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se PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, October 7, 1986 -- § Vi Se W PP oO i N T by John B. McClelland TIME FOR A DECISION The ongoing issue of whether the Port Perry Fair should be relocated to make way for construction of a new school on the present Fairgrounds is (hopefully) drawing to a conclusion. I say hopefully for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that this issue has been'dragging on too long in the community and deserves to be resolved one way or another, quickly. The Durham Board of Education (for financial plan- ning reasons) has asked for a decision on the fairgrounds as a school site by the end of this month. Township council held an open meeting with the Fair Board executive and directors on September 29, and pretty well put the cards on the table as to what the municipality is prepared to do for the Fair Board in relocating to a new site on 59 acres of public land behind the Scugog Arena. The Fair Board will be holding a regular meeting this Wednesday evening (October 8) to consider the pro- posals made by the Township council. Whether a deci- sion to move the Fair can be made at this meeting Wednesday night remains to be seen. I hope it can. The climate surrounding this issue appears much more favourable than it was earlier this spring. If a deci- sion is made now (or in the very near future) to relocate the Fair, the Township and the Fair Board will have well over a year to plan and implement the relocation. A three-cornered spirit of co-operation at this time between the Township council, the Fair Board and tne people of this community would go a long way "men- ding some fences" that have been damaged by this issue over the past few months. drove some deep wedges into this community and it was not a nice situation to see people pitted against each other over where to build a new library. Hopefully, the same thing can be avoided over the school site-fairgrounds issue. If the Fair Board decides (for whatever reasons) that it does not want to relocate, then let's put the lid on this thing once and for all. It will then be up to the Durham Board of Education to make haste and find another location for the badly need- ed elementary school in Port Perry. FORGIVE AND FORGET? Remember John Fraser? He's the former Fisheries Minister who resigned last year over the tainted tuna scandal. Fraser was forced to hand in his Cabinet port- folio, but kept his British Columbia seat for the Com- mons. The 'tuna affair" was one of the more nasty in- cidents on Parliament Hill in recent years. Well, John Fraser is back in the public eye. Last week, he was elected Speaker of the House of Commons by fellow MPs. 'House Speaker is kind of a tidy little plum for a fellow who just a few short months ago appeared to be headed for political obscurity. What I find interesting about Fraser's election is that his resignation as Fisheries Minister was secondary to the fact that he is far from fluent in the French language. Maybe the Members of Parliament feel that Fraser got a bum rap when forced to resign his Cabinet Seat. In any event, by electing him Speaker last week, the members indicated they have forgiven and forgotten. Frankly, his resignation and his lack of fluency in French are both secondary to his new job as Speaker. What he must do is restore some order and decorum to Parliament, especially Question Period. I used to tune in Question Period late at night to find out what was happening to the country. The antics of the Parliamentarians were a sad joke, most of the tire. Late night comedy on the tube should be the domai a of SCTV or Dave Allen, not the elected representativ .s of this country. Mr. Fraser has his work cut out for him. Canadians are losing their patience with politicians. If Mr. Fraser can keep control in the House and force MPs to behave like sensible adults rather than petulant children, it will do much to restore some respect among average folk for the people they send to Ottawa every few years. THAT'S THE SPIRIT Two weeks ago in this column I mused about how I would like to see the former lawn bowling green on Queen Street turned into an oben air skating rink this winter. I suggested I would take on the job of trying to Sogktinate volunteers to flood the ice and keep the snow off it. I must say the response has been more than grati- fying. I've had numerous phone calls from people will- ing to chip in and help. Township council has given its blessing to the idea, so it looks like it's going to fly. I've been keeping a list of the people who've agreed to volunteer their time and I'll be calling them all for an organizational meeting in the very near future. With this kind of community spirit and a little help from old man winter in the form of cold weather, kids and adults of all ages will be able to skate to their heart's content by Christmas (I hope). And this venture is not ~ going to cost the tax-payers of Scugog anything. I recall not too many years ago when another issue Cg, SI = 3 i] : Yesterday's Memories 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 7, 1926 A Record Box has been placed in the new Port Perry School wall containing the Voter's List of 1926, brief notes regarding the fire and steps taken to rebuild the school, records of staff and scholars of both High and Public Schools, numerous pictures including three views of Mr. Kent's garden, records from council, churches, library and other institutions, as well as many other artifacts and records. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Murray of Boston, Mass., and Mr. Cuthbert McLean of Tyne Valley, P.E.1., were guests of Mr. and Mrs. D.A. Lyle, Prince Albert over the weekend. Mr. McLean is attending Wycliffe College, Toronto. