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"A Family Tradition for 128 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, September 26, 1995 -3 é JEFF MITCHELL/PORT PERRY STAR PITCHING IN: Gene Donnelly and Paula Bonchek, employees at The Beer Store in Port Perry, are ready for this Saturday, when patrons can contribute their empties to the Canadian Diabetes Association. See the story below for more details. Your empties can help Diabetes Association Next Saturday when you make your weekly trip to the beer store, you can contribute to a worthy cause -- and take part in an attempted world record. From 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Sept. 30, volunteers with the Canadian Diabetes Association will be setting up at the Beer Store in Port Perry, and outlets across Durham Region, hoping to con- vince suds-lovers to hand over their empties. It's part of a province-wide fundraiser, and in its second year here in Durham, said Linda Hirst, co-ordinator of the local branch of the CDA. "It's a painless way to give," she said, explaining that Beer Store patrons can hand over their empty bottles and cans, which will be collected and cashed in by the Association. Some $5,000 was raised here in Durham last year, she said. "It's a great fundraiser." In addition to contributing to the fundraiser, you could also be taking part in a world record when you donate your bottles. The association has petitioned the Guiness Book of World Records to acknowledge and publish the event as "World's Largest Bottle Drive". The CDA hopes to collect 1.5 million bottles and cans during six hours Saturday to meet a goal of $150,000 for the fundraiser. Changes would affect Scugog Shepherd loses committee seat over vote on gun bill By Jeff Mitchell Port Perry Star Durham MP Alex Shepherd has sus- tained some bruises as a result of defy- ing his party, but insists he's still "very much in tune with the government". Mr. Shepherd was among the Liberal MPs who returned to Parliament Hill last Monday to face the music after voting against the party on key bills last spring. He joined several of his caucus colleagues in voting against the government's controversial gun control 'legislation, and abstained from voting on a hate crimes bill. Throughout the summer there has been speculation as to how hard Prime Minister Jean Chretien's punishment of the wayward MPs would be, and this past week Mr. Shepherd found out: He was relieved of his position of vice-chair of the Commons public accounts committee, which oversees government spending. He was reassigned, though, as a member of the natural resources com- mittee. "We sustained a couple of bruises, but we'll recover," he said last week. "You can see we landed on our feet, and we're very much in tune with the government." Last week Mr. Shepherd was given an opportunity to speak during question period, and also received a ringing endorsement from federal finance min- ister Paul Martin for his comments on changes to government requirements for unin- corporated business- es."I'm very much a part of the caucus, and I still have the ear of some ministers," said the MP. Mr. Shepherd was forced to make some tough decisions, particularly with regard to the gun control bill, as the spring session of parliament wound down a few months ago. He was faced , with stiff opposition to the legislation in his riding, as well as stern warnings from the Liberal party that MPs who failed to toe the line and support the bill would be dealt with severely. In the end he cast his vote against the gun bill, saying he was unconvinced it would cut down on gun-related crime. Mr. Shepherd also questioned the cost of creating a nation-wide registry of firearms, one of the more contentious elements of the bill. And he abstained from voting on the bill that is designed to bring in tougher penalties for those found guilty of committing hate-related crimes -- although he was in the house when the vote was called -- because he thought it unfairly identified some groups, such as gays and lesbians. SHEPHERD Committee to study Region cuts By Kelly Lown Port Perry Star A committee made up of one member of each mu- nicipality will be studying the feasibility of reducing the number of representa- tives sitting on Durham Regional Council. Regional Council held a special meeting last week to deal with a motion, set forward last week, which would see one third of its seats cut by 1997. The cost saving meas- ures of such a move will be studied by the committee, Regional Councillor Mari- lyn Pearce said. Both Councillor Pearce and Mayor Howard Hall, Scugog's two regional reps, would vote against any cut to the township's representation. Both say the township needs two reps to keep informed of all region events and the cut would not save enough money to make it viable. If the cuts were made it would be the townships in the north, such as Scugog, Uxbridge and Brock that would lose representa- tion. PAY NO The Great Winter Coat Event! GST or PSTH FREE INSTORE FASHION SHOW! Preview our 1995 Men's & Womens Winter Outerwear Collection Wed., Sept. 27 at noon, 4:00pm and 7:30pm * or equivalent discount Sale from Tues., Sept. 26 to Mon., Oct. 2. on all Men's- & Women's Coats -- light refreshments -- All attendees will receive an additional 10% off any coat purchase this week! Service, quality and style since 1881 168 Queen St., Port Perry 985-2521