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Page 8, Whitby Free Pres, Wednesday, Deoember 16.,-1999 The only Whitby. Newspaper pwned andoperatèd by Whîtby residents for, Whitby. rOsidentsI Published' every Wednesday by 677209 Ontarlo Imc. at. 131,Brook St. N., Whitby, Ontario LiN 5S1 > Phone 668-6111 To.roÀ to Line 427-1834 Doug Anderson - Publisher <Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra. Martin -Production KManager 2ndClass: Postal Registration #05351 Weath'er Policy ýneeded I I -Y lPLAtir4r fec 'Taj MacHs!,ona afera To the Edîtor: Can someone explain 'ta* me %why, on Décà.Il,, the day of that monumental snowfali, the Durham Board af Education was virtually lastot shut down its schools? Boards in Metra Toronto, Pool, York and athers closed weil before 8 a.m. Meanwhile, hundrods of dedlcated Durham- employees were struggling through cîogged side streets and greasy, sîushy raads ta arrive hours later et vlrtually desorted echools. . ft would appear that the parents have mare* senso than' the adminîlstrators In this case. As yau ma have guessod, I amn a teacher with Durham' and, yos, 1, toa, Vu Inerable are at rïsk To the odftor: Re: 'MPP sympathizos wit h prateetors' (Fr.. Press, Dec. 2192) 1 was delighted ta see the caverge your papor gave ta cuts In funding by the Minietry 'af. Cammunity and Social Services ta ARC Industrios prog ranis. The people of Durhamn Region need ta know how vulnerable peoplo aro boing put et risk and haw goad prag rams are being undermined by the poarly planned cuts we are oxperioncung. Howevor, 1 wish ta correct an errar in yaur. article. ARC Industries (shotered workshops) are now wexactly what the devolàpmentally handicapped requIre." What peopleo need are opportunities ta became meanirigfully. involvod. in their commuriries -- we ail need that, and-ftie support ta devolop« and capitalize on such opportunitues. 1Our program has ceasod sheltoring peaple in a workshop. W. have ail' helped people to dovelop the plane, skllls and opportunities to-get jobs and ta participate In, their communities de:f ýfundigcubackèm un. welcames the people wo support, more of wham would b. indopendently omplayed In the cammunity if a ur capacity ta pravide support was oqual ta the demand. What people need and want is suppart ta make and- maintain connections and ta assume valued raIes in thoir cômmunifties.'The peaple w. suppart are ready; thoy've -proven thoir abilfty ta contribute and their willingness ta work. The omployers of Durham are on-suds; we have more job placements available for people than we have staff ta provido the support. Sa wha's iWit h this government, cutting back programs which aré consistent with its own ministry's policy directions? Kelth Powell Executlve Dîroctor Ajax-Pickering and Whltby AssocIatIon for Commnly LIvIng stugled to sohool. atter a terrifing drive. Had my'students been awaiting, me, my -perilous jaurniey would noti have been ln vain. But,'alas, when 1 got there (on time, I might add), no chsldron were thore. A dozon of us eventuaily, made t, somo from as far ,away as Sunderland and Port Hope. Vos, thoe chools were eventuaaIly closed - but flot until aftor 10 a.m. 1 arn quite prepared ta brave the elomonts when necessatry and, indeed, ki s expected of teachers to got in to-school. If a good effort i8 not mado, thon ono 18 dacked a day's pay. This is not Draconian and anly makos good sense should anyone try ta take advantago of a situation., This storm, however, was extraordinary. Wo knew about it woll in advance and had foit its tiret effoots the day ,beforo and yot it was as though nooneat the board had even lookod out the window. As adulte, we toachers are propared toatako the risks nocessary ta get In. Wo do flot have the Iuxury of.phing the office ta Say W Irl estaying home, as we have young children as our charges. On tho way ta sohool that morning, 1 drove ovor four downed power linos, stretching across the road. What if a child walked on that or picked up the live end? A myriad of largo branches were down, some across the road, many across sidewalks. Not the sort of gauntiet I would like my children ta run, just ta get ta echool. My point is that athough wo teachers are grown