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 4, 1951 . Dr. G.M. Rennie, Port Perry, is attending the Ontario Public Health Association meeting in Toronto this week, as part of Medical Health officer's duty. Quite a few people from Utica attended the shower-dance at Man- chester for the former Dorothy McCartney and Joyce McKee on Saturday evening. Lawrence Medd and Clifford Boyington from Epsom were guests of the Shriners at the Shrine Circus held at Maple Leaf Gardens on Monday. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 5, 1961 Mr. and Mrs. J. Roy Ferguson of West Bank, B.C., are spending a couple of weeks visiting relatives in Cartwright. Mr. and Mrs. F. Pearce, Mrs. Sarjantson and Mr. and Mrs. L. Beacock were among the two Port Perry busloads who enjoyed Lake Placid, N.Y., on the weekend. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 6, 1966 According to the Census of Canada 1966, the population of Port Perry is 2,624. This is an increase of 123 people from 1965. Mrs. Gordon MacDonald, Port Perry, brought four of the largest potatoes from her garden in to the "Star" office. The total weight of the four was 101b. 4 oz. and thelaxges* measured ¢' i heignt and 6" wide. Mr. and Mrs. Jign Mitchel}, Manchester, have returned from a two month vacation in England. 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, October 6, 1976 Paul Arculus announced his intention to run for the Port Perry seat on Scugog Township Council while Bill Ringham announced his intention to seek the Ward 4 seat. At the annual meeting of the Durham Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society it was announced that the 1976 campaign had raised $9,410, almost $3,000 over the set target. David Andrews of Blackstock and another GM worker shared a $10,000 suggestion award after a suggestion to charge GM dealers for the $3.00 of gasoline which is put into each U.S. built light-duty truck. Letters Try building with hope, tolerance To The Editor: Reading your Viewpoint Column this week (from the right), I was dismayed to find you again tacitly endorsing the idea of an extreme right wing political party which would cash in on "the fears, frustra- - tions, and anger of middle class Canadians." History records that political groups which trade on such fears tend to offer "solutions" that are worse than the original problems. The Nazis were elected as a result of such fears, promising to "restore a sense of balance and order." They did, too, but at the terrible cost of World War II and the Holocaust. Regimes of both the left and right in such countries as the Soviet Union and Iran, offer modern examples of the dangers of extremism. Certainly our society is not without its problems; no society ever is. However, it is irresponsible to oversimplify these problems and blow them out of proportion. Sure- ly it is the role of thoughtful members of the media, politicians Practice what you preach To The Editor: In regard to the minimuin stan:--~ dard by-law of upgrading the Township article in the Port Perry Star of September 30, 1986 I would like to ask the Township why it doesn't practise what it preaches. The trouble we have with the Township is the ditches on Balsam St. between Bigelow and Cochrane Streets are overgrown and 'mnsight- ly every summer. As a homeowner who keeps his place neat and clean, this is a cons- tant source of annoyance. After several calls to the municipal office and getting no result could then the Township be found guilty in court say $500 per day in contravention. I should think so. Arnold Peek, Port Perry. and other leaders in our society to investigate, inform and offer im- aginative solutions, not to capitalize on fear, ignorance and prejudice. Why not try building understan- ding, hope and tolerance instead of ""'tapping...fears, frustrations and anger?" Aeneas Lane, Port Perry. NDP deserves chance To The Editor: We New Democrats appreciate being included as one of the mainline parties as John McClelland did in his 'Viewpoint' on September 30. The results of the by-elections in Alberta and Quebec would reinforce this point. But I must take issue with his assertion about voter frustration with New Democrats as well as the Conservatives and Liberals. The by- election results indicate differently. The New Democratic Party has not yet formed the government in this country. It is therefore unfair to lump them in with the old line par- ties who have led their chance. Where New Democrats have formed the government they have kept their promises. The attack on unemployment in Manitoba has EDITOR'S NOTE: The letter writer's comforting suggestions do not alter the fact that powerful forces far to the right of the political spectrum are already at work in Canada and the United States, and these forces will prey on the fears, frustrations and anger of the middle classes. been a success compared to other governments. The economies of Social Democratic countries such as Sweden and Austria have done bet- ter than others in these difficult times. A popular government in On- tario is following an agenda propos- ed by the New Democratic Party. I do not believe that many Cana- dians will support intolerant right wing movements. Instead I urge them to give the New Democrats a chance. Yours sincerely, Margaret Wilbur, | R.R.4, Port Perry, EDITOR'S NOTE: Mrs. Wilbur is a, member of the N.D.P. executive and may seek the nomination in the riding of Durham East. to the editor. Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. : Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous letter While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must continue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. ~ - A a et nl i