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2 - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, January 8,2003 ■ • • •» • • »' »' •* #• 4" * r - <*» i'll I « «' «* <i «» • ll it r\ r, v > ^ t ■ « 'J ' I ' l < I I ( I i i ( l | | I I « *\ r RONO Weekly 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. 'IVe 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: oronotimes@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 for the loss or damage of such items. No excuse for icy walkways From time to time it takes a simple reminder to point out things that are so obvious they could be overlooked. Such was the case late Monday morning, when Isabelle Challice, who celebrated her 77th birthday last September, carefully tread her way down the length of Main Street to find only one establishment had removed the snow which had fallen the previous day and overnight. Mrs. Challice was so traumatized by her experience that she stopped in at our office to write a short Letter to the Editor on the condition of our downtown streets, before continuing her treacherous journey down Main Street. The municipality has a by-law in place that states that every building owner or occupant has to ensure their sidewalks sidewalks are cleared of snow and ice within 12 hours after a fall of snow, rain or hail. Failure to do so could result in a municipal contractor removing the snow and billing the landowner. In a rental situation, the landlord and the tenant tenant are responsible for keeping their sidewalks clean. The municipality does offer a senior's snow-clearing service that is offered to qualifying senior citizens. Downtown businesses who are often competing against bigger centres ox malls, should at the very least not be making it more difficult for the public to access their establishments. The municipal by-law is a minimum standard. Business owners on the Main Street should at the very least keep their sidewalks clear at all times. In a village so aptly maintained by Jimmy's Street Cleaning Service, there really is no excuse for icy walkways. Letters to the Editor 'We walk in our own shoes... " I , jj.j { ! ! 1 j , j i . 1 I 1 it h i ! Dear Editor, This letter was written in response to Kelly Adams ' "We are a fringe player " appearing appearing in the Orono Weekly Times December 18, 2002. Canada, in two World Wars, was never a fringe player. player. We were on the first line, generally playing centre and scoring often. Some fringe is creeping in now due to the failure of the government to reinforce our armed forces in the changing times. Peacekeeping has not been a fringe action on our part. It has become a dedicated dedicated effort winning us world acclaim. Our country is large and complex and our population has dealt with many positives and negatives in our existence. existence. Some truly unique to our country. There have been mistakes but what nation has not made mistakes? Can you think of one from the Roman Empire to the American Empire? , , i, Our salvation is that this is a rich and sophisticated country. country. We do veiy well compared to the U.S.A. (which has untold problems.) To be contrary to the U.S.A. is not suicide. To be accepting and bowing and braying would be. They make horrendous decisions at times and should be told so. We want to be friends with them but should tell them--do not try to crush our resolve. We walk in our own shoes and 1 trust that we always will. Rolfe Wakefield Orono ..moUNE AlW/ wwmuoe Viewpoint by Alex Shepherd, MP Durham Why exactly should there be a war between the U.S. and Iraq, a war the U.S. will want to drag Canada into. Is Iraq a threat to international peace? I wouldn't call Saddam Hussein a magnanimous leader, however, a quick look around the world shows there are many regimes, in Africa, South America and Europe, that are just as despotic yet fail to attract much attention. In spite of all the huffing and puffing by the U.S., coupled coupled will all the money the Please clear your sidewalks! Dear Editor, Since winter has finally caught up with us, 1 sincerely hope the business community will accommodate its patrons by clearing the sidewalks-- especially for us old folks. It sure would make life easier! Congratulations and best wishes to all in the New Year! Sincerely, Isabelle Challice Orono U.S. government pays to the CIA, they can't find one single weapon of mass destruction. Even with reward money and everything else the U.S. is offering, they can't seem to find the al-Qaeda kingpins either. And telling the American people that the last tape of Bin Laden which surfaced is authentic, when it isn't, is an act of terrorism perpetrated against U.S. citizens. Isn't that what we accuse Saddam Hussein of? Maybe all of this has more to do with oil than anything else. George Bush Jr. and family, family, are from Houston and he was the governor of Texas. I've spent time there. 1 know this city is the third busiest seaport in the U.S. Almost 50 percent of U.S. oil is imported and refined there. And at one time a major oil contributor was Iraq. : !"-Vi i n n m i f m m 21 i t i. ■ Houston and southern Texas is a polluted mass of land, water and air. In the Houston Canal a black goo floats on the water's surface. It all kind of makes you wonder why Bush would be so opposed to the Kyoto Protocol. There is hardly a site in downtown Houston authorities authorities will give a clean bill of health to. It's the only city in North America that has no zoning by-laws. "No rules for us, thank you very much we'll do what we want," seems to be the mantra. The lack of a strong regulatory regulatory regime designed to protect protect the environment has served the Bush family very well and has made them very wealthy. This gives you some idea of where the Bush administration administration is coming from and where it is going. It all leads one to Continued on page 3