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2 - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, dune 21,2000 Subscriptions $23.36 + $1.64 G.S.T. = $25.00/year Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 E-Mail Address: oronotlmes@speedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/Editor Marg Zwarlt Domitrovic stays It's taken him over three years, but Joe Domitrovic has taken on City Hall and won. (It's really Town Hall, but City Hall sounds better). Council approved a motion Monday allowing Joe Domitrovic to operate his Auto Body Shop at the comer of Courtice Rd'. and Pebblestone Rd. for as long as he owns the property. When Domitrovic purchased his home, an auto related business business had been operating out of the garage. Domitrovic converted converted that business into an Auto Body Shop, then found out, no auto related business is permitted on lafnd zoned 'Agricultural'. Domitrovic argued, that land had not been farmed in living memory, and a proposed 407 link, if built, will be within sight of his property. None of the area residents ever complained about the Auto Bddy Shop in its present location. In fact the two strongest complainants were a woman from Oshawa and one from Hampton. Council approved.a rezoning to permit Domitrovic to carry on his business, against Planning Departments recommendations. recommendations. One of the seven reasons Planning Department gave for not supporting the application, was: "Approving illegal uses on an individual basis could set a precedent for similar small scale industrial operations operating illegally. Councillor Rowe did not support the motion. The other Courtice Councillor, Mary Novak, had to declare a conflict of interest since she lives a stones throw away from the Domitrovic Auto Body Shop. Incidently, the complainant from Hampton is Councillor Novak's sister-in-law. Kerry Meydam, who often speaks at council meetings on environmental matters, told council, the precedent for approving approving industrial use on agricultural land had already been set with the approval of the 'Lishman' application. From a planning perspective, Domitrovic should never have been allowed to stay in operation were he is. One illegal use of a garage for an auto related business, should not give credence : to another such illegal business. But from a human perspective, Joe Domitrovic is just a ■ decent guy, trying to make a decent living. If the proposed 407 link is built in that area, all that agricultural agricultural land will very quickly be zoned 'industrial'. Letter to the Editor Protect the Oak Ridges Protect Hie Ridges is host- * Ing a public information session session on Paper Sludge in Clarington, Oshawa, and adjacent Scugog on the Oak Ridges Moraine on June 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Eiifield Church. Upon request of the Minister of Environment, Dan Newman, we are passing on the Questions and Answers attachment addressing residents letters. Durham M.P.P. John O'Toole is confirmed to be in attendance. attendance. Representatives of Ministry of Environment^ City and Town Councils, Ontario Disposal, and Atlantic Packaging will be invited to attend. We will set aside 5 minutes minutes per interested persons who wish to speak. If you wish to make a presentation, confirm at this number 905- 655-4038 between the hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Saturday a message pan be left and Monday June 26 until noon. Sincerely, Walter Vice , Co-Chair Opinion Northern Cancer Patients discriminated against By Dalton McGuinty, MPP One of the basic principles pf Medicare is that everyone can expect to be treated the same by the health care system system no matter where they live in the country. , Sadly, that principle is being violated within the borders borders of Ontario. Cancer patients from northern Ontario are not getting getting the same treatment as, people in southern Ontario. If a cancer patient from Toronto is referred to Sudbury for radiation treatment because the waiting list is shorter, all their expenses are paid: air travel, food and accommodation. That can add up to as much as $5,000. But if a patient who lives in northern Ontario is referred to Sudbury, the only expenses they can expect to be reimbursed reimbursed amounts to only 31 cents per kilometre. Depending on where they live, it could add up to $100 or so. This is true even if the northern Ontario resident has to travel as far or farther than, the Toronto resident. Toronto residents can expect to be reimbursed more because they are being com-, pensated under a ministry of health re-referral program to deal, with the long waiting lists in southern Ontario. Northern Ontario residents must make do with much less compensation available under the Northern Health Travel Grant program. So while cancer patients from southern Ontario who are forced to travel hundreds of kilometres for care have the costs of accommodation and travel paid, those from northern Ontario who must travel equally long distances in their own region have only a portion of their costs covered. covered. They often'have to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets to receive life-saving care. This can be a real hardship for many families. Some might not be able to afford it at all. Some patients might decide to delay treatment due to money considerations. It is actually possible that two cancer patients could be sitting on the same plane travelling travelling to receive radiation treatment, yet the patient from southern Ontario would have their expenses paid for while the northern Ontario resident might be footing almost the entire bill by themselves. They may even be travelling travelling the same distance, but depending on which side of an artificial line they reside on, they are treated very differently differently by their government. It gets worse. If a cancer patient from St. Catharines is required to travel to a clinic in Buffalo for treatment, a trip of about 47 kilometres, that, patient is entitled to full recovery of costs for travelling, travelling, meals and accommodation. accommodation. Meanwhile, a patient travelling from Smooth Rock Falls to Sudbuiy, a 395-kilo- metre trip, is entitled to only 30.5 cents per kilometre. That's just not fair. That's why Ontario Liberals are fighting to ensure that cancer patients can expect the same treatment from their government government no matter what part of the province they live in. When the minister of health is asked about the discrepancy, discrepancy, she keeps repeating a tired old line: "The two programs programs are designed to meet different purposes, and they are designed: to meet different needs." The Liberal position is clear. There should be a common common standard of care - period. The Mike Harris government government simply does not understand understand the needs of northern Ontario. It seems to understand understand even less about health care, not to mention just plain old fairness and equity. Mike Harris is fond of saying saying that he and his party are not the government. Instead, they are the people who came to fix government. Well, if we ever needed proof that the Harris Tories have now become the government, government, wé need look no farther than the discriminatoiy treatment treatment received by cancer patients in northern Ontario. (Dalton McGuinty is Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and Leader of the Official Opposition in the Ontario Legislature.)