PAGE 12, WHITBY FREE PRE S, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9,1988 Br Néw's? Cai1 Veronica Colantgelo. k 'n Pro File Phone 655-8945 Svend Robinson, 35, of Burnaby, B.C., is a nine-year veteran.of the House of Commons. He's also the NDP's justice critic and a lawyer by profession. Evidently these achievements are not enough for Mr. Robinson. He now has the unique distinction of being the first Canadian Parliamentarian to publicly declare himself a homosexual. He told the House of Commons that "we are not seeking special right," and that they (homosexuals) "merely want the right to live openly and in dignity without fear of losing our jobs, homes, or being subjected to violence." At a news conference he said that some Canadians live in fear because they are homosexuals. Well, as far as living in fear, so do many racial groups, women and children in abusive situations, new immigrants, the disabled and just about every group of people who look, speak, and behave differently than the local majority. This so-called "fear" is not only a gay's lot in life. If Mr. Robinson had not chosen to announce his sexual preferences to all of Canada he likely would not have made the first page of a national newspaper. No doubt Mr. Robin- SEEMS TO ME... by Veronica Colangelo Special consideration son chose to go public in order to further the homosexual rights movement. I wonder if in his day-to-day work as a lawyer or an MP the fact that he is gay affects his judgments or decisions? I doubt it very much. There are few professions that come to mind where one's sexual orientation is likely tQ make a dif- ference as to how the job is performed. If a person's per- sonal preferences don't affect their job performance who cares If he or she prefers to keep company with women or men? Mr. Robinson says "we are not seeking special right," but it seems to me that he is seeking just that by making an issue of his personal orientation. He is in a higher profile situation than many other Canadian gays, whether they are in or out of thecloset, andas such is able to draw attention to his "cause." It is human nature to use power and influence to further a quest, whatever it might be. But does he really believe he's not seeking "special" consideration? He's seeking any consideration he can get. It seems to me that all Canadians, no matter what théir sexual persuasion, are entitled to all the rights, privileges and responsibilities that go with being a Canadian. I just can't see where being gay or not becomes a factor. There will always be those who are insensitive and intolerant to differences among people and certainly laws need to be in place to protect society whenin- justices occur. I'm not sure, though, that Svend Robinson's proclamations in the House of Commons will do much to further his cause. OVERFLOWCROWD ATMEETING Ashburn postal outlet owners' contract to be reconsidered ByVERONICACOLANGELO locked boxes would mean retail There was standing room only at postal outlet contractors wouid the Ashburn Community Centre for receive more income for them. The a meeting between residents and increased funds were designed to Canada Post officials on March 2. compensate store owners for the The meeting was organized to ad- additionalretailspaceused. dress concerns expressed by Residents stated in various ways residents regarding proposed that they feit that the survival of the changes to the Ashburn post office. Ashburn Generai Store was tied to In December, 1987, when the Ash- thesuccess of thepostoffice. burn General Store was sold and the North ward councillor, Ross Bat- postmaster resigned, new owners ten told Canada Post officiais that Barb and Paul Allan entered into an rural post offices serve a vital need, agreement with Canada Post to not only in Ashburn, but in ail of operatearetailpostaloutlet. 1rural Canada. He said that if the Essentially, postal services have store did not survive, community remained unchanged, except that spirit would be eroded and disap- the hours of service have increased pear. from 37½/ hours to 101 hours per At tus point in the meeting it week. became clear that the main issue Canada Post's Jim Stinton, direc- Ashburn residents were concerned tor of communications for the York about was the actual payment that division, explained that Canada the new owners are getting for the Post's mandate from the postalservices. Parliament of Canada is to cut its Several residents expressed con- huge deficit and to run the post of- cern over what to them appeared to fice more like a true business.- In or- be unfair compensation for the der to do this, Canada Post wiil be Allans. going more and more to the Resident Steven Usher produced traditional way of doing business, figures thatcompared the previous that is, by having some parts of its postmaster's salary with the in- operationsrunbytheprivatesector. comethattheAlanswouldget. Hesaidthat about one quarterofthe Usher said that income for the postal outlets are privateiy run ilow operators of the Ahsburn outet and the numbers wouldiiNcrease. would work out to lesssthan $6,0 He stated that Canada Post's ob- per year. Based on the 101 hours a jectiveistoprovidethebestpossible week the post office is open, he services to Canadians and at the stated that tfs worked out to $2 per sanie time to run a profitable hour and was about 66 per cent less businesssrevenue than what the prevous A comparison chart prepared by postmasterreceived. Canada Post and distributed among Canada Post officiais stated that the residents at the meeting iden- this commission method is com- tif ied that counter services, parable with systems used by other business hours, rural route services businesses to compensate retailers and the cancelation postal mark for offering a productlne and it isn't remainedunchanged. designedtosupporta business. Several residents pointed out, Resident Moyra