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Pubic'iput 01 Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, Septembe 1r 18,1996, Page 3 Workfare sought B Mfke Kowaloki asked to postpone !ts parti- cipation in the Onîtarjo governxnent's controversial workfare program. Regi*onal council's social services committee recom- mended last week that approval of local workfare guidelines b. delayed until November. This will give R Pegion staff time to consuit with not'only community agen- cies and non-profit organi- zations that have expressed interest in the program, but unions and other groups that are opposed to- the work-for-weIfare initiative. DurhamPtegion is on. of 20 muicipltes taldng p art in the first phase ol ntarlo Works, the govern- ment prograrn designed to Put able-bodied welfare reipents to work or have them perform volunteer tasks in the community. Ilxiaddition, the commit- tee has recommended that a public forum b. held and that ail five Durham MPPs b. mnvited, including Dur- ham West. representative Janet Ecker, the proinc's, new commumity and socal services minister. Ecker's minisryis res- ponsible for implementing the Ontario Works pro- gram. Although it must -stili be approved by rironal coun- cil, Witby Mayor Tom Edwards is confident the recommnendation will pass when it cornes forward at the Sept. 25 meeting. Edwards, who chairs the social services committee, ao h se fl cfrum "I thought we made gzreat strides," said Edwards ni referenoe to last week's ses- sion which featured more than two hours; of presen- Items from Whitby council agenda(s) Mondu Sntmbe 16,-9 Recommendations from the Planning and development COMMittee That rezonlng and officiai pa aendmnent aplica- tions to permît a,-hotel and nllryrtland ersonal uses on the northeast corner of Victoria reet and Gardon street, adjacent to the Iroquois Park Recreation Comnplex, be approved. Athough a. spe!cfifl developmnent application has flot been recel- ved by the Town at this time, apprvai woukd clear the way for such a developmnent in the future. Roerred to cou ncil wthout a. mcommenbdatlon from committes That an engineering consultqint be retained faor the purpose ai conductlng a revieW and makinà reo- mendations regarding existing draina ge concemrs an Pringle Creek, between Dryden Boulevard and Anderson Street. Residents an the west side af Anderson -have been complaining for several yars about floodlng and related proberi causedbDy nearby deveiopment. The consultant will meet with a1i residents ta dtermIne their specific concernis and then propose solutions. Cost of the review is estima- ted at $5,000. Recommendedto council That an officiai planý amendment application ifrom Wolster. Developments ta delete a hazard land designation on a portion aifits 44-acre holdings on the east sie of Anderson Street, north of Dryden Boulevard, be approved. Th. designation, which applies ta a smal, Intermittent trbutary oi Pringle Creek, can b. removed without having a negative Impact on wildIffe, vegetation or nelghbourlng proper- ties, staff and planning consultants contend.Area resient ha exressed concern that removing the desig nation cou Id lead ta floading and erosion probie ms, but a- staff report states that a storm water retentian Pond on the northeast corner ai Andérson and Dryden should prevent this from occurring. 1Rscommended ta councîl That a combined 440-unit subdivision on the east side ai Anderson Street, north af Dryden Boulevard, b. approved. The subdivision proposai, which ln- valves three, land owners ' - Wolster Developments Mt., Bail Associates and Joseph Lambert - has been before counicil ln varjous iorms since 1989 and has undergone extensive changes over the years. Recommended ta council Recommendationis fom the operations Comtmittee That a $45,540 tender from Erasion Contrai Gabion rs Ltd. of Can cord and a -$59,481 tender tramf Landtar ConstructionIn.of 'Weston for .erosion contrai- works- at variaus lac?'tians aiang the Lynde" a nd Pringle creeks b. approvéd. Recomnuenddto counili tations by workfare foes and committee debate. "Staff will continue its discussions with interested parties and there will be a public meeting,» he said., SEdwards, who opposes workfare -- "Itfs neyer wor- ked in any country thatsi tried if? - said the concept reinforces the s tigma applied to those receiving social assistance. «Most people on welfate, as are most on unemploy- ment insurance, don't want ta be there," he said. «Some will talc. advan- tage of the generosity of society, but most wilI try to get ajob or upgrade their skills. School board wins. awaird for excellence By Mark Reesor The. Durham Board of Education last week won the Carl Bertelsmaxn Foundation award for excellence, beating out six other countries for the. $300,000 prize. TIi. news was announced at a press conference Thursday over, a liv. phone hook-up with board chair Audrey MacLean, director Grant Yeo, Sinclair princi- FlKay Egan, staff deve- I> ment officer Nonm Green and superintendent Doug Wilson, *ho had *ra- velled to Germnany ta acc.pt the prize. "W. areý very proud and rflyin high right now," Yeo'sg voice crackled over, the speaker phone. 1«Its not an inappro- priate companison tao talk about winng an academic olympîce and being éon '- sidered the first in the world in this regard," h. said, adding the award is "huge» and means inter- national recognition for the board. It recognizes Durhamn as «an innovative board sys- tem that has -had success with învolved, supported, planned* changes and schools b.ing able to work within a supportive environment to help teaches develop ta make the changes that benefit students,» he said. A videotape shot by the foundation at Sinclair Secondary School aopen- ness, support by the board and parameters in which risk-taking can talce place,» said Yeo. Edwards said the govern- ment should put its empha- sis on retraining and edu- cating welfare recipients rather than followmg a credo Of "stop those bumes from ri pping un off.» FaxnIly services director Ron Dancey said that of the 7,000 people on Durhaxn's welfare rolîs who are elig- ible ta work, about 50 per cent will find jobs on their ovin. 0f 'the remaining 3,500, about one-haif will enroîl in school or -retraining pro- grais, leaving about 1,500 to 2,000 ta take part in workfare. Dancey said about "35, 37" non-profit organiza- tions,, service clubs and communityr agencies in Durham h ave expressed intereet in participating in- the local woi'kfare progran. 1 'We don't have an option, the government said we9re going todo it" said Dancey. "Wre just fooking at the administrative aspects.» Meanwhile, a public forum against workfare wilI b. held at 7 p.m. on Thurs- daty at the Steelworlcers Hall at 115 Albert St. in Oshawa. Sponsored by the Dur- ham Region Calition for Social Justice, the meeting will feature several speak- ers includin Whitby resi- dent Sid gRan, president of the Ontario division of the. Canadian Union of Publie Employees. Yeo said that didn't see m ta b. the ca se in thp other areas that were rejresen- ted (Scotland, Tlfhe Nether- lanids, Norway, .Hungary, Switzerland and New Zea- land) -- they were more "hierarchîcal and top down,»hle said. The foundation found "consistency across the- region,» said Green. «People were talking the. samne languagçe and doing the saethingso the innova- tions... were, done through- out aIl of our schools... «I ,think* the aisessors were astboniàhed that a sys-' tem as- large as Durham could accomplish this in so short' a period of time.» *The award %i more than god, it's platinum,"* said MacLean, adding «it's.pro- bably dloser to the Nobel Peace Prize.» The foundation has set special criteria for the use of the prize money. involv- ing continued innovation and support for istudent learning and «we have yel ta, figure out (where we'll spend it),» said Wilson, "but we'1l use it in the spirit of that intent.» s DIAGNOSTIC TEST :ONiELESSON with 1 0-Lesson Package 668-2037 1-888-TUJTOR-ME' i rC P Z '*..]gih>J tqr.. 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