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Program promotes hoe care P.9.5 Resident remebers landingawYes12 Whitby General 'sil hibusines page 4 St John honlour for lifesaver mzel Fiire hl pirojeet lis appoe By Mike Kowalisld Whitby fire departmnent's new headquarters is ffinally a go. A *3.2-million fire Ea I on Taunton Road East tops -the liat of four more local Rrojects appro- ved for funding' under the Canada/Ontario Difrastructure Works proqrsni. - lh.projects, totalling almost $4.3 million, were announc.d F'riay durin a press conference held ini the Witby council cham- bers. Also, receiving approval were the following $ 760,000t to reconstruct Dun- das Street from Brock Street to Hickory Street; * $250,000 for improvemente to Caseels Road Bridge in Brook- lin; * $80,000 to upgrade street- lighting on Brock and Dundas streets in the downtown cor.. A beaminig Mayor Tom Edwards joined Ontario riding MP Dan McTeage and Durham Centre MPP Drmmond White' in announcing detaile of the fundingf. "Today my cu p runneth over...this day thril le me with delight,» said Edwards. 'le federal government has been tru. to its word and the provincial government has moved on it,» le said «Other people (Ontario munici- palities) are still making applica- tons and today we're making this announcement.» The four projecte bring to seven, the number cf local pro- jects approved for funding under the joint federal-proviftcial-muni- cipal initiative. Announced ,arlier were the *1.4-million expansion cf the Whitby Seniors' Activity Centre and $ 163,000 for playground equipment and im provements to Pringle Creek and Otter Cre.k parka. The seven projects, of the 10 initiall submitted 4y Whitby, total L$K.8 million and will create 207 construction jobs. Both McTeague and White saluted Whitby for being on. of the firet Ontario municipalities to take advantage cf the pro- gram. A major plank of the Liberal party's campnaign platform in last ectcbes federal election, the programn is aimed at creating jobs whule improving the coun- try'e infrastructure system. Priority ie given ta such pro- jects as water and sewer facili- ties road and bridge work, and pubLicly-owned buildings. «When you g et your act together you wind Up batting 100 per cent ... Whitby le batting 100 percen,» aidcTeague. 'Tis le an excellent initiative which responde to the com- munity's needs and, most of aIl, creates empîcyment,» he added. Whitby was 'Yirst off the mark» to receive funding, "not just in DurhamnReiobut Ontarlo " said White. Uit showsà how well prepared tis Town is,» hie said. More than 1i000 applications have been filed >Y, Ontario muni- ci aites and school boards to tkeadvantagecf the shared- cost programWthe nt Il. cost cfheprojecte wilI be split evenly between the three levels cf gov.rnment. In Ontario, up to 37,000 direct and indirect jobse are exectd to be created bý the $2.1 billion to be spent in thia province. "These are short-terni jobs one might say» White conceded, "but they add up to long-termn invest- ment.» Tii. provincial governmnent has known for some time that Ontario's infrastructure systemn le inadequate or agnq' and that ie why it has optdto ýsped up» other activity such as expansion of Hwy. 401 and the future Hwy. 407, White added. Edwarde said the program allows Whitby ta build two of ite most needed facilties at roughly the same time. With representatives cf the fire department and seniors' centre in attendance, Edwards briefly recalled the heated dis- cussion of a few years ago when Town council debated which pro- ject would be given priority. A nw fire hall ultimately won out, but that is a moot point now, Edwards said. The. 24,240-square-foot fire department headquarters will be built on the site cf Whitby's former public works operations centre east of Hwy. 12. Work will include demolition cf an .xisting building, upgrading furnishinge and a new communi- cations centre. The seniors' centre expansion will involve eniargn the exist- in facility on Brock Street Suth. Built in 1967 for 250 members, the centre now has a member- ship cfMore than 1,600. Wile pleased with Friday's announoemenit, Edwards told h je senior government colleagues SER PAGE 14 VIP grads THESE HAPPY R.A. Hutchison Public Sohool Grade 6 students graduated fromn the VIP (values, influences, peers) pro- gram in a ceremony held Thursday night at ^*-the sohool. Durham Regional Police youth bureau constable Peter Bramma presen- ted the program ta the students. Photo by Mark Reesor, Whltby Free Press Unsafe work conditions at j* ail, says u nion By Mike Kowalsld A hearinq, later this month will determnine if the use of tempor- ar employees creates unsafe woking conditions at Whitby Jail. An appeal cf a health and safety inspector's ruling that it does not, will b. heard at the Ontario Ministry cf Labour office in Toronto on June 2 1. TIl. union representing bath fuil-time and temparary guards at the. jail, bas filed the appeal under the. Occupational Heéalth and Safety Act. Thie union dlaims the use of temporary or unclassified wor- kers pute fuil-time guards at risk since casual e 1loees are net as well-trained as 1ui-time staff. Ii. frequent use cf unclassi- fied workers is purely an econa- mical mcv. airned at saving the govemnTent meney, insists a spokesperson for the. Ontario P'ublic Service Empioyees Union (OPSEU). A government officiai, howe- ver, dismisses the union's com-: plaint, claiming that casuel staff are «qualified" institutions administrators te work in penal and that jail must b. allowed the flexibility cf using part-time enipioyees.' OPSEU staff representative Barry Casey said the union took this action after It failed to reach an agreement with the Ministry of Correctional Services over the use cf t.mporary employees. 'TMe union bas been lobbying for quit. some time te, ensure that ail employee hired in cor- rectionai services are fully trained,» said Casey. "Duri* the past few years the minithas been using tempor- ayworkers and they are not fur training these people," he The. training invoives only an "orientation session," he claim.d. For example, casual staff have net been taught the proper us, cf tear gas, Casey said. VI there was a rt, these peopie wouldn't kriow how to handie it," he said. Casey said there have been seven separate incidents of job refusais by fuli-tîme staff assig- ned to work with temporary employees. "Our position is that al empioyees shouid be properly trained,» h. said. The. job refusais involve full- time guards refusing te do work they cansider unsafe, Casey said. After the first refusai, a labour ministry inspector was calied in ta make a ruiing and he rejected the union s complaint. «He believed the work was not unsafe,» said Casýey. The. inspecter issud'the saine ruling in each subsequent refu- sai, (3asey added. Since OPSEU represents bath the 50 fuil-time gu ads and 25 temporary" woarrs, Casey stressed that the union bas- no quarrel with the. latter group. 'Tii employer le net foilowing its awn pol icies regarding train-, ing and net foliowing its own occupationai heaith and safety rules," he said. «Tii. only reaéonable explana- tien is the. large cost in training the temporary workforce. «Both ministries are more con- cerned with cost savings." Jail superinten dent Orvillie Kerlew wvas net available for comment. Jackie DeSouza, a communica- tiens officer with correctionai services, defended the. use of unclassified %workers. S' J4PAGE 14