up and can docide ta take the risk or not, children are not in such as position. Not closing tho schools that morning was a reckloss endanigorment ta echoal chlldren. Vos, oven those on foot. Thank the Lord that most parents had the sense ta keep their youngsters home t hat day. When tho phrase 'People are strongly advised not ta travel,' or something ta that otfect. camnes on the radio or' weather- channel, schools should'àutomaticaly close. Poltice should not enter into it ("What will tho -parents think? What will the papors say?w etc.) -The 1f.aof a child and, yes, even that of one o f society's mast misunderstood and roviled of professionals, a teacher, 15 worth more than tho 'nose-in-the-air attitudes' af *Wo didn't close aur schoole thon day* that could bo thrust at a rival board. As a faotnote, ff. you were out that day, many of those cars in ditchos and involved ln collisions bolonged ta teachers. I know four such incidents myself. Oh, yes. And the main roade were almost barren ai cars. It seems that most people did not even attemrpt the drive that day. IH you are listening, Durharr board, we need a mare responsible foui weather policy. After aIl, you may not noed Rt for anothor 20 years..And, who knows, maybo you will save the lite of a chiîd or a teachor. Namo wlthhsld by request By Stephon G. Leahy Much of the farmland ln Whitby Is awnod by developers. That land continues ta b. farmod on a shart-time basis. This means those wha ront the land try make à quick buck wth somo cash crop for a f ew years. As a result, the land is warkod until the sailles exhaustod. No ans puts anything -back into the land. Sa it bocomes a kind of mining, rather than farmlng - got ail you can out of the graund -and when it isn't any good any mare, mave an. The ownlers of these farmlands aren't concernod wth proper farming practicos. Quite the opposito, the mare the land is ruined the bettor. ln fact, if they could get away with Rt, they would rather lot the land get ovorgrown, accumulate trash and become a useless eyesare., That way people who lve nearby would forget' that Rt once was food- producing land and happily support. the developors' applicatians for- housing or industrial development. It amounts ta the same in the end. .So when seeking permission from the Town ta develop, devolopors trot out their soul studios ta prove that this land that was ance the best food- producing land in al of Canada now has high levels of nitrates, 'is sevorerly. eroded and recent crop yields were extremely poor. Therefore it is better f or the community ta convort this poor and uselose land into housing, raads, -industrial plazas. The airiro f *hoiwo'r lo-cal lande aro used, Town councillors and plannors, ail ga alangwith this. R is nat that they are fooled by this deliberate spailage of farmîands or are unaware 0f the deVelopers motives. Nu, they play their parts willingly because they want the same thinge as the develaper -- more money. In aur strange oconomic To the edltor: This is in respqnse ta the btter fram S. Lavery In the Dec. 5 edition of The Fre Pros. WhiIe I sympathizo over the Inj uries ta t hei r pet , I can't hoîp but place some of the responsibility an them. When are people'gaing ta realize that they are not daing their cat or dog a tavur by Ietting thomn roam the streets? Not only are pets- proy ta being hit by automobiles, as the Laverys found out, but pets are aiea in very great dangjer from dis-asos pikr up tram other animais, a l of those disoasos are fatal. Pots can aiea b. pickoed up by arother system,, more money je, made by . converting farmlaiid Inta somo klnd of devolopment. In fact, it locke like 'everone' wins when this, happons: -the farmor gets, a lot more money Seîîing his land he'd over make farming.ý - the dovoloper, houslng contractars, road builders, etc.. make a tan of monoy. -ý stores make. moro money bocause of ail theé new, people movinig inta thecammunity. -, li moane bage maro monoy for the Town as well, t fram lot levles, taxes and so on. The Tawn can hire mare staff and consultantse 80 thoyý can provide basic sèrvices for this influx of new taxpayers. - even oxlstlng residente soem ta profit by the sale of somoone's farm. If they are really lucky, they get moro rocroatlonal facilitios liko shallow swlmmlng pools and fancy ercuséle clubs. - Whoro Is al thls mony omng from that makos thaIl semso wonderful? l's tram the new o ople and Industries that move ore. And where, do thoy came' tram? From ather communities. ln other words, Whitby's gain is other communiies' lose - generally, this means Metra Toronto. 