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---------------- ER lh CNG i a ne 6 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 8,1994 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" IRIOT ES BN &/ DI EIFS SY DAVIN TORIAL na EDI Editorial Comment Going To The Trough The Region of Durham's budget, which was passed last week, might be consid- ered as the story of days to come for a number of municipalities including the Township of Scugog. At a lengthy session on Wednesday, councillors approved the zero-increase budget with a gross expenditure of $320.8 million and a net expenditure re- quirement of $116.4 million. The 1994 net regional levy is $93.7 million. Scugog residents will see their tax bills increase by $2 in 1994. Brock Township's will jump approximately $4 and Ux- bridge's will climb by $2. External factors made producing the budget difficult, including a loss of $7.8 million due to the Social Contract legisla- tion, the Expenditure Control Plan and the implementation of a revised funding formula under Long-Term Care Re- form. As a result, most departments experi- enced cuts to ensure that the budget saw no increase. A number of municipalities have also approved their budgets including the City of Oshawa which tabled a zero increase budget. And while no tax increases is a remarkable feat in today's economic times, some were calling for a decrease in taxes. Scugog is in line on March 21 to present its budget, and according to Fi- nance Committee Chairman - Yvonne Christie, officials have their sights set as well on no increases. There was a glimmer of hope during a Finance Committee meeting last week when a number of groups and organiza- tions appeared before the committee with budgets requiring no additional increas- es. Despite the date being less than two weeks away, township officials have much more to do before achieving this goal of no tax increase. In fact, Councillor Christie is not promising that this goal will be met at all, acknowledging that it is a target, not a commitment. But it is a target the committee must reach. Governments can only go to the trough so many times before it is empty and this has occurred. Taxpayers are tired of paying taxes and are demanding no more tax hikes. It is up to the township officials to en- sure that this occurs. But while the goal is met we must all bear in mind that spend- ing and services must suffer as a result. We can't have our cake and eat it too. DouGra F027 berey cme, Remember _ The Belléview Farm, Lot 13, Conc. 10 Old Reach (Circa 1900). From left are - Harvey Real, from neighboring farm, James Blair (1865-1927, Mary Balfour "Leask Blair (1872-1950), Mrs. Charles Paxton Blair, Maggle Blair (sister of - James 1869-1940) and Charles Paxton Blair, brother of James who was a lawyer A with Federal Customs in Ottawa and Bowmanville. : rN I ETTERS Doctors trying to embarrass Bob Rae and NDP To the Editor: I note in a recent news release by Gord Mills that a group of doctors circulated a petition among their patients of which some of the preamble was completely false. This 1s an example of how far the most highly paid profession, on average, in Ontario will go to discredit our N.I.P. Government. [ also have a concern with our local doctors. Having hved in Scugog Town- ship for the past 18 years never during that time have I been required to make a doctor's appointment in order to get a prescription renewed. Suddenly a new policy; an appointment or no renewal un- less one wishes to request a prescription by phone for a charge of $10. What has changed to make this addi- tional charge on our financially overbur- dened medicare system? Is it coina- dence that this additional procedure was introduced at about the same time as the Provincial Social Contract legislation takes effect? Is this the doctors way of enhancing their own incomes while shifting their portion of the financial burden of the Social Contract on to those less fortunate taxpayers? To me this smacks of a rip-off. Will someone please explain? Turn to Page 7 Random Joltings by J. Peter Hvidsten TRANSPORTATION - BUS OR TRAIN - In last week's issue of the Star, we reported our local M.P.P. Gord Mills is lobbying for a transportation link bet- ween the township and southern portions of the Region. The idea may be sound in principal, but I doubt there are enough people wanting to travel between Port Perry and Whitby eve- ry day to warrant the cost. While realizing there are many who do not have their own transportation, I find it difficult to believe a bus could be filled once a day, let alone the three times daily as Mr. Mills is advocating. On the other hand, a rapid transit link between the northern municipalities and metro-Toronto is sadly lacking. After speaking with a former commuter of the VIA rail service, which was cancelled about three years ago, I had to agree that speedy transportation to the core of Toronto is probably more urgently needed than GO Bus service to Whitby. There are hundreds of commuters in Scugog and neighboring communities forced to fight the heavy traffic every morn- ing and every night because there is no longer a commuter service available. He suggested that stagnated housing could well be stimulated if there was a reli- able commuter train nearby. His reasoning being that most new resi- dents will not be working in the communi- ty, so a good transportation link to Toronto could be the deciding factor in picking our township for their new home. Even Mayor Howard Hall suggested that he feels a GO Train between Burketon and Toronto would be of more value. But what are the chances of getting the train back on the rails? Not very good I suspect. : ZERO-TOLERANCE Ontario is about to get tough on violence in our schools, and it's just in time. Schools in this country, especially in the urban areas, are being terrorized by youths wielding clubs, knives, guns and other wea- pons. And violence, which many thought only took place south of the border, has crept into our schools at an alarming pace over the past couple of years. "Zero tolerance" is the aim of Education Minister Dave Cook with a plan which will require all school boards to enact anti- violence programs by September 1995. Under the plan, all boards will be required to implement a violence-preven- tion policy that includes: a) violence pre- vention lessons at every grade level from junior kindergarten to the end of secondary school; b) a code of conduct for students, teachers and staff; c) clear procedures for dealing with a full range of violent behavior, It's a first step, but hopefully if teachers, boards and students can work together to enforce the policies the results will be positive. Expelling students for any reason is not a desirable action, but if violent students interfere with the learning process of the majority, then it is the right solution. As Mr. Cook said, "it's time for all of us to say that education is too important to be sidetracked by violent behavior." LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Port Perry Star encourages its readers to make use of the letters to the editor column to express their opinions and viewpoints on just about any subject, as we feel a lively letters column will help make this a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that all letter writers sign their name and include a phone number for verification. Sorry, anonymous letters will not be published unless The Star believes it to be in the best interest of the public. We also reserves the right to edit letters with respect to their length, content or libelous comments \ Gl \ i SR, ATG 5 CEI A a B.A EI --_ FIFE -- RE SSA RA ng Ge SRA SURE ose ll EE RE i NG i er I Sal EE a ER ; a Rs ---- - ---- pg SD ct