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Time to question ministry's moves Dear Editor: Our newspaper reveals "Garbage could pile up in tennis courts" and I ask how did we end up in this frightening dilemma? It seems to have all started years ago by uncontrolled and Ministry of Environment-licensed dum- ping of toxic waste at our local landfill site in Perkinsfield. 'Then in 1980 the residents and neighbors of this landfill site complained of ground and volume. Toronto. stay put. mean a loss for us all. Keep Oak Ridge here Virtually all the administrators at the Mental Health Centre are talking about the articles which appeared in the Toronto Star last week and the subsequent editorial which appeared. That editorial advocated the replacement of Oak Ridge. There was no suggestion that Oak Ridge should be replaced somewhere else but this kind of talk is beginning to increase in The people who are saying it are academics who think Oak Ridge is located too far from the psychiatric experts at the University of They think the institution should be closer to Toronto, to their work and to a large metropolitan centre. Oak Ridge should stay in Penetanguishene. It won't be replaced from the ground up: this notion is currently infeasible. But this is the town for Oak Ridge. How many communities of our size would want a Mental Health Centre in their midsts? Not very many. From most towns we hear the shrill cries of "not in my backyard" whenever anyone suggests that something uncom- mon be placed within 20 kilometers of their picket fences. Penetanguishene is unique in that the town has consistently sup- ported Oak Ridge throughout the years and generally wants it to Also it has the necessary infrastructure to cope with a Mental Health Centre. The expertise is here, the structures already exist. That, combined with the will to continue expanding upon that ex- pertise, makes for a powerful argument to keep things as they are. Moreover, no one should like to consider the overwhelming loss of employment if Oak Ridge should ever leave. Everyone relies upon the payroll from Oak Ridge in some way. Losing Oak Ridge might water pollution in their wells. The Ministry of Environment denies the toxic dumping be- ing serious enough to cause this pollution. Then an election promise is made by Mr. David Peterson to close this dump if he is elected and shortly after it is scheduled to close in October 1987. Now toxic waste dumping in landfill sites is not allowed in this province due to the severity of its pollution. But in North Simcoe we are not going to be allowed to even dispose of our household waste thereafter Oc- tober 1987. The Ministry of Environment says we will have to haul our household waste as far away as Toronto for disposal. It seems to me the Ministry of Environment has got us where we are today and is now leaving us with the responsibility and cost of disposing of our household waste where ever they will deem safe. I would like to know why our household nontoxic-waste has now become such a threat it cannot be disposed of locally. If the landfill site in Perkinsfield is too polluted to accept even our household waste why are steps not being taken to stop this pollution from reaching its ultimate destina- tion of Georgian Bay? I think the time has come for us all to ques- tion the past and future practices of this Ministry of Environment. Ross Leonard Queen's Park Mayor's call prompts a top-level For three days of this past week, members of Cabinet and the Government Caucus held meetings at Hidden Valley Inn in Huntsville. These were the first meetings of the new David Peterson government to be held out- side of Queen's Park, and, along with District of Muskoka Chairman Allen Sander and Huntsville Mayor Terry Clarke, I was pleas- ed to welcome the members to this riding. A full schedule of meetings, including evening sessions, focused on planning and prevention for the up-coming session of the Legislature which begins on November 3rd with the Speech from the Throne. As a result of a call from Mayor Al Roach of Midland and request from the North Sim- coe Waste Management Association, I met with Minister of the Environment James Bradley twice this past week to discuss con- cerns related to waste disposal in North Simcoe. Although it has been suggested that the closing of the Pauze landfill site be delayed until a new site is ready for use, the Govern- meeting ment is not prepared to consider that action. Contamination of soils and water supplies from the Pauze site has been a major pro- blem, and the site must be capped before any further damage results. Both present and future generations of people in Tiny Township will benefit from that decision. Two alternative sites, one at Orillia and one in Vaughan Township were considered. For a number of reasons, the much larger site in Vaughan was designated to receive the waste from the North Simcoe area. Transportation costs to the Vaughan site are higher than those of Orillia, but I am assured that the tip- page fees required at the Orillia site bring the total costs to a comparable level. As a result of the request from North Sim- coe Waste Management Association, senior officials led by the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of the Environment met the representatives from North Simcoe last Fri- day for a full review of the problem As the winter winds gather to haunt us throughout the upcoming months, we are reminded that we live in a very cold province. But it must have made the people who live here a little bit tougher than they might have been living in more exotic climets to the south. Canadians have always been sur- vivors, people with strength of character, durability of purpose and clarity of vision. That's why it's such a bloody shame to see these characteristics eroded. I'm thinking of our national defence. Con- currently, I'm thinking of a political party which has promised to shatter the NATO alliance and reduce Canada to a North American version of an Eastern European Soviet satellite. Now of course I'm talking about the NDP, which would rather be called the New Democrats, but since I'm quite unwilling to act as a party flack, I shall continue to call NDP still means them the NDP. Or I might call them the socialists, because that is precisely what they are and don't be fooled because Ed Broad- bent seems like a nice man whom you might like to invite for Sunday dinner. Personally, Ed Broadbent the politician has always reminded me of a whining child who keeps demanding more but will never satisfy his craving for unearned conquest. When the NDP was being questioned by the media a few months back - actually question- ed by reporters who have been quite comfor- table not asking the questions - about its defence policies, we actually saw the socialists twitch a bit. But the heat is off now, amidst the free trade debate. Well put the heat back on! We're talking about a party which could potentially become the next Government of Canada. The socialists could institute a new order which is fundamentally opposed to everything "No Defence Policy" which has ever strengthened this country. If you think the welfare state is simply the taking from the worthy to give to the wor- thless, then you've yet to see the worst. I was never so nauseated as when I saw Pauline Jewett appear on CBC's Journal after her party had released a defence study paper. Jewett, not known for her admiration of the United States put on the most pious pefor- mance of her life and explained how an NDP Government would consult with the Americans over Northern defence. Yes, our socialists would simply expropriate whatever military instituions which presently exist and then tell the Americans to go to hell. This sort of attitude is surely indicative of double-mindedness. It's the same attitude which prevailed during the Trudeau years. Trudeau was always at his radical chic best when he was vacationing with the Marxist murderers around the world. Wasn't it ever so progressive to crap on the United States, decadent old Empire that it was. This is all fine if you are prepared to face the world without the nuclear umbrella which the U.S. has held over us for the last 42 years. Likewise, the NDP would have us develop an isolationist defence system knowing full well that the necessary corralary of isolation from the Americans is absorption by the Soviets. I remember John Fraser, who is now Speaker in the Commons, saying once that NDP stood for "'No Defence Policy."' Really it still does. The socialists have enunciated a policy which demands incredible expen- ditures on conventional arms to bolster a mythical Fortress Canada. Well, Fortress Canada is destined to fall into the Soviet or- bit once we tell our last link to freedom that we're going to go it alone. betters -Penetanguishene Citizen-- Published by Bayweb Limited every Tuesday at 74 Main Street, Penetanquishene, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 2327 Year subscription rate $39.00 "Page 6, Wednesday, November 4, 1987 549-2012 Publisher: Andrew Markle Manager: Judy French Managing Editor: Tim Kraan Editor: David Krayden Reporter: Murray Moore Sports: Arnold Burgher Member -- (CNA Member The Penetanguishene Citizen welcomes Letters to the Editor. They must be legible, signed (by hand), and carry the writer's address and telephone number for verification. Pen names are not allow- ed and anonymous letters will not be published. Lettets published by this newspaper do not necessarily reflect the opinion of this newspaper, its publisher or editor.