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2 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, April 6,1994 Section Two Editor - Peter Parrott For 139 Years, Our First Concern Has Been Our Community Publisher - John M. James Assoc. Publisher - Richard A. James Plant Manager - Donald J. Bishop Ad. Manager - Brian G. Purdy Production Rick Patterson, Ross Fisher, Laurens Kaldeway, Doug Lugtenburg, Sharon McMullen, Barb Patterson, Ralph Rozema, Jim Snoek, Vance Sutherland, Jim Tuuramo Advertising Lavcme Morrison Editorial Brad Kelly, Lorraine Manfredo, Laura J. Richards Office CCIMA PAID Former Publishers Rev. W. R. Climie, 1854-1878 • M.A. James, 1878-1935 • Georgè W. James, 1935-1957 Angela Luschcr, Junia Hodge, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman, Marilyn Rutherford Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited p.O. Box 190, 62 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario, L1C 3K9 905-623-3303 Fax 905-623-6161 Young Voices Need to be Heard and Seen Seen and not heard. Most people know this phrase was once used to describe the ideal child. It suggested that children were not yet fully human and needed to go through a process of training and maturing (under adult supervision, of course) before it was worthwhile listening to anything they might say. Today, no progressive parents or educators would subscribe to the "seen but not heard" philosophy. And yet, a report from the Ontario Coalition for Children and Youth concluded that "young voices" are still not being properly listened to or consulted. Indeed, one of the findings of the 64-page report prepared by youths after meetings with children and teens across Ontario is that issues connected with youth are not always given the priority they deserve. And, when such issues are dealt with, young persons are rarely asked to give their views concerning possible solutions. The solutions tend to be imposed by adults. Not surprisingly, the report came up with the recommendation that all levels of government provide mechanisms which allow youths a permanent opportunity to have a say in those decisions which affect them. Perhaps an even more important finding of the report is the conclusion that "children and youth who were consulted believe that the. adult world is not adequately preparing them for the changing world which they will enter as adults." Among the many findings is a suggestion that parents should take mandatory courses so that they can better understand their children and develop better parenting skills. Recurring comments also indicated concerns over violence and..racism, the effectiveness of schools, and future career prospects. However, even if governments agree to listen to the views of youths and children, they will find that the young people do not speak with a single voice. The young, it would seem, are no different from the old or the middle aged when it comes to their ability to hold a variety of views. There is no single viewpoint shared by all youths. For instance, some of the youths praised the move towards a graduated driver's licence program. Others opposed it. Some agree with the de-streaming of the high school curriculum. But a large number preferred to have courses based upon the level of academic skills required. The difficulty facing governments committed to listening to the views of youth will be exactly the same as the difficulty facing governments who listen to the views of adults. There is more than one opinion being expressed. Sometimes those opinions are contradictory. It is not easy to carve public policy out of an increasing clamor of special interest groups. • And then there is the problem of setting priorities. Anyone reading the report from the Ontario Coalition for Children and Youth will agree that the concerns are valid and the suggestions are meaningful. However, governments must weigh not only the suggestions of individuals but also the demands of literally dozens of special interest groups who are equally convinced that their concerns should come first. Governments must eventually decide whether the interests of youths are. more important than the interests of senior citizens or those of farmers or business-owners, to name just a few. It seems to us that, although the government is getting advice from all quarters these days, economic concerns must take top priority because a strong economy can enable all of Canada's communities to succeed. For instance, if children and teens are concerned about career opportunities, a strong economy can offer them jobs in the future and provide part time work in the present. If they are concerned over declining educational opportunities, an improved economy can allow governments to spend more money on teachers and schools. If there are concerns over violence, a healthy economy can pay for more enforcement or education programs and help rehabilitate those who are outside the law. Economic prosperity will not solve all the problems mentioned in the report from the Youth Coalition. But it will certainly help. Meanwhile, "young voices" must be listened to. And there is increasing evidence that governments, educators and parents are doing just that Bike Patrol Ready to Roll in Clarington W.