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PAGE 6 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ APRIL 19,2006 Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardt EdItor-in-Chlef 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 Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 ®fre Cattabian Statesman ■ 0 APRIL 19, 2006 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 infodurhamregion.com EDITORIAL e-mail letters to newsroom@durhamregion.com r m Earth Day perfect chance to clean up Ah, spring is finally, truly here and the living is... well, dirty. While April showers may bring May flowers, the cruellest month also brings with it all the detritus stored up from a long winter. It's easy to see it out there -- all you have to do is look around and the old' coffee cups, chip bags and water bottles are piled up in gutters, against chain-link fences and along creek beds. But we can do something about it, because it is April and that means, appropriately enough, it's time for a spring cleaning. That's why the annual Earth Day activities, now a staple of North American life for the past 36 years, are so timely. The April 22 event allows us all to get out there and do what we can to clean up our little comer of the world. Festivities will be happening all over the region and a click of a mouse can help you easily find out what's going on. This newspaper has Earth Day info and you can link to dur- hamregion.com and click on to municipal websites to make your way to a local Earth Day activity in your neighbourhood. Earth Day provides us with an annual reminder of our own neglect of our environment. It's easy to point an accusing accusing finger at big business and government facilities which pour pollutants into our air, water and earth. And, of course, those who pollute pollute should take responsibility for their actions and make every effort to .clean up the mess. However, as the old saying 1 goes, when you point a finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you. • That means that, if we toss a wrapper out the car window or ' fail to clean up after our pets or flick cigarette butts on to • our streets or sidewalks, we are guilty of mindless littering. And we make the area we live in a public trash can. That's just wrong. We have to make an. honest . effort to live a litter-free existence. existence. , That means recycling what we can, throwing into garbage cans what belongs there and being responsible in public. While you're out there, take a picture of areas that need a thorough thorough cleaning. Send your pictures of people cleaning up to interactive@durhamregion.com and we'll publish them online or in the newspaper. Earth Day offers a once-a-year opportunity to do our part. But, protecting our environment environment is something we must do every day of the year. BACKWARD GLANCE Darlington from the air Statesman file photo The Darlington Nuclear Generating Station is shown shortly • after it went online in the early 1990s. DST LIKE THAT,.. doTighan.com !«• 5TOE EMDS SEASON A CLICK AND SAY Today's question: Will higher hydro rates change how you use electricity? Yes No Cast your vote online at infodurtiamregion.com Last week's question: Do you intend to send a letter to our troops In Afghanistan? Yes 50% No 50% Votes cast: 270 HAVE YOUR SAY Will you make a greater attempt attempt to conserve energy with hydro prices rising? i LETTERS TO THE EDITOR e-i Subdivision and moraine don't mix To the editor: Re: Subdivision could harm water, residents warn, April 12. I am a Grade 9 student and just last year I learned about how important it is-to protect the Oak Ridges lyforaine. Not only would a 26-lot subdivision hurt the farmland around the area (where I live on a 250 acre-plot) but it would definitely diminish the water supply. The Oak Ridges Moraine is 160 kilometres long and 5 to 15 kilometres wide. It is mostly sandy soil, which is full of important aquifers. An aquifer is an underground layer of rock and sand that contains contains important water which act like giant sponges soaking up rainwater and snow melt. If a 26-lot subdivision is built on these natural water tanks, they will be under pressure and all that water will be lost. These precious aquifers form 65 river systems. People, agriculture, certain industries, commercial activities activities and recreational uses rely on the moraine for drinking water, growing and grazing land, wooded wooded areas, and aggregates (sand and gravel). We all need to start thinking more about protecting the environment environment and not how to get rich quick by selling 26 lots. - It is a very difficult thing to do. with so much gas being burned and trees being cut down. Protecting the moraine is an easy way to help the environment environment and all we have to do is not build on it. ' Bruce Sargent Enniskillen mail letters to newsroom@durhamregion, BIA, Zellers appeal is a mistake To the editor: Re: Bowmanville BIA, Zellers appeal west end development, April 7. I think the BIA made a mistake appealing this. It is a waste of their money and the taxpayers' money to hold this i development up. T have lived hère for around 20 years and realize that the population in Bowmanville is exploding at the moment. I look forward to having having more options for shopping, dining,, etc. These stores will provide work for the many new families and students as well. I think the impact on the downtown downtown core is vastly overblown. Many stores are specialty shops which should have little change in their customer base with this development. I don't understand the holdup other than thinking the BIA is sure it can get more from the big box stores than originally promised. promised. They don't represent my views. Bert McCormack Bowmanville Decriminalize yes, legalize no com the drag for everyone will cut out the middleman makes just as much sense as saying that minimum minimum wages will create more jobs. The