The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

| LS PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, JULY 4, 1995 pe School's out... at last! Grade 2 students at Cartwright Central Public School whoop it up as they burst through the front doors last Thursday morning, their last day of school. And a perfect day it was too, with high sunny skies and warm, warm temperatures. Those warm temperatures proved a little tough for the host of parents, grandparents, and other relatives who filled gymnasiums throughout the township last week for Grade 8 graduations, though. We've got plenty of photos from the ceremonies as we wrap of coverage of the school year in today's Star. : JEFF MITCHELL / PORT PERRY STAR COPY 65¢ 61¢ =1a¢ GSD 28 Pages Festival Days are coming By Kelly Lown Port Perry Star The Scugog Chamber of Commerce is stressing family fun for Festival Days celebrations in Port Perry, to be held July 13-15. While many of this year's events and attractions will remain the same the Chamber of Commerce is getting the entire community involved in the spirit of Festival Days. Events for the weekend will include children's shows, a mid- way, three-on-three basketball tournament, sidewalk sales, teen dances, car cruise, merchants auction and live entertainment in the Festival Tent. The list of activities and attractions is still growing daily. The Chamber of Commerce is organizing the event as a way of getting the whole family together or a day of fun in downtown Port Perry. The aim of the Chamber this year is to cut the costs of run- ning the event and to make it 'more affordable to the families. "Queen Street will be blocked off from Perry Street to Water Street for the weekend to house a huge display of Classic Cars. Water Street will be the focus of much of the entertainment as vendors and crown and anchor tables will fill the street. TurntoPage5 Unrepentant Shepherd calls session 'productive! ) Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star Durham MP Alex Shepherd says he has no regrets after defying his party a number of times during the recently-com- P Red session of Parliament. r. Shepherd, home in his riding after the winding-up of business in Ottawa, said during a wide-ranging interview with The Star last Tuesday morning 'the past session of parliament has been productive, with a lot of important legislation gaining passage. It was the most controversial laws, however, that gained the most media attention. Mr. Shepherd found himself in the national spotlight a couple of weeks ago when he joined eight other Liberals in voting against Bill C-68, the government's gun control bill. _~ = He risked his party's wrath, as warnings of retribution have been made publicly by his Prime Minister Jean Chretien. But he has increased his profile and support here in the riding, where for months constituents have called for him to take a stand against legislation such as the gun bill. "I think most people I've talked to here are very sup- portive," the MP, elected in October of 1993, said during the interview. "Even if they don't agree with my position, "they respect the action. Voted against party "I haven't agreed with every- thing the government has done, and I think that normal and healthy," hercontinued. "It isn't something you do easily, voting against your gov- ernment. It's not easy to stand ¢ up when your colleagues are sitting down, and vice-versa. "But sometimes you have to stand on principle." Mr. Shepherd also abstained from voting on Bill C-41; the government's bill calling for tougher measures against those convicted of committing hate crimes. And most recently, he opted out of the pension plan for MPs, which has been revamped to eliminate the practice of "dou- ble dipping"; he says, though, that it's still too rich and too easy to obtain. STE oe RL al CS Bo ae Te aR a i ad Le CRO 3 2 5 Gua "It's wrong for a member of parliament to ask Canadians to suffer through federal gov- ernment cutbacks, and a slug- gish economy, while MPs grant themselves pensions none of you will ever be able to receive in your profession," he wrote in his weekly column, pub- lished in the Weekend Star. "I have never thought poli- tics should be a career path... It's amazing to see gaggles of politicians in Ottawa... that have never been seriously employed in any other field except politics." oul oa oo THEE an a a ue a a ow