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.KMT WVUX.TA \MWXE^EteCH Éisiilüi r ^lv 'v- mMIe PAGE 4 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ March 2,2005 TTim Whittaker Publisher \joanne Burghardt Editor-in-Chief -Chris Bovie Managing Editor -Fred Eismont Director of Advertising -Eddie Kotodziejcak Classified Advertising Manager "Kirk Bailey Distribution Manager "Lillian Hook Office Manager Janice O'Neil, Cheryl Haines Composing Managers -Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 Œljc Canadian Statesman Opinion B MARCH 2, 2005 durhamregion.com Phone 905-579-4400 Classifieds 905-576-9335 Distribution 905-579-4407 General Fax 905-579-2238 Newsroom Fax 905-579-1809 E-Mail newsroom@durhamregion.coip 865 Farewell St., Oshawa ON L1H 7L6 Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 infodurhamregion.com EDITORIAL e-mail letters to ncwsroom@durhamregion.com Small in size but huge in impact :Task force must help strengthen relationships ; Ask any business man or woman and they will tell you, a [company just can't be successful successful if the sum of its parts isn't 'greater than the individual pieces. pieces. The same principle applies •when it comes to discussing our •economy. GM, OPG and Durham's public public sector may be our biggest "employers and obviously our [leading economic drivers, but [if truth be told, our region just ; couldn't function without the •little guys. ! The impact of small- and '.medium-sized business on our [economy here in Durham and [across the country is staggering. [For instance, small businesses, •which are classified as organizations organizations with fewer than 100 'employees, account for nearly 98 "per cent of all enterprises across Lthe country. ; T'. T [■„ The vast majority of those, or [about 80 per cent, have fewer [ than five people on staff, h So when you need your car •fixed, home repairs, day care, • dinner or even a bag of chips, .most often you're dealing with a "small businessman or businesswoman. businesswoman. - The Province recently empowered empowered a group to examine its relationship relationship with small- and medi- tim-sized businesses. Z The Doing Business with the ^Ontario Government Task Force, ^haired by Pickering-Ajax- jUxbridge MPP Wayne Arthurs, is on a five-stop tour of Ontario to better understand the current climate and how it can become better. Written submissions are also being collected until April 4, and the task force will eventually report back and make recommendations recommendations to the Management Board. His first stop, and the only one in Durham, was recently in Ajax and Mr. Arthurs heard businesses from across Durham express concerns about the need • to cut red tape, to level the playing playing field when it comes to small , enterprises competing for con- • tracts against big business, and the length of time it takes to receive payment from the government government for services rendered. There were others, certainly, but the message was that there is room to grow and work to be done on the relationship, The mindset of so many these days is that bigger is always better when it comes to doing business. However, we lose sight of all the pieces in our economic chain, at our peril, . . Without our small- and medium-sized medium-sized ventures, our communities communities would come to a crippling standstill. If we're going to continue to prosper economically, the Province Province must heed these voices and BACKWARD GLANCE Literatti Club has a blast ,„1W6 WHY WL W& UdktlWW JUST VMl » \nMA\EFCx CLICK AND SAY Today's question:: How would you rate the federal budget? , .$ ' Good Average Lacking Cast your vote online at infodurhamregion.com Last week's question: With many restaurants charged by the Region for health violations, will you think twice about dining out In the near future? No .37.9% Yes 62.1% Votes cast: 224 HAVE YOUR SAY What is your opinion of the recent federal budget? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .-mail letters to newsroom@durhamrcgion.com answer back that the small- and 27. Cartoon gay-bashers 'downright pathetic' To the editor: Re: Cartoon gay-bashing? Get a life, Neil Crone column, Feb. fïC medium-business \ relationship- { with the government is a priority. priority. [ ' Levelling the playing field, improving access, creating more opportunities .and making more services available are all vital to strengthening our economy in a critical area -- at its core. l.Neil .Cryhe hifLthe. jiail on -Üie. K! head with his column! With all the threats to a healthy and happy childhood -- abusive parents, growing up in poverty, the spiralling costs of post-secondary post-secondary education, violence in the schoolyard and so forth -- it's not only remarkable but downright downright pathetic, that some people out there waste their time and effort on perceived subliminal messages in cartoons! To worry about the sexuality of a make-believe sponge or what' kind of hidden message there is in a purple Teletubby would be laughable if it were a Saturday Night Live skit but is too venomous venomous to be humourous in real life. It would be tempting to suggest suggest that, if they would put all this spare time they evidently have into working with children directly, the world would be a "better place. But then again, with people so narrow-minded and spiteful, perhaps it's just as well that our youth continue to be shaped and influenced by cartoons instead.. Dave Ruch Oshawa Government is letting us down l photo courtesy of the Clarintgton Museums ana aremves «The Literatti Club, a musical and sporting organization, [involved mostly members of the Upper Canada Furniture [Factory. To the editor: Our governments are failing us miserably; The worst thing that ever happened happened was when regional government government was introduced. They want to be the boss but can't decide anything without consultants. We used to have representatives representatives that care about the people instead of how much money they can make. • , . Regional government is just a cash grab and should be abolished. abolished. Our provincial government is in ; a shambles with no plan foij tfie'future. I am still not sure.: what pur- federal .government:-'is'-. all about.'