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10- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, January 26, 1999 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Hurricane Hazel batters town Few escape mayor's acerbic musings during speech here By Chris Hall Port Perry Star Politicians, business people, and even newspa- pers were among the tar- gets of Hurricane Hazel when she blew into town last week. Introduced by president Don MacLeod as "vibrant, very tough, savvy, not one to mince words" at the Scugog Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting last week, Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion allowed few to escape her ire. Right from the start of her 30-minute talk at the Great Blue Heron Casino Wednesday, the petite mayor teed off against Toronto and its mayor, Mel Lastman, Tory leader Mike Harris, and eventually even the local Chamber. "I can't afford a limo and a driver; we (Mississauga) have $350 million in reserves but I don't have a driver," she said early in her speech, referring to Lastman and his chauf- feur-driven limousine. Mayor McCallion was also critical of the "Mega- Mess" mayor's actions dur- ing recent snow storms, ridiculing his request for the military's help and saying it made Toronto the laughing stock of the coun- try. Also receiving a full blast from guest speaker were Premier Mike Harris and the Tory government, represented Wednesday Model GDS50 LC (NAPOLEON) FIREPLACES & BBQ's Built right here in Ontario! Mayor" RE Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion speaks to 'those gathered for the Scugog Chamber of Commerce's annual general meeting. night by Durham East MPP John O'Toole. "The government is on the right track, but the train is completely out of control; they have to go back and correct some of the decisions they've made," said Mayor McCallion. "Pm not looking forward to the future of the city of Mississauga with the type of crap that's coming out of Queen's Park. The gov- ernment doesn't know what it's doing, and it's doing that extremely well," she said. "Do you want to find a way to do something more inefficient and more cost- WINTER ALE NYANADR 0) LE NO when purchasing a \ETolo] lola Me =X IM" Ve olo | or oil furnace, stove or insert. All models of Napoleon B.B.Q's are top of the line available in natural gas or propane OVERRIDGE Fireplace Warehouse LAV OF: [110 [1g 8 oT 1 20-141") (905) 985-0715 1-800-638-4751 ly? Ask the government to do it." And, according to the long-time mayor, Quebec's premier is a traitor. "(Lucien) Bouchard should be charged with treason," she said during a rant on the quality of life in Canada. "We're paying his pen- sion; we're paying to help him split us up. Jean Chretien and the feds have no guts, no guts at all." Even her hosts, the Scugog Chamber of Commerce, did not escape a scolding. The mayor said they should be doing more to combat excessive taxa- tion. "The Chamber of Commerce is asleep at the switch... if they don't step up, they're not doing their ~ job," she said. "Silent auctions, Christmas parades, July 1 celebrations... what do they do to make the com- munity stronger? They should not be allowing unnecessary things on the property tax bill." Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing also came under fire during her talk. "Give your local paper lots of support; forget about Metroland," she said. "That's the Toronto Star, I've had my problems with the Toronto Star. - "Big newspaper, big government; that's where we get all our troubles from." Tired of the mount- ing pressures placed on municipalities by the provincial government, Mississauga's outspo- ken mayor has sounded a warning call. Angered over changes imposed by the present Tory government and their NDP predecessors, Mayor Hazel McCallion bluntly told the crowd of more than 100 area business owners and operators that the time for change must come soon. "I'm looking forward to the day when the only responsibility I have is to make damn sure the garbage is collected in Mississauga," Mayor McCallion, the guest speaker at the Scugog Chamber of Commerce's annual general meeting, said last Wednesday evening when took cen- tre stage at the Great Blue Heron Casino. "No one knows what's going on," she said. "The Chamber of Commerce doesn't know, the citi- zens don't know... we're doing a poor job of com- municating with you. "We're going to wake up one morning and we're going to be in deep trouble, deep trouble. We won't have the finances to keep the McCallion accuses Tories of bungling GTSB initiatives quality of life we have in our communities, the province, or the coun- try." She reminded those in attendance that many issues should be taken into consideration with another provincial elec- tion looming, likely this spring. "If we don't address these issues in the next provincial election, then we'll get what we deserve and we shouldn't complain about it," she said. While fundamentally in agreement with the Greater Toronto Services Board -- it's to oversee services in the vast sprawl of towns and cities surrounding Toronto, including Scugog -- Mayor McCallion was critical of the way in which it's been implemented. "I agree we need a co- ordination of services," she said, adding that the guidelines for the GTSB and its chair's duties are still a mys- tery. "I don't know what the future of the 905 area will hold for us; the future is at stake. I'l] predict tonight that we'll be under siege, under siege." -Chris Hall CRIME STOPPERS Armed thug robbed shop By Sgt. Kevin Slaney Crime Stoppers and Durham Regional Police are asking for your assis- tance in solving a robbery that occurred in Oshawa on Dec. 10 of last year. On Thursday evening around 8:45 p.m. a lone male entered First Choice Hair Cutters at 595 King Street East, as the store clerk was counting the contents of the cash regis- ter. This subject wearing a balaclava and carrying a hand gun, approached the clerk demanding Port Perry's Centre for the Performing Arts & HER QUARTET Voted "Best Female Jazz Vocalist 1996 Juno Award Nominee ONE NIGHT ONLY" Sat., Feb. 13 » 8pm TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT Jayson Callan Music * 985-2635 money. Grabbing the cash, he walked to the back room of the store where he stuffed the loot into a white plastic bag. A purse owned by the clerk, con- taining cash, credit cards and personal items was also grabbed by the cul- prit. He then fled the store through the rear door with the purse as well as a quantity of cash from the till. The suspect is described as male white, slim build, approximately 6', 150 pounds with dirty blond hair. The gun used is described as a black pistol. Crime Stoppers will pay a cash reward for any information that will lead to an arrest in this inci- dent. Callers never have to give their name or tes- tify in court and we do not use call display. Our num- bers are: 436-8477 or 1- 800-222-TIPS. Sergeant Kevin Slaney is the police coordinator with the Durham Regional Crime Stoppers program and submits this article in the interest of solving crime.