Ontario Community Newspapers

Canadian Statesman (Bowmanville, ON), 20 Jul 1983, p. 21

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i ) What a Quandary >1 Our beloved council has again Î; managed to get itself into another ^corner, without any easily apparent ^escape route. 'X This one deals with filling the ^vacant seat on council resulting Xfrom the untimely death of ^Councillor Keith Barr of Newcastle ^Village which is part of Ward III, !;Town of Newcastle. X Last week, Councillor Cowman •;brought the subject to a head by ^moving that an election be held in >Ward III. Obviously, it was what Xmight be called a frivolous motion, ^because she voted against it ^eventually, creating a tie, so the motion was lost. What it did was rule >out the possibility of an election ■■unless two thirds of council voted to ■rescind it and start over, which •;means that one councillor would zhave to change his/her decision, an : unlikely prospect. Where do they go from there? At least five and possibly six Ward III residents have already indicated they would accept an appointment to the post, most of them also willing to contest an election as well. With no election possible, unless a small miracle can be achieved, the one course that appears open at the moment is for council to announce that it plans to make an appointment, giving any other citizens time to submit applications, then have the clerk put all the names in a hat and draw one. Frankly, the hassle could have been avoided so simply if they had just appointed Ted Woodyard who was defeated in the recent election by the late Keith Barr. But, that would have been too simple and direct for our council who have to make things complicated. : Democracy in Action or 'Mission Impossible' > We are about to reprint the -minutes of a special council meeting >held June 27 in the hope that this will :jjprovide added insight into our local 'government. X These minutes are public ■information. But the subject under ■discussion is unknown because all of ;the debate was apparently held 'in ^camera'. ■: Admittedly, we can see in the Recorded minutes only part of the '.meeting. But the glimpsès we can '.catch of council through these ..proceedings show an elected body Jacked by indecision and unable to ^accept, reject, or even delay the ^matter it was called together to -discuss. : We note that in one hour and twenty minutes, council dealt with :i9 resolutions and was only able to -agree on innocuous issues such as ^adjournment, calling for a five- minute recess or going into camera. We'll say no more - and let the reader draw his or her own [conclusions. Without further ado, we present Newcastle Council at a special meeting held Monday, June .27, at four p.m. Minutes of a Special Meeting of ^Council held on Monday, June 27, -1983 at 4:30 p.m. in Court Room 2. "Roll Call. Present were: Mayor G.B. -Rickard, Councillor Ann Cowman, .'Councillor Diane Harare, Councillor :lvan M. Hobbs, Councillor Marie .Hubbard, Councillor R. Bruce -Taylor, Town Clerk, David W. -Oakes. Also Present: Chief Administrative Officer, D.N. Smith, ^Treasurer Kathryn Campbell, Town 'Solicitor David Sims. The Mayor ^called the meeting to order and read :the notice of special meetings "distributed by the Town Clerk, under :date of June 22nd, 1983. Resolution #C-469-83 - Moved by ^Councillor Hubbard, seconded by ^Councillor Taylor, THAT Council go Mo Committee of the Whole. - '"CARRIED" ; Resolution 0C-47O-83 - Moved by 'Councillor Cowman, seconded by 'Councillor Hubbard THAT the meeting be "In Camera". - ;"CARRIED". ! His Worship Mayor Rickard left the Chair to discuss a matter with !the Solicitor and asked Councillor Hobbs to take the Chair. ; Resolution #C-471-83 - Moved by Councillor Cowman, seconded by Councillor Hubbard THAT the matter for which the Special Meeting of Council was called be tabled for six months and reviewed at that time. "LOST". Mayor Rickard returned to the Chair. ' Resolution #C-472-83 - Moved by Councillor Cowman, seconded by Councillor Hubbard. THAT the matter for which the Special Meeting of Council was called, be , deferred for six months. "LOST". ; Resolution #C-473-83 - Moved by Councillor Taylor, seconded by [Councillor Harare THAT the Chief Administrative Officer's Confidential Report ADMIN. 37-83 be lifted from the table. "LOST". Resolution 0C-474-83 - Moved by Councillor Hobbs, seconded by Councillor Cowman THAT the meeting rise from "In Camera". "CARRIED". Resolution #C-475-83 - Moved by Councillor 1 Hobbs, seconded by, Councillor Cowman THAT the Committee rise. "LOST". Resolution 0C-476-83 - Moved by Councillor Hobbs, seconded by Councillor Cowman THAT the motion #C-473-83 voted upon earlier, be reconsidered at this time. "MOTION TO RECONSIDER CARRIED". Resolution #C-477-83 - Moved by Councillor Hobbs, seconded by Councillor Cowman THAT the Committee rise. "LOST". Resolution #C-478-83 - Moved by Councillor Harare, seconded by Councillor Taylor THAT the meeting be "In Camera". "LOST". Resolution #C-479-83 - Moved by Councillor Taylor, seconded by Councillor Hamre. THAT the matter for which the Special Meeting of Council was called, be deferred to the call of the Chair. "LOST". Resolution 0C-48Q-83 - Moved by Councillor Hobbs, seconded by Councillor Cowman THAT the previous motion be amended and that the words "to the call of the Chair" be deleted and the words "for six months" substitute therefore. "LOST". Resolution aC-482-83 - Moved by Councillor Cowman, seconded by Councillor Hubbard THAT there be a five minute recess. "CARRIED". Resolution #C-483-83 - Moved by Councillor Hubbard, seconded by Councillor Hamre THAT the meeting be "In Camera". "CARRIED". Resolution #C-484-83 - Moved by Councillor Taylor, seconded by Councillor Hamre THAT the recommendations contained in the Chief Administrative Officers Confidential Report ADMIN. 