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c . . .. «ton ni , q-o nq OST - $32 00 ner vear )'fÜÏ ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St, P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON LOB 1M0 «SS® A g "o"om2» JE Br* orcnotimes@rogers.com or » 90^530, Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart 'We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through Sports and Display Advertising - Donna Wood the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. Front office and Classified Advertising - Rosey Bateman Canada Weekly Times vanaoa /-v--- Not in my backyard! Arthur Black's column caused a bit*of a flap here a few weeks acr 0 . As a result of that column titled 1 Monkey see, Monkey ski- doo ' our proofreader John Slater (a snowmobile owner himself) says he will never read another Basic Black column again. In his column, Black noted that a Quebec court judge close down a 38 kilometre snowmobile trail through the Laurentians. Black goes on to explain that this trail was basically a snowmobile snowmobile thruway for Montrealers anxious to escape from the city. 'It never seems to occur to snowmobilers that their pastime constitutes a gross invasion of everyone else's privacy, plus a "monstrous kick in the privates to Mother Nature," states Black Black hails the judge who managed to shut down the trail and ordered compensation for the rural residents who had to put up +1,0 rUcvnntinn their tranauil environment. They apparen with the disruption oi uicu um^un -v had to put up with upward of 500 snow machines a day on winter weekends thundering past their homes. Presumably the trail was a legal trail and the riders were not involved in unlawful activity, or it wouldn't have taken a court order to shut the trail down. This all leaves me wondering why those who choose to escape urban life for the tranquility of a home in the country have more rights than those who use the countryside for recreational uses. If rural residents don't like this type of invasion of their privacy privacy they certainly won't be very supportive of the provincial government' government' Greenbelt Protection Plan. This plan, if passed m it s current fonn, will put a stop to any more home construction m the "Protected Countryside Areas' while permitting a long list ot recreational uses. . . Is it any wonder farmers feel the government has taken their retirement savings to provide a playground for the rich? I, like Arthur Black, am not a fan of the noisy, smelly personal pleasure craft, whether it be snowmobilers, watercraft, dirt bikes and the like. But if people want to build homes, other than farmhouses farmhouses in the countryside, they may have to put up witlrpermiss- able activities--like snowmobiling, they wouldn't find in an urban setting. . ' , ., , Why do the rights of those who live in the countryside seeking seeking tranquility, supercede the rights of those who partake of legal recreational activity in the country? Staying in Touch MPP John O'Toole Some fatal flaws in proposed Ontario Greenbelt Laws 1 would like to thank all those who attended the Greenbelt Roundtable in Brooklin January 24th. This was an excellent opportunity to update our caucus 1 Municipal Affairs Critic, MPP Tim 1-Iudak, on local reaction to the Greenbelt legislation. Thus far, several major concerns concerns have been identified. Some of these are as follows: Adverse impacts on agriculture: agriculture: You cannot protect agricultural land without protecting protecting the business of agriculture. agriculture. The provincial government government must take more time to address all agricultural concerns, concerns, including right-lo-farm legislation, BSE, and low commodity prices, before imposing greater restrictions on farmers and farmland through the Greenbelt plan. Lcaolïogüing of develop ment beyond the Greenbelt: With greenbelt land no longer . available for development, the pressures for growth will simply simply "leapfrog" to neighbouring neighbouring centres such as Peterborough Peterborough and Northumberland. Greenbelt boundaries should be based on science, not politics: Setting boundaries boundaries should be based on sound scientific and planning principles. The existing greenbelt greenbelt boundaries are arbitrary and appear to be established more by political science rather than science. There arc some cases in which farms'arc actually cut in half by the Greenbelt boundaries. Greenbelt Municipalities Face Tax Challenge: Municipalities Municipalities in the Greenbelt area will have many opportunities for future growth frozen. 'I his limits the tax base,, making it difficult for municipalities to invest in projects such as roads, sewers and recreation centres without significant tax increases. If you cannot grow your tax base, the only way to increase revenue is to increase the property tax. There is much to be achieved by delaying the Greenbelt legislation until the concerns of farmers, rural residents, residents, and all stakeholders have been more adequately addressed. Rushing through the legislation can only result in questionable short-term political benefits, but no longterm longterm advantages. Greenbelt issues are being further reviewed by the Legislature's Standing Committee on General Government this week. PC leader commends nurses at Queen's Park Day PC Leader John Tory met with 250 nursing professionals professionals from across Ontario last Friday, during the RNAO's 6th annual Queen's Park Day. Mr. Tory took the time to express thanks and appreciation for the nurses and also listened to their concerns from the front lines of healthcare. It was confirmed last week that, despite the new $2.6 billion health tax and a further $825 million in federal funding this year alone, the provincial gov ernment may. allow 757 nurses to be laid off at Ontario's hospitals. hospitals. Mr. Tory pointed out that it is not logical for this province to acknowledge a shortage of nurses, have huge sums of new money in government government coffers, but still be issuing layoff notices to nurs es. Province launches bring your own wine policy Last week, the Province of Ontario uncorked its optional Bring Your Own Wine policy for licenced establishments. Considering the serious challenges challenges Ontario faces in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, agriculture, the environment and energy, it is hard to understand why valuable legislative time was used to pass this legislation. legislation. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) said it best in a news release January 27. The organization stated: "The Ontario Government should be more concerned for public safety and less so about introducing introducing new liquor laws with the hopes of garnering public support." I would welcome further input on this legislation, legislation, especially from the viewpoint viewpoint of local restaurants that have direct experience with implementing I3Y0W poli cies. (The establishments that allow you to bring your own wine may charge a corkage fee.) More details on Smart Meters The Ontario Energy Board has announced details on how the Province of Ontario will introduce "smart meters" to help consumers manage electricity electricity costs. The idea behind the meters is that we can reduce costs by using power at off-peak times. Meters indicate indicate when hydro was used and therefore the client can be billed according to hours of the day. For example, running a dishwasher late in the evening would result in lower prices. There is, however, cause for concern over the cost of the meters. They are expected to add three to four dollars more per month onto our hydro bills and cost about $1 billion to install. We are only in the early days of estimating estimating the cost, and already the estimate has doubled. In addition, the figures do not include installation of smart meters at apartments. The Province of Ontario must carefully monitor the cost of these meters because the cost O'TOOLE see page 3