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PAGE 2, WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 3, 1976, WHITBY FREE PRESS Three candidates will contest new ridi EDITOR'S NOTE: When Ontario Premier Bill Davis called a provincial election for September 180 he set the campaign wheels of the three Durham West candidates in motion. The riding of Durham West, composed of Whitby, Ajax and the south half of Pickering, will be contested by Dr. Charles Godfrey, New Demo- cratic Party; Des Newman, Liberal; and Bill Pilk- ington, Progressive Conservative. The riding in- cludes about 126 D0Ils. - -P - - . f ng ojiurn Mr. Godfrey is the vocal and inspirational leader of the People or Planes group in Pickering and is a doctor at Wellesley Hospital in Toronto. Des Newman has served as Whitby Mayor since 1965 and as Chairman of the Municipal Liaison Committee since 1971. He served'as President of the Canadian Federation of Mayors and Municipal- ities from 1972 to 73. Bill Pilkington is the former police chief of Whitby. Ltjitil reoently, he was the assistant chief West inspector for the Liquor Licence Board of Ontario and the President of the Rotary Club of Wfitby. At present, he is the President ofbthe Ontario County Branch of the Ontario Humane Society. The Free Press asked the three candidates to submit an article outlining the four issues which they feel are the most critical in this election year. Their submissions, which have not been edited, will be published weekly until the election. Charles Godfrey represents NDP lt's coming through loud and clear, that a major issue in this election is people par- ticipation. As I go about the riding knocking on doors, I hear two things: - "I spoke to him about it, but nothing happened." - "I have given up trying to be heard. What's the use!" Maybe you personally have had the experience of trying to deal with "big" government. It can be frus- trating, infuriating and, in general,one great big turn-off. - Mr. S. in Duffin Village: "When we moved in there was a sign saying "Site of School". There is still no school. My kids have to be bussed." u - Mrs. D., X Concession: "They told me if I did not settle I'd be expropriated and wouldn't get as much money. I trusted the government and now look where we are!" - Mrs. T., Brooklin: "So they decided to take the farmland and put in wall-to-wall housing. No- body asked us. Nobody asked me, and I can't get anybody to listen". - Mrs. T., West Rouge: "The tile bed was okayed by the Department. Now I have to sue the builder because someone made a mistake. Nobody does anything to help me." - Mrs. D., Cherrywood: "Garbage, garbage, gar- bage! We get it from Me- tro, we get it from our elected representatives." - Mr. X., Lasco Steel: "I can't find out if there is an occupational disease. Look what happened at Johns-Mansville." - Mr. D., West Lynde: "Do you think we can get a clear, honest answer on high-rise?" Now, as I see it, the role of any elected person is to listen to the problems of his constituents and then to take effective action. It is obvious there are many people in thîs riding who are not being heard. It is even more obvi- ous that many of their com- plaints are being heard and filed in the circular filing basket. All our elected representa- tives feel that they have listened to the people. Yet it is obvious the message isn't getting through. But.I have a further major concern. People are being turned off by our political process - old people, middle aged people and particularly the young people. It is vital to the continuation and eleva- tion of our quality of life that ALL citizens participate. And this participation will be no good tomorrow, it must begin today. And that's the NDP way because tomorrow begins today. Des Newman Liberal candidate In the last two issues of the Free Press I have dealt with inflation and govern- ment expenditures and hous- ing. This week I want to deal with education. It seems that parents, tea- chers, trustees and even students are distressed and confused by the system as it exists today after 10 years of experimentation. Parents are uncertain about the achievement of their children and are resent- ful about their inability to affect the system. Teachers, who initially accepted much of the abuse of the parents, are fighting back to protect their profes- sional integrity, and moving on to have an impact on the cirriculum. School trustees are caught in the crossfire of the Pro- vince's conflicting policies of education ceilings on one hand and the encouragement of more and more options on the other. They are trying to retin some local control over the system. And ail the while the drop-out rate from secondary school is increasing again. In 1970, 29% of all students entering high school dropped out by grade 12 and 62% by grade 13. Three years later in 1973, the drop out rate had climbed to 37% by grade 12 and 69% by grade 13. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation recently surveyed high school teachers and found that 79% felt that student work habits had declined over the last 5 years, 58% felt the Ministry of Education curriculum guidelines should be more de- tailed, and 92% felt there should be certain basic courses that students must take to ensure an adequate education. A Liberal government in Ontario is committed to restoring quality and control- ling costs in the education system. It is our intention to work to rebuild morale and cooperation among teachers and trustees. It will do so by establish- ing a core curriculum of basic subjects, by establishing stan- dards against which school and student perfornance can be measured, by simplifying the education grant structure to restore the local Board's auth arity over special pro- grammes, by strengthening the teaching profession by legislating a new Teaching Profession Act designed to establish a governing council for the profession to be res- ponsible for teacher training and certification, professional developnent and discipline, by reorganizing the financing of post-secondary education with 5-year financial plans allowing for global budgeting and by assisting qualified students to achieve a higher education. These are the directions which I intend to support to alter the present course of education if I arn elected to Queen's Park on Septem- ber 18. Bill Pilkington Conservative entry The single most import- ant investment in a person's life is a home. In most cases a life time of effort and sav- ings have gone into it. Taxes are required to be paid to safeguard its future and sometimes th·is annual pay- ment can be a source of misunderstanding rampant with mythology. Rapid urbanization has increased so that 70% of all Ontario citizens live in centres of 25,000 or more, resulting in greater need for services. While the popula- tion has grown by 10% from 1970 to 1974, new house- holds have increased by 17% as the children of lte post- war "baby boom" reach maturity. To cope with this local spending increased substant- ially from 3.6 billion to S.1 billion - up 43%. Municip 1 capital spending rose the most - 68%. School board spending rose only 24% be- cause of the decline in enrol- ment and Provincial expéndi- ture ceilings. Across the province gross residential taxes rose only $10 ($390 in 1970 to $400 in 1974) but increases in property tax rebates to per- sons with lower incomes had the effect of reducing taxes from $320 in 1970 to $280 in 1974. The burden of a tax must be considered in relation to income which has increased rapidly in this period. The property tax declined from 2.7% to 1.7% of the average income on Ontario residents. This means that local taxes took a 37% smaller bite out of the pay cheque - a re- markable record. This sinultaneous increase in local spending and the proportional decrease in the local tax burden has only been made possible because of substantial transfers from the Provincial treasury. It is a Provincial-Municipal fiscal arrangement that is as good as anything in Canada and makes Ontario a leader in this field. It is easy to be a critic but the Government is doing its share to support the hous- ing industry. 248 million more into housing than last year and 404 million more than four years ago. We wish the same could be said for Federal participation. We are still the only province in Canada that gives a start-up bonus for first time home buyers. A bonus of $1,500. Indeed tomorrow didn't start today for your ProvineiY Govemment - it started a long time ago. taut m