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if Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday. Januaiy 26, 2000 Staying in Touch by John O'Toole, MRP As I review each week's events, I try to understand public opinion and their response to news stories. Often, our community office receives telephone calls, faxes and letters revealing the public's public's point of view. I must say that I listen and read the various various newspapers' Letters to the Editor in addition to the other material I receive. Communication is my lifeline to the people I represent. On another level, there are some organizations that will conduct public polling to assist them in forecasting the possible public response to certain decisions. There are occasions when tough decisions decisions have to be made. There are of course times when difficult difficult decisions are postponed, postponed, even when perhaps they should not have been. I guess the only way to avoid making any mistakes is by not doing anything. I imagine that federal Industry Minister, the Hon. John Manley wishes that he never announced using taxpayers money to fund professional hockey players. We received numerous numerous calls at the constituency office and I can tell you that I also faxed our federal and provincial governments on behalf of my constituents. There is no way that we should be using taxpayer money to support professional professional sports. Not only was this a communication failure but a policy failure as well. I do not wish to go on about federal spending or, for that matter, to criticize any level of government's spending. spending. ^However, this is not just the idea of a payoff to some hockey team owners, it is far more serious. Just over a week ago, tire Canadian government government refused to give anymore anymore aid to the farmers and just a couple of weeks back, the federal government Completed Completed the downloading of public housing on to the provincial governments. On top of that, a recent report questioned the spending of some $3 billion of taxpayers' , money by Human Resources Minister Jane Stewarts without without much accountability. Perhaps I am feeling shell shocked having served for five years in a government that was prepared to make the difficult difficult but necessary decisions. We were cutting spending, not throwing money around. Just recently, I was called to explain to a high school class why our Ontario government government spent a million dollars dollars on the Millennium Memento booklet. The students students demanded that both my government and I be more accountable. I agree, but this accountability should be spread around, This weekend, weekend, I read in our local paper that Durham Region will have over a $16 million budget surplus surplus this year. Last year at this very time Durham Region budget boss, Jim Clapp was in the papers condemning our provincial budget and saying that we were downloading a $10 million deficit. There is no apology now that he was wrong by some $20 or $30 million. Some final thoughts on all of the spending of taxpayers' money is that all governments must be accountable. There are different responsibilities and spending priorities at each level of government. Usually, at election time, politicians put their priorities on the table in the form of policies. Some governments promise one thing and deliver deliver something elr>e. My sense is that we should demand that candidates tell y ou their election election promises and then be held accountable. During the past week, my schedule for the balance of the recess has been firmed up. The Gas Price Review Task Force will be visiting Chatham, Sarnia, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Ottawa, Barrie and Durham. We are veiy interested in yoùr input. Our e-mail address is (gastaskforce@ccr.gov.on.ca) and our voice message system system is 1-800-268-1142. Please remember that you can always contact me at 1- 800-661-2433 or 697-1501 and by fax 697-1506. A committee reviewing the Franchise Act will also travel across the province gathering input as will the Collection Agencies Act. There will also be public hearings on agricultural agricultural practices and input on the upcoming provincial budget. If you require information information on these or other legislative legislative initiatives, please contact contact my constituency office. (continued from page 1) Trout populations. The mouth of the Wiimot was used as an important fishing area for Natives, and later, a commercial fishing area for early European settlers. Large forestry operations in the watershed, and construction of dams to power saws, and grist mills, were an impediment to the natural fish migration. The first permanent barrier was built in tbe watershed in 1823. Some would argue dams contributed contributed more to the extinction of Atlantic Salmon than habitat destruction. By the turn of the century nearly all the forest cover had been removed from the watershed, and'flooding and erosion became more frequent and resulted in the loss of soil fertility. Hurricane Hazel in 1954, washed out a large quantity of sediment and many of the dams which had accumulated in the Wilrpot and its tributaries over the years. The surge of water through the Wiimot basically reset (lie system. Rainbow and Brown Trout, which had been stocked into Lake Ontario over the years, were able to colonize Wiimot Creek. Efforts are still underway to reintroduce Atlantic Salmon to the Creek. "We don't want to be put in a corner when there is a crisis, or a major problem with water quality 50 years down the road when you run out of land, and run out of places appropriate for development," explained Coulter in an interview last week. The final report of the Watershed Study will be produced produced at the end of 2000. The Study will then be a tool the Municipality and Region of Durham can use in future planning. planning. Hopefully it will be adopted by both levels and incorporated into future Official Plans, said Coulter. The study is jointly funded by The Municipality of Clarington, Ministry of Natural Resources, and GCRA, each party paying 1/3 oL the $300,000 study. The Public Meeting on Thursday February 10, 2000, will run from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. with a presentation at 7:00 p.m. The GRCA want to know why the Wiimot is important to you. 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