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6 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, June 27, 2000 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice' PUBLISHER . . J. Peter Hvidsten GENERALMGR ....... Don Macleod MANAGING EDITOR . Jeff Mitchell OFFICE MANAGER . = Gayle Stapley ADVERTISING MGR ...Deb McEachern PRODUCTION MGR . . Pam Hickey REPORTER ... . .. Chris Hall PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX (905) 985-3708 E-MAIL: port perry.star@sympatico ca _jocna Member Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc LE * SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 Year - $37.45 (includes GST) Six Months - $19.79 (includes GST) Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Company Limited, 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ontario - L9L 1B7 Foreign 1 Year - $96.30 (includes GST) Newspaper Association ORT PERRY STAR, WEE CaN BUSINESS OFFICE: Judy Ashby, Kathy Dudley, Heather Callan, Janet Rankin, Lesley West ADVERTISING: Ginni Todd. Cindy Jobin, Gail Morse, Heather Mack, Linda Clarke, Lisa Monk, Janet Archer, Malcolm Lennox PRODUCTION: Trudy Empringham, Daryle Wright, Arlene Cheel, Robert Taylor. Richard Drew freelance Writers Heather McCrae. John 8 McClelland. Rik Davie EDITORIAL POLICY: Opinions expressed by columnists. contributors and letter writers are not necessarily those of The Port Perry Star Letters must be signed and the telephone number (which will not be published) included Requests that a name be withheld will be honoured only if there 1s a compelling reason to do so Errors will be corrected if brought to the editor's attention. We reserve the right to edit or refuse publication of any matenal submitted. ADVERTISING POLICY The publisher is not hable for skght changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher Is not liable for other errors of OMISSIONS In connection with any adverbsement in any subsequent issue of the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement. All dlaims of error in publication must be made by Wednesday. noon, prior to the next week's pubication. and. if not made. will not be considered No claim will te allowed for more than one insertion Editorial Comment Tories' deeds speak loudest It is difficult, given their lack of any real action on the issue, to believe the Tories at Queen's Park are sincere WANT TO BAN CELL PHONE I'T SAYS HERE THAT THEY USE. IN MOVING CARS)! about protecting the Oak Ridges Moraine. Although the government is more than willing to pay lip service on the matter, they balk at concrete measures to protect the moraine. It serves as the headwaters of numerous ('T's ABOUT TIME!) water courses along its 160-kilometre span. Rather than step up and face the challenge, the Tories are content to leave decisions about large-scale development on the moraine to the OMB, which will side with developers unless compelling arguments, based on sound planning principles, can be mounted in opposition to proposals. Do the Tories really want to protect this invaluable geolog- ical feature, or are they willing, as with so many other instances, to let the free market rule? Just last week the Conservatives voted down a private - members bill put forth by Liberal MPP Mike Colle, which would have set up an authority to oversee planning and + development on the moraine, with a view to aiding munici- ~ palities in their efforts to support sustainable development. . The goal would be to protect the integrity of the moraine . through a stewardship that would consider the environmental . impact, and merits, of development proposals. It doesn't sound like such an onerous undertaking, really, eS Bo) £ = El | unless you're a developer. And it would give all parties who | have a stake in the issue - and that includes everyone who | desires to have clean water - a say in development on this most sensitive of our local geographical features. ~ Fine words of support for the protection of the moraine don't mean a thing when the lawyers commence to talking. Deeds speak, and the Tories have spoken with their + outright dismissal of this private members bill. QeooP Tort PERRY STAR > Norman Ewers' farm equipment business was located in the former St, Charles hotel (now Re/Max Real Estate office) at the corner of Queen and Water St., circa 1920. He later purchased G.W. Schell's truck business and operated it as Ewers' Transport. Ly Photo courtesy of Larry Norton - Port Perry Star Letter of the Week Government needs a reality check To the Editor: In response to recent Ontario Government advertisements on education, | feel compelled to set the record straight. The Minister of Education states "With the education quality reforms we have put in place, we are helping students to better prepare for success." The adver- tisement implies that the stan- dardized testing in Grades 3 and 6 ensures that children who need extra help will now be able to receive it. The reality is that the govern- ment has cut over $1.5 billion from education funding since 1995. Special education programs have been cut in 12 per cent of the pub- lic elementary schools in the past two years. Class sizes in kinder- garten to Grade 2 have increased by nine to 14 per cent from 1997 to 1999. The government initially cut financial resources for the early learner by over $150 million. Funding for children-at-risk because of social and economic disadvantage has been reduced by over $200 million in the last two years. The money announced recently for reducing class size, early reading programs and spe- cial education is a drop in the bucket toward replacing what has been cut. The research is clear. Early intervention is needed to ensure young children have the opportu- nity to succeed at school. Seventy- five per cent of children with read- ing disabilities who are not identified until the third grade continue to have reading disabili- ties in the ninth grade. Approximately 80 per cent of chil- dren with learning disabilities have the most difficulty with learn- Please see next page