Page 6, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, March 16, 1994 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whltby residents! MEMBER 0F: ONTARIO CANADIAN I~ICOMMUNITY NACOMMUNITY NEWPAPR *CNANEWSPAPER cim ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION ~ CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X 26,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontarioa mc. Box 206, 131 Brook St. N., Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Toronto Line: 427-1834 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Plfher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager__ Printed on newsprint with minimum 20%/ O recycîed content using vegetable based inks. t C 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 law. reproduction for non-comnmercial distribution should bear a credit line to the Witby Free Press. To theedo., Bob does something right To the ENtor: Re: 'Proj oct not entirely welcomned by councillor,' The Free Press, March 9. I cannot imagine anyone (especially a counicillor who made a campaign promise 10 ensure *safer railway access) being upset over the cost of a raîlway overpass. l-ow much was the lf. of the young boy who was killod crossing th. tracks aW Centre Street worth, counicilior Doîstra? Not only is Garden Street a busy road, but there is a school nearby and many of those children have to cross 1he tracks every day. What does i matter which level of governmrrent approved this overpass if i saves on. child's lif,? Doos ih really malter if, by some bureaucratic error,- Whitby counicil was not notified before the announicoment was made? This overpass is long overdue. I arn very disappointed that councillor Doîstra would bake such a stand. Even if CP is "deleted" in the near future, w. have a responsibiliyty 1 make this town safe for our children. Once again, another of your campaign promises has been swept under the rug. To the Editor: Re: Downtown Business Improvement Area notice mailed out ta mombors r.questing budget input (notice to b. rot umed by on or beforo March 9) On March 9, i 5 p.m., personnel of 1he DBIA office stated that onîy 12 budget input forms had been returned by members on t heir own init iat ive. It had been determined a week beforo the deadlino that most OBIA members had no intention of ret urning their budget input forms. Memibers feh their wishes would b., once again, disregarded. Consequently, it was feît that a Shame, on you, councillor Doîstra. R.J. Mann Centre ward resident Somnebody else isn't Iistening To the Edîtor: R.: 'Proj ect not entirely welcomed by councilior,' The Fr.. Press, March 9. 1 read with great humour: wNobody thought 10 1.ll the Town of Whitby about the announce- mont, though, complains Doîstra, even though Whitby will b. oxpected 10 chip in as much as $2 m ilion.w Now Mr. Doîstra must know how 85 per cent of downtown business owners feel when he fails 10 listen 10 our calîs for an end 10 1h. Downtown Business Improvement Area and the Town's penalty tax for doing business in the aId downtown. Paul Savago Try'd & Trus Hobbies WhItby door-to-door pickup of Ihese forms was necessary 10 convey 10 thq DB1A 1h. budget the m ajority cof members truîy want.d in place. The door-to-door pickup commenced on March 7. In the short time remaining before March 9, 200 forms were obtained. Virtually 100 per cent indicated on their forms that they wanted a zero budget for 1994. Had more time' been available, there would have been more than 200. Will 1he DBIA board respect 1he wishes of the majority? Shirley Scott Representative and spokesperson for several DBIA members To the Editor: ln the past few w.eks thore has been public concern and fear over n.w Ontario legislation which relates 10 power of attorney. Currently, a power of attorney allows a person 10 give 10 another person the right 10 sign documents on their bohaif related t0 financial and property matters. A person who g rants a power of attorney doos not lose the right 10 manage their affairs. However, anyone who becomes mentally or otherwise incompetent cannot manage their own finances. Hf a power of attorney exists which says thatitR wilI remain in force should th. grantor become inicompetent, il continues. Otherwis., il does not. f you become mentally incompetent without a power of attorney which continues to b. in force, the government' s Off ice of the Public Trustee will take over Enough is enough To th. Edîtor: The gold-plated MPs' pension plan continues 10 cost the Canadian taxpayer millions of dollars. A recently released report by the chief actuary of the federal govornment confirms that the lavish pension plan currently has an unfundod liability -- a taxpayers' IQU -- of $122 million. What's truly amazing is that the shortfaîl exists despite the fact that taxpayors recently had 10 pump $158 million mbt the pension plan 10 keep il proporly funded. The chief actuary 's report says thaï for every $1 MPs paid towards their pension plan in 1993, taxpay ors had 10 cough up more than $6. Taxpayers wil soon have 10 put in $10. In fact, withln a few years, 1h. cost of 1h. MPs' pension plan wil be more than 100 per cent of MPs' pay. Enough is enough. This outrageous pension plan has to b. reformed now and brought mbt line with what's available in the private sector. t's high lime that th. federal governiment sbarted t0 lead by ex ample. David Somnervîlle President National Citîzens' Coalition r our financial affairs unîess a amily member is appointed through a court aplication. The new legisîaton wiII make iR easier for famiîy memnbers to b. given authority without having to go through such a complicated process. OnIy if there is nobody else available to take care of things, will b. the public truste. take over. The proposed new Iaw, already approved unanimnousîy in the Ontario legislature with the support of ail parties, wili, when procîaimed (probably next year). change the requirernents for a power of attorney and in many ways expand and improve the right of an individual to make decisions about themselves which are legally binding. For example, you wiII b. able 10 appoint a person with the authority to implement your wishes and also make decisions on your behaîf regarding your heafth car., housig food and saf.ty should you become incapable of making those decisons yourself. This is known as a durable pwer of attorney and it also bings in the right to have enforced a living wiII. A living wiIl allows you 10 have a say while you can mn How about recycling at apn.atments?. To the Editor: I note that four more recycling workers have been laid off due 10 a shortage of recyclable material. I wonder why the Town doesn't cater to apartmnent dwellers for recycled material. 1 realize Ihis would probably require using large bins but iR couki also b. a real bonanza with one stop to pick up material from many families. Think about iR. E. Perry Whitby what is 10 happen to you in th. event you become totally disabled and dependent on Ilife support. As a lawyer who does much work for the rights of individuals, 1 amn pîeased with the new law and look forward 10, its implementation. Rather than just blaming Bob Ra. for yet another problem 1 encourage everyon. 10 take a look at their personal situation and make decisions for their own future. My thanks 10 Bob and ail those other politicians of Ontario for doing something right this lime. Murray H. Miskin Whltby Outsidersb unwelcomne To the Edîtor: The Durham Regional Labour Council has çoncerns about out- side contractors doing business in the region. Many members of th. council and its aff iliated locaîs feel these contractors leave v.ry little of taxpayers' monies within the reg ion, and local f irms continue 10, brinýg in workers from outside 1he regmon. As some on. in seven members are out of work within th. region, outside workers are not doing anything to help alleviate 1he unemployment probîem. There are workers who live here, pay taxes here and buy items from local businesses to help keep the .conomic cycle in motion. Outside workers contribute very littie to the local economy. Taxpayers' dollars are spent on local public works, and taxpayers' dollars leave the region vis--vis th. pockets 0f out-of-region contractors and their omployees. Wayne R. Shred Secretary-treamurer Durham Reglonal Labour Council The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters to the editor on any subject of conoem to our readers. Letters should be brief and to the point - rarely more than 300 words. Ail letters must be accompanieci by the name, address and telephone number of the writer. However, on request, your name may be withheld from publication if we agree there is a valid reason. The news pape r reserves the rght to reect or edit ail letters. Send to: The Editor, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ont. Li N 5S1, or drop through our mail siot at 131 Brock St. N. Overpass overdue Zero increase wanted