Page 6, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, May 11, 1994 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whîtby residents! MEMBER 0F: SONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY f.~ ACOMMUNITY NEWSPAPER w*CN NEWSPAPER _ ASSOCIATION WASSOCIATION ~ CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS ONA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X 26,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Ime. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N, Whitby, Ontario LiN 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 mîinum 20% 40 recycied content using vegetable based inks.%c 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 copyrigtaw. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit fine to the Witby Free Press. mko the editor,. Misguided To the EdItor: il has béen arguéd that it is harder for six élécted officiais 10 fool thé voters than it is for one. (Barbara Tuchman "Should We Abolish thé Présidency?* New York Times, Feb. 13, 1973). Whén it cornes 10 thé Lyndé Shores proposed devéîopment, Whitby council is trying very hard 10 prove otherwise. According 10 Mayor Edwards in a recent néwspaper article, naturalists who oppose thé Lynde Shores development are misguided because the marsh wilI be safer with the proposed plan than without. Presumably hé méans thé unfriéndiy barrier plant ing wiiî iénd somé protection 10 thé marsh. it would, were il not for the fact that this unfriéndly barrier comes complété with 7,200 people. Or do Mayor Edwards and council réally beliévé that a médium- 10 high-density déveiop- ment right next 10 this sensitive Class 1 marsh will be bélier for thé marsh than if il wére efhhér left as iR is or turned mbt a passive park, as anyoné with a génuiné concern for the énvironm ent would do. Ami doés council réaiiy believé they can go through this élection without addréssing thé Lyndé Shores issue? If so, ià makés one wonder: who are thé onés that are misguidéd here? Dr. Johanna M. Tito W hItby Hypocrisy To the EdItor: Ré: Andrew Davies' lttér 'Phony crises' (Free Press, May 4). First, on expulsions. Wolfgang Droegé (Hritage Front) and thé anti-Quebec fiag-stomper from BrockviIle (an off iciai of thé party there) were expélléd for racist views but oniy afler théy were f irst ihoroughiy exposéd on thé issue by thé press. York University studénts, mère amateurs at thé gamé, exposed John Beck (Réform candidate in thé last élection), yet Mr. Daviés says Beck was able 10 fool thé Réform Party leadership. Beck was not expélled, but hé voluntarily résignéd to help Réform cut short bad pubiicity during the élection. Becausé o! thé Canada Elections Act, il would havé been illégal for anyone (including thé Réf orm Party) 10 interfère with Beck's status as a candidate during thé élection period. No, instead of thé racisîs, your chances o! expulsion are much gréatér, quickér and without warning if you clearly point out hypocrisy within thé party -- such as Manning's secret paymrents whiie publicîy préter'ding frugaiity. Mr. Dav,*-es tailed 10 mention the followirIg expulsions: May 1993, four membe(s l(mYsélf, another lawyér, an invest ment counsellor and a Iandscapé consultant); Fébruary 1994, 14 me~ bers (sorne wére senior citizens) fIl m Oakvi;Il and Hamiton-Wentwc rth riding S. Alil of us, like Reform MP Stephén Harper, voiced concern over Manning's conduct not squaring with public pronounicements. A high Ontario party officiai is quoted in thé Globe & Mail (April 30) about members who evén privatély objet 10 Manning's wrongful conduct, "Okay, scréw il. Théy're gonew (expélîed). So much for thé grassroots. Second, on Preston Manning's pay and benefits. Thé amount, large or smail, in comparison 10 other leaders is not the issue. Hypocrisy of our leading politicians is thé gréatest issue facing us. Manning was 10 havé changed ail t hat. In my memory, Manning is the only party leader who has from thé outset triéd 10 foo1 us (9.g. gives up govérnment car with fanfair, recéives hidden car aliowance Ilrom tax-supported party contributions, etc.). Though not even in power, Manning already makés othér leaders (including Muroney) look like mémbers o! thé church choir. Thé diffrence betweén a Jag Bhaduria and a Manning becomnes blurred. Louis S. AlIloré Whitby Tote eo. Wrong impression To thé Edîtor: On behaif of thé Durham Région District Héalth Council and the régional acute care study stéering commtéee, I wish 10 correct some statemnents recently reported by a number of néwspapers. The impression has been léft that final decisions have been made about changes to hospital Inadequate care for ME/C FF victims To the Editor: May 12 marks thé second international ME/CFS Day of Awarenéss. May 12 is thé birthdate of Florence Nightingale, possibiy one of the éarîiést known cases of thé diséase. Myalgic eucephalomnyelitis (ME) or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a painful, debiîitating