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2; - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, October 30,2002 / * 4 • Mit * r Weekly Times Subscriptions $29.91 + $2.09 GST = $32.00 per year. Publications Mai l Registration No. 09301 • Agreement No. 40012366 Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. " Orono Weekly Times 5310 Main Street, P.O, Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 Email: oronotime,s@speedline.ca • Phone/Fax 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible forthe loss or damage of such items, Get the truth about 407 By Jeanne Burnside In 1989 the Government announced plans for a toll highway north of the 401 between Burlington and the 35/115 interchange. Due to strong opposition from the residents in this area, the proposed building schedule to begin at both ends was shelved. As a homeowner on the "Technically Preferred Route" for the eastern expansion I have lived in a state of limbo for over 12 years. Questions directed to the Ministry of Transportation, MP's, MPP's and Municipal Representatives were never adequately " ; answered if there was a response beyond "I don't s know". To further frustrate homeowners, the Planning Departments in the participating Municipalities included included drawings of the 407 on the specific properties even though theMunicipalities had not approved the plan. Owners on both sides of the issue have been hurt by g ~ the endless delays and lack of information. ' ' - jg The good news for some out this way is thé Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act passed in 2001 has designated someof the properties on the preferred route as part of the Moraine. Although the 407 may be avoiding the Moraine there are other environmentally ; sensitive areas along the intended route. Legislation safe-guarding Canada's natural resources has been passed since the early 1990's and we are now entering a new phase where the 407 will be required to do a full Environmental Assessment of the "Technically Preferred Route" and any areas where changes are recommended. Clean water and good air quality, once taken for granted, should be of concern to all. Promoting more highways and less mass transit will doom Durham to the problems facing the west side of the GTA. With the countless new subdivisions being approved throughout the Region many feel the 407 is needed to alleviate traffic. A toll highway will do little towards relieving traffic outside of rush hour and the great majority of existing regional roads will still need to be expanded with our tax dollars. Although the Government will not define what type of road the expansion will be, I think it is fairly obvious obvious the consortium that runs the existing portion of the 407 will lease the eastern portion once it is complete. Many cities, especially in the US, use funds from toll roads to subsidize mass transit because it conserves natural resources. Unfortunately, by accepting a onetime onetime cash payment in lieu of an on-going cash resource has made mass transit a secondary priority in Ontario. The Public Meetings set up by the Ministry of Transportation are a great opportunity to get information information and express your thoughts on the transportation infrastructure in the Region. Unfortunately, there were only about 30 people at the meeting in Pickering on Thursday. Hopefully, there will be a larger turnout this t evening in Solina. Ç3 www.dollghah.com Viewpoint by Alex Shepherd, MP Durham Why is it that we have an agreement written in the medieval village of Kyoto Japan inspiring us to clean up our environment? Unlike the conservatives at Queen's Park I'm not going to insult the public by making some joke that Ontarians think the Kyoto Accord is a foreign- made car. People I talk to are well aware that the Kyoto Protocol is a multinational commitment to deal with the issue of climate climate change generally and C02 emissions specifically. Those who oppose implementing implementing the protocol, talk instead of made in Canada solutions. The reality is how we implement the conditions of the protocol clearly has to be a Canadian solution. There is no international guru telling us how to achieve the general target of reducing C02 emissions by some 240 megatons. 1 ; Canada has been a participant participant in the debate over climate change for many decades. Clearly the issue of global climate climate change isn't isolated to national boundaries. And Canada could not undertake undertake a dramatic program to reduce these emissions by itself since we only contribute two percent of the industrial green-house gas emissions. So to have an impact on the global reality of climate changes, spurred by higher C02 emissions, we must be part of a large umbrella group that sees itself as part of the world solution. Some will suggest that for Canada to take such measures while its largest trading partner, partner, (lie United States, remains outside the Kyoto Protocol will place Canadian businesses businesses in a poor competitive position. position. Firstly, let me say that ' while the U.S. is Refusing to ratify Kyoto they are far from being dormant in their attempts to reduce emissions. California has implemented emission controls which, when one considers they have a population as large as Canada's, they would in fact meet Canadian objectives under Kyoto. Some states are more aggressive than others. And 1 find it odd that the City of Chicago has cleaner air than the City of Toronto. Many Canadians oppose Kyoto because they say it will mean the loss of jobs. No economist worth their salt could accurately predict how many jobs would be lost. If you study many of the pronouncements pronouncements of economists they are wrong more often than right. The lost jobs they speak of are based on the possible possible slowing down of the .ni ni iContinuedp»g§3 i . I » » I i