37-83 be approved. "LOST". The Chair's ruling on the acceptance of the preceeding motion was challenged by Councillor Hobbs. On being put to a vote, the Chair's ruling was upheld. The vote was four (4) to two (2) in support of the Chair. The motion as presented, is in order. Resolution #C-485-83 - Moved by Councillor Hobbs, seconded by Councillor Cowman THAT the meeting rise from "In Camera". "CARRIED". Resolution #C-486-83 - Moved by Councillor Taylor, seconded by Councillor Cowman THAT the Committee rise. "CARRIED". Resolution 0C-487-83 - Moved by Councillor Hobbs, seconded by Councillor Hamre THAT the meeting adjourn at 5:50 p.m. "CARRIED". Site Canadian Statesman 623-3303 (*CNA Durham County's Great Family Journal letâbllshed 129 years ago In 1854. Also Incorporating The Bowmanvllle News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mall registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62-66 King St. W M Bowmanvllle, Ontario L1C 3K9 JOHN M. JAMES Editor -- Publisher RICHARD A, JAMES Assistant Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. All layouts and composition ol adveillaemenls produced by lire employees ol The Canadian Slaleaman, The Newcastle Independent end The Jamea Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and muil not be reproduced without written permission ol Ihe publishers. 115.00 a year -- • months le.OO strictly In advance lotelgn -- V5.00 a year Although every precaution will be taken to avoid error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising In Its columns on the understanding that It will not be liable lor any error In the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof of such advertisement Is requested In writing by Ihe advertiser and returned to The Canadian Statesman business office duly signed by Ihe advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted In writing thereon, and In that case If any error so noted Is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman Ils liability shall not exceed such a portion of the entire coal ol such advertisement as Ihe space occupied by Ihe noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, July 20,1983 3 Base Line Tunnels SUGAR and SPICE A Summer Scenario i Well,now that Joe "Kamikaze" Clark has been replaced by "Jays III" Mulroney, we can all sleep quiet in our beds again, and drift into summer senesce'nce, along with our parliament. That's something that has always rather intrigued me - the long holidays holidays enjoyed by politicians. The only people who come near members members of parliament, when it comes to holidays, are teachers, and at least they are of some use. Can you imagine a huge company shutting down for the summer, unless unless it had to, because business was bad? Yet our government, looking after, supposedly, the needs and welfare of about 25 million peoplé, , and running a deficit of over 30 billion billion dollars, can close up shop for several months without a second thought. Does nothing happen in the summer? summer? Are the poor souls in the House of Commons so exhausted from scrambling to get into the TV picture right behind the leader that they are burned'out? Or are their brains so drained from thinking up witty ripostes like "Hear! Hear!" for Hansard that they simply must climb into a hammock and let the moss grow back into their craniums? Oh, I know the country keeps going. Thanks to a dedicated civil service, which hangs around steamy old Ottawa, slaving away in those air-conditioned offices, breaking away from the coffee break to sign the pension and welfare welfare checks, we stagger along somehow. somehow. But what would happen if a real crisis occurred? Let's say Cuba decided decided to invade Canada about the middle of July, just to make the Yanks even more Uneasy? Wouldn't it be foolawraw? Most of our opsoleeent planes and tanks are in Europe. Most of their pilots and drivers are on leave. The four ships of our navy that are not in drydock for more patches are cruising in the Mediterranean, Mediterranean, or the Sargasso Sea, or somewhere. Our Minister of Defence would probably be in China, trying to buy some fighter planes that don't crash every time they catch a pigeon in their intake. Our foreign affairs minister would probably be in Cuba selling guaranteed bulls, at which he is an expert. Our prime minister, God bless him, could be - you name it. Actually, if it happened, the Cubans Cubans would probably be so baffled, they'd just go back home and try to think of invading some country that showed a little panache, formed a guerilla opposition, died with a smile on its face while singing the' national anthem, or even welcomed the "liberators", as all conquering troops are called these days, with wine arid flowers. , X--' ' X, ' First of all, if they attacked our major cities on a July weekend, they'd find them as empty as Napoleon Napoleon found Moscow. If they wanted to kill somebody they'd have to head north. Can't you see a tank-full of Cubans Cubans sailing into one of our national or provincial parks on a Saturday night, and trying to find a place to park? No Canadian is likely to die singing O Canada? The first couple of bars are so slow they'd put the firing squad to sleep. But any red-blooded Canadian will fight to the death, and thoseof his children, wife and mother-in- law, to hang onto that camping spot he got up at 4 a.m. and drove 200 miles, and fought off six other site- hungry campers to squat where he had a view of the water. And if the Cubans did manage to get up north and slaughter a couple of thousand of Canadians, the rest of us wouldn't even notice. We'd think the machine-guns were motor-boats and mutter about "all these dammed city people" coming north and destroying the peace and quiet. Just suppose they did get up north, knocked off a couple of thousand, and headed back to the cities on Sunday night to take over the centres