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The only Whitby Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents! Published'every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario imc. at 131 BrookSt. N., Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone 668-6111 Toronto Line 427-1834< Doug Anderson,- Publisher, Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager 2ndClass Postal Reg istratio n'#0535 1 A taxpayers Christrnas wish 'Twas tho year before 'E' day And we know whag that means ft meansterminatlon Of the Tory regime. 'E' ls for elctin And that day muet corne soon Or BrIan W'111 surely Carry on wth this muin. Canada le rad For a rosi good house-cleaning ,Gt ridaf tose vultures, Who love ta keep scheming. Their trial and error Have eroded us 96 That the time has nowcorne ,To tell them ta go. Out Brian, out Wilson MacDouciafl and Clark Adaltose aid boys Back in the dark. Their days arit now numbered Due ta lack of good faith Lt's put Canada tirst 1 And save Canadas face. To the Edltor: Capy of ltter ta Bruce Waiker, supenintendent of educatuan, Durham Board af Education. Dear Mr. Waiker: It le as a'cncerned parent that I write thie loUter ta express concerne about the pssible demise af the qualiiy af educaion. Pringle Oreek le a high-profile schoal, thanke ta ifs presnt and hard-worklng staff, ad the programe that afford aur children the beet scenarlo for total development within the present educafronai system, bath in the classraom and in the extra-currucular pragrams. On Nov. 6 and 12, 1 affendIed- meetings cancerning the modified schaol year. The Nv. 6 meeting Invalved the trustees who were up for elect ion and who were allowed ta express their positions. The purpose ai the Nov. 12 meeting was ta inform the parente of Pringle Creek about the structure af the modified echool year. RIf l as a rosuif af these meetings that 1 air my concerne. Why introduce the nation af a modified schaaî year ai this time? The present qualfyaof education ai N l~e Creek P.S. meots the a= o ur cammunify. Qualify af education le flot the Issue. T ho issue le an attompt by the Durhamn Board af Education ta Introduce a system aof education that aiiows the maximum acheduling af more students into Pringle Creek R& and maybe the entire sysfem. Thies sohedule system affords a solution ta the problem ai past irresponsible planning aid devolopment in Whitby, and-wil continue toa slow the same course of action ta enable thê board of oducaf ion ta compote for provincial funding in the Mltompt tai mnakm 'thaï .statue quo (e And now in the off ing Is Oanada's bright hope Wesa chapca=èdYoung Manning Who's ail set taca pe. With ail those big prablems That Brian's created In those seven long years But he'll son be abated. Says Preston.. mAway with Those power-hunpg groups 'And give goad oldanada Back ta the troope." In order ta dump Brian We ail must work hard Tell aur frends and aur neighbours That Preston's the card. We cannot lie back And hope for the best We must convince 'em, remrit lem And ail of the rest. In order ta get this Breath oif resh air SEE PAGE 12 horrendaus catch-22 scenario). Dan'f insulf the intelligence ai aur cammunify by impmying that we cari ail work tagether- and streamline this new; system ta meet the neèds ai aur communfty, especially when statistical, evidence an this ech ool systsmn 1applies ta the US.A. Rf has- little relevance when applied ta aur own, unique communify with its own diverse soclo-economlc culture and environment. eMy concerni is for the quality ai eucaf ion. I do not resiet rsnsble change, for change is anieiable and on-gaing procese if there le ta be an impravement in the quality afi lus in the Whitby community or the educat ion ai aur children. I want the cammunlty af Pringle Creek aftorded the basf possibe position ta make informative decisions. Any course Of action <s.g. modified schoal ~ abusing, etc., etc.) considered the Durham Board af Educat ion Etuld require an information nght followed by a referendum tai night. That would allow the community af Pringle. Creek ta vote and air their concernes about an Important declelon ln the lives af their'children and, if a course ai action le adopted by the board, ht shauld reflect the percentage af that mandate. It would be a travesty if piecemeal action le adopted ta maintain the statue quo lin educat ion, e---cimw y et te expense ai estalehed cammunit les. If dissatisiaction warrans te . each taxpayinq parent should have th oton ai withholding the educatin portion af their tax bll ta ensure quality education f or their children elsewhere. JIohnmElseN CSnmd @et Remindl them of -their prommisés By Stophen G. Leahy During the municipal election juet past, haw many aio us remember the- answers and sttments made by the newly elected members af Town counicil wha will guide this> community for the next three years? Will they make their decisions ln accordanco wfth the positions thsy took prior ta being elected? WiII they keep their, promises?