-p by Laura J. Richards t<Ze£tWl Food, the final frontier On Thursday nights there are about 25 people who gather at the Bowmanville Bowmanville Seventh Day Adventist Church to learn about nutrition and vegetarian cooking. My apartment-mate, Gillian, and I arc two members of this group. The program includes cooking demonstrations, discussions and videos videos which are all based on learning about new eating habits. Unfortunately, I find some of the videos rather disturbing, as they are blatantly one-sided. But, I suppose they (those showing the videos) could say the beef, dairy, and egg marketing board commercials are also one-sided. If the information could be balanced, balanced, the individual would be more likely to accept the information presented. presented. However, there is no attempt to show the different sides of the story- story- For example, last Thursday we watched a video entitled "Trapped in the Web." It discusses the effects of caffeine. In this video, it is learned that many people will consume up to eight cups of coffee a day. A scientist who wanted to watch a spider spin a web during the daylight hours decided to give the spider a shot of caffeine so it would work at that time. The caffeine exceeded the dosage dosage contained in the number of coffees coffees per day a normal person would actually drink. The spider, instead of working during during the day, waited until the night to spin its web. However, the shape of tire web was out of kilter. For the next two nights, the spider tried to make a more symmetrical web and finally achieved it three nights after the injection. injection. > ■ This poor spider, which would not have normally come in contact with caffeine, was given a dose of the stimulant stimulant which might have knocked the socks off a human coffee-drinker. The video may have wanted to in- Letters to the Editor Streets and Sidewalk Repairs Should Receive Funding Dear Sir: I read with interest your recent feature article on the spending budget budget approved by Council for 1994. I think that the plan to convert the present Fire Hall into a seniors facility facility is very laudable, as is the plan to repair two of the main east west streets, but, as well, I feel very strongly that more of this infrastructure infrastructure money could be used to repair or rebuild some of the other streets in the Main Central Area which have been allowed to deteriorate until the only word to describe the sidewalks and the streets is DEPLORABLE!! Three examplesYcould mention arc Centre Street, Beech Avenue, and Concession Street West. There arc many other streets in the older sec tions of town also needing fixing. Perhaps fixing streets isn't as high profile as are fountains and pools, but, I think that the majority of taxpayers taxpayers would agree that streets and sidewalks deserve the higher priority. Yours sincerely. George R. Webster Re-union for Shelburne Students A by Rick James Remember when the provincial government assured us that Employment Equity would never force workers to be displaced to accommodate visible minorities? It has now happened. • I'm referring to the 90 part-time court officers who will lose their jobs because they arc over the age of 65 and the province is within its legal rights to terminate their contracts. They arc not being fired because of poor job performance. They are being fired because they arc not "politically "politically correct." The positions have already been advertised using the government's standard line of, "In accordance with our employment equity goals for this occupation, applications arc particularly particularly encouraged from aboriginal peoples, persons persons with disabilities and visible minorities." In other words, white males need not apply. My concern over this matter is that the ground has now been broken for workers to be fired because because of age discrimination, and new workers can be hired selectively for the sole purpose of achieving employment equity. With the precedent set, how much longer before that policy will be extended to the rest of the public sector and the private sector, in the same way the rest of the Employment Equity Act has been? Of even greater concern for our future is that the government government calls its decision, "reasonable and humane." For a government so committed to stopping discrimination, the N.D.R has contradicted its own mandate by firing and hiring discriminate^, Many people believe this type of policy is creating, creating, rallier than eliminating, racism in Ontario. Whenever I hear ibis topic discussed in public, it's easy to detect a sense of frustration, hopelessness, hopelessness, and even anger. For those people not included included in the target groups, they arc frustrated for be ing excluded from job opportunities because they are white. For those within the target groups, they are embarrassed and angered for being hired because because of their skin colour or gender, instead of their skills. Despite claims by the government that everyone everyone is given the same opportunity for employment, employment, we all know that simply isn't true. Everyone knows of someone who has applied for a job recently and been told outright that you need not apply unless you are from one of the target target groups. To understand the motives behind the Employment Equity Act, you must first examine the make-up of the group that administers it. According to statistics acquired through the Freedom of Information