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20 - PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, March 24, 1987 Town wants continued use of school polls The Town of Whitby will be ask- ing the Durham Board of Education to revis€ a draft policy recently released with respect to the use of schools as polling stations for municipal, provincial and federal elections Last month, a letter was sent by Noreen Bodnar, co-ordinator of the Community Use of Schools depart ment of the Board of Education stating "In the past, various con- flicts between polling personnel and school staff have arisen on election day." It went on to state that hopefully, the new policy statement would address these concerns and make the Board's position clear The Board's present policy states that school gymnasiums or similar facilities may be rented as polling stations and that school principals are required to rearrange existing programs to accommodate election proceedings < But the board now asks that poll- ing-stations be placed within the schools so 'the program of several hundred students will not be inter- rupted." The draft policy goes on to provide "if tables and other fur- niture are not readily available at the school, the returning officer 'must supply them Town clerk Don McKay stated the draft policy places additional restrictions on the use of the schools for election purposes at the very time when it 1s becoming increas- ingly important that school facilities be made available for election purposes ¢ Ll He went on to state the use of school facilities has become increas- wngly important during the past few years because of the limited number of buildings available having the necessary facilities needed. He in- dicated there is a growing reluc- tance of citizens to make their Viewpoint Funnily enough, starting April 1, Canada will send more than $2.5 billion in aid to Third World countries; $300 million more than last year. Now while I do not for a moment suggest that all this aid is not required, I ask myself if just a bit of it could not be spent in the acquisi- tion of the Turks and Caicos Islands. I would bet my booty that the money would be recovered within a two-year span. As | mentioned earlier, this subject, that has been dear ta my heart for some time, is be- ing brought to the forefront again. I have noticed editorials on the matter. columns: in Toronto dailies, and last week, * Peter Trueman made the islands the topic of his dialogue. Everyone is in favour of the acquisition. If you would like to see the Turks and Caicos become part of Canada, or at least have the government sit down and truly discyss the matter with the delegation from the islands, | drop a line to Prime Minister Mulroney, External Affairs Minister Joe Clark or your own 'MP. If you aren't one for writing, send a postcard and simply say "I'm for acquisition of Turks and Caicos Islands," or something like that, with your signature. Remember, when writing to the government, you NEVER need a stamp. From page 18 You can kind of think of this as a farewell present to me. Getting off the subject a little, itis true, I am regretfully leav- ing the Port Perry area after nearly four years. A tri-party agreement, you might say, between myself, Peter Hvidsten of Port Perry Star, and Doug Anderson, new owner of Whitby Free Press, will see the Brooklin Profile sec- tion of this paper move down south and be incorporated within the pages of the Whitby weekly. 1 would really like to take this opportunity to thank all the peo- ple in the Port Perry area whom I have met, and in many cases made friends with over the past several years. And My Thanks to Peter and his staff at the Star could never compare with what [actually feel. You're all great and I love ya. A well established local firm has been successful in its bid to supply the Town of Whitby's Parks and 'Recreation Department with leased tractors this year. Robert C. Heron Limited, of Brooklin, came in with a low tender of $18,136.50 for the rental of three troctors for a period of five months each. Flail mowers will be install- ed on the back of the tractors for maintenance of Whitby parks this summer. An amount of $20,000 had been by George Ashe, M.P.P., Durham West. I am very pleased to see the number of people. and political bodies that have now jumped on to the "Widen Highway 401 Now" _ Bandwagon. The more the merrier Delegation speaks Region of Durham is asked to 'twin' with African town A dele gation representing a relief agency appeared before Regional Council asking that Durham assist with fundraising efforts for the small African nation of Ghana The Mensah F ood and Orphanage Fund, based in Newmarket. wants Durham to twin with the communi ty of Janga in northern Ghana. Council referred the request to the management committee for a report, but if members agree to the proposition next time it. appears before council, the federal govern ment will match every dollar ras ed by the region Spokesman Tim Doble said the organization is primarily made up of Ghamans educated in North - America and Europe who wanted lo retury home and help theix fellog countrymen "We want to bring them tools so they can begin subsistence living and go from there," said Doble "Somewhere down the line. the chain of poverty and starvation must be brokeh. Mensah is one of the organizations formed in the wake of a United Nations' decision to cut back on previous aid programs. Do- ble indicated small efficient groups have a major impact in the fight against poverty because they work directly with the people, bypassing unweildly beaurocracies It'was stressed that Durham will not be expectedto directly give any funding to the Mensah program if votes to twin with Janga Doble ad mitted the group rehei did need tne region's good name to assist with * Council, Brooklin firm wins tender ' prov ided in the 1987 current budget for the lease of the tractors. The tender price represented an in- crease of approximately 21.5 per- cent over the 1986 tender, although was still within the 'budget allocation. Heron was successful over other tenders from Markham and Scar- borough. A bid was also received from Don Vallance Equipment Limited of Brooklin, but was re- jected as it was for a smaller model tractor than the one specified. Hwy. 401 Band-Wagon In the past couple of weeks the Durham Regional Chairman and his The Ajax Council, The Pickering Council, as well, at least one member of Council with other political ambitions, has personally spoken out. We need all the pressure on the Government that we can muster to speed-up the Highway 401 priority Mest of vou will be aw "| that this 'is not a new issue for me. Early last fall T wrote the Minister expressing my concerns on your behalf. In ear- Iv November I expressed my con- 'erns and identified the solution - hrough the local press. My fall 1986 newsletter identified the problem and solution. Early in January my weekly colymn was on this subject My point 1d We Have A Problem. A Growing Problem. and I have been _ pressing the Government for some period of time to get on with the solution quickly Your support by vour letters to me and/or the Minister of Transportation and Communications. Ed Fulton, would ve helpful On a different topic but also 4 pro blem I have been trying since e ar ly last September to gét the Minister of the Environment to accompany me on a site visit to Br ock West Iv fall he « fall he sard daouat \ the Pickering. » Landfill Site Inthe ear d the late fall Inthe late In January he the Legislative session My most recent letter of invitation: Said aller focal fundraising and to guaraniee - - deledRelwuary i3h diodes day of fede ral matching gran } t Ss ion Freimnains ILSW EO] residences available as polling places. There is also increasing im- portance being placed on making polling places accessible to seniors and the handicapped as well as a limited amount of tables and chairs available. McKay suggested there were many administrative advan- tages of having a number of polling stations in one large place In the Brooklin area, there were two split polling stations at Meadowcrest Public School during the last election and one at St. Leo's Catholic School. He stated there had been a steady increase in the use of school facilities during elections in Whitby over the past few years. During the last elections in 1985, over half the polling stations were located in schools. The need to use school facilities for election purposes is so acute in 'Ontario that the Advisory Commit- tee on Municipal Elections to the Minister of Municipal Affairs in its August 1986 interim report recom- mended that consideration be given by the Ministry of Education to the closing of schools on polling day so that such places could be used as polling places," said McKay in his report. In its final report, which was released last month, the committee re-emphasized the importance of voting accessibility. With respect to the closing of schools, the commit- tee decided it would be preferable to keep the schools open so that the students could participate in, or at least observe, the election process. McKay concluded the draft policy of the Durham Board of Education had been pat together with the schools' interests at heart first and foremost. He said normally this would be expected and accepted, but in this particular case he believ- ed elections must take precedence. "The academic interests of the schobl officials should give way to the civic reponsibility of the school boards to the extent that normal school programming may have to be interrupted," he said. 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