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é Vol. 127 No. 07 PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1993 32 Pages Junior kindergarten will be costly says school trustee Drew By Scott Anderson Port Perry Star The implementation of junior kindergarten will prove costly and result in cuts to services, a Durham Board of Education trustee claims. * Scugqg trustee Bobbie Drew 'says the Ontario government's plan to implement junior kin- dergarten in the 1994-95 school year will result in an increased tax burden to the residents of Durham. - According to studies, the _ start-up cost for junior kinder garten in 1995 would be $24.6 million, with the cost to the board estimated at $12.5 mil- lion. It is further estimated that it would cost $7 million per year to operate the program. . Drew says 55 per cent of the money is paid directly by the taxpayers. : _ "The taxpayer just can't han- dle anymore increases," she says. "We just simply can't af- fordit." By Kelly Lown Port Perry Star Durham Regional Police have stopped more than 13,600 vehi- clesin District 2, duringits holi- day RIDE program. The RIDE program is divided into two districts, with Scugog, Sunderland, Uxbridge, Ajax and Pickering falling under Dis- trict 2. ~The RIDE program has been in operation for eight weeks, and statistics are available up Y to and including December 30, 1992. | Of the 13,605 vehicles stopped, 164 ALERT tests were dministered, according to Staff Sergeant Charlie Green, of the Durham Regional Police. Of the drivers stopped, seven were charged with impaired driving and three were charged with exceeding the .08 legal blood-alcohol limit. Twenty- three 12-hour suspensions were handed out to drivers who blew a warning. Seven rivers refused to take 'a breathalizer, or the ALERT t. *Purin the spotchecks police also handed out tickets for other Mrs. Drew says the NDP gov- ernment is proving to be hypo- critical with its plans to imple- ment the program. "We have trouble with the province suggesting that we have to be aware of the burden on the property taxpayer, while at the same time mandating an- other program. They're at a di- rect contradiction in their state- ments," she says. Programs and services will also suffer if junior kindergart- "en is introduced, as money will have to be diverted away from other projects. "It's at the direct expense of the kids already in the system," she says. Mrs. Drew points to a recent capital grant as proof of this. The government recently gave the board $8.7 million for con- struction of an elementary school in Whitby, a new roof for Goodwood Public School and Turn to Page 2 in impaired drivers offenses. Seven charges were laid under the Highway Traffic Act, six under the Liquor Li- cense Act, as well as 22 criminal charges, which included narcot- ics, driving while prohibited, theft, break and enter and ob- structing police. "The gist of the RIDE pro- gram is not to hand out tickets for minor offenses," said Sgt. Green. This is evident by the 657 warnings issued to motorists for equipment failure or malfunc- tions on their vehicle such as blown headlights. Other warn- ings issued were for not wearing a seatbelt or not having driver documentation. Although the holiday RIDE program will continue through January 10, 1993, the number of impaired drivers has so far declined. In District 2 last year, 13 im- paired charges were laid, and 27 12-hour suspensions, as the re- sultof 214 ALERT tests. "Hopefully this is the start of a trend. This is the first year it has reduced drastically. We will have to watch it closely over the Turn to page 3 Seagrave resident joins the Copy 65¢ (61e + 4¢ GST) race for empty Liberal seat By Scott Anderson x Port Perry Star The race to become the Liber- al nominee is beginning to heat up as another candidate has joined the race in the Riding of Durham. Alex Shepherd, a 46-year-old accountant from Seagrave, de- clared his candidacy for the un- occupied position in the federal party last week. : Concerned about the future of Canada and the direction the country is taking, Mr. Shepherd decided to jump into the politi- cal ring. "Our nation is in a mess both ° financially and politically," he told the Port Perry Star in an in- terview. "I have done quite well by this country and it seems rea- sonable to me that well con- cerned people should be getting involved with our future.' Mr. Shepherd says Canada is "at the crossroads in our histo- ry" and fears the country is "dis- integrating politically." "I am afraid of the prospects of what the House of Commons is going to look like after the next election," he says. "If the electorate continues with its Locals reveal their New Year's Resolutions - see page 11 negative attitude of voting against, rather than beingin fa- vor of, specific policies, and fo- cusing on the personalities of national leaders, I think we a in for big problems. : "It would not take a great imagination to see the total dis- mantling of our political sys- tem, I have a vision of this coun- try from sea to sea to sea. I hope the . electorate can focus 'on that." In order to secure the future of Canada, Mr. Shepherd says ~~