Act, the Office of Employment Equity is guilty of discrimination in its hiring policies. Its personnel records show that 90.5% of staff are female, 52.9% represent visible visible minorities and 5.6% arc aboriginals. The records indicate there arc no white males employed employed by the Office of Employment Equity. As a footnote to the issue, some of the 90 clerks being fired arc WWII veterans. It's ironic that these men risked their lives to fight for our freedom, yet their freedom of equal access to employment employment has been taken away. I'll be interested to sec how my M.P.P. friend, Gord Mills, responds to this issue. He is, after all, a WWII veteran and over the age of 65. Will he approve of the government's "reasonable and humane" humane" decision, or will lie prolcst such discrimination discrimination and support his WWII comrades? If he toes (he parly line, it would only make sense for him to resign or be fired to help achieve employment employment equity at Queen's Park. Shelburne High School Re-Union 1954-1994! To celebrate the 40th anniversary anniversary of the opening of the Centre Centre Duffcrin District High School in Shelburne, Ontario, an open house will be conducted on the weekend of June 4th and 5 th, 1994. There will also be several other functions taking place over the course of the weekend, including both a dance and barbecue. The Reunion Reunion Committee invites anyone who attended or taught at C.D.D.H.S. over the past 40 years to come and help celebrate this special event. Tills will be an opportunity to renew renew old friendships and reminisce with former classmates and staff. ' For further information and tickets for this event, please contact: C.D.D.IIS. 40th Re-Union P.O. Box 1110 Shelburne, Ontario LON ISO or Phone 519-925-5560 Fax 519-925-3553. See You There! m E form people about the effects of caffeine. caffeine. Instead, it merely dramatized to me that spiders shouldn't be drinking coffee. The other video, which I wondered about while watching it, concerned cow's milk. The video made it appear that milking equipment' is not clean and neither is the cow. In fact, most cows I know have sterilized equipment pumping their udders during the morning and night milkings, While I am not sure of how the other students feel or think about the videos, I really think that the videos should be an optional part of the course. If people really want to see the videos, then they can go early to the sessions or stay afterwards. I decided to take the six-week course because I want to improve the way I eat. Rather than base my choice of food on the "horrors," of nonvegetarian nonvegetarian cuisine, my decision to eat vegetables, grains and fish was made by my digestive system. My food choices remain limited. But, with help, I am learning about ensuring ensuring I meet my body's daily requirements. requirements. I want to know how other people eat. I want to know how to prepare food that is good-tasting and is good for me, without having to resort to fast food -- meat. When I signed up for the course, I was expecting to be able to discuss with the person giving the workshops information about nutrition. This way, we could figure out how to get all the vitamins and minerals we need. In some of the specialized vegetarian vegetarian magazines, one can find out that food combining (a method which ensures ensures complete proteins) is out, and other methods are in. I would like to follow up on that within the course. One of the tidbits of information I have found out is that, for your body to digest the iron in spinach, you should eat something citrus along with it. The Vitamin C will help your body Continued on Page 4 Stamp Show to be Held in Peterboro To whom it may concern: Stamp Collecting has been called "The King of hobbies and the hobby of kings." Researchers have said it is the world's most popular hobby. The Kawartha Philatelic Society believes these statements to be true and in an effort to promote our hobby, each year we present a Stamp Show. Our 38th annual show, KAPEX '94 is approaching very soon. It will be held Saturday, April 9, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Rockhaven Motor Hotel, Peterborough. The Kawartha Philatelic Society is a non-profit organization. We meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the Prince of Wales School Library at the comer of Monaghan Road and Sherbrooke Sherbrooke St. Everyone is welcome. Thank you for promoting stamp collecting by publicizing our show. Sincerely, J. Marie Olver « We A sked ... Do you think the provincial government should step in when strikes could be coming from essential service workers, like in the case of Ontario Hydro? .. .And You Said Adrian Garrett Frances Clements Bowmanville Bowmanville "Yeah. A lot of busi- "Yes, because patients Kelly Petrasek Bowmanville think the govern- Steve Oke 'Yes, we depend on the services right now. nesses will be effect- in hospitals would be mont has a lot of input It's not that I'd like to cd. A lot of rcslaur- affcclod." already and I think the take anyone's right ants will have to put food into ■ the garbage." garbage." people who arc direct- away, but it (a strike) ly involved in what's puts a lot of strain on go.ng on should have industries and hospi- thersay." , als ." P \ext week's question: Do you think the Durham Region should he disbanded? a