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2 - Orono Weekly Times Wednesday, March 9, 2005 'Wbekly Times Subscriptions $29.91 + $2.09 GST = $32.00 per year. Publications Mail 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." CanadS ^ocna ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON LOB 1M0 Email: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Sports and Display Advertising - Donna Wood Front Office and Classified Advertising - Rosey Bateman Tine 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 reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly ïmes Letters must address and phone number of the writer. Any lotto considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length libel and slander If your retail 0^dLifedadcarefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. Hie Orono Weekly Times WHI not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. • ^ Policy seeks to ban political activity Clarington's councillors approved a policy Monday, that has left many hall board volunteersscratching their heads. Following an incident during last fall's federal election campaign, campaign, staff were asked to draw up a policy regarding the rental of municipal buildings for political functions. Stephen Harper, the leader of the opposition rented the former library building, which is now part of the Clarington Museum, for a whistle stop last fall, and had the outside of the building plastered with Conservative election signs. Keith Isnor, Chair of the Museum Board, explained that the museum has their own rental policy, which does not discriminate. discriminate. "We are a facility owned by the municipality, but we are open to the public." The Harper incident, led the Mayor to question the validity of using municipal buildings for political events. At the council meeting following the Harper incident, the Mayor questioned the validity of using municipal buildings for political events. He instructed staff to review the policy regarding regarding political activity in municipally owned buildings. Shortly after Harper's visit, Liberal party leader, Paul Martin, made a whistle stop to Bowmanville, and was welcomed by the Mayor at the Bowmanville Town Hall. This week the existing rental policy was amended to add an exemption for sitting members of parliament, both provincial and federal. This means that in any future election campaigns, the incumbent will have the advantage of using municipal buildings for their purposes. Councillor unanimously agreed to adopt the rental policy at their committee meeting last Monday. This policy does not actually actually state that municipal buildings are not to be used for political activities. However, "That was the intent," says Clerk Patti Barrie. What the policy does state is that buildings owned by the municipality shall not be used for the display or distribution of political campaign material, signage, etc. If the intent of the policy is followed, the volunteer boards that operate many municipally owned community halls, will no longer be able to rent their buildings out for political debates, allcandidates allcandidates meetings, or polling stations. The municipality has used their own arena in Bowmanville as a ballot counting centre for the last two municipal elections, which would contravene the policy. Under the new policy, the validity of holding council meetings meetings at the Municipal Administration Centre should also be scrutinized. scrutinized. Letter to the Editor Ontario Agriculture Crisis Four years ago, several hundred Eastern Ontario farmers organized tractor rallies rallies as a protest because of extremely low grain and oilseed prices. Following the protest, several meetings were held involving local farm leaders, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Corn Producers Assoc., and the Soybean Growers Assoc. After reviewing the Quebec agriculture commodity price program, it was agreed that the farm organizations would jointly prepare a price support program using the Quebec Program as a model for presentation presentation to farmers and the Ontario Govt. At that time, it was estimated a program could be in place for the following following year. What has happened since these initial discussions? Virtually nothing, other than we are much further behind, with commodity prices hitting 25 year lows and our neighbors neighbors in Quebec and from the U .S. dumping commodities into Ontario at below their production costs without any countervail action from Ontario. We understand that the subsidies received in Quebec and the U.S. are causing causing their prices to be approximately approximately twice those of Ontario, e.g., Quebec guarantees their producers $4.95 per bushel of corn as compared to the Ontario corn producers receiving $2.30 Their other products are similarly advantaged. advantaged. I understand that otir Farm Organizations said that they could not get any real commitment commitment from Government. Because the requirement to have only one farm organization organization to administer the proposed proposed program. I suspect that rather than engaging in a "turf war" these groups preferred to tread water. Now, three years later, the situation is worse than ever. Not only arc prices at disaster levels, other overwhelming problems, such as BSE [Mad CRISIS soopago 3 Staying in Touch MPP John O'Toole Condolences - Our thoughts and prayers are with the families families and friends of the four RCMP officers who were so tragically slain in Alberta last week. It is important that we show our support and respect to all who serve and protect as all Canadians mourn this loss. GM Announces $2.5 Billion Investment in Ontario General Motors of Canada announced the largest automotive automotive sector investment in the history of the province last week. The $2.5 billion commitment commitment includes support from both the federal and provincial government towards towards the long-term future of the automobile sector. In my view, this investment is a tribute tribute to the dedication and hard work of the entire GM team. They have made Ontario the leader in North American auto manufacturing. It is good to see this success rewarded with further investment and further opportunities. The Province of Ontario's contribution towards GM's Beacon Project is up to $235 million. The project will create create 500 new jobs in Ingersoll, Oshawa and St. Catharines. This investment also includes new vehicle programs, enhanced vehicle engineering activities and flexible manufacturing. manufacturing. 1 am pleased that the Beacon Project includes the creation of a new Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. This Centre will link auto suppliers, universities, universities, researchers and students students in the areas of automotive automotive engineering, design and innovation. The Beacon Project Project will ensure Ontario keeps its competitive edge not only in building cars and trucks, but also in research, engineering engineering and development. I worked at General Motors for over 30 years. By any measure, measure, this is good news for GM, UOIT, Durham Region, the employees and citizens. Ontario Farmers Call for Action from Queen's Park Last Wednesday,. March 2, I joined fanners from Durham Riding and from across Ontario for their Queen's Park rally. Close to 10,000 Ontario farmers came to Queen's Park to seek action from the provincial government in support support of Ontario's second largest industry. Immediate help is needed for short-term survival of Ontario's farms. However, farmers also are looking to the long-term viaibility of their industry. We want to ensure there are opportunities in agriculture for the next generation. The impact of BSE, low commodity commodity prices, the adverse impact of Greenbelt legislation and a growing burden of regulations and restrictions are among the concerns that Ontario's farmers farmers have raised. For example, corn producers report that their prices arc at a 25-ycar low. Grain and oilseed producers producers are calling for $300 O'TOOLE see page 5