. i •■..) P.J. Noiles • ; ' i Oshawa 1 We need to find ways to help welfare recipients To the editor: Re: 'Most powerless, vulnerable need social assistance', Feb. 9. Through your article people have now gained an appreciation of the reality of social assistance and dispelled the myth of the welfare 'fraudster'. The next step is to increase support for programs that get people back to work. 1 work with people who experience experience barriers to employment, ' such as: attitudes towards people people with disabilities, lack of job experience/skills, long-term unemployment, recovering from addiction, surviving abuse, no Canadian work experience, and age. People who experience barriers may require specialized supports to get back into the workforce and often find themselves recipients recipients of social assistance, and, as the Minister of Community and Social Services stated in your article, there are not many supports supports to assist clients in obtaining and sustaining employment. With a tight budget, the Dur ham regional social services staff do an incredible job of connecting connecting clients with training, employ- ; ability skills and jobs. Having had the pleasure of working with the Region in a very successful pilot program that found jobs for Ontario Works clients, I have seen the staff's commitment and dedication dedication to help clients get back on their feet. However, the 11,630 Durban*: area welfare 1 recipients cannot be served by the existing staff and programs, no matter how dedicated. dedicated. We need to think outside the box. How can innovative employment and skills upgrading upgrading programs, offered by both private and non-profit organizations, organizations, work in partnership with the Region to reduce the number number of people dependent upon social assistance, strengthening our communities as well as our region's economy? We need our business, government government and community leaders to connect the dots between clients and the services that provide a hand up, not a hand out, and make real differences in people's lives. Faelyne Templer • , Ajax Pat Coles "There is not much in it for retirees." Norine Neild "I'm not impressed, it needs• work." . • .- Bruce Hadji "I'm varied in my views. It looks good but I'm not that sure it will be in the long terni. We should have joined the missile program." LETTERS We welcome letters that include name, city of residence and phone numbers for verification. Writers are generally limited to 200 words and one submission submission in 30 days. We decline . announcements, poetry, open letters, consumer complaints, congratulations and thank you notes. The editor reserves the right to edit copy for length, style and clarity. The newspaper newspaper contacts only those people people whose submissions have been chosen for publication. FAX: 905-579-1809; E-MAIL: Newsroom ©durhamregion. com. Bill Jeffs "I'm' glad they found some money for the military. I'm against Kyoto and day care." i Keep eye on the ball, Clarington ® . . .. , • J : nnirthUmir. mnVR Make sure 'services keep up Jwith growth * « Everywhere you look in Clar- Üngto'n, there's construction [going on. And practically every [council agenda screams of plans [for further development. ; There arc plans for a possible [Wal-Mart, a home improvement [store and a new, larger Loblaws [in the west end of Bowmnnvillc. [lust last week a public meeting [was held to discuss the potential potential of building another home [improvement store, restaurants tmd other retail development at the other end of town, at Bcn- Jennifer Stone nett Road and Hwy. 401. All of that development is contingent upon a number of considerations, including the results of a commercial commercial policy study currently underway, Then there's residential growth. Houses arc going up at a fast and furious pace. The population of Clarington has shot up by about 20,000 since-1996, and there's no sign of it slowing any time soon. Just last week, a public meeting was held to look at the possibility of allowing construction construction of 271 units in three four- storey apartment buildings in the Aspen Springs neighbourhood of Bowmanvillc. Everywhere you look in the municipality, new subdivisions arc going up. Heavy equipment and construction construction crews have become part ol Clarington's landscape. At the same time in the pther end of the GTA, Brampton council council is considering a recommendation recommendation from its planning committee committee that would cap residential growth annually at 5,500 units, to allow the city time to pro vide services for new neighbourhoods, neighbourhoods, and help cap tax hikes. Media reports, from that area tell stories of families moving into beautiful neighbourhoods that have no parks, no shopping, shopping, no services. The city has simply grown too quickly without without ensuring service levels have kept pace. So far, good planning and, in spite of what seems like constant construction out here, somewhat slower growth than has been experienced in Brampton Brampton means Clarington isn't in the same boat as the other city, As Mayor John Mutton says, this municipality has maintained an "infrastructurc-beforc-growth attitude," with parks and services services being built as residents move in. The "recreation wave" that crossed the municipality -- starting with a two-pad arena in Courtice, then adding sports facilities in Bowmanvillc, and now, with plans in the works for a recreation complex, complete with a pool, in Newcastle -- has helped ensure that people moving moving here have the services they need in their own community. Maintaining this level of service service is going to be a challenge for Clarington councils present and future. Keeping the'sense of community in Clarington depends on it. Reporter Jennifer Stone's column appears every other Wednesday. Email jstone@durhamregion.com. The Canadian Statesman is 1 one of the Metro.land Printing, Publishing and Distributing, ; group of newspapers. The j. Statesman is a member of the Bowmanville Clarington j Board of Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Com- j merce, Ontario Community { Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Canadian Community Newspaper. Assoc., Canadian Circulations Circulations Audit Board and the Ontario Press Council. The < publisher reserves the right to classify or refuse any advertisement. Credit for ad-[ vertisement limited to space [ price error occupies. Editorial and Advertising content of '• the Canadian Statesman is copyrighted. Unauthorized reproduction reproduction is prohibited. A ocna ./dd.-