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Off and Pooling around to beat the summer heat. Chri. Bovi. photo Downtown Whitby. - By IMke Kowalskl We'll learn how local mer- Dowvntown Whitby. chants feel about the downtewn. Two simple words, but what do Do they feel a person. can still .theay convey in the reader's make a decent living operating a mind? store in downtewn Whitb ? A quaint collection of spruced- Should mun icip loticians up shops and modemn boutiques be more conoen2 as husmnesses whicreflect the smail town close and office space sits appeai of Whitby, even as the vacant? municipality becomes more and Does the Downtown Business more of a bedroom communit Improvement Area (DBIA) still for Toronto-oriented commuters: serve a useful function? Or is the downtown quickly Finally, wýhat does the future becoming, the home of services hold in store for downtewn such as banks and professional Whitby? Should it be a commer- offices -as. Wlutby residents flock cial/professional-based centre te, temperature-controlled shop- while suburban shopping plazas ping malse for their purchases, absorb the retail dollir? much te the. chagrin of downtown Ary Sarka has operated a dra- merchants? pery store on Brock St. N. for the During the neit three weeks, past 16 years and is clearly The Frea Press, by talking te, the worried about what the future peope who are trying te earn a holdo in store for marchants. livng in downtewn -Wbitby, will Sarka says many.shopkeepers' attmptteanswer -these and *are alreacfy exprencin~ other, questions, do"no ..~ ti. economy-iù rv runn.g By Mike Kowalsid They're off and running -- in most cases. Monday's election call by Pre- mier David Peterson caught local candidates and their oraiza- tions in various stages of Pection readiness. In Durham Centre riding, can-. didates .for three ý parties hav~e been nominated te -contest. the' Sep t. 6 election, while a fourth will be chosen tomorrow night.1, The situation is a littie more unsettled in Durham East riding as none of the three major par- ties have «off'icially» selected can- didates. Durham. Centre. incurnbent Allan FurlQng will seek to retain the seat he first won for the Liberals in 1987. Furlong had been expecting an election cali for some time. 'Tin not surprised, everyone was speculating on it. Were ready te, go." Furlong dismsed suggestions that an el ion onlthe years into the government's fiwrn.yvear terni is unwarranted. "I don't think it's unnecessary,- one could argue that about il elections,» saia Furlong. "If you ask people if we need a federal election now after just thrirngordig will go under.* «Ifinterest rates don't go down and with the GST (federal goode and services tax), I guarane you that 5Oper cent odwntown stores will close,» says Sarka.' «We are overtaxed,' I can't count how much we are taxed. By the time we pa overhead there's not much left." Sarka considers herself a Pro- gressive Conservative but admits that she has "lost ail my faith in that (federal) government. "Very honestly, Fim scared. rPve seen in the past how many (stores) were open and now how maýny are closed.» O f a more local nature Sarka feels a greater variety o# stores are needed te attract shoppers te, the dowtown. "We need more variety, there's no shoe steres downtewn. There SEE PAGE 14 twoë~ears, most would likely say yes. Furlong argued that an elec- tion rather t han a new session of tle legisiature, is needed te deal with Ontario's problems. "A Throne Speech- is fine if you're'only"planning for next year, but when you. look at long- range,. plas ýeè a ùèw,* "If you're going te, make m ajor comnIitments you, have .te mae sureyu have the people's sup- Furlongpedicted the cam- pgnwlbe a"tugh one, in'the sense that there are teugh issues te deal with. «Major decisions will have te be made on the environmient sacrifices will have te be made by everyone, industry and public alike.» Furlong also expects the effect on Ontario s economy from free trade and the proposed _federal SER PAGE 16 I Meet Bey rhm Whitby police commander See page 3 t. J 80 years old Sme page 16 L. -. -~ - - -.-.-- ..-------,---- --~-".-~ ~ v vv 1~ VYV~V.T?1 ~ ôa I ~ ~ -v ~-~~r" ~ BOBBY ILLJ made a eplash at the KinmenPool last week in an effort w 0 U cn centre ullouf section z 5 1 01 p