opposite is true for both. Legalizing marijuana will allow more people to become middlemen middlemen in the pursuit of profit; minimum wage acts as a ceiling floor limiting employment. . The use of drugs to be about ru the.. effects; .in today's, age it's about how much profit can be made with little investment and the use of a neighbour's hydro line. If Canada legalizes marijuana, then it would create more middlemen, middlemen, which will mean more . competition, and ' most likely, more dangerous and criminal behaviour to protect that profit. Decriminalization will limit criminal behaviour and reduce the burden on the court system, while allowing people who make the choice to smoke recreation- ally have peace of mind. Matthew Fawcett Oshawa . Brian Rutherford • "Yeah, I always do. Turning off the lights; we're always conscious conscious of ways to conserve." OiKi Bev Austin "Oh, yes, putting in low-watt light bulbs and new low E glass windows in 'my home." To the editor: Re: Want to see criminal dope proceeds go up in smoke? Jeff Mitchell column, April 7. Although legalizing marijuana might be an appealing answer, it is not the right one. The Liberal government was right in developing decriminalization decriminalization legislation. Why? To think that legalizing LETTERS We welcome lettersthatinclude 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. Wayne Banks "Yes, energy-saver light bulbs. We wash our clothés in cold water and keep the furnace temperature low." Oshawa council's antics unreal What in tarnation is going on at Oshawa council? No, I'm not referring to Robert Lutczyk slipping into a southern southern accent to talk about a Port Perry store clerk (Huh?) or his reference to his own Ward 2 as the "Murder Capital of Durham Region" or his waving a toy gun around at Oshawa council to prove what - well, we're not exactly sure. Or to John Neal's latest decision decision to opt out of voting on a difficult issue. Or Mike Nicholson begging the media not to write about Coun. Lutczyk's "murder capital" capital" comments. Or long, drawn-out battles over the contents of your garbage bag come July I and whether Oshawa Oshawa residents can actually figure out how to use their green bins. No, this one's a real head scratchcr. We reported last week on the Tim Kelly massive battle between former City manager John Brown and the City and some councillors over terms of his contract. The long drawn-out legal mess sees councillors suing each other with allegations about secret meetings, meetings, documents that were official official or unofficial depending on who you believe, and accusations accusations of illegal conduct Hying all over the place. . Eventually, if no settlement is reached, a judge will have the final say on this legal cage match. No matter what happens, you can bet that you and I, the taxpayers, will be on the hook to pay off the legal eagles involved. And even if insurance covers any payout, the City's premiums will probably skyrocket and we'll be on the hook for that too. What last week's story reveals is a council in utter disarray. While the antics at the once- cvcry-thrce-weeks council meetings meetings are often laughable, what's troubling is that they arc merely window dressing to what is really really going on. It's now clcar'that this council seems totally dysfunctional. I'm waiting for the day when we have fist fights in the chambers - it can't be far off, Councillors clearly hate each other and what can be a friendly disagreement at another municipal municipal council in Durham Region' becomes a raging inferno replete with threats of lawsuits and actual actual lawsuits with this crew. Do these councillors even understand why they sit on council? council? I'm beginning to wonder if the raises these people have given themselves over the last two years were merely to pad their bank accounts so they can put their own lawyers on retainer. Too often councillors don't bother to listen to each other. Whether it be the downtown arena decision, or the night-time park closing call or the never- ending harbour mess, there is a disconnect between individuals. They don't pay attention to well-meaning delegations with a point to make, like those who had a conflicting view on the sports and entertainment complex complex or the marina users group or the anti-heritage designation proponents, They don't even listen to the lawyers they fund with our money to give them expert legal advice. Old grudges rule over common sense: Take Nester Pidwerbecki' and the Nicholson brothers. They seem ready for a pitched battle at almost every meeting. An axe to grind becomes more important than a logical argument, argument, Debate offen degenerates into name-calling - councillors Neal, Pidwerbecki and Mike Nicholson are repeat offenders - and childish insults, Oshawa deserves better. Councillors should be ashamed of their behaviour. They have six months to make a new start, . In the interim here's hoping we get some well-qualified, serious candidates to challenge the current current crew. Councillors had better try or they'll be looking for something else to do come Nov, 14, Copy editor Tun Kellys column appears every other Wednesday. E-mail tkelly@durhamregion, com. Andre Churchill "You got it. Lights off, washint once a week. Trying to barbecue a little more and use the stove less. I've also ", purchased the new light bulbs." The Canadian Statesman one of the Metroland Prin Publishing and Distribute group of newspapers. Th< Statesman is a member f. the Bowmanville Claringh Board of Trade, the Great Oshawa Chamber of Con merce, Ontario Commun: Newspaper Assoc., Cana dian Community Newspai Assoc,, Canadian Circuk tions Audit Board and the Ontario Press Council. Th publisher reserves the rig to classify or refuse any advertisement, Credit for vertisement limited to spa price error occupies. Edit< and Advertising content c the Canadian Statesman copyrighted. Unauthorizei production is prohibited.