Page S. Whltby Freu Pmý .Woçlnesçlay, Match 22, 1995 The only Newspaper owned and operated b>' Whitby residents for Whîtby residents! ONTARIO COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION CNA DIVISION MEMBER 0F: CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X The Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes in - Whitby, Brooklin, Ashburn & Myrtle as well as numerous public and commercial outlets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 27,000 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY__1 MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $34 + GSI e Outside Canada $80 + GSI Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Out of town: 1-800-668-0322 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Pubisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20%/ recycled content using vegetable based inks. cAil written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein us 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 f non-commercial distribution should bear a credit fine to the Whitby Free Press. -o thI'[e edit11(01 Misleading To the odtor: I wish ta reply ta Mn. Flaherty's letter ta the editor concemning Bill 173 in the March 8 adition of The Free, Press. Bill 173, whuch was pasdb the Lagisaturo in December and rofens ta long-terni cara and the establishment of multiple service agencios, is ofton referred ta as 'One-stop-shopping for the cana of the eldarly and the medically disabled. Mr. Flaherty has every right ta b. against this legisation but ha doos not have the ri9 ht ta misîead the people whom it is designed ta hslp. People such as myseif who are medically disablad know only taa well that the present system must b. changod ta correct the problems we now face. Why should eaple in need of these services have ta go ta five or six diffanent agencies ta receive the halp nsedod? The dozens of agencias such as the VON and the Red Cross have long fuit illed a very important raIe. Their objective has been to idontify noeds in the community and ta provide the bost cars passible ta thos. they serve. However, simply bocause thoro are so many agencios involved just in Durham ahane, they cannot coordinate services effoctively non cut administration costs ta the levaI possible wlth the naw community-operatod system. Ho aI" cites the problem of people with head injuries. This puou.has been amound for a long time and the party ha rereots did abslutely nothing about if. And, if elected, his party wiIl sf111 do nothing ta help the peple boceause h wll talcs a great daofrosources carefully spent to Improve heath cars. is leader, Mkearris, wants ta cut back ovorything in sight. I beliove that is the rosI roason why his party is againet this new systom. I say toa i. Flaherty that the NDP gavsrnment is doing somethkV to hep th. elderly and people wfo are modically disablod. If Mr. Flaherty really cared ho, toa, would have the courage ta publicly support the creation of a new multisorvice agency haro in Durham rather than just repeat overy word of his leader. As for my being a fiend of the NDP. I will state that, yes indead, thsy are my friands and they are fnrends of a1l the people who need this type of care. Bernis Emnoif Whitby Sign says it ail To the edit or: The Freo Press story on March 8, 'Contradictions within CLOCA,' has served ta reinfonce my intense disapointment with the Central Cae Ontario Conservation Aufhority. 1 once upheld thom as a neliable authority looking' after local conservation and environmenfal Issues on behalff nesidents. I have noted their distinct about-face fnrom original opposition ta their present support of Ly'nde Shores. This waffling is sa graphicaily ovident ta me an a CLOCA sign on a pathway inta the northeast marsh area, immediateiy adjacent ta the dovolopment boundary.ft says: wTheso are vory sensitive lands. Closod ta the public. Do not enter," and even refens ta the .nfoncinp bylaw. Vos, 9t says uvory sensifive,m not Museniiv. CLOCA itsetffsays aIl hene. CLOCA must cosse living a contradiction; heîp preserve very sensitive Lynde Marsh; oppose destructive Lynde Shore oncroachment; stnive for land swaps which facilifato conservation area expansion eastward. Dave Cross .40-yoar Whltby reeldnt To the odîtor: .The major issue bofore Whitby cauncil ovor the proposed trip to Weifang, China should not be whether or not to take the trip (that notion is an absurd waste of local taxpayors' maney), but should b. how aur loc politicians have handled this affair. Municipal çovornments have no forlein affairs department, lasi time I chocked. Foreign affairs is the rospoîisibiîity of the faderal govmont and Mayor Edwards and local counicillors are certainly not fit ta represent the entire country after "scammingu local taxpayers by convenientîy (daro I