0f course, Metro isn't turning into a ghast tawn 'cause R sucks tons of thousands of people away tram thei homo communities in the North or the East Coast or the Prairies. That le where yau will t md the ghost tawns. It is true in'almost overy country that the further a place is tramn gavernmontal >and -econamic centres, the poorer it ie likely ta be: Newfoundland as cmared ta- the Greater Toronto =ra Wales and Scotland, relative ta Londan; the American South and Midwest compared with New York, Washingtan and Las Angelos., What makes the conversion of farmlarîd ln Whit by such a money-maI4pr is the tact that we are stealind people, -business and re rson and takon homte or tortured forthe fun of it. What about the danger ta tho unsuspecting motorist whon an animal runs in front of their car? I- was driving through Brooklin one ovening duripng a enowetarm, when a dog ran In front of me. Being an animal lo#or, my ummediate thaught was for the, dag and I jammed on the brakes. I was lucky I didn't spin out of contraI and that the truck behind was able ta stop. SPloase have a littie thaught for the weffare ai yaur animai and do not, lot thom raam. Lesley Barber Whitby 'Weafth' from smail cammunitles scattered é crase Cada Immigration tram outelde -the country le aiea part of thîs, but for the. Iast few yoars Canada has aîlowed relativoly few Immigrants. ln any case the.Same.princîple applies >-« 'we impovorieh oth or countries bocause our Immigration poilsfévaur thé wealthy, the well-educated and thase with businesses. Buyhey, it'ls -a compotitive worîd, isn't R? Someone's gat ta lose. .And ýWhitby seoms ta be winning, sa why camplain?'" But whatare wo winning? Ona national scale, the conversion of aur farmland taO housing and industry, croates na roaI wealth for the country. R le lust 'a redistribution from othor comm'unities !into the onamnic centre. As a rosuft, only those few individualslnvolved ýin the procose aif convé ttirI fmàhd -!inte develipment Increase their personal woalth. This redistribution aiso meane that ather 'communitios aro becaming poorer and poorer with every acre of Whitb farmlaâd turned inta tracts af houelnïg. le that gaad for the country?.Canada le maving alang the same, path that Sath American co.untrios have travelîed: a tew Ilarýe and rolatively well-off cities, wunth tho bulk of tho "caunt ry ether empty or popuîated with deserâteIy poor, unoducated peasants. If. wo continue* aiong this road, ane day shanty-tawns will b. a part of Whitby as weII. The final factar ln the false-Idea that we. are winnîng ecanomlcally Is food. -Many South Amenican countries us dta b. big food exporters. Now they are ail food importers., Oneoaf the main rossons fo~r this is that they have misusod thoir land. Sinco much of kt is no longer productive, thoy buy some of their food t ram us. SBut soon they wain't b. able ta afford ta. We are canvorting 10,000 acres af Southern Ontario farmland Into houss, roade and plazas each year. Soon enough, aur capacity ta produce ta fond will b. so limited by tho absence of ? aod farmland thatthe price of aur odwmill b. unafardàwbjè for ail but the very rich ln third word counitrios. Of course, that foad wMI aise cost us a hock of lot more.as Weil. Doos K roally make oconomic sonse ta continue ta bury, aur farmland beneath asphait? kt dos if you can b., a player in the conversion process and'want ta mako somo fast money. Sa thaï le why kt continues and seeme ta b. unstoppble'despite the tact thiat it is wrecking aur cauntry, guarantees strife between the irich nations and the poo>r odld m ans aur grandkids wlll s uifer 1 rom malntrition. Thore are so iew winners wnd so many, many I osemr in this centunuung ruination of aur farmland. Opinions expressed are those of the aut hor. 7 V~~~W2 ~ i 'I From farmland, to -asphait Pet owner responsible Viei/vpoint,