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

GM closes second plant; 4450 works laid off By Chris Hall Port Perry Star Almost 4,500 General ersits second week. Stew Low, a spokesperson for GM Vol. 132 Number 30 Motors employees in Oshawa have been sent home as a strike at a US parts plant ent- Canada, confirmed yesterday morning that employee strikes in two Michigan plants have shut down both car plants and resulted in approximately 4,450 workers being laid off indefinitely. Employees at a Flint, Michigan stamping plant and at one in Delphi, PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1998 Michigan, which produces a wide variety of electrical components, have walked off the job over labor talks. They're affecting GM operations in Canada, where plants rely on their products. "We finished off last week and we have a different complexion today, things have COPY 65¢ (61¢+ 4¢ Gs) changed a little bit," said Mr. Low, esti- mating that as many as 5,000 GM work- ers in the province did not report to work yesterday. About 1,800 employees were sent home after last Monday's (June 8) shift at Please turn to page 12 Threat of Toronto's trash raised in talks By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star Could Scugog Township be the site of a giant landfill for garbage from all over Metro and the Greater Toronto Area? Don't bet against it, says Ward 4 Councillor David Dietlein. Especially when Scugog ends up-part of the Greater Toronto Services Board (GTSB) as pro- posed by Alan Tonks in his recommenda- tions to Queens Park. Councillor Dietlein said it's a "major concern" that waste management is one of the functions for the proposed GTSB. "I don't want Scugog to end up a host municipality for a landfill," he told the Port Perry Star following Monday after- noon's meeting of township council, where once again the issue of the GTSB was discussed by local politicians. He said "sure, it's a distinct possibili- ty" when asked if he feels Scugog could end up with a landfill for GTSB garbage. "Where is the garbage going to go? Metro (Toronto) will use up its landfill capacity soon, and right now they are shipping garbage to Michigan," he noted. He worries that if Scugog does end up as a site for trash, there is no way the pol- iticians or the people of this municipality could effectively fight the decision. That's because Toronto would control the vote on the new services board for the GTA. Under the proposal submitted to Queen's Park by Mr. Tonks, all munici- palities now in the GTA would be part of the GTSB, with Metro having 51 per cent of the voting power on the board. One Toronto councillor would have the voting Please turn to page 17 Users cautioned to be wary of hydro brokers By Rik Davie Port Perry Star The province's planned break-up of Ontario Hydro's monopoly will begin to show its effects in Scugog Township long before the legislation is implemented in early 1999, according to local officials. Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt said private hydro "brokers" are already in business, and local residents could soon be receiving calls offering lower hydro rates once competition is allowed. The bill, which has reached second reading in the legislature, would allow local utilities to set prices, and brokers working in a way similar to telephone long-distance companies to try for a share of the market. But the mayor is telling his constitu- ents to be wary of sales pitches promis- ing big savings on hydro bills. "It's much too early in the process to sign up with anyone for supply of hydro- electric services," he said. "As the plan is implemented the eventual rates for hydro may fluctuate greatly from their present levels." According to Circuit Breaker, a news- letter of Municipal hydro utilities, several suppliers have already taken out ads in local newspapers informing their Please turn to page 12 BERRY. SEASON: The strawberry season is now entering its second week at Scugog's Willowtrée Farm and that means that Jordan McKay, 17, "is keeping busy helping his family. run the operation. A dry spring hasn't affected the Durham | d. 21 farm because of an irrigation system that keeps the berries large and juicy, perfect for snacking on. . eo )