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Page6, WhttyIrePFseWpmesay 1u~19, 19 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby resîdents for Whîtby residents! MEMBER 0F: CANADIAN ONTARIO COMMUNITY CR AIýj COMMUNITY NEW$PAPER 7A NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION ISSN#0844-398X The Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes in Whitby, Brooklin, Ashburn & Myrtie as well as numerous public and commercial outiets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 27,500 COPIES DELIVEREED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $34 + GSI - Outside Canada $80 + GST Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Imc. Box 206,131 Brook St.-N., Whitby, Ontario Li N 5S1 Phone: 668-611il Out of town: 1-800-668-0322 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pither - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20%/ recycledcontent using vegetable based inks. cAil written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright law. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution shou!d bear a credit line to the Whitby Free Press. Fox, Souch 'on the moon' kept,' Free Press, Where havo Mr. Souch and Councillor Dennis Fox been for the past yoar? On the moonl Mr. Fox, -was your re-election with such a narrow margin s0 traumnatic that you are still campaigning? Do you believe that tho service clubs of Whitby could be s0 easily peuaded not to make decisions in spite of any suggestions. What an insultl At no time did Save Our G3eneral Hospital suggest that any persan or group not givo funde to the haspital. Mayor Edwards and al incumbent counicillors, after realizing that the hospital was a very important issue to the electorate, campaigned vigorouely to do everything possible to keep Wyhitby General Hospital a full service acute cars facihitity. Athough it was msleadîng and, maybe even irresponsible, I recaîl that yau as a group, placed a haîf-page ad in the Free Prosse tathis effect. Mr. Fox stop whining and get on with keeping your election commitmnent by doing ovegthing you can ta keep Wýhitby General Hosia full service facility. p Mr. Souch, how dare you suggest that "if Whitby General is not aîlowed ta expand and grow, it willI be from a lIack of cammitment fram this council and community.w t wili be because of a lack o! commitment f rom the former and present hospital board, hospital administration as well as Wh itby council. The community made their position very clear a yeàa ag with a succeseful potitian, rai y and ii and receivod nothing but silence from you. Your inertia has created this confusion in the community. Your excuse is that you da not want ta close an y doors. The anly doors that are clasing are on the citizens af Whitby when they are unable ta accees acute and omnergency services in Whitby. This is not a car you are negotiating Mr. Souch. Athough you nover negotiate wîth ultimatums, y ou do nat negotiate from a'position of we wlfl take anythîngyou wlll give us. 1lwoul suggest that you and Whitby councîl stop the rhetoric and tako a f irm stand, in writing so that our present MPP can show a united stand on this issue. This le the very least that you owe the citizens of Whitby and what SOGH has been wanting, without succese for the past year. It may be timo to resurroct the petition and again presont it to the Srosent m inister of health. It was son demonstratedl this p ast year that the residents of Whitby will not keop silent on issues that are s0 important to the community. Ruth Holdsworth Whltby Twisted innuendloes To the edîtor: Re: 'Pledge is kept,' Fr.. iPros, July 12. The east ward icouncillor's 1997 re-election campaign continues ta roll, refueled b y the knowledge that spending four times more than hie closeet competitor doesn't assuro him an easy victory. In his pursuit of anothor term, ho dose not lot the facts or the truth get in the way of attempts ta discredit his opponont. A case in point, hie recent performance at council where ho inventod the scenaria that "people who ran for counicil aeked the service clubs not to contribute to the hospital. Unfortunately, they listened and the hospital has sufored.