Page 6. Whitby Frée Pffls, Weçkieoay,,Qeoernbér 1,>12993 The onfy. Newspaper owned and operated by Whîtby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER 0F: ONTARIO CANADIAN SCOMMUNITY LACOMMUNITY NEWSPAPER ICNANEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION CASSOCIATION [;rJn CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario mc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontarl LiN 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager - Printed on néwsprint with minimumi 20% 0 recycîed content using vegetable based inks. t «D Ail written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright aw. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution shouid bear a credit Une to he Witby Free Press. Job equity To thé Editor: I was appaléd whén I réad thé récent lettér ('Eroding fréedoms,' Thé Free Press, Nov. 17) défaming thé brave men and women who fought in two world wars. Thé correspondent suggésts that they fought to préserve racist and sexist privilège. I recal my fat her saying that hé and my unclés (who wèré killéd in action) fought against racist and vile démagogues. Théy fought against Nazis who préserved ail thé best jobs in their conquered laids for thé Gérmanic racé. Thé Nazis déalt with diversity in théir community by kiling off aIl that was différent and proclaiming others as racially inférior. I beliéve that men and women in our arméd forces fought for théir country's idéals and that thasé idéals wéré, simply put, démocracy and racial equality. Those idéals havé yet ta be truly achiévéd in aur own community. Whén thé gavernmént introducéd émpîayment equity législation. it représénted a long-térm stratégy ta incréasé thé représentation of minaritiés in our workforcé. Eventually, Rt is hopéd that aur workforce wiIl more or Iéss réf Iéct aur community as a wholé. That is only fair. ht is also a graduai changé with no real action réquired until thé beginning of thé néxt century. Thére has béen somé discussion of préferéntial hiring of minoritiés. We have ail héard of somé employer, often a firé department, where white men wéré discauragéd It is my view and thé statéd view of thé premier that émploymént equity shauld bé inclusive and f air. No one should be unfairly éxcludéd. I know that many vtérans are, and indeed should be, upset at such discriminatory programs. Nowhére havé I heard stronger opposition to spécial intérést g roup poiics than ait lbyal Canadian Légion branchés. Equally, I arm sure that mast would bé déeply insultéd ta havé théir cominitrflét and théir sacrifice used as an excue ta alttck equity and légitimate anti-raciffli. Emplayment equity is baséd upon thé principle of fairnéss and inclusion. Equity méans that évéryoné shouîd be tréatéd équally. No one should beg iven spécial considération baséd on théir séx or racé. My daughtérs déserve as fair a chance as my son, but no botter. Thé governmént is aiso committed to thé création of good néw jobs. Through thé invéstmént in local infrastructure, such as thé GO train extension, thousaids of new homes, thé new Durham Collège campus and such massive investménts as thé néw Whitby Psychiatric Hospital, theré are thousands of new gaod jobs, most of which are héld by white maies. Drumnmond Whlte Durhamn Centre MPP '7'm off to the Whitby para de!" Chipping away at our rights To thé Edîtor: Ré: Photo électronic spééding tickets. I just cannot buy thé. political 'clap-trap' that this dévicé is a méans to imprové saféty on aur highways'. This is simply not t rué. fh is plain and simple, this is an income-génerating dévicé for a cash-strappèd provincial tréasury; cash to thé tune of $80,000 per hour at somé major highway i nt ersect ions. What this is, precisély, is anothèr effort by 'big brothér' govérnment to rob thé péople of anothér of their rights and privilèges as f ree men and women in a démocratic sociéty. Wé havé a right to be considered innocent until provén guity in a court of law. Thèse are traditions going back many hundréds of years which are fundamental to our justice systèm and thé rule of law undèr which civilizéd socièties livé. They are hard-fought libértiés that men and women died to get and then died again ta protect in two world wars. You cannot fine a vèhiclé for speèding nio more than you can fine a window for bréaking itself, with thé help of a softbaîl or a pitlfrdischarging itséfl during a robbery. Fining thé softball will not énsure that windows are not broken; fining thé gun will not BUD HEARD of Whitby submittéd this 1913 photograph showing his grandfathér Joséph Heard and thé thén néw 16- passenger bus purchased by Joseph Heard and Sons for the routé to the Whitby train station. Thé purchase was méntionéd énsure that robbériés are nat committéd. Similar to a game of chéss, when it cornés to govérnmént palicy, think beyand thé currént mové, think about thé total impact of what this new policy will do. How many other aréas of our lives will be similarly intrudéd by this législation? A héalthy dose of sképticismn in thé case of governmént is fot j ust a good thing, it is an ésséntial thing. Govérnménts cannot and will not risk taking your rights away al at once because a' complacént Canadian can bécome pretty hostile when confrontéd with a mass révocation of their libértiés. They will chip away at thém piécé by piece and brick by brick, unnoticed by thé majority until thé rights wé ail thought wé had no longer exist. Rights such as équal opportunity for ail men and womén to compété for jobs and thé right to représentation and control of our taxation through electéd représentatives who respect frugality -- thèse uséd to bé accéptéd as being a basic part of Canadian society. Théy are now thrèaténéd, by . reversé discrimination ana paliticians Who spènd aur monéy liké watér whiîé féathéring théir own nests. I urge MPPs in Durham Région to vote against this législation. I urgé MPs in Durham to protect our in thé 'Yésterday' feature of thé Oct. 30 édition of The Free Press, as one of thé news items in a 1913 edition of thé Whtby Gazette and Chronicle. Wmdtx rights as citizens of Canada and deny the provincial government thé means to stéal our rights. I alsa urge ail MPPs and MPs in Ontario to think again abu this législation. Vote no. David Barber WhiItby A pleasure to serve you To the Editor: On Oct. 25, thé électoraté of Ontario riding cast their ballots for a néw member of Parliament. When I stoad for élection in 1988, I knéw full wéll that thé térm of off ice would corne to an end and that I would have to séek ré-élection. Thé citizéns- have made their choicé ae~d I fuîly respect their décision. I want ta éxtend a véry héartfeît thank you toaial those who workéd for andi/or voted for my ré-élection. My fivé yéars as thé membér of Parliamént for Ontario ridinq has beén a véry réwarding expérience. I havé made many new friénds, both personal and business- relatéd. It has beén a pléasuré and a privilégé to réprésent thé constituénts of Ontario riding and I thank yau alI for that. Ontario riding is véry large and has many diverse intérests. I wlsh Dan McTéag ué évéry succéss as hé sets out to be our néxt mémber of Parliament. René Soetens Stop and think To thé Edîtor: I woulcl liké to appîaud Tamara Charman, a physically able person, for hér ltter about problems with handicapp éd parking spots at thé Whitby Malil, (Free Press, Nov. 17>. Théré are a gréat many people who ignore thé fact that parking glcs are désignatéd for andicappéd or évén émérgéncy véhiclés (é.g. fire moutés). At Kéndalwood Plaza and at A&P on Thickson Road last wintér, thé excess snow was plowéd and left piléd in thé handicapped parking spots. I don't believé thére is malice involvéd in thèse occurrences but rather a disiegard for thé Iaw and an inability to think of other people. Could I just asic thatd people stop and think béfore théy do sométhing that is detrirnénta& ta théir félbow citizéns. Carole Bail Chaio Whltby Easy Acc. AssociatWo