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2 - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, October 8,2003 r 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. " 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 errormust be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such itemSi Blight in the country For the past ten years I've taken the back road to Campbellford on the first Tuesday in October to take part in a spin-in organized by the Warkworth Spinners and Weavers Guild. About 100 ladies with spinning wheels and assorted fibers crowd into the basement of the Presbyterian Church in Campbellford for a day of spinning spinning and sharing. This week Tuesday, like all the past first Tuesdays in October, (with the exception of the first Tuesday in 2000,) was a perfect day for a drive in the country. Pierre Elliott Trudeau's funeral service was held on the first Tuesday in October, 2000, which was aired live on CBC radio on the drive to Cambellford. That particular Tuesday in October was overcast in the morning, and sunny in the afternoon for the drive home. With no radio to listen to this time, (it was stollen several several months ago) the road and the countryside got my full attention. The insulbrick shed with the collapsed roof survived another year. The guy with the old tractors for sale by the side of the road either sold them this year, or moved on. The foliage has begun it's fall showing, and should be in it's peak this holiday weekend. While the road I take to Campbellford, Regional Road 9, which turns into Northumberland Road 29, goes through mainly agricultural areas with a few rural settlement settlement communities. Every year however there are a few new homes built along the road. These are not farm homes essential to agricultural operations; no, these are homes built on stand-alone lots. What bothers me about most about the new homes obliterating the countryside is that they are of a design better suited to a subdivision rather than the rural setting. Our countryside is too precious to be cluttered up with inappropriate dwellings. Even more disturbing than the modest bungalows on a country lot are the monster homes that tend to pop up in the most inappropriate places. With the principles of smart growth in place the countryside countryside invasion by urbanites who want their country retreat, could be curbed to a mere trickle if not stopped. There should be a by-law in place, that if people insist on building inappropriate houses in the countryside, they , should have to at least hide them from view. Letters to the Editor This Letter was also sent to the Municipality I am writing in regards to the busing proposed for Orono and Wilmot Creek. If you are willing to do this, why don't you use the bus that has been running every Tuesday since I moved to Kendal in 1956. At one time it ran two days a week (Thursdays). Thursday was dropped because less people people were riding that day. As it is, the most that ride on it now are 14 and that is the exception exception to the rule. This bus runs from Newtonville to Crooked Creek, to Starkvillc, to Kendal and to Kirby, which are all in Clarington. Then to Orono, Newcastle trailer park and on to Bowmanvillc. It leaves Newtonville at approximately 9:30 in the morning and leaves Bowmanville to come home at 1:15 and 4 p.m. I am sure this bus has run at a loss for our convenience. Sincerely, Mr. & Mrs E. Couroux, Kendal Jean Curtis, Kendal Bertha White, Orono Dora MacDonald, Kendal Shirley Robbins, Newcastle Daisy Morrison, Newcastle M Patrick, Newcastle L. Conners, Wilmot Creek Evelyn Barry, Wilmot Creek Marion Sears, Newcastle Helen Mae Tabb, Orono c.c. Mayor Mutton Charlie Trim Cord Robinson So that's that the conclusion conclusion of a somewhat remarkable remarkable election campaign and what do we have? A majority Liberal government in our fair province. A very serious majority government--an incredible 74-seat majority for the Dalton McGuinty-led Grits. Is this a good thing? No, I don't think it is and for a number number of reasons. But that isn't what I'm interested in really. Instead, I'm more concerned about why the Progressive Conservatives lost. And I think I have a good answer. The Tories lost this election because they tried to change their stripes and the rest of us saw right through it. What does that mean? It means, in short, that the Tories tried to be a much more centrist centrist party than they should have. Then, when they realized realized that that strategy wasn't going anywhere, they turned right around and tried to be more conservative again. I suppose we must have seen it coming. The downfall of the Tories began with the election of Ernie Eves as the party leader. I think very highly of Mr. Eves, who is competent, intelligent, intelligent, and the reason our province's books were balanced balanced the last two budget cycles. Still, Ernie's election platform wasn't based on economic economic sense (meaning a continued continued reduction in our tax burden, and the beginnings of a significant reduction in the size of our provincial govern ment), it was based on "building "building bridges" and "a more compassionate compassionate approach." What that means is that he was planning to take the party in a more centrist direction. Try to be all things to all people. people. Bribe us with our own money. In effect, play the same game the Liberals have been playing for a long time. This strategy, if we can call it that, wasn't working. Polling numbers continued to show the Tories in a marked decline relative to the Liberals and, surprisingly enough, to the Howard Hampton-led NDP. So they did what any political party laced with a potential loss in the voting booth does --they tried to buy our votes through promises of more JAWORSKI continued pige 3