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oo Ref ---- o -------- a . - ~ Bl tii ot fhe pe 384 i) -. pe Bus = a Nf LE gn. 4 PP AE oe A Family Tradition for 128 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, January 17, 1995 - 7 * CNA 2) Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Lid. Port Perry, Ontario BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Gayle Stapley Accounting - Judy Ashby, Louise Hope Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Nancy Lee | The Port Perry Star Gs Sms se. General Mgr. - Don Macleod 188 MARY STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO LOL 1B7 ETHIE Managing Editor Joft Mitchell PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 Seize] Sports Editor - Kelly Lown The Port Perry Star is authorized as second class mail by the INT: Post Office Department, Ottawa, for cash payment of postage. CULE ADVERTISING Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Advertising Manager - Anna Jackman Subscription Rate: Advertising Sales - Bill Eastwood 6Months-$17.65 Advertising Sales - Rhonda Mulcahy includes $1.15GST Production - Pamela Hickey LETTERS ~ MPP Mills really helped out To the Editor: PRODUCTION Annabell Harrison, Trudy Empringham,' Susan Milne, i Robert Taylor, Richard Drew CCNA 4 1994 1Year-$32.10 } Foreign -$90.95 includes $2.10 GST gn-$ includes $5.95GST 10 YEARSAGO Tuesday, January 22, 1985 Scugog Council was considering a bylaw that would force residents to shovel the snow on the sidewalks in front of their homes. Wentworth Separate School Mills' staff were extremely I am a recent graduate of the Masters of Science in Secon- dary Education program at Ni- agara University in Niagara Falls, New York. This program qualifies me as a teacher in the province of Ontario where I re- side. Upon graduation, my creden- tials are sent to the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training in Toronto and a Let- ter of Eligibility is issued so that I may legally teach anywhere in Ontario. The processing time for a Letter of Eligibility is usu- ally quoted as four to six weeks. I contacted the ministry to ask for special consideration as I was very fortunate to be of- fered an occasional teaching po- sition (six month maternity leave) with the Hamilton- Board. I needed my Letter of El- igibility to be processed imme- diately in order to be able to ac- cept this teaching position. I spent $50 in phone calls to Toronto, $40 in gas money, $23 in parking, $12 in fax transmis- sions and approximately $50,000 dollars on my educa- tion to get to this point and I was not about to take "no" for an answer from the ministry. Not only was I refused any cooperation, but I was also treated rudely and with com- plete indifference. I was com- pletely frustrated and scared of losing this extremely valuable career opportunity. : My father suggested that I phone our local MPP Mr. Gord Mills to ask for assistance, which is exactly' what I did. Mr. friendly and helpful. I was able to use this influence with the Ministry of Education and have my Letter of Eligibility pro- cessed within two days. Unfor- tunately, I did not meet the deadline for the Hamilton- Wentworth teaching position; but I did receive some satisfac- tion and valuable experience from this bureaucratic night- mare. I encourage anyone facing dif- ficulty with a government insti- tution to do what I should have done in the first place - contact your local MPP. They really do work for the people! Neely A. Chase, Scugog Island Cable monopolies show contempt To the Editor: It is about time that the CRTC stops dictating to the Ca- nadian viewing public what it thinks is good or bad for us to watch. 'The reason the cable compa- nies are in hot water with sub- scribers is largely the fault of Mr. Keith Spicer of the CRTC. His arrogant contempt for view- ers choices is appalling. It is his choice of channels he wants the Canadian viewers to watch. The contempt shown to view- ers came through clearly when last summer the CRTC turned down the application of Power/ Direct TV to sell and operate Di- rect TV. This was done despite the many Canadian signals al- ready on the satellite. The rea- son was that these signals were not coming from a Canadian satellite. But, Canada does not have a digital compression sat- ellite. This decision by the CRTC to reject the application of Power/ Direct TV was appealed to the federal cabinet, which had the power at the time to reverse it. But the Liberals are going to hold "hearings." These will be written submissions only and will not be open to the public. They will then "study" the re- sults of the situation. Obviously this will again delay the Direct TV system for many months or even years. The CRTC has never asked the general public if these new Canadian channels should ex- ist. Why should the viewer be forced to pay for programming they don't want? This is an example of TV wel- fare in communications where Canadian channels must be aired by the cable companies so as to keep the Canadian content .with foreign content on an equal basis. Regardless of how the CRTC might try to justify this rule, this quota for Canadian content has to change. The viewers of cable should be offered good programming regardless of where it originates from. If a Canadian program is poorly ad- ministered and produced, why should cable subscribers be forced to financially support it through their cable fees? Cable companies and the CRTC are annoying people to the point where