* l's that kind of performance b y an elected officia] that gives ail politicians a bad name and fuels the cynicism of the voters. Be advised Mr. Councillor, your twisted innuendoos wilI no longer g o unanewered. Why don't you try doing yaur job and etand on your record in 1997? Jana McClusksy WhItby To the edîtor: «As faunding members of the Save our General Hospital committee, we are repeatedly bewildered by the need to defend our actions. This g roup. was spawned from the public outrage at the possibility of losing acute cars and emergency services at Whitby General Hospital. Our purpose has always been to fight agiai nst that happening.. We have fought by rallying this outraged community, and by keeping the hospital's precarious future in the forefront, thereby making it diff icuit for quiet, damaging decisions to be made. if those with less resolve than SO)GH feel threatened by our determination, we won't apologize for that. Along the way we have been accused of. ,many .thing's, becaming the scapegoatf or anyone looking ta, defleot negative attention from themselves. If that's the price we pay for keeping acute care and orner gency services in the Town of Wh itby, thon it's a sma Il price to pay. With a new provincial government, thero is an opp.ortunity ta influence the decision on Whitby General Traffic. slowed t by island To the odîtor: Re: 'Traff ic calming island to be remnoved,'July 12. Regardin g the traff ic circle at Atho Iand-Gilbert Streets, 1 think it is a terrible mistako to remove it. As I live in one of the housos on said corner, I have full knowledge of how it has worked since being installed. It has slawed traffic, and there has been not one accident. 1 have witnessed most of the mishaps before it was put in and' talkod to the unfortunate people involved and nat one was from this area. 1 hope at least thoy consider putting in a four-way stop, or 1 arn sure someone wil have to be killed before they act. B. Roxborough, Whltby Hospital's future, and if in any Way SOGH contributed to that, we are proud. W. propose that if the health minister must approvo the flawed) acuto care steering committee's rpcommendatlons, ho do so with an amendment that clearly entronches acute cars and 24-hour emergency services In Whitby General Hospital's future. The battle Is not over yot. Don't b. lulied into a -false sense of victory. The toughest' fi ght may still b. before us. Therefore now more.than ever w. should ail pull 'together as on. community. JoAnne Prout Co-chair Dlrk Langsrak Co-chair Where is national pride? By Alox Shepherd I attended many high sohool graduations and l've noticed most tpeople can't b. bothored singing the nationai anthem a lot of the time there is no Canadian flag prosent. 've also noticed that some rocipients of the Governor Genoral Award can't tell me who the Governor Generalilis. When I askoed where the flag was at onoe chool, I was informed it wasn't present because "et udents steai them." That's a pretty lame excuse. If student stole books, would they discontinue their use? Books are basic tools for building a good education s'ystemn just as a country's symbols and institutions- are basic tools for nation-building. WMon I speak of pride in ono's nation, or nationalism, l'm not advocating ideologîes that procodod two world wars. A fervent nationalism was at theo mot of both of those conflicts and it did no one any good. When nationaii -sm takos that form, that's when the old adage, "a little oducation can be dangorous thing,w comes to niind. ,MW nationalism isn't manifest destiny, imperialism, world coqnquost, ethnieclceansing or the destruction of roligious groups. iFor me, it is Canada's reputation- worldwide as a nation of reason and tolorance; a nation attempting to deal with cultural diversity; hopefully a nation where political representatives are ailowod to speak for themseîves and on behaif of their constituents. t is clear to me we are not teaching our youth the importance of Canada as a nation, and this is a travesty. Sure, we toach about world wars and Canada's role in them. We teach the rich history of voyageurs, railroads and seaways. But is that enough? No. it's not. Teaching respect for our eystom of government, our institutions, our fîag, our country and our nation's raIe in the world is what will koep this country together. Let's start by taking more seriously this country's flag -- as young as it is -- and what this country has accomplished over the last 30 years fly*ng that flag. Don't invite me to any more'school auditoriums where we fail to display this nation's f lag- Afex Shepherd is MPýfor Durhamn ridîng whÎch includes Whitby -north of Taunton Road. To reach hîs constituency office, cl 721-7570 (Oshawa). The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters to the elio on any subjeot of conoem to aur reacders. Letters should be brief and ta the point - rarely more than 300 wards. Al letters must be acompanied by the name, address and telephone numiber of the writer. However, an request, your name may be withheld from publication if we agree there is a valid reason. The newspaper reserves the right ta reject or edit ail letters. Send ta: The Editor, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ont. LUN 5S1, or drop through our mail siot at 131 Broàk St. N. To the edlor: Re: 'Pledge is1 July 12. Entrench acute care: SOGH 7-77 --7 7- 1 To the editor.,,. 1