say, deviously) slidinj into the budget a $27,500-ite ntitîed mmunicipal cost for economlc alliance This is not 1984. Local poifticians should not use outdated bale-gab on Whitblans. The issue we should be contemplating is the Iack of discrotion used by aur local Poîiticians Their job is ta roprosent us, and they, liko al othor politicians, foqýet that fact once in office and lok out only for number ans. Mayor Edwards said *that if council voted for the trip ta China, ho would certamnly go. Thanks for your discretion, Mayor Edwards. They scratch your back ...ight? Is it roally in the best interest of Whitby residonts ta, spend $27.500 ta send Edwards et al. on a trip ta China? Whitby has no rosponsibiîity aven foreign affairs. Romember? Councillor Fox suggested iR wauld be an embarrassment if we did not send three or four or five Ferret owners* applaud To the edit or: I thank and congratulate Laurie Williamson of Brooklin. Ho spenit time and energy ta, hava the local bylaw changed, negarding the keeping of ferrefts. As the proud owner of twa ferrets, I arn very grateful ta Williamnson, and hope ha nealizes how many lives ho has changed. He is qut. a hero ta alfthae'ferret farnilies' and ho should b. recognizod as just thaf. Sharon Raid Ajax No disc.retion repretaivs to China alter the Chinese ont 2. rm sure that if Mr. Fox had to go on an ai-exponsoe-paid trip to China, ho'd tum it down as graciously as Mayor Big Brother, er, Edwards has. ft's time that complacent Canadians started to send a message to Our self-serving politicians whose only attribues are wastinq taxpayers' money. W- To the editor: MP AIex Shepherd's aftack or Canaduan non-governmoH arganizations (NGOs), in his casE for neducing aur foreign aid, leaveE mne unsure whether ha is abysmalý ignorant or simply devious. Ha cites encounters at the UN -- having gone thora at his owî oxpense -- as the basis for his condemnation. Howeven, as a director of an NGO just back frorT Hait i t my own expense (for about the nint h time in somne 18 years),1 believe that I have a higher claim f0 cradence wif h the folîowving perspective: a) Significantly Iess than 10 per cent of ahi foroign aid distribufod by the Canadian' International Developmant Agency (CIDA) goos ta NGOs. oh balance is government ta govarnmonf aid for pnoj ects, whon a major cansideration us the involvemnent of our export traders. Certainly Alex Shephard's tarm ncheq ue-book diplomacy" would be a valid comment upan a fair numben of these. b) Ta b. effective in addrassing the problems of haalth, iliteracy, etc., where the need is so dire, and the polit ics sa unsettled, NGOs must romain stnictîy apolitical for their on-site staff ta b. accapted, and their wonk ta proceed. c) Not only did Paul Martin's budget mako a 21 par cent reduction aven three yaars in Canada's foreign aid, but the two pneceding PC budgets took almost as high a pencentaga from the CIDA funding that was channeled ta NGO. Reference ta the U.S.'s foroign aid becomes meaningîess once if is realized that a major portion goes ta Israel and Egypt in the interest of Middle East aI ability. But ana cauîd hardly expect a country thaf Ils 50 indiffenont ta thoin awn poorest people, ta set a standard should start hors and now, at the municipal lovel, by informing counicîl that tho $27,500 thoy stashod away for thoir *municipal economic alliance* shall not pay for their sightseeing tour of China. Courbillr Mitchell was riçght an the mark whon ho said, *The dolegation mught as woII not go.0 Aaron Kylle Whtby for the relief of sickness, etc. in the third wonld. In advocating the rocluction in foreiýn aid as a stop in curbing aur deficit, Alex Shepherd is appealing fa the "not-in-my-backyarcr element of his consfitue 1nc%.Fap ttfr Whitby We need to believe To tho editor: Canada is the socond-largest country in the world. W. are sa nich In knowledge, wisdom and resources. We shouîd expand in evaryons of these things, by being able to buy aur own product ad a cheaper cost. lnstead we salI ourself short because aur wisdom has nof yet caught up with aur paîiticahly correct sysfem. I' hope we eventually realize aur own self -wonth and always romain Canadian-awned. To own anything Canadian is soon ta b. worth triple ifs value. We just dontf beliave in ourselves enoiugh. lnstead wa trust and nely fao much in our own govmrment system as if stands now. "ro b. a good citizen you believe in 1h e gavemmant and the system but whaf happons when youn gomerment loses siphf of ifs roalif y? I think we have ta stop making weak decisions because of oun own parsonal fears of the unknown. Let's stand talî with aur heads held high and aur spirits and spinas intact. Canada is fao young and rich to prove itsehf lame. Kelly Chartrand, Whftby 'am Facts about NGOs 1 1 1 1 To'the editor.0. e CNcr A