they will seek an alternative, which more than likely will be DBS. It's time we are offered a choice in what we view on our own televisions and how we get our programming. The dictator- ship of the CRTC and the mon- opoly of the cable companies must end. Yours truly, Andrew Cobean, Pickering make at Perry Street. provincial finals. Mersco Department Store made the move from downtown Port Perry to uptown Port Perry, an imaginary division that merchants The Durham Region decided to continue having talks with three developers interested in building new homes in Prince Albert. The fate of Christine Jessop, the nine-year-old Queensville girl, found murdered near Port Perry inspired local mother Janet Banting to begin a Block Parent program in Scugog. Deana Sims and Marcy Roome were presented with plaques and certificates for their efforts in the Legion Branch 419 poetry contest. Marcy's poem on Remembrance Day went on to the - The federal government announced it would pump $2.6 million over two years into the restored Via passenger service from Havelock-Toronto, which was slated to be back in service June 1. Conditions were perfect for the annual Port Perry Snowarama. The eighth annual event, in aid of the Easter Seals Society, takes in a 100 km ride over trails and parts of Lake Scugog. PLAN supporters made a difference in 1994 To the Editor: I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and to thank Ontarians who helped PLAN International Canada make a difference in 1994. Even though times have been tough in recent years, Ontarians have contin- ued to generously support less fortunate children around the world. Here are just a few examples of what your assistance has ac- complished in 1994. Through a small business development program in Mali, West Africa, nearly 1,100 families have in- creased their income and are now able to feed and clothe their children. To help stop the spread of AIDS, 526 villagers in Burkina Faso (also in West Afri- ca) were trained and now pro- vide AIDS education in 48 vil- lages. After their homes had been destroyed by typhoons, vil- lagers in Cagayan, Philippines; together with PLAN's technical assistance; built 499 typhoon- resistant homes. Caring Ontarians support 45,526 Foster Children in 30 de- veloping countries through PLAN International, an organi- zation founded in 1937 as Fos- ter Parents Plan. They join oth- er Canadians in supporting 100,000. children, their fami- lies, and communities. In fact, the actual number of people in- directly benefitting from that support tops one million. Con- tributions are used to teach peo- ple how to help themselves. Thank you again. Without your concern thousands of chil- dren would be facing 1995 with- out hope. Sincerely, Mrs. Paula M. McTavish, National Director PLAN International Canada Editor's Notepad by Jeff Mitchell HAVING A SECOND CHILDHOOD UTTERLY TONGUE-TIED: I'll be honest with you; Sometimes, I do really stupid things. Often they're mildly stupid -- like the time I was check- of my coat, and then remained trapped in front of my car until an understanding pedestrian helped me out -- and on occasion, they're hugely, immen- sely stupid, candidates for the Stupid Hall of Fame. Well. I think we've got the all-time winner here. It was one night early last week during the January cold snap. I was out for my daily walk with Otto, a winding route through a residential area near our house that we like to take. ing my oil and let the hood slam on the drawstring It was in the minus 20 range, so I was sufficient- ly bundled with sweaters and two or three toques and my big snow boots and, topping it all, my down coat. We had a good walk, me crunching along over the pristine snow and Otto snuffling away, stop- ping every few yards to pee on things. We were on the road back home when, for some inexplicable reason, I had an overwhelming desire to stick my tongue on the drawn-up zipper of my coat. And succumbed. c Immediately my tongue was welded to the zip- per and no amount of gentle tugging would remove it. I stumbled the rest of the way home with the dog and through the kitchen door, where great plumes of steam -- the accumulated heat from the wood- stove and tonight's oven-cooked dinner -- billowed toward the outdoors. Pamela was reading at the kitchen table. Her form was distorted by the fog on my glasses, but I could discern her looking up to smile at us. "Have a nice walk?" she asked. "Sneth," I replied, gingerly removing the fogged- up spectacles. She looked up at me curiously. "Is something the matter?" she asked. "Thny znung," I garbled. "Thny znung ith znug..." Pamela squinted at me: "What?" I drew a breath and began again, this time ges- turing with my heavily-gloved hand: "Thny znung ith znug oo i znibbah." Her face wrinkled in derision. "You -- a-ha-a-ha- a-ha! What?" "Nanenah..." I menaced. But it's hard to be truly menacing when your tongue is stuck to your zipper and you're pleading in the kitchen in the midst of a puddle of melting snow, like a six-year-old. She dissolved into laughter, and had to leave the room. I stood there staring after her. Eventually the warmth in the house was suffi- cient to thaw the zipper, and my tongue came free. I tore off all my winter clothes and left them in a heap on the floor, and then went to sulk in the tub. I didn't speak to my wife for the rest of the evening. JUST CURIOUS: Wonder how much poor Steve Stavro and the Gardens lost during the hockey strike? Knob Hill sausage, anyone? Le