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Pop . 6,WhlIy Fr.P. PoWe&dsdoy, JanumrV 12,1904 TMe only Newspaper owned and operated by Whltby residents for Whltby residents! 1MEMBER 0F: * ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER + N N EWSPAPER ASSOCIATIONASOITN ~ CANADIAN rM,,JCIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X 26,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday b y 677209 Ontario Ic. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whltby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% recycîe conitent using vegetable based inks. 0 Ail written materiat, llustratios and advertising oentainedJ herein is protected by copyright. An reproduction by ay eas for comercial purposes wthout the express permission of the newspaper la prohlbtedand la a violation of Canadieni copyright lawt Reproduction for non-commercial distribution shouid bear a credit lino to the Whitbiy Free Press. 1 Viw point -* * The emperor has ho clothes To thIuEditor: At the Dec. 13 council meeting councillor Fox did indeed fight for his east ward constituents. The Waller Street stop sign was a necessary stop ta help curt ail speeders and slow traftic. Those councillors who did not support counoillor Fox had nat even gone ta the area betore making their mlsguided decision. Councillor Fox dîd. A mere stop sig is small consolation ta the Beale famiîy but at least« wil comtort them ta the point that perhaps such a tragedy will not reoccur, ai ieast nat in their neighbaurhood. Athough, as notedi, I support the councillor, I do not ag ree with his childlike behaviaur. Cauncilaor Fox allegedly caused praperty damage ta the municipal building. Accordîng ta a reporter, a wali was damaged due ta the smashing af a door or a'gate. I a temper tant rum councillor Fox apparently stomped aut af the meeting, calling councillors Batten, Bruneile and Mitchell idiots for not supporting his motion, a motion that apparently had been agreed ta prior to the meeting. nada private citizen caused such damage ta public praperty, i amn sure charges would have been laid. In the Dec. 29 Free Press, councillor Fox wrote a letter ta the editor, statin.y in order for good decision-making ta occur, isn't It botter for ail of us ta slow down, ta stop and think, and then ta proceed with caution?w Yes, councillor Fox, stop and think the next time y ou lase your temper. Stop and t hink the next time you cali your colleagues idiots. And stop and think that there are some things that need doing in this town that may not net as many politicai poinits. Thanks ta councillor Fox, taxpay ers are now much wiser. We ow know that when we make requests of Whitby council and they do not compiy, we cati trash the municipal building. Or, should they not agree with us on any gvnissue, we are f ree ta cal them idiots (incîuding councillor Fox). And, thanks ta the councillor, the public is now aware what a farce Whitby council really is. t is now abundatitly, clear thet decisions are made behind closed doors, which Is nathing really new. To those councillors who orlgînaily dld not support counciliar Fox in his bld for a stop slgn, 1 admire their courage in upholding their convictions, but mare importantly, I'admire their abUhly ta re-evaluate their position. 0 f course, 700 names on a petition represents a lot of Votes. Lot us nat forget this is an election year. JIm PrIest Whitby To the Edîtor: In his letter in the Dec. 22 edition of the Whit by Free Press, Durham Centre IMPPDbrummond White makes several arguments regarding emplayment ;ufty and the like which I fi highly q uestlonable. lmmediately after he states that hiring candidates Oshouid be on the basis of ekilis rather than the colour of theîr ekin,"w he goes on ta say- that he supports employment equity. But these two statements are ln direct contradiction. Which one is correct? And the attempted confusion doesn't stop there. He alsa says that employment equity is designed toa gradually eliminate discrimlnatory hiring practices,w and taý promote the inclusion, not exclusion, of the entire community. Vet, certain people are exciuded from jobs. This is undeniable. This is an outright contradiction. Despite the undeniable fact (althaugh he wiII deny it) that this iaw directiy violates the Charter of Rights, Mr. White obviousiy finds fia fauts with R. Certainly his position is in no jeopardy tram this leislat ion. Mr. White and others like him seem very cavalier about other people's Muure jobs. A less generous writer might suggest that this is a political move ta scrounge votes f rom the minority voter. Mr. White goes an ta say that he is devoutly against ail forme of reverse discriminattion 'or by Doug Anderson Publisher Whltby Free Press John Doîstra is right. The controversy over the Down- town BIA daes hurt business. That's why council shouid have deait with the matter cleanly two manths ago when they were asked ta hear a petition f rom 85 per cent of the businesses ta put h aon ice for a couple of years. That's why council should have looked into the ýDBIA activhties many times over the last several years whenever there was con- troversy. Instead the problems have been ignored. One councillor has been <ýuoted as saying that if council and the board ignare the issue, à wilI affirmative action. And yet, there le no sigitficant differonce between affirmative action and empioyment equity. The principles are the same:, hire the minority, even though a white persan may have hlgher qualfications. Mr. White says that "no group or individual shauld have speciai rights or be denied the rights that others enjay.w And yet, look et the tacts. Mr. White supports empioyMent equity Employment equity gives specil rights in emfployment ta minorities. He dlaims ta speak for fair-minded people, but his opinions are eminently unt air. Mr. White f inaIly camplains that many people refuse ta take part in decisîon-making in the province, instead "camplaining ram the sidelines atter theldcisions are made.