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'Weekly Times Canada t .. 5aSS?g^SS3£gSSS!S5i:g: Good things in store for the New Year The holiday well behind us, (other than the outstanding outstanding order from Sam the Record Man - items they have in their catalogue, but obviously not in the store) we've turned our attention to embracing a new year. Mayor John Mutton, wearing a refurbished chain of office, gave his 'State of the Municipality" address Monday night. _ . The address was a four page list of what he called, A summary of some of the great things to happen in 2005. If municipal councillors and staff, or Team Clarington" as the Mayor referred to them in his address, accomplish all the items on the summary list as outlined, they will have put in a very full year. Though most of the items mentioned on the summary list were for Bowmanville, Newcastle and Orono did get a mention. Orono was mentioned with Bowmanville in the development of Community Improvement Plans. Staff will be building on the streetscape works done in 2004 in Bowmanville and focusing on the renewal of town centers, according to the Mayor's address. Staff will work with landowners to identify visions and initiate initiate grant and loan programs for funding facades and sig- lia At the Port of Newcastle Waterfront Park, staff will investigate the bluffs in preparation for future development. development. Also in Newcastle, a study will be initiated to assist in determining the specific components of the Newcastle Recreation Facility. While things seem quite slow in the news department right now, I have a feeling once the Team starts knocking the items off the list, there will be no shortage of items to cover Subscriptions $29.91 + $2.09 GST = $32.00 per year. Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 • Agreement No. 40012366 Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. 'We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through fÿjjfm the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. ^ OCtlâ CanadS ^uuia "jmjy ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON LOB 1M0 'S®** Email: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax 905-983-5301 Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Sports and Display Advertising - Donna Wood Front Office and Classified Advertising - Rosey Bateman Letter to the Editor Eliminate duplication- revise municipal act Staying in Touch MPP John O'Toole Dear Editor, An article appearing In the January 9, 2005 edition of the Durham Sun, an insert of the Sunday Sun, states that Mayor John Gray of Oshawa favours regional- only councillors and to eliminate eliminate all local councillors. Reasons being--they are elected for the same term of office and serve primarily the same role. I agree with him 100%. There is much duplication. Each municipality in Durham would save well over $100,000 per year plus all the other benefits and perks we pay for. If you look at the chart, Clarington has the dubious distinction of paying local councillors the most. For a local councillor (lie annual stipend is $25,856 lor a population population of 75,000. Compare this to Oshawa where the local councillors are presently paid $23,527 for a population of 145,700 almost twice that of Clarington. Ajax is $20,986 (population 82,000), Pickering Pickering is $25,000 (population 93,400), and Whitby $22,700 with a population of 93,800. It is time that the municipal municipal act is revised so that local and regional council stipends are set by a provincial provincial body that takes into consideration consideration the different populations populations and the work load. This would create a uniform stipend across the province. It would do away with the system we have now where councils set their own stipend and give themselves an amount they feel they can get away with without upsetting upsetting voters. George Van Dyk Row man ville Greenbelt Roundtable January 24 in Brooklin With my colleagues Jim Flaherty (MPP for Whitby- Ajax) and Jerry Ouellette (MPP for Oshawa), and I will be hosting a consultation Monday, January 24, into Durham Region Greenbelt issues. Our Greenbelt Roundtable is at Brooklin United Church. (19 Cassels Rd. E.). It commences at one p.m. Tim Hudak (MPP for Erie-Lincoln and Opposition Municipal Affairs Critic) will be joining us as co-host. 1 im Hudak's advocacy in the Legislature, along with all members of the opposition caucus, convinced the government government not to rush the legislation legislation through the house before Christmas, as was previously planned. Protection of green spaces, preservation of farmland and strengthening rural communi- imv mi ml rnmn'm a DriOI'ltV. However, Greenbelt issues that need to be addressed include: compensation for farmers and all those adversely adversely impacted by the legislation; establishing limits and boundaries boundaries to the Greenbelt based on solid planning principles; and property rights for greenbelt greenbelt residents. Please take the time to have your say. To ensure we can accommodate everyone who will attend, an RSVP would be appreciated. Our constituency office may be reached at (905) 697-1501 or 1-800-661-2433. (E-mail: john_otoole@ontla.ola.org.) Provincial Budget Talks Highlight Broken Promises As a member of the Legislature's all-party Finance and Economic Affairs Committee, I travelled to Sudbury, San It Stc. Marie, Ottawa and Kingston last week to receive input into nnfni'IrVv next m'OVitlCi&l budget. We heard from a wide cross-section of Ontario, including representatives of healthcare, business, education, education, arts and culture. In my experience, there are similar concerns across Ontario. However, each region expresses unique priorities. priorities. We are paying more and receiving less, with no indication indication that Ontario's books will be balanced any time soon. As we look to the 2005/06 budget, we should keep in mind the fact that at this time last year, the Premier and the Minister of Finance were still promising not to raise taxes. Millions of dollars were spent last year in an exercise that was supposed to garner public opinion on budget priorities. In spite of all the input, the Liberal government introduced introduced measures such as a regressive health premium and the de-listing of chiropractic chiropractic care and other health services. Because of Dalton McGuinty's broken promises, the average family is paying approximately $1,000 more per year in taxes. According to the government's own financial plan, the provincial debt will grow by $100 of every second of every day. (In O'TOOLE see page 3