of power, like the post office, the pubs, and the poolrooms. Their forces would be completely 1 demoralized by the Sunday night traffic; Their tanks and armored cars would be sideswiped, rear- ended, and stopped so often injamS that they'd over-heat and stall. The drivers of these military meanies would be psychological basket cases. If they parachuted into Vancouver, Vancouver, they'd be surrounded, in some districts, by junkies begging for some of that clean Cuban stuff. If they hit Montreal in force and started shouting orders in Spanish, they'd get nothing but shrugs. Somebody would say, "Speak white, man." The next guy would say, "Parlez "Parlez français, sale cochon." If they hit Toronto, and demanded demanded to see the boss, some flunky would tell them that Bill Davis was at Go-Home Bay for the weekend and couldn't be disturbed. disturbed. All would not be lost, of course. By the time the Cubans had got back into their planes and flown home, bewildered Peter Pocklington would have threatened to buy Cuba; John Crosbie would have organized organized the Newfie navy; and Joe Clark would have called for a new leadership campaign. Just a summer "scenario", the latest fad word, for your consideration. consideration. Dear Sir: In the past year I have become a resident of the West Beach and love every day of being down here, but as the letter of last week stated, I have to agree with everything (he or she) said. As a kid 1 used to come down here every day arid had a great time, but times have changed. I would like to see a cleanup, and if possible to see the old dance hall restored and opened for old times sake, as many a good time was had by all in the old dance hall. In the meantime, we have to suffer with the dust from the speeders which our town can not do anything about because it is a private road, The only alternative for us it to put up fences across the road, marked private and then what. In closing, I would like to say that I think the conservation conservation area should clean up their weeds, and make a small lake to look out to. That way we could canoe, swim, see the marina, etc. As it is now, the only view I have from my kitchen window is weeds. Yours truly Mabel (Vanstone) Trimble A slip of a Cop can cost you plenty. Here is an example. A motorist driving a black Trans Am approaches an intersection - Stops at the stop sign - proceeds through with caution. A police car approaching approaching the intersection from different direction. Officer spots car going through, decides to give him a ticket for not stopping. Results being - a summons to appear in court or pay a fine of $28.00 - with a loss of three points off driver's license. Motorist goes to court and explains that he indeed did stop at the intersection and provides photos to prove that from where the cop first observed observed the offending vehicle that he could not possibly tell whether the car in question had stopped or not. The judge informed the motorist in court that the charges would be discharged - no fine was levied. Later, a letter was received by the motorist from the Department of transportation informing him that a conviction was indeed registered against him with a loss of three points off his license, The cost of increase increase for three years insurance insurance rate levied $800.00 first year additional. I cannot quite conceive why our system of justice leans to favour Insurance Companies when evidence provided by Cops doubted by a judge ana discharged by the same judge. Only upon notification from D.O.T, was provided 29 days later, leaving one day for the motorist to lodge an appeal. Appeal was denied. The same Judge states the motorist should read his book on the Highway traffic act, The motorist then attempts to acquire a copy of the book from the local license office operated by D.O.T. The motorist was informed that they did not have a copy or in fact never had one or never will have one, The only place one can be acquired is by writing to the head office in Toronto. I ask is the Highway Traffic Act hiding something? I don't think so but the system is. Durham Region Police seek respect from all motorists including including young ones, When an innocent person is subjected to such unfair practices, should they be made to pay the same consequences as those who are guilty? If this is so, I ask in all fairness can the justice system expect fairness in return? Bruce Colwell Jr. R.R.ti Bowmahville 623-8570 Victoria Park Farm, R. R. 1, Newtonville, Ontario LOA 1J0. Dear Sir, It was with a sense of disbelief disbelief that I heard of the decision by the council of the Town of Newcastle with regard to the vacant seat in Ward 3, To appoint a representative with 85 percent of the term remaining is not only irresponsible, irresponsible, but also an insult to the voters of Ward 3. I had seriously considered offering my services as a candidate in a Bye-Election and had made my views known to private citizens and business men of the town. The decision to appoint a person rather than through the normal democratic process process of election is unacceptable unacceptable to me and I am sure must be a serious deterrent to any acceptable candidate. To ensure appointment, I was informed informed I must lobby each councillor with obvious reper cussions on my future decisions. decisions. The tragedy of this act is that any^person chosen under these terms will always be suspect, regardless of their integrity and desire to serve. The cost of a Bye-Election is not a valid argument, it is the price we pay to ensure that the rson representing us is not ing manipulated by a cell for political reasons. I am sure the people who were prepared to support my aspirations will understand the dilemma this ruling by a split council has placed me in. Yours sincerely, ,• W. Clarke

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