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ar Volume 124 Number 8 PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1990. Copy 50¢ 48 Pages PASSENGERS SAY G by John B. McClelland For many of the passengers there was an eerie sense of deja vu. They had been through this once before, riding the train for thelast time. That was back in '82 when the federal government, with the Liberals in power, pulled the plug on the VIA service from Havelock to Toronto. This time it's the Conserva- tives who have taken the axe to this line, along with 18 others across the country, including the famed "Canadian." In 1984, the Conservatives, coming good on one election promise, restored the service amid much fanfare. Last Friday night, it all came to an end once more. For most of the homeward | bound passengers, it was the last run on what many refer to as "their train." By the time the two Budd RDC cars lumbered into the Myrtle whistle-stop, what was supposed to be a wake on board was turning into a pretty good party. With a screech and whoosh, the train pulled to a stop at the platform in Myrtle, its three strong head lamps cutting through the blowing snow of a bitterly cold night in the depth of a Canadian winter. There is commotion on the platform as many riders de- scend for the last time, blinking into the glare of light from a TV camera and the stab of flash bulbs popping. _ There are hand-shakes and hugs, pats on the back, words of encouragement. Conductor Doug Standen and his assistant Al Hogan shake a lot of hands, and sud- denly the passengers disperse to waiting cars. But many climb back on board, to take the final ride through to Peterborough where a reception room has been booked at the Holiday Inn for what they call the VIA wake. It is a scene repeated many times over the weekend in this country as Canadians attempt to come to grips with the deci- mation of their national passen- ger rail service. This reporter, note book and camera in tow, climbs aboard in Myrtle for the hour- long trip to Peterborough. It is a bitter-sweet hour as the train lurches its way through the dark night, stop- ping in Burketon, Pontypool and Cavan, before the lights of Peterborough are visible through the windows. One group of passengers near the rear of the last car is (Turn to page 11) Region unveils draft changes to official plan After three long years of wait- ing, Durham Region's planning department has finally brought forward a draft document on possible changes to the out- dated regional Official Plan (OP). The purpose of the OP is to set out guidelines on how develop- ment can occur throughout the region. But with the current rate of growth, the existing OP was not suiting the needs of the region. "The Official Plan has served the region fairly well," planning committee chairman and New- castle Mayor Marie Hubbard said. "But there are areas that gave council major concerns." Those areas include the man- agement of growth, protection of the environment, availability of adequate and affordable housing and encouragement of economic growth. The draft document, present- ed by planning staff at a special meeting of planning committee Tuesday, Jan. 9, lays down pos- sible changes to the existing plan. The meeting did not get off to a good start, though. After May- or Hubbard's opening remarks, Whitby councillor and planning committee member Joe Drumm stood up on a point of order. The document, which was to be available to planning com- mittee members for scrutiniza- tion the previous Friday, had been withheld until the meet- ing. "Frankly, I'm annoyed and disappointed" that the docu- ment was made public at the same time as planning commit- tee members view it, Mr. Drumm said. Mayor Hubbard said the draft document is a "public doc- ument and it's up to the plan- ning committee to steer the doc- (Turn to page 16) Passengers leave the VIA tra OODBYE 70 VIA In at the Myrtle Station last Friday evening. It was the last time commuters who use the Havelock/Service would take this train, as it was axed, along with 18 other VIA lines across Canada. Many of the passengers were bitter and angry over the loss of the train and blamed the federal Conservatives. (see story for detalls of the last commuter run on this VIA train) Teachers study new pact A tentative agreement has been reached between the Dur- ham Separate Board of Educa- tion and its elementary teach- ers. Butin astatement released last Thursday, Mike O'Connor, chief negotiator for the teach- ers, said the work to rule action will continue in schools until the agreement is ratified. He expects a vote on the agreement will be held by the teachers on January 23. Teacher reps will be fully briefed on the agreement on January 18. Details of the proposed agreement will not bo made public until final approval has been given by both the teachers and the School Board. The proposed pact was reached after round-the- clock negotiations which started Jan- uary 10 and ended at 7:00 AM the following morning. Elementary teachers in the Region's Separate Schools had voted in favour of a full strike if their contract demands were not met. They have been work- ing without a contract since last September. Although a "media black- out" has been imposed on de- tails of the negotiations, the main demand by the teachers centred around staffing levels. The Durham Separate School Board ranks near the bottom of Boards across Onta- rio in terms of student/teacher ratios.