* I.put ta you that any argyment against the NDP cou b considered "compiaining, msince most of their decisions have been made in total. ignorance of the publi's opinions. Witness employment equity -- 75 pe r cent of the public appased the discriminatory iegislaios\, but the NDP went ahead anyway. The NDP are not concernied with your input. Alil they care about is their agenda. Sa rise up and revoit. You have nothing ta lose but your jobs. Arthw Knlght Whtby go away on its own. Other sources close ta somne councillors indicate they intend ta steel Rt out once again. Council should be remindeci that the history of demacracy tram the Magna Carta ta the Boston Tea Party ta the 1992 constitutional referendum, shaws that arrogance is not the peapîe's friend.: The probiems downtawn are nat new and ignoring themn has simply palarized the businesses even mare. If business is being hurt, ht is nat because of the 85 per cent wha signed the petitian - ht is because of the board and council who have ref used ta deal with the issues. The probîemn is also those people wha have nathing ta offer the debate except personal attacks, smears and threats. When you read how this issue has devel- oped over the Iast few manths (I can feel praud that this paper has allawed bath sides a full oppor- tùnity ta air their views) you see that Gene Peacack, myself and al those other "crying puppies" have àtuck ta tfacts and hard numbers whereas those Who support the DBIA have resorted ta name- calling. They haveaccused us of being "anti-downtown", "anti- business", even "anti-Whitby". I am reminded of Brian Mulroney (rememnber hlm?) who accused any.b>ody wha opposed his preciaus canstitutianal accord of being "anti- Canadian." We are aoeused of being nega- tive when we are the anes who are advocating constructive change. I remember meeting with Doîstra on a Sunday evening at the local Coffee Time Donuts nat long after he was elected. We met specifically ta discuss prablemrs with the DBIA. John acknawiedged the problems then and said they would be sarted out. He was per- sonaîly camrnitted ta the structural changes that wauld make the DBIA work. Weil, twa years have passed and I guess John has found that the board doesn't follow his sug- gestions any mare than those tram the merchants whase money they're spending. Over the last few years, I have heard numerous negative comments from John, variaus board members-and'ather down- town merchants about BIA manager Lynda Lawson, Now, with her departure as the new executive diroctor of the St. John Ambulance, I suspect same wili want ta make her t he scapegoat for everything that was wrang with the DB lA. Weil, while Lynda may nat have' been the solution ta the DBIA's prablems, neither was- she the source of thase problorms. 1 have had close contacts with ail the managers of the DBIA tram the first ane, Georgina Phillips in-, 1986 through Stuart.Craig and for the Iast. several years, -Lynda. Alil have been incredibly frustrated by boards which could not make up their minds about promotions until just a few weeks before they were ta take place and then ýdump un- reasonable workloads withimposs- ible time trames on the staff. 1 remnember one Fr iday after- noon in early December, severai years back, when,. the, board had decided that Santa was'to have a castie at the four corners in front of the CIBC. Stuart and Lynda had buift, and were busy painting, the castie ta be ready for the falîawing day, but the board- had alsa decided that they should construct a flbat for the S anta Claus parade, alsa the next day. Santa's Castle gat f in ished -barely - but- there was no float in the parade. Na, if the DBIA staff has been a problem, R is anly because the people wha were supposed ta be praviding direction, weren't. BIA's are not a bad idea but they have ta be properly run and they need the support ot1the busi- nesses in order ta work., That sup- port will ot carne f romn stonewalling. The apolagists for Whitby's DBIA have clothed R in ail the could-have-beens, the might-have- happened's, and shauld-have- worked's that they can muster ...but R just isnt thére. Gene Peaock is the Jittle kid in the crowd wha said what everybody saw but wauldn't accept - that the emperor (the DBIA) has no clothesl The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters ta the editor on any subject of conoemn to our readers. Letters shouid be brief and to the point - rarely more than 300 words. AIl letters must be accompanied by the name, add&ess'and telephone number of the writer. However, on request, your narne may be withheld from publication if we agree there is a valid reason. The newspaper reserves the right to reject or edit ail letters. Send to: The Editor, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ont. Ll N 5SII, or drop through our mail slot at 131 Brock St. N. Behind closed doors moth rura~uedior. Contradictions I