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Volume 73, Number 11 GST Included $1.25 Wednesday March 17, 2010 Orono Town Hall Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Election of Chair goes to Region-wide referendum Every municipality in the Durham Region will have the same referendum question on its ballot this fall. At last Wednesday's council meeting, Regional Councillors voted to ask the same question, pertaining to how the Regional Chair is elected, on all the ballots in the eight regional municipalities at the same time. The ballot question will be: "Are you in favour of the Council of the Regional Municipality of Durham passing the necessary resolutions and bylaws to change the method of selecting its Chief from the appointment by the members of Regional Council to election by general vote of all electors in the Region?" Currently, at the first meeting of Regional Council following a municipal election, the newly elected regional councillors vote for a Chairperson. While the 28 Regional Councillors vote for their candidate, this method is deemed to be an appointment rather than an election. Regional Chair Roger Anderson has had his position since 1997, and has been re-elected to the position three times. This motion does not say the Regional Chair should be appointed or elected, according to Ajax Mayor Steve Parish. "It says people have the right to be consulted about something so important in their local democracy as to how the CEO of the Region is selected." The municipalities of Ajax, Pickering and Oshawa asked a referendum question on their 2006 municipal ballot asking electors if they wished the method of selecting the Regional Chair be changed to election by general vote. Of those that voted, an average of nearly 90 percent in the three municipalities voted "yes" to the question. Township of Brock councillor John Grant expressed concern as a councillor representing the more sparsely populated northern portion of the Region. He said he had concerns with someone running for election to the Regional Chair. "It is difficult to cost-justify running in rural areas," he said. "You have to go to where REFERENDUM see page 3 Nine-year-old Lydia Young participated in the Powerful Pottery class Monday at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, as part of Marchmania 2010. Various March Break activities for children continue daily at the VAC. What's Inside Durham Health info now secure Regional Councillors were told on March 10th that Ontario's Privacy Commissioner went out of her way to commend Dr. Robert Kyle and his team for the work they have undertaken to fulfill their obligations as custodians of health information. In December, the Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian said the report from the Region's Health Department of a lost USB key was a serious breach of privacy, and was "very distressing." In 2007 she had directed all Ontario Health information custodians not to transport personal health information on laptops or other mobile computing devices unless the information was encrypted. The Commissioner's office conducted an indepth investigation following the loss of the USB key, which was reported to her on December 21. The lost electronic memory device contained the unencrypted personal information of nearly 84,000 people who had attended H1N1 immunization clinics in Durham Region. The key was reported to have been lost in the parking lot at Regional Headquarters on Rossland Road in Whitby. Durham Region's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Kyle, sent a 95page report to the Commissioner on February 16, detailing the steps he had taken to bring his Department into compliance with her orders. Any health information stored on mobile devices is now strongly encrypted, Ross Fraser, Security Consultant hired by the Region, told Regional Councillors on Wednesday. Further, the Region has ceased the practice of collecting health card information at its H1N1 immunization clinics, and has securely destroyed all the HEALTH see page 3 See page 5