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Whitby student to attend U.N., conference Pg, 2 6 Robbery suspect Chased, caugh Page 9 ROLE Mxed reactiïon to proposed change By Mike Kowaleld Last weekes approval of a pro- p osai to alter the.,role of Wlutby General Hospital has drawn the wrath of Town council and -a local citizens' group. HoWever, it also received the qualified support of the hospital board of dlirectors and Durham Centre MPP Drummond WVhite. Town coundil Monday callod upon Ontario Health Minster Ruth Grier to reject a recommen- dation to cenvert Whitby General into a rehabilitation treatment centre serving Durhamn Region. Council's action foilowed endorsomonit of a report on the r egion's future acute care needs fthe Durhamn Region District ealth Council (see separate storios). Meanwhile, the Save Our General Hospital (SOGH) cern- mittee promises to make eli- mination of acute care services at Whitby Genoral an issue in this year's provincial election should Grier roject their overtures. "You'llprobably see us in Toronto at queen's Park,"» said SOGH co-chair JoAnne Prout. "We will asic the minister of hoalth to meet with us and we won't -go through the current member of provincial parliament. He's (White) unwilling to talce a stand.»' Although disappeinîted by the hoalth council decision, Prout was not surprised it happened. «Wo knew it would beé a long fight. Md just lilce to know why it s taken so long to corne eut with the same report?-? she asked. "To suggest they (health coun- cil) represent the views of the community is a farce. They've totally ignored the wishes of the community.» Last year SOGH collectèd more. than 31,000 naines' on a petition demanding that Whitby Genoral bocome a full-service, active treatment hospital. Tepttion was presented in thei Ontro legislatureë"byWhite and Durham East MPP; Gord Milîs. «It's really a sad comment.on the sta te of the province when this (study) is their only answer,» said Prout, who dismissed argu- monts that closIng the hospital was an option facing the acute care steermng committee. "I think that given that threat, they should have. fought it pub- licly,» she said. "Thats called blackmail and when y ou give in to that' it strengthens the blackmailer's position. They should have called lhefr (government's) bluff.» As of last Thursday, Mayor Tom Edwards had notseen the steering committee report but was "trribly' disappornteci the changes were se lim7îted.» Edwards said Durhamn Region mayors were to have received a briefing on the report last Wed- nesday but it was postponed due to the lùneral for former Scugog Townshipý co uncillor Yvonne Christie. "Whmen I informed them (health council) of this, I assu- med they~ wouldpuof hi decision, ho said.puofter "But now that they've got to this step, I hope the communityv will, rally te the point of view beingproposedbyWitby coun- cil, the SOGH comrittee and te some extent, the Whitby hospital SEE PAGE .9 Not enough beef hi budget, says chamber By John Dujay The much anticipated federal budget was delivered Monday, but it didn't gofar enough in its Loais, according te the Whbitby Ch amber of Commerce. "Chamber members have un- equivocally and repeatedly teld us that the deficit must be zero by the end of this governmentVs current mandate,» said president Allan Faux. However, the budget only pro- mised a thre-yar tixtble with a deficit redluction te about $21 billion. Faux reacted harshly te new taxes such as a 1.5-cent-a-litre gasoline excise which goos into effect immediately. "Our mes- sage was qute clear, no new taxes,» saidTF ux.. Ontario PC leader Mike Har- ris, who was campaigning with local PC candidate Jim Flaherty in downtown Whitby on Tuesday, Gangfigt'averted Police broke up what tfley believe could have turned inte a large gang fight at Willow Park Sunday night. Offlicers feund more than 100 youths at the park, south of Rossland Road and east of Thick- son Road, *when. they arrived shortly bofore 8:30 p.m. Durhamn Regional Police In- specter Walter Hall saysth youths were supposedly gathered for "the sole purpose of engaging in a gang fight»7 between the 20-member Whitby gang known as The Locos, and some friends ofýp eople they had harrassed. And, as it turned eut every young person in south Whitby gathered te watch,» says Hall. «Once the police arrived, of course, everybody scattered and that was the end of that. Two 17-year-old Whitby maIes were arrested and charged with causing a disturbance and assault. Under the Young Offen- dors Act, they can't be identifled. There. were a couple of fist- fights - ne weapons involved --b ut Hall says it could have been a lot worse. "Yeu get that many people gathered in a small area, sure, there's always the potential that pepecould get hurt... we woro including a stop at The F'ree Press office,. said "Any tai in- crease costs jobs. The one-and- a-half-cent-per-litre gas, tai in- crease is a good example.»* Harris said that anytime the government takes money away fromn the private sector, it adds te, the cost of doing' business, he said. "In Ontario we need less taxes, net more,» he said. Harris aise criticized Finance Minister Paul Martin's downsiz- ing plans, which calis for a cut of about 45,000 civil servants. "Where are these. people going te, go?" ho asked. The cuts Martin made were the minimum that world bankers were demanding, said Harris. However «There's stilI no plan te taeth ud et te zoero.» One o tgemost daniaging aspects te, local small- and mediuni-sized businesses, espo- cially professienals, was te have ail adopt a Dec. 31 year-end. It is estimated te brin ,g in $170 mil- lion next year and an additional' $300 million by the 1997-98 fis- cal ear. "Thi mandating of yoar-end will negatively impact a high- saE PAGE 10 1 -Ma Workers to get more say iHydro operation Pg More reaction to the 'experiment' > Pge25 '-'. ý'ý; ýý , 1 a