Dobson pointed however, that while the postai.code out that if the retail post olftihe is remained the same, a new postal not fairly compensated, a decine in stamp saying "Brooklin/Ashburn" postai services could result, and wasbeingused. that Canada Post appeared to be in- Residents saîdit was an erosion of tent on decreasing the deficit at Ashburn's identity as being rural Canada's expense. separate and apart from Brooklin. Another resident, Harold Fisher, Canada Post officiais agreed to stated that iplooked like Canada return to the postmark that showed Post was trying to force the Allans Ashburnonlyonit. outof business. Canmada Post proposed that the Brian Wright, also a resident, issue of whether those getting queried why Canada Post would be general delivery would be serviced prepared to lay out a large capital by locked boxes or would hav their expenditure for locked boxes that mail handed over the couterwas to resdents do not want, but woud be be decided by the coummnity itsehf. unwillng to increase compensation Stintonstressedthat therewouldnot etonthe Allans, which, in the long run, bea charge forlocked boxes. hefltouldcostCanadaPotless. Discussion regarding the in- Longtme Ashburn resdent Ken stallation of locked boxes ensued Br own stated that while it appeared and Canada Post assured residents that theservice was to remain the that it was prepared to leave the same for now, how long would it be general deivery pick-up exactlvas before the Allan's would have to it was if that was what the om- close the businss and Ashburn rm wanted Stinton di do on to woldloseitspostaoffice? w t tthat-contracts ReidnssiitwsaersonftetondcrasnUtedeiita were not the saine at all outlets and circumstances could indicate a need to revisit a contractor and renegotiate the agreement. Stinton said that the contract between Canada Post and a retail postal outlet operator was private. However, he did say that if a need to revisit was shown, such a contract could berenegotiated. After more discussion, Canada Post representative Jim Stinton agreed to revisit with the Allans and take another look at their contract. ,-sidentsseemedsatisfied with this response. Councillor Ross Batten said that while he was pleased to hear that Canada Post was willing to take another look at the Allans' situation, renegotiating with the Allans was not enough. He said that he felt Canada Post was not in tune with the pulse of rural Canada and further stated that rural post offices ail over Canada have consistently provided excellent service and at the same time Canada Post have never had any contract negotiation difficulties withruralpostmasters. Councillor Batten presented a petition to the officials of Canada Post formally requesting a review of the policy of replacing rural post' offices with retail postal outlets in rural Canada and most particularly as it pertains to Ashburn. In his closing remarks-Stinton acknowledged receipt of the resolution and said that because a policy direction was involved, the petition would be passed on to those at the appropriate level for con- sideration. He confirmed that the can- cellation stamp would be changed back to reflect Ashburn only, and thatCanada Post would revisit with the Allans to reconsidertheircdn- tract. Residents oppose huge subdivision An application for a 782-unit housing subdivision in Brooklin came under fire Monday night from 'residents claiming it would lead to a decay of the village atmosphere. The application by Village Square Brooklin Inc. is for the property on the east side of Ashburn Rd. from Winchester Rd. to Columbus Rd. Also included would be a separate school site, two parks and a detention pond block. The subdivision would increase Brooklin's population by an estimated 3,000. The population of the village is now about 1,520. But it may be at least five years before the work on the subdivision could begin. Planning director Bob Short told an angry crowd that it will take at least that long before water and sewer services are available to service the subdivision. But that didn't stop residents from complaining about the invasion on their rural privacy. "I ran away from Whitby to get away from subdivisions and now they are showing up in Brooklin - even bigger," said Homer Pilgrems. "This will destroy the rural context. I say to everyone in Brooklin we should fight this," added Pilgrems. Kevin Tunney, who represented the company at Monday's public meeting on the subdivision application, said the minimum lot frontage of the homes would be 50 ft. with houses ranging in size from 1,600 to 2,600 sq. ft. The subdivision would be 172 acres in size. "This is a shame. It is really wrecking our village," said Wendy Schulte. "I wish these guys would find a way to make a buck another way," she added. Jack Webb told committee he recently paid $40,000 for work to his heritage home "and now you are going to surround it with 710 modem homes.". Jim Hughes of Cassels Rd. asked if the Region or Province would build a water and sewer system for Brooklin without a subdivision application. Planning director Bob Short replied that the Province could but it would be the least cost effective response and would only serve the existing homes in Brooklin. But he added that measure would also be "years away." The region is currently involved in a court case against First City Developments over servicing for Brooklin. The case involves a $2.2-million letter of credit posted by First City is case of default in SEE PAGE 13 j CLAIRE GRIFFIN (right) was the Gr. 6 winner and' Kevin Pope the Gr. 2 win- ner in a hat contest held by St. Leo's school in Brooklin as part of winter carnival activities at the school. Other top entries were by Erin Vernooy (Gr. 3), Paul Siciliano (Gr. 8), Trina Yadusch (Gr. 5), David Leedle (Gr. 7), Rosie Noonan (Gr. 1) and Steven Jedinak (Gr.4). free Press photo A IV vv b-7 & %-4 t.*." Y %Oak