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

Nod 4 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 14, 2000 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" LIBERAL LEADER PAYS VISIT TO DURHAM McGuinty meets with local leaders By Chris Hall Port Perry Star Ontario Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty visited Durham Region last week, meeting with munici- pal leaders and education offi- cials and discussing local trans- portation issues. Mr. McGuinty met with Durham mayors and other munic- ipal reps for a lunch meeting in Bowmanville at noon Friday (March 10). Then he was in Courtice for a discussion on eco- nomic development and trans- portation, prior to a roundtable talk on education in Newcastle. A reception by the Durham Liberal Riding Association was held 'back in Bowmanville that evening. Mr. McGuinty said such visits are his way of staying in touch with the people of Ontario during downtime at Queen's Park. "The Ontario Legislature only sat for 40 days last year - that's 40 days out of 365," he said during a media scrum at Clarington's municipal office. "And I'm not sure when we are going to return this year, so we're doing some extensive travelling of the 905 area to get a much bet- ter understanding of local issues, and we hope to bring these con- cerns to bear when we return (to the legislature)." Education, a perennial politi- cal football, was a hot topic, par- ticularly a day after minister Janet Ecker announced her intention to increase teachers' time in the classroom. That pledge came attached to an announcement of $190 million in funding for the province's schools. While that sounds good, it's important to remember that the Mike Harris government has taken $1 billion out of primary and secondary education, said Mr. McGuinty. "Of that $190 million, half of Ontario Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty (left) chats with Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt and Clarington Mayor Diane Hamre during a visit to the region Friday. Mr. McGuinty talked about transportation, education, and development issues when he met with local officials during the visit. that is for growth in the student population... it is a very tiny amount going into education," he said. "We have trustees, on the job at the local level, who have their hands tied behind their backs (with financial restraints) which is leading to frustration in places like Windsor," he said, referring to the school board there which has threatened to run a deficit this year rather than impose fur- ther cuts. The Oak Ridges Moraine, the topic of much public and media interest recently, was also brought up in a discussion over transportation issues. "People have to have access to goods and services on one hand, but there is also an envi- ronmental concern. We have to strike a balance to ensure responsible growth but keep in mind our environmental con- cerns," said Mr. McGuinty. He said the provincial govern- ment is the only body with the power to address concerns of development on the environ- mentally sensitive moraine. "We want two things: To freeze all development on the moraine until, number two, we come up with a comprehensive, environ- mentally-friendly land use poli- cy," he said. "We need to send a clear mes- sage to the municipalities (in dis- pute with companies and indi- viduals over development on the moraine, such as Uxbridge) that the government is there and will step in and help them." what the le tn ms says... Amalgamation tops list of topics at lunch with mayors Amalgamation was a pop- ular topic at last week's lun- cheon meeting among local municipal officials and Ontario Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty. Mr. McGuinty met with area mayors and council reps during his visit Friday. "It was very positive; it's always a good idea to get together with these people and sit down and talk about all the issues," said Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt after the meeting with Mr. McGuinty. Others attending the meeting were Clarington mayor Diane Hamre and Liberal GTA Critic George Smitherman (Toronto " Centre-Rosedale MPP). Representatives from Oshawa, Whitby, Pickering and Uxbridge were absent. A meeting with Ajax municipal staff was held prior to the luncheon. ~ "Amalgamation was a big "part of it. The meeting gave usa id to talk and won- these (Liberal) guys are not "the government, they're the opposition, but it still gives us a chance to speak out." Other topics 'touched upon included taxation, downloading of services, 'Highway 407, and other issues including the environ- ment. The greening of Scugog continues as more low-cost trees go on sale By Chris Hall Port Perry Star Blackstock or at Greenbank Nurseries. The trees will not be sold for personal property land- Joan Graham is continuing her crusade to put a little more green in Scugog. With winter now all but a memory and spring on the horizon, Mrs. Graham is taking orders for her annual effort to encourage residents to plant trees along . Scugog's roadways. "All the trees on Shirley Rd. were dying, and | thought it would be a good idea to plant some new ones," said Mrs. Graham, who lived in Purple Hill before moving to Port Perry recently. "| wanted to start on my own road, and thought maybe we could go from there to around the rest of Scugog... it would be nice to drive around and see trees every- where." A wide variety of trees -- including Silver Maple, Sugar Maple, Norway Maple, Green Leaf, Linden Little Leaf, and Mountain Ash -- are available. They are approxi- mately five feet tall and are $14 each, plus tax. They will be rcady for pick-up in mid- April in scaping, said Mrs. Graham. "I get the trees from a local commercial nursery who sell them to me at their wholesale price, and the people who buy these trees from me are getting that same wholesale price," she said. "They are not to be used for landscaping around homes; I'm not trying to save anyone money for their own landscaping, this is for Scugog's roads. I'm not trying to compete with nurseries." More than 600 trees were sold in 1999, and Mrs. Graham is aiming for 2000 this year. "It would be nice to sell 2000 trees in 2000, that would be ideal. We sold more than 1,200 in 1998," she said. "If you plant one this year, you can always remember that you planted a tree in 2000... a tree is something you can look at for the rest of your life." Trees can be ordered by calling Joan Graham at 985- 6446. Orders should be a minimum of three trees. Joan Graham is once again encouraging Scugog residents to take part in a low-cost tree- planting program.