* Will they remember-what :they sald? Ta help themn, keep ail copies of their" public statements and invaluabi~ references such as the question s and ,answers put ta the candies" and printed ln The Fres Presé. Keep ail those brochures and'flyers thsy.were so keen ta press an us. Six months from now read over those promises they made this fall and see how they are daing. It may even be useful once, in a while ta gno to acounicil meeting and read oufta the member what he or she had put in, writing only a few months ago. Everyone needs reminders, particularly people who talk a lot. Like most municipal elections, Whitby's wasn't very icontroversial. Most oi us didn't find it interesting enouplW ta even. vote. There was no single burning Issue or bitter debaes. At ail, candidates' meeting.; a wlde range of tapice were co jered. Sa, taa, were the questions from, the, public. The respanses ta ane question at one such meeting said a great deai about the people we have elected. The question, simply was: «Whatf is your position regarding the lose af farmland in Whhby?" Al af the candidates for regional counicil and mayor had theÈr tumn trying ta answerit. If would take rnany pages ta caver their roundabout and vague attempt t answer. if is enough ta say that al ai them, wlth the exception af Gerry Emm who le hlmself a farmer, did not equate the loss af farmland wlth the obviaus impact that has on food production. It le a simple enaugh equaàian: less farmland equals les food being produced. Thase_ elected, Brunelle, Drumfm, Batten and Edwards, took the "Ah, yes, lit le unfortunate thait family farms that have existed for 150 years would soon have their rich top salI scraped offan housse buift on the underlying dlay, but Whitby has ta grow.7 And they ail agreed that ans ai the nice things about living in Whitby was ifs rural charm. But, regrettably, that will be gone sooni. You can't stop progrese,"aron stated, ancs the reCt noded. Kepin mind that municipal poîhtician designate what landes are for farming and housing. Thsy decide if a farrn le going ta become a sùbdMsln. ý They maice lhe decision ta reduce the amounit of foad-producing land. Municipal politicians determine how much %farm land le lost each year in aur region, ln aur province, and across aur country. In a world ln which two thirds of the people are starving, where there are foodbanks in every cammunity. none Of aur >elected represeritatives thought the 105e of farmland had anything ta do with. food. They* do see famlly farms disappearing and say *What can we do? They did see the loss of the rural character of Whitby and said wtoa bad.7 They dld nat see farms in terms of food. Farms don't exist ta, bring charm or keep families together, they exist .ta, produce aur food. Nat that long ago, the farms in Whitby and surrounding areas supplied the residents with most of their foodstufis. That is flot the case naw. Uf the rest af the municipaltles have- the samne limnited view of farmland as Whitbyl where will aur food carne from'in the future? And what about the rest of the world. We are extremnely luckçy ta live in an area that has some of th e best farmland in the vwrid aiong with the ability ta produce large volumes of food. Most of the world is nôt so luckçy. since we cari produce much more than we need, do we not have a moral obligation ta share aur food bounty? The twin engines of ecological disaster, over-po pulation 'and« snvironmentai destruction, are' crsating grawig desperation là Most a dhewrd for food. Should ws not preserve evsry scrap ai food producing !and ,for future survivai? We cannot funpavs' farmIand and re-useft. Once R is gone, iR is gone forever. Our cauncillore have iR in their power ta prevent tieà. Will they do t? Paîtticlans and bureaucraf s at ail levels have their own version of NIMBYisrm (Not In WMy Back Yard): 7"that's the provinbce's.,(region's, federai 9avernment's. etc.> aresa o rsspansmblity"; *that's not my departmnent; 111l do what I cari but -that's. out af my .jurisdict ion"; s eneelse--is respnble ,'for that.7 Reaities like world hunger, in the ,mind of municipal rçpresentatives, is the 'federal gavernment's.rssponsibility, or the UN's. They ,5rtainly doln't see how. converting >tiiousanidei af 'cres aof somre of the .-world's ',.best food-producing lands intotracts'ai houses, roads and mails as having anything 'remnoaly ýta do wif h hunger;. or, for that matter, the coqllapseoai family farms across the country; or faodbanks; or foad. T he destruction ôf farmland In cammunif les like Whitby, Is about the inability of aur represeentatives ta see the resuts of their-.actions in a context- larger than'increasing the tax base.' Bsing ignorant ai,'or unwillingi-ta see the cansequences of one's actions is nat considered excusable- in aýcurt o.ai lawý. Our representatives 'shauld be hsld accaunitable for thecansequences of their decisions na matter how far-reaching. Every timhe they decidelta ave aver farmns, they are increasing the level af hung er in the world, now and farever. The connection es that- direct. Thsy need ta, understand this. They nssd ta undersfand what they are responsible for. And we need ta teil themn. To the EdItor: Yauth ApprecWaion Weelç, Nov.- 17 ta 24, was -celebrated by the Optimist Club af Whifby on Nov. 24 id Iroquois Park arena. Approximately 500, chlldreh aid their familles enjoyed an aternoon ai ires skaing, sponsorod by the Optimist Club, that was eetablishod in Whtby in 1975. In addition, children recelved free chips and pop, together with a ticket for i draw. Lucky winners received a selection af hockey sticks, pucks, taques, videa filmms, dlock radios and- tape cassette players. Opening ceremonies 'wero conducted by club president1 Jean VOuS aid- reglonal caunclîlor'Jas Drumm, wJio,"omae hdrm for the varlaus prizes., The Optimist Club feels that the event, held for the third time in recent yeare, was ahuge succese aid -much enjoyed by* the, many participants. Upcaming eventes sponsored by the -Whtby ,ýOptimfiste ,,include an essay .contest, ,presentationa i Christmas goadies ta fanuilios in neod, aid an atÉom and peewe hockey tournamfent. The cub also participafed in the Sant a C"au parade. The Optimlet Club aof.Whhbby le uns ai over 4,000 Optimist Clubs' in North America and Europe. Afiliated ta Optimlst International, if has as IS mottaý 'Friend in' Vauth.' Yout h ýApprelaton chaimn Concern over 'solution' 50enjoy f ree skate To the ed'itor..,,,