PAGE 4, WEI)NESDAY, JULIY 31, 1)85, WlTI13Y FREE PRESS li hICHAELnesday whitby by NI...M. Publishing ad Photografph nI. lob Phone 06S8-6I11 The Free Press Huildin r1:11 Brock Street North, Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor .. Box 206, whitb MICHAEL KNELL Community Editor VALERIE COWEN AdvertIsing Manager g, Mnt. secandl ass Ma3 Regtisiaton No 5351 The only Wlitby Ilrwspaper independ<eiitly owi.d and operated h-,Vih -eîet o Whitb enels Whitby deserves another regional seat Most of us have been taught since childhood that the cornerstone of the democratic system is the principle of representation by population. All f us are supposed ta receive an equal voice in gavernment at aIl levels thraugh aur elected, representatives. It's a lovely thought, but in practise t isn't always so. After years of frustration, Ajax Town Council has requested that the Ontario Legislature amend the Reglanal Municlpality of Durham Act ta Almost unnoticed in the uproar over the gover- nment's. roll back on old age pensions, the first an- nual report was tabled from the Security Intelligence Review Committee. This is the body that arose from the stormy creation of the Canadian Security In- telligence Service. This is the body which is to monitor the activities of what the media insisted on calling our spy agency. This is the body which is supposed to act as the public's watchdog, to be sure that our security and intelligence service is acting professional and efficiently, to be sure that it is obeying the law of the land, and to be sure that it is respecting the civil rights of Canadian citizens. In short, the Security Intelligence Review Committee is the body that is supposed to set the minds at rest of cold warriors, the legal fraternity and civil liber- tarians alike. But recently, in its first annual report, about the only comfort it had to offer was in its composition. Ail three major parties are represented, and alil of its members are privy councillors. The problem, of course, is in the very nature of the business they are overseeing. They can tell us that our security and in- telligence agents are continuing to engage in in- trusive activities - bugging, wire-tapping, letter- opening. They can assure us that those activities have been carried out in accordance with the law, that is, with a Judge's warrant. A committee member, Frank McGee, assured us that he and his colleagues examined all those warrants and that they were in unanimous agreement that each one was necessary. Reporters were told by the chairman, Ron Atkey, that in the committee's estimation, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service did everything possible to prevent the tragedy at the Turkish embassy. But it cannot begin to answer the questions that statement begs. If the CSIS did its job, what persons or agencies didn't? Did the RCMP fall down on the job? Did the Solicitor General's department or Ex- ternal Affairs? Or was it the Turkish Embassy? The committee couldn't say anything which might give aid and comfort to the country's enemies. I can understand the caution. They're blazing a new trail every inch of the way. But one hopes that by the next annual report a year from now, they'll realize that giving some degree of aid and comfort to the country's enemies is a price, that for the sake of democracy, pretty well has to be paid. provide an additional seat on Durham Regional Council ta bath Ajax and Whitby. Althugh Whitby Taown Cauncil hasn't made a similar request, it should have. The reason for this s simple: aur twn has grown sa much since the regian was created il years aga that we no langer have a fair and equitable voice in its affairs. Comparitively speaking, regional councillors from the City of Oshawa each represent 11,000 people. But Whitby's three regional represen- tatives each speak for over 15,000 people. Sa in rder tahave a proportionately equal voice to that of Oshawa, Whitby should have one more seat on regional council. There are many voices and many arguements surrounding this issue, but the most fundamental of these is what standard do we apply in deter- mining how many representatives each member municipality has on Durham Regional Council. And as far as we are concerned there is only one truly acceptable standard: representation by population. Therefore, if the acceptable standard in Oshawa is one member for every 11,000 people, then Whit- by and Ajax should be treated in a similar manner. Of course, many other reasons exist for Whit- by's need for an additional regional councillor. Our three members cannot sit on every regional council committee. While Mayor Bob Attersley sits on the management committee, Reg. Coun. Tom Edwards is our voice on the health and social services committee and Reg. Coun. Gerry Emm is W&ISE w6n'rom T>4E FAST 'r M~(~ TqErHWI-AT TAjý'A!V1Wo FRow ATr chairman of the works committee. But, we have no vote on either the finance or planning commit- tees. Whitby needs to have a voice on those commit- tees. Planning is becoming more important as the town grows in size and because we are con- tributing an ever growing share of the regional treasury our voice in how that money is spent should be greater than it is. Some have suggested that instead of making regional council bigger, its seats should be redistributed so that there continues to be a 30- member council. That's fair enough although it would be detrimental to the smaller, rural com- munities that are also members of the region. So to be equitable to everyone, the regional council must grow. After ail, when the nation's population grows, the House of Commons expan- ds to account for it. Because of our population growth in the region, this area will gain an ad- ditional seat in the Ontario Legislature probably after the next election. Another arguement against having two ad- ditional regional councillors is the cost involved. Two more members would cost the taxpayer an additional $40,000 or so a year. When compared to the region's $130 million annual budget, that isn't much. Besides which, there are some things wor- th paying for and one of them happens to be en- suring that the people of Whitby have a fair and equitable voice in the affairs of the Region of Durham. 'I can dream, can't fJ?'-- ANOKOE.MAN TOR GLOE.GL NEWB ~ 1% amui, A.ý 1 p c s ic r( h fi p t ri s c r r x t