. ary after a number of incidents in that community, gives police a tool to help deal with the issue of teens and younger kids carrying around such imitation weapons, said Const. Petzold. The bylaw has since gained endorsement from municipalities across the GTA. Clarington is working toward having such a bylaw in - place within a few weeks, said Mayor John Mutton. "With the amount of gun activ- See COUNCIL, page 6 Constable Todd Petzold A.J. Groen/Metroland Durham Region Media Group Ready for the dance BOWMANVILLE - Mini ballerinas Hess Bolton, left, and Allyssa Bowen practise their routines routines for a performance at Eastdale Collegiate in Oshawa. They are students of the Jean Simone Simone School of the Performing Arts. 's message to CAW Local 222: Concessions wanted by management if new products to be built in Oshawa BY IZABELA JAROSZYNSKI Staff Writer -DURHAM - General Motors Corporation is calling on the local Canadian Auto Workers Union membership to eliminate "cost barriers" in order to become more competitive in the automotive manufacturing market and attract new investment. Company management is currently currently in talks with the representatives representatives from CAW Local 222 to negotiate a reopening of the contract contract signed in September 2005. In a letter obtained by This Week, Jim Cameron, director of labour relations for General Motors stated that GM "has taken a hard look at its internal practices, practices, including its local agreements. The corporation has made the decision that it will only invest in facilities which aie ablé to, demonstrate demonstrate the ability to operate and build products competitively and îM2ï:^ tBk act GM wants to negotiate changes to its contract with CAW. profitably." In the letter, dated Feb. 14,2006 and addressed to John Scanlan, national representative of the CAW, Mr. Cameron says that the company and the union have to take a serious look at what can be done to make the local agreements competitive with the practices of General Motors' competitors. "If we are unable to do so," Mr. Cameron writes, "the Corporation Corporation will look at other alternatives." alternatives." Those alternatives include looking at other North American sites, considering offshore sites, or deciding to forgo the production production of a new product altogether. Among the list of contractual changes that GM is seeking is the flexibility to outsource and insource work, to subcontract certain workers including housekeeping housekeeping and non-core maintenance, maintenance, and the right to use temporary temporary employees during product launches when no one is on layoff. layoff. Mr. Cameron cites this last Senior sustains severe burns in fire One of three serious blazes on weekend BOWMANVILLE-A senior senior is in critical condition after a fire weekend fire in his Bowmanville Bowmanville home. Durham Regional Police said the 70-year-old man sustained severe burns after a chair he was sitting in caught fire. Smoking is believed to be the cause of the fire. Emergency workers attended the Lambs Road home late Saturday Saturday or early Sunday, according to reports. The victim was taken to hospital and then airlifted to a bum unit in Hamilton. He was listed in critical condition Monday. Monday. -Meanwhile, what started as a car fire caused extensive damage to an Ajax home on the weekend. The vehicle fire ignited a car port and then the house on Harland Crescent, police said. The home was extensively, damaged and a neighbouring house sustained some damage as well, police said. No one was hurt in the blaze. ' The fires came on the same weekend as a tragic fire in Port Perry. A couple and their 12-year-old son died when the century home was gutted by fire early Saturday, police said. or lose change as a big selling point since it would eliminate the need to hire and subsequently lay off new employees. Stew Low, director of public relations for GM, says that the changes suggested in Mr. Cameron's Cameron's letter are not demands, but a jumping off point for negotiations. negotiations. "The letter was a way to get some things on the table," he said. "If the union brings other ideas to the table, we are certainly willing to listen." Chris Buckley, president of the CAW Local 222, had earlier denied any pressure from GM to See CHANGES,page 6 ONTARIO'S 8S$S • SERVICE • PARTS MON., WED., FRI. I 7:30 am - 6:00 pm , TUES. 4 THURS. \ 7:30 am - 8:00 pm : SAT. :« 9:00 am - 4:00 pm ACCREDITED TEST A REPAIR FACILITY WHITBY OSHAWA Honda 300 THICKSON RD. S. WHITBY 666-1772 honda. www.honde1.com CUPE strike Thursday: Ryan BY ERIN HATFIELD Staff Writer DURHAM - From schools to municipal services, the impact of a strike set for Thursday Thursday will remain to be seen in Durham. The introduction of Bill 206 Tuesday afternoon set into motion a planned strike by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Employees (CUPE). The legislation dealing with the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System . (OMERS) was introduced for third and final reading in the Ontario Legislature on Tuesday afternoon. In response, CUPE Ontario president Sid Ryan said his 120,000 members would begin an illegal strike as of midnight Thursday, Thursday, Feb. 23. "Our mandate was to call a strike if the legislation was introduced," Mr. Ryan said. "This afternoon it was introduced, which has triggered strike action." He said CUPE members from across the province will meet at the OMERS building building on Front Street, in Toronto, at 10 a.m. Thursday. From there they will march to Queen's Park for a mass demonstration. "Following that we will decide what action will take place, whether it be rotating rotating strikes over the weekend followed by another mass demonstration," Mr. Ryan said. "We have from now until Thursday to decide what action will take place." The act proposes a number of changes to pensions and better benefits for police and fire personnel. OMERS is the pension plan lor about 355,(XX) current and former employees, including municipal govern ments, school boards, libraries, police and fire departments, children's aid societies and other local agencies. "The premier has brought in legislation that gives employers veto over how pension surplus is spent," Mr. Ryan said. "We want it spent on pensioners. We want to put it into a fair arbitration process." Locally, CUPE representative Bunny Lockhart said she couldn't confirm what strike action would happen here or when such action would take place until a CUPE executive meeting, planned for Tuesday night. By Tuesday afternoon Durham Regional Regional chairman Roger Anderson said he had received confirmation CUPE would he striking Thursday. "The Region of Durham has put plans in place to hopefully keep all services running," running," Mr. Anderson said. He said he is certain dedicated employees of the Region will ensure essential services will not be affected. "There are an awful lot of employees who aren't really sure if they want to go out on strike," Mr. Anderson said. The Region lias stated it does not support illegal strike action and had urged Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to reconsider the proposed legislation. "ll is unfortunate the Province is putting anyone in this position," Mr. Anderson said. "It would be better if they withdrew it." Although the tax impact of Bill 206 won't be felt tomorrow, Mr. Anderson said the residents of Durham Region will feel it in the not-too distant future. ICE! a UMB CMMWH CMTHCATBI taggSfc*-.' «9-795 Here at Cowan's we want everyone to know what they are purchasing. Our vehicle Birth Certificate for every General Motors product includes, full warranty history, the vehicle's build, original warranty start date, original selling dealer! All completely documented! We pride ourselves In not stocking or selling out of grw(nffgflf(rrcntg|f(/