diseasé with no known cause or cure. ME/OFS functionaîly disables people of ail ages and from al walks of hfde. Despite the fact that thé U.S. Centre for Diséasé Control publishéd a'Working Case Définition' for CFS in 1988 and, recently, . he Wq rld Heath Organization classifiéd it as a "diseasé of the nervous systém," thé Ontario Ministly~ of Heafth has not initiated any system to gather data on ME/CFS. An estimatéd 10,000 people affected in Ontario adds up to a significant cost t0 our social service agéncies, tax revenues, insurancé companies and héaith caré systém. We demand that our provincial goverfimént support research specific 10 ME/OFS, including an épidemniological study 10 answer basic questions about prevaience, transmissibility' and Iong-term prognosis. Thé Ontario government, 18 months after a clinical research advisory board report 10 thé Ministry of Heaith, has flot moved on recommended initiatives for people living with ME/CFS and sirnilar ilînesses. Thousands of people continue 10 endure this pain! ul diséase and are forced te live as second-class citizens with inadéquate heafth caré. Wé démnand that the 0nlasso Ministry of Heafth imrnediatéiy convene the iong-promised provin- cial advisory comrn!tteé. Durham Région ME Association 305 John St. W. W hitby services in Durhamn, in advance of consultation with our community. This is flot true. We are still in the process of planning. Final recommendations on such important changes need to take into accounit our community's perspective. Contrary to statements in the press, the regional heaiih care SteéingComm ittee WilI flot be relSin a draft document for réview May 11, 1994. Thé committée wil indeéd be meeting that day to continue préparation of a discussion paper. The paper wili form the basis for consultation with the public and other stakeholders. Information gathered from consultations wiIl be considered in the formulation of récommendat ions and a final report. Once the steering committee completés its report, it wili then bé forwardéd 10to he district héalth council for réview and approval and then to the Minister of Health for her considération. In ordér to ensure that our communitiés have accurate information, I wouîd bé pleased to answer any questions thatyou may have. I can be contacted at (905) 433-4262. Lynda Hêssey Executlve director Durham RegIon District Hoalth Council To the Editor: Thosé who claim that "money bus lections" wili have a hard ?iUmée expîaining thé most récent Elections Canada report. Thé report, which réveals how much the various political parties spent in iast year's fédéral élection, showed that the eiection's biggest losérs were also thé eiection's biggest spénders. Thé Progressive Consérvatives spent $10 million and won only two seats, which works out 10 $5 million per seat. On the othér hand, Réformérs won 52 seats after spénding $1.5 million, which works oui 10 only $28,846 per seat. Rt sééms fairly obvious that To thé Edltor: Two-and-a-haIf years ago my second chiid was diagnoséd wit h asihma. Now my f riénd's two children havé aiso been diagnoséd with asthma. Ast hma, unfortunatély, is bécoming more and more com mon. Surely this shouid tell us something about our air. I find myséif becoming more conscious of what I'arn doing 10 thé environmenî. One thing I used 10, do that reaIly upséts me now, and I sée it occurring evéryday, involves cars îdiing at drive-through banks, restaurants, donut stores, or for no réason. And thére is no good reason. Are we not trying 10 cut down on pollution? You may think, "Oh it's just for a minute," but 100 or more cars idiing for a minuté, that's a lot of pollution. I havé also noticed that some money does not buy élections. Canadian votérs are smart énough 10 base their voting décisions on what is said by whom, not on how much monéy a candidate or party may spend spréading that message. That's why iaws that réstrict what political parties or indepéndent citizéns spend 10 spréad théir messages noi only violaté thé f reédoms o! speech and association, they're simpIy not needed. lt's limé that politicians Iearnéd 10 trust thé people. David Somervîl Prosident National Citozns' Coalition truck drivers léavé their trucks idiing for long periods. 'd sure liké 10 know if il us for a méchanical réason. 1 hope one day our govérméent wiIl enact a law banning any kind of drivé-th roug h conveniences. In thé meantime, 1 hope thé big corporations that havé thèse convéniencés wili think about what effécts théy're having on our environmént. And I hope anyone who réads this will think twicé béforé théy let théir véhicies idle again. 1 challenge ail mot hers and fathérs t0 take a few minutés 10 write 10 our government and newspapers about their concérns about air pollution and how we can cul down on il so our childrén and their childrén wili waké up one morning 10 smeii f résh air. Wéndy Schuité Brook lin Can't buy elections Upset over idIing