PAGE 6, WHJTY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY. JANUARY Q% 19 Published every Wednesday By 677209 Ontario mc. Phone: Maurice Pifther 668-6111 Editor Toronto Line 427-1834 Alexandra Martini ~I3 WDoug Anderson Production Manager D+ AV IC O H C U NTY T W 131 Brook Street North, 2dC mPs4 pes m" a' 0FHE TW P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. Reisld lon POsta ',. The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by LUN 5S1 gBrtln#55 Whitby residents for Whitby residents. As the' legal manoeuvrl'ng and environmental dean-up however, Is, that such plans should be given ful continues, a privato plan has been put forth that offers at > consideration'by the Town as a way to clean Up the ieast a glimmer of hope for a dlean solution to the E F J O e 1 harbour area. and even enhance the area as a public dereilct ferry boat ln Whitby's harbour. place, given -the extensive plans, including recreational A Bwmavile oule ant t covet te Pinep r c> a ýLsaei lcefrte htywaefot Edward Island ferry boat Into a f loating mus eum and A messy situation might even becomernsirhol restaurant, and there would appear to be no problem museum) ln Whitby's harbour was deemed unsuitable - the court action occur. New owners..wth fresih Ideas with the purchase of the boat f rom the current owner. i was flot to the liking of Coscan, the developer of a might be offering asolution that wlll present an entirely But will the, Idea flbat? planned subdivision at the foot of Brook St. S. Momeover, different look to the ferry boat, and we hope, ending the No response to the plan has yet been by the Town of Mayor Bob Attersley has repeà tedly stated that he would legal and environmental wrangling. Whitby. But a, previous application may offer a hint as to prefer to see the boat removed f rom the harbour. From the Town point of view, the Idea of a Museum what the response could be. About two years ago, a As yet, the full details and Implications of the newest and restaurant offers an alternative worthy of study and, plan to locate a former navy destroyer (also to become a plan for the old ferry boat are unknown. What is certain, perhaps, support. ........................................ .... .......... ...... ... . .... W S up to resi.dents to gide development By Stephen G. Leahy Despite a slowdown economi- cally, commercial and residential L By Terry O'Shaughnessy So the Goods and Services Tax is now iaw. It's been aimost two years since the federal government unieashed its seriousiy fiawed and unpopuiar sales tax reform package and it was oniy fitting somehow that the final act in this ugiy debate was as distasteful as the opening. Just two weeks before Christmas, the Speaker of the Senate, Guy Char- bonneau, ended the Liberals' iengthy filibuster on the GST and, in the process, paved the way for final passage of the new 7 per cent tax. Liberai Senators described Charbon- neau 's actions as "the most outra- geous act that has ever been carried out in the Canadian Parliament" whiie Tory Senators described the preceding weeks as "a circus". Either way it was an undignified end to an undignified process. Seldom (if ever) has this country witnessed a nastier debate. With the Tory goverrnment and a hand ful of big business types on one side and virtu- ally every other Canadian on the other, the level of acrimony over the GST sus- tained new heights in public outrage. Early on in this battie, Canadians reaiized that the alliance between the Tories and big business was flot oniy -predictable but siiameiessiy seif-serving as weil. Throughout the two-year battle, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Finance Minister Michael Wilson steadfastly refused to consider any of the concernis being voiced by consumer, smali business and labor groups, ail of whom over- wheimingly rejected the GST package development in Whitby continues at full throttle. Weil over $200 milion in building permits were issued in 1990. What exactly doem -j in its current form. Even when pol results showed that more than 80 per cent of consumers and smail business owners opposed the GST, the govern- ment continued to pound ahead'with its hated tax. Despite the lies, propaganda and pressure tactics, however, Canadians have refused to give even an inch in their opposition. One poil, for exam- pie, conducted by the Canadian Fed- eration of Independent Business, showed just how in effectual the government's seiing job had been. When asked who the expected winners would be under the OST, 70 per cent and 21 per. cent of- respondents said government and big business respec- tively compared to only 3 per cent and 2 per cent who said consumers and smail business would benefit the most. "It's neyer easy," Mulroney de- ciared recently, "to introduce unpop- uiar measures . ..unfortunately it's part of my job and 1 accept that." "The voters wili be able to tell me whether they approve of the job I'm doing corne election time. " More simpiy, Mulroney's message is that once again consumers and small business, who have to live with the compiexity of this new tax regime, have been sacrificed for the so-caiied greater good of big governmnent and big business. The politicians, tax experts and big business representa- tives who have been pushing the hardest for the GST are, for the most part, the big winners of the GST. Small firms and consumers, who are the victims of this chaotic mess, are once again being ignored. this mean te, the residents of Whitby? It means more people, more cars, more roeds, more houses and more strip mails. It certainly does mean more revenue for the Town. On the other hand, it des mean that the Town has te provide services te more people. But - incet importantly, development devours land, changingfaran ad wooded areas so completely that they are unrecognizable. Anyone who bas lived in Whitby for more than a few years bas witnessed this transforma- tion. Acre after acr, the rolling his of farins, woodiands and wetlands aimost instantiy turn inte a sea of black- and brown- shingled roofs, roads, video and mulk outlets. Hundreds of acres have been bulldozed, 100-year-old trees cut down and the tep three feet of soil strippedofand sold to us in 10 kg. pastic bags at the new superkUet. That is Mayor Attersley's Whitby. The Attersley future for Whitby is te 'infili' ail of the land area of Whiitby from the lakeshore te the far north of Brooklin, to Laloeridge Rd. on the west and te our border with Oshawa on the east with residential and commer cial development. There wiil be some land set amide for recreational une and sone forested areas will Survive only because they are in' steep valleys or part of mz;jor waterways. Not many farme will survive. In 10 or 20 years Whitby will resemble Mississauga, Scar- borough, Brampton 'or other former small towns that once surrounded Toronto. It. seems to have always been Mayor Attersley's intention to follow the lead of these other communities, notwithstanding the fact that many residents of Whitby moved away from those places because they wanted. a home in a friendly small town. Ta the only answer to move yet again? Surely a home is'not just a roof over our heads but a place where our friends live, our children learn and grow, a community where we have invested our time and energy. A home is a place, we care about, a place with emotional ties, and deep memories. The place where we liveis special and unique. It is not interchangeable* with a thousand others. We wiil not find the Whitbv we moved to by moving 1omewhere else. lhe question for each of us who finds Whithy becominga an unfamiliar place is, how id w. let it become what it intoday? Moe mportantly, why should we let*Whitby become a-place we do not wish to live in the future? Whitby's future'is controlled..by the people we elect te presentour views at Town council.* We bave a democratic system that is suppcsed te ensure that our communit is he idnd- of place wwatIf it isn't then. w. each must participate in' the local political proces te mae sure that our views are upheld and acted upon. With great regularity a developer gets our Town council's go-ahead te strip the tepsoI off .oine of Canada s best farmland te p ut in yet another ýsubdivison and stip mail. If that isn't the Whitby you moved te or want for your children, then your repre- sentatives on council aren't acting ,i your, inerest. ny youça stand up and say, 'No, that.isn't what I want for my home." Opinions expressed are thoee of the author. Manstream Canada When push cornes to shove MUMMUMMUUM"