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2 - Qrono Weekly Times, Wednesday, October 15,2003 3 ,,, i..... n in 111 SUZUKI ft)UUDOTVW6 QBESïTi \S CDMWB) Tt) WW lit ini , • ---- : illiiihilliHi.llii.Hîiif i ! II iiiiiil lillli Step! iil ill ! li |j|| I E l| M . LB WWW?/ 0^l\0\KW 5UZM w ID OTR. \N VOW \NB tiET ID OWW his ill a $ i^ljj |||||j|p :,i iHniiiiliii;: ^ 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 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. Link between urban sprawl and obesity There were a few items in Mondays' GTA section of the Toronto Star that were of particular interest from a urban planning perspective. The first item of note was the article titled 'Urban planner planner likes walkability' on the front page of the B Section. A report by David Gurin, co-author of a David Suzuki foundation report dealing with urban sprawl states that the main problem with urban sprawl is that cities don't set boundaries for their urban areas thus causing development to spill over into areas that are farmland and wetland. While this may be the case is some areas, the Municipality of Clarington has set clear boundaries for their urban areas in the official plan. While this is the case in Clarington, we were confronted confronted with the Tucker Creek development in Port Hope this summer, where a developer was looking to create an entirely new urban area in Hope Townships rural area. The development, consisting of 350 retirement/executive homes on the Hope/Clarington border, on agricultural land, will likely go ahead, contrary to the principles of good urban planning -- building outside the urban boundaries. boundaries. Gurin's report says that politicians and city planners need to create communities that allow for accessibility and public transportation which will in turn cut pollution and the sedentary lifestyles that lead to obesity. This means developers will have to build communities with higher density housing than we are traditionally used to -- more townhouse and apartment units less single family family detached dwelling. Clarington council routinely approves subdivision plans where developers have replaced the multi-residential .housing with single family homes.. Developers claim they have to build according to the market trends. If there is no market for townhouses they don't want to build them. This is where strong leadership is needed by councils to say they will adhere to the principles principles of 'Smart Growth' - intensify development within the urban boundary rather than cave in to the will of developers. Too often politicians pay lip service to 'Smart Growth' which ultimately is designed to preserve agricultural agricultural land. Being able to walk to places translates into shedding pounds says Gurin's report. While we may be able to walk in our residential neighbourhoods, today's commercial commercial developments are definitely not pedestrian friendly. Our strip malls and box store plazas with vast parking areas are geared to the driving public at the expense of those arriving on foot. The recently completed King Street East Bowmanville corridor study commissioned by the Municipality to address traffic congestion on King Street east of Liberty recommends making the area more pedestrian friendly. The $100,000 study suggests moving stores closer to the street in the future, with parking behind so pedestrians don't have to traverse a wide expanse of asphalt and automobiles, automobiles, parked or moving, before reaching their destina- ■ tion. The Gurin Report, according to the Toronto Star article is an affirmation of what we already knew. Strong planning planning principle must triumph over the bottom line of developers, and that can only be accomplished by a strong council with vision. Hjjij Hi |i|!|jpp ^ ^ Blk doli9hon.com AS I S 66 it ...by Peter Jaworski Canada's unhealthy identity so prevalent today? Canada is going through an identity crisis. Medicine in Canada is not about cuts, chemicals, and health--it is about something that runs much deeper. It, to a large extent, is about who we are as a people. It is about what makes us Canadian. Our approach to medicine and to healing is a talisman we erect in honour of our collective collective sense of self--a vital piece in a puzzle that, once combined, will help each of us understand what it is to be truly Canadian. This particular view is not a good thing; it is a problem. Policy on medicine should be about what is the most sustainable, sustainable, efficient and effec tive way of preventing, curing, curing, and aiding our fellow Canadians (and the not-quite- yet Canadians and tourists, let's not forget) given our present present situation and our means. The fact that it's about more than that means that we have managed to smuggle irrelevant irrelevant considerations into it. A health care system needs to operate on the basis of its primary function-that of providing providing health and healing, care, and the security that each of us feel when we know our system works, and will be there for us and our family. Canada's system is facing more than a few hurdles, and we should take some time to figure out whether it can clear all of them. At times we have trouble keeping our doctors in Canada, for instance. The Fraser Institute points out that Canada has 1.8 physicians per thousand people--that's 17th out of 20 OECD countries compared. Canada has fewer physicians per person than Poland, and the Czech Republic. This isn't because we don't pay them well--we do--it's just that the U.S. pays them better. Lest you think this is just about money for doctors, it should be said that doctors are also made happier when they can actually help people. This forms part, of our more pressing pressing problem---that of having JAWORSKI continued page 10