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Clarington Communities/7 Two Helens focus on Orono book Sports/14 Eagles take game one from Voyageurs durhamregion.com ♦ Pressrun 24,150 ♦ Founded 1854 ♦ MARCH 1, 2006 ♦ 46 Pages ♦ Optional 3 Week Delivery $5/$1 Newsstand 11 Local tax increase being discussed Jason Liebregts/Metroland Durham Region Media Group Clarington committee to discuss budget Friday BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer CLARINGTON -- Councillors Councillors will meet Friday to discuss a budget that, if passed as recommended, recommended, will result in an approximately $40 increase per Clarington household on the local portion of the tax bill. But Mayor John Mutton predicts that, when all is said and done, the impact may be . lower. A special meeting of the General General Purpose and Administration Committee is' Set ••.•for; Friday- March 3, at 9:30 a.m. to debate the budget. The preliminary report from the finance department calls for a 4.7 per cent impact, after assessment growth. Every one per cent increase results in an approximately $8.37 tax increase for the average residential residential taxpayer on the local portion of the tax bill, meaning the aver age household would see a total increase of about $39. That number does not include the regional portion of the residential residential tax bill. The mayor is hoping council will find ways to decrease the local impact. "I'm hoping we can whittle it down to between 3.5 and 4 (per cent)," said the mayor. "Even as it stands, we're one of the lowest increases in the Region, but I'm hoping we can go even lower." Savings may be found in a number of areas, including including electricity at the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex, and office sup- plies in some departments. Clarington is in a strong position position to draw from reserves to reduce tux.- levy impacts, using about $12 million |n reserve funds, plus about '$1 million from the surplus. That will lessen lessen the pain for taxpayers, said the mayor. It is sustainable, he contends. "We're in a good position, because we're replenishing those reserves," he said. Council will vote on the bud- ,get Monday, March 6. 'I'm hoping we can whittle it down to between 3.5 and 4 (percent),' --Mayor John Mutton Dancing up a storm at Beech Centre BOWMANVILLE - Tina Tink steps to the music at a line dancing class at Clarington Beech Centre. Seniors can line dance Thursday mornings at the centre. Diesel spill no need for concern Judge rejects Charter argument sa Y s ministry Police found weapons, ounce of crack in van gY JEFF MITCHELL Staff Writer -v *,WHITBY A man has been sent to prison after a Superior Court judge rejected his argument argument that a search by Durham police breached his charter rights. John Wesley of Peterborough will serve two and a half years in a federal penitentiary after being found guilty of drug trafficking trafficking and weapons offences. The charges were laid more than five yeas ago when police discovered Mr. Wesley asleep in his van by Hwy. 115 in Clarington; a search of his person and vehicle resulted resulted in the seizure of restricted weapons and an ounce of crack cocaine. At trial in Whitby Mr. Wesley's lawyer Jonathan Shime said police did not have grounds to detain and search the man, and that officers should have obtained . a warrant before impounding and searching his van. Federal Crown counsel Sevag Yeghoyan argued the circumstances under which Mr. Wesley was found - passed See CHARTER, page 5 BOWMANVILLE - A 200- litre diesel spill was contained to the parking lot and was cleaned up at. the Fifth Wheel Truck Stop near the Waverley Road exit with Hwy. 401 in Bowman- ville Friday morning. Environment Ministry spokeswoman spokeswoman Kate Jordan said the spill was believed to have occurred when an auto-shutoff valve on a gas tank nozzle failed when a trucker was trying to fill his tank around 5:30 a.m. The approximately 200 litres of fuel was contained to the pavement, causing no environmental environmental impact, explained Ms. Jordan. The trucking company hired a cleanup company to deal with the mess. SERVICE • PARTS MON., WID., nu. 7:30 am - 6:00 pm TUES. ATHURS. 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 1-866 v 240-6192 HONnAk . www.hende1.eem À Deadline today for car talks between GM; CAW Plant No. 2 is not in play for future production BY IZABELA JAROSZYKSKI Staff Writer DURHAM -With the deadline for an agreement looming over the local Canadian Auto Workers Union, the future of car production production at General Motors in Oshawa is on the line. Jim Cameron, director of labour relations for GM, says the corporation corporation decided last month to change its internal practices and will only be investing in plants that have a viable and competitive competitive business strategy, The daily talks witli CAW over the past 10 days have been focused on coming coming up with an agreement that will cut labour costs and give the Oshawa plant an advantage over other North American plants to attract new products. Although Local 222 president Chris Buckley said any agreement reached witli GM would only be a shelf agreement, meaning nothing nothing would change "until we get a commitment from GM for a product lor both car plants," Mr. Cameron made it clear there is no possibility of Plant No. 2 remaining remaining open past 2008. "That decision was made in November," he said. "We have to forget about plant No. 2." If the union and local management management cannot come up with a competitive competitive business plan, however, Oslmwa will probably be "out of the business of making cars," he added. Mr. Buckley said going into these talks the union knew it wasn't "business as usual." "The auto industry is going down the toilet," he said. "The General Motors board of directors has raised the bar. They are looking at the facility that can be most competitive." Canadian facilities no longer have the luxury of a low Canadian dollar, he said. The goal of the talks, Mr. Cameron Cameron said, is to create a competitive competitive business plan that would make plant - No. 1 viable for future products, possibly adding another shift to its production and getting getting approximately $500 million to build a flexible manufacturing facility. Right now there is no commitment commitment for a product in plant No, I after the current production nms out, but a flex facility would allow the Oshawa plant to build a variety of car models at the same time thus increasing its viability, he said. The deadline for coming to an agreement is the end of today's business day. Although Mr. Buckley remains "cautiously optimistic" that an agreement can be made, he declined to offer any details as to what that would mean for the union's members. "If we come to an agreement, we will take the proposal to our membership on Saturday at the Civic Auditorium," he said, adding adding that it would be an information information session only and a vote on the proposal would be held within a week. t-- HWY. 12 I * » ° 7 IF ■ Pv NICHOLS p 401 u 1 ton 905-436-2227 Service 905-436-2221 ledyAFoht905-436-2229 2728 Courtlce Rd.. 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