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COPY 65¢ (61¢+ 4¢ GsT) 32 Pages Tn = po i Te HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS: Paige A the arrival of Santa Claus Saturday, when the Scugog Chamber of Commerce held its annual Christmas parade. Beautiful weather -- sunny skies and moderate SRN Se Sete UemEERe =HE IES SA S: Paige y, 4, was among the hundreds of excited kids keeping a vigil for A A Aa RRB i £3 SEL i = TA XY A iF . temperatures --- uraged throng then through the downtown core on Queen. After the parade, Santa held court at the Chamber offices to visit with his admirers. We've got more photos on page 4. MPP says legislation should be passed this month Board rebates could come soon By Chris Hall Port Perry Star The Durham Board of Education could start handing out rebate cheques to parents affected by the teachers' strike early in the new year, says Durham East's MPP. John O'Toole said talks have been held on Bill 161 and if eve- rything goes as planned, it could be passed in the next couple of weeks. When the teachers' strike began in October, education min- ister Dave Johnson promised the government would pass legis- lation requiring school boards to pay compensation of $40 per day per household to help parents cover the costs of child care for younger kids. "We've already had three full days of discussion on the bill and next week we also have some time allocated for more debate," Mr. O'Toole said Friday. "We understand the hardship for the parents with the unscheduled interruption, and the government's attempting to RA Te Tol > fin ce er re i CREE help ease the expense of the strike on parents," said Mr. O'Toole, adding there will be no public debate on the issue, and that it will go straight into third reading. He said the bill must be made law before the government begins its winter break on Dec. 18. MPPs are scheduled to return to Queen's Park during the third week of March. When passed, Bill 161 will require boards across Ontario to reimburse parents who were affected during the teacher's 10- day illegal strike for money spent on child care. The government is proposing that families be paid up to a total of $400, regard- less of the number of children in the home. The bill will also pro- vide protection for employees from employer reprisals resulting from the strike, and union actions against teachers who did not participate in the strike. Waiting for word on Bill 161 is Durham Board of Education communication officer Mary Brown. She says that preliminary plans are already set for the rebate, but nothing is official until Please turn to Page 16 REGIE, B | | / PONTIAC BUICK LIMITED » ---- McArthur returns to court for hearing By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star Mitchiel "Micky" McArthur was back in a Whitby courtroom Monday morning as proceedings to have him declared a dan- gerous offender got under way in front of Judge Harry LaForme. The 44-year-old McArthur was found guilty last April on 17 charges stemming from the Oct. 20, 1994 robbery at the Bank of Montreal in Port Perry in which five peo- ple were seriously wounded by gunfire. Those convictions include attempted murd- er, bank robbery, kidnapping and use of a firearm while committing a crime. McArthur's 32-year old half-brother Angus was found not guilty on the same 17 charges by the same jury of six men and six women who heard three months of testimo- FMITCHELL 7 PORT PERF £* ny from about 100 witnesses. ure s to line the route; . which ran from the fairgrounds along to Simcoe St, and "the Crown wants to have McArthur The proceedings that opened Monday are the first of a two-stage process by which declared a dangerous offender, and handed an indeterminate sentence in a federal prison. In the first stage, which is expected to continue all this week, Crown Attorneys Michael Hill and Lauri Ann Turner are Please turn to Page 19 Big donation helps toy drive Chances are a smile will creep across the face of a Mississauga man on Christmas morning when he thinks of the children in Scugog Township. Ann Wanninkhof, an organizer with Operation Scugog, says that many children across the township will have Mark Bisson to thank when they open their gift from the local food bank on Dec, 25. "He made a very nice, generous dona- "tion to the food bank this year with his toys. Everything that he has given us Please turn to Page 10 10 Vanedward Drive, Port Perry 985