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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 24,1982, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Volce of h County Town bIished every Wednesday r Pub Michael ian Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor The only* Whltby newspaper lndependently owned and operated by Whltby residents forWhitby residents. IL byM.B.M.,Publishing and Photography mce, Phone 668-6111l The Free Press.Building, 131 Brock Street North,. P.O. Box 206, Whltby, ont. *LESLIE BUTLER Communlty Edîtor 'ELIZABETH NOZDRYN Advertlslng Manager Second Clasa Malil Registratlon No. 5351 Whee'were YO wenDOC was.,moved TheIoss 0f Denis 0'Connor High'School comes as qulte a blow to Whitby Roman Cathollc Separ- ateSchool supporters.' More than 250 angry par- ents prôved that to the Separate.School Board last week. >What isn't s0 evident.1' s why Whitbywas over- ioeked, by the board when It was consldering possible sites forthe new sohool. There ha8 been a.lot of talk about the Ajax of fer, -and some accusations about the Iegitimacy of the deai. Tempers have risen- over the question of Iland swapplng" and the invoivement of as many 1:As three developers'in the Ajax ,offer. Whitby parents have accused the board of "seil- Ing. them, down theý river". and'a host of other un- pleasant things. The board ls now embrolled in a centroversy over whether they acted legaily in rejectind Whitby trus tee Chuck Roche's motion te reconsider the decision to locate ln-Ajax. Al the whiie, the question of why ail this camne eut after the deal was ciosed remains unanswer- ed. Developer Bill Sorichetti (manager of West Lyn- de Reaity,-owner of the land offered to the beard by Whitby) says his proposai to the beard was sketchy because he "didn't know" the board wan- ted acompiete effer in September. instead of a fuily detai'ledoffer, he submitted a letter 0f intent te the bYoard. ' Sorichetti said last week his company hacj calculated the cest of ser- vicing the land for residential use ln the original effer, and would consider readjustIng the price te, refiect the cest 0f servicing the land for institu- tional use.1 Why did this happen, after the Ajax deal was signed? Surely the develepers were aware the Whitby.proposai was vague, IH-defined and quite a bit more expensive? Where was Whitby town ceuncil when the .original offers were belig made? In the words 0f trustee Saily Longe, what wouid happen te the Integrlty of the board If it accepted a tender af ter the cal was ciesed? It isn't very dfficuit te come-up with an attrac- tive offer when 'yeur competitien's cards are on the table. The principie of a tender.'is that com- peting companies must submit their proposais witheut knewing how much the competition-is of- fering.» Whitby, ln effect, is askIng the board te, re-open the tender se It can slide ln underthe price offered by the competition. The board cari probably be faulted for net clear- iy indicating te Whitby -It needed a complete, There isn'tmuch doubt that one, of the major probiems shared by the U.S. and Canada is that we're famiîy, and we'0re in a fulibiewn tent-city recessi.on. i was in Ottawa recently for a family news conference 'by *the new American Secretary, of State, George Schultz. Mr. Schultz is a. Washington veteran and an old friend of Alan MacEachenr, the Externi Affairs Minister. The Secretary knew Mr. MacEachen .when th4y were studeints together at M.l.TÉ. The newsmen laughed~ when Mr. Schultz dèclin- ed the credit for teaching Allan MacEachen economics. Mr. Schultz is 'a heavy hitter. And about al you can do with 'a man'like that at a news conference is to throw a variety of, stuif at him, hopi ng that if he ikes the look of something, he'Ili take a cut at itý and give you a story. For men like Mr' Schultz, the questions don't matter much. You know that if he had decided to say anything before he çame to the news conference, he'd find a ques- tion to whîch the something he wanted to say was some sort of answer. This time, there was nothing Mr. Schultz desperately wanted to get off his chest. He did cîearly want te be friendly, because the news conference itseif, for selected Canadians, was something of a departure. He di d say, despite the problems, that relative to the rest cf the world, relations between the U.S. and Canada look- ed'terrific." "l'm a great believer," he said, "that yeu don't improve a relationship by faiiing to make represen- tatio ns strongiy in a discussion of particular issues." In fact,' he suggested, that if good relations become ail- important and one party or the other glosses over .its >grievances, the relatiohship is undermined dangerously. He said it was just like the give and take between union and management. 1 was tempted to ask which role Canada pl1ayed in his analegy, the workers or the'bosses.. But i1 didn't. i kn)ew he didn't mrean it ýthat way, and besidesI already know the answer. One of the root causes- cfthe problem between Canada and the United States 19 that men l.ike Mr. Schuitz carefully phrase their public *, ýutteranrces-to convey the impression that Canada and the United States are equâls. rTheY-do this because they are decenït feMovs who de not want ofé untioaisi sensibilitie s. Bu -tt1hé tîwo countries aren't equals, hence the fears we have about ouïr cultUFalï,-ýetonomic and politicai independence, -and our shrilness in defending ilt. 1 agree with Mr. Schultz's view of solid reiationships. And the disparity in popuilation and power is one of the facts th at should- be acknowledged publicly. Net te do se is t6 undermine the - relatuonship, ne matter who is unien and whe is management. That's net news, but -that tee is realîty. landweuld be used fora high schooi. An othér, nagging question. Why was the re- locatio 'n of Denis O'Connor net a prominent issue ln the election 0f separate school trustees? Even as the election was happening, the board was making Up Its mmnd on the future cf Denis O'Connor, and yet hardiy a word was uttered by veters or trustees on the matter. And se, with the election enly 24 heurs old, the separate school trustees veted te re-lecate the schoiiln Ajax.1 1Suddeniy, Whitby separate school supporters and Whitby town council were outraged by, the beard's decision. (If the reports are correct in pricing the Ajax effer at $80,000 less than Whit- by's sketchy proposai, what board ln their right minds wouidn't vote fer such a saving?> The answer must be that ne one ln Whltby reaily believed-weweuid lose Denis O'Connor. 1In the words of" one- onlooker, at last week's board, meeting, Whltby was "caught with'its pants down ". And, -in an-attempt te pull them up again, It scramblcd te put tegether an attractive proposai after-the-fact.. Thechampions of the cause te keep DO'C ln Whitby are.the very same peeple whe ceuid have Prevented the move if their actions had corne at the right time. Where were Whitby trustees when It becëame known the Ajax effer was a goed one, and the detailed and firm proposai In September, but It can hardly be faulted for chooslng the more at- tractive offer, especiaily since It is a reglonal body that must look after the needs 0f ail separate sohool supporters In the region. Separate school supporters would do weII to question their *elected representatives' timing ln the deal. Why weren't they lnformed by their trustees that the fate of Denis O'Connor was going to be decided one day after the electien? It Is a rather suspect cc-Incidence that It was oniy after the three Whltby separate schooi trustees were acclimed that the Issue suddpnly became a hot onie. Where were the valiant Whitby trustees when It really counted - before the deci- sion was actually made? The Ioss of Denis O'Connor wiil be a biow to, Whltby, an Insuit te those who worked se hard for the original school 20 years ago, and perhapsa dividlng force in thelocalI Roman Cathollc com- We cari o tyîqopo_ ttie ,next time one of Whýitby's valued traditions is threatened,"More, Îsdone te prevent Its Ioss. The Fr-ee Presswelco mes letters toth di rI 13,Broc k Ste N.e,, Whitby ------------------- - mi -