The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Li. PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 2, 1999 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Local ambulance company protests region resolution From page 1 of regional councillors to make the decision they did last week, they made it without having all the nec- essary information. The terms of reference have not been spelled out in detail, and "the taxpay- ers don't really know what they are getting into at this time," said Mr. DeShane. He said a public and pri- vate partnership would give the region more con- trol, because the private company has a contract it must live up to. And private operators try harder to pro- vide the very best service because "they have a con- tract to lose." As an example of the kind of information vacuum councillors were in last week, Mr. Deshane cited the" "true cost of upgrad- ing a paramedic from Level 1 to Level 2. The figure of $5,000 was mentioned during the coun- cil debate. But the real cost, said Mr. DeShane, is $30- $35,000 because employees receive salary while taking the extra training, a n d replace- ments must be found while they are away from work Gadsden taking courses. The region wants 65 per cent of paramedics to have Level 2 qualifications with- in the first three years. Currently, just 16 paramedics working in Durham have Level 2, and they are all employed i in Oshawa. The resolution approved by regional council last week calls on the province to provide "transitional funding" for five years -- from 1999 to 2004 -- to finance the training of paramedics and equipment purchases. But there are no guarantees Queen's Park will provide the extra cash. It is the lack of concrete information and terms of reference that caused Scugog's Regional Councillor Ken Gadsden to vote against the resolution. "I wanted a clearer defi- nition of what we are doing, and the budget implica- tions. We don't have the complete picture," he told The Port Perry Star. While stating that he is not opposed in principle to the idea of municipal gov- ernments operating ambu- lance services, he asked, "why have we closed the door totally on contracting out?" And he wants more sax The 1999 Windstar i FR only minivan to get a Five Star Safety Rating, five years in a row.} The New "99 Ford Windstar. % dos "a 48 months on Every New '99 But only until March Tth. WE HAVE THE RIGHT LEASE PAYMENT FOR YOU 299: No Security Deposit $3,698 down Payment lus $895 freight based on 4.9% over 36 months Month Lease COMPARE 0% vs. 8.75% FINANCING OVER 48 MONTHS ** DOWN PAYMENT OR EQUIVALENT TRADE Amount] Cost of A Borrowing |. Cast x Borrow ing YOUR ¥ with $3,698 : Financed pide 08 Na ver SAVINGS $335 with $2,500 $15,000 30 $2,831.52 $2,831.52 $365 with $1,500 $20,000 $0 $3,775.84 $3,775.84 $410 with $0 Down $25,000 $0 $4,719.68 $4,719.68 OR MAKE ONE SINGLE PAYMENT OF $12,113 & DRIVE FOR 36 MONTHS.***1 $30,000 $0 $5,663.52 $5,663.52 Visit our website at: www.ford.ca/offers/ WISE BUYERS READ THE LEGAL COPY: 'Lease a new 1999 Windstar LX with Twin Quad Group, Appearance Group and Aluminum Wheels, monthly lease payment of $299 based on a 36 month lease from Ford Credit to qualified retail lessees, on approved credit. Total lease obligation is $14,462. Down payment ot equivalent trade, freight and first month's payment required (see advertisement). No security deposit required. **0% purchase financing on new 1999 Windstars for a maximum of 48 months on approved credit to qualified customers. £.g. $20,000 financed at 0% annual percentage rate for 48 months, monthly payments is $416.66, cost of borrowing is $0 and total to be repaid is $20,000 with $0 down payment, compaied to a financing rate of 8.75% up to 48 months cost of borrowing is $3,775.84 with $0 down payment. These are sample calculations only. Sample calculations based on a 8.75% financing rate comparison. ***36 month Advanced Payment Program lease available to qualified retail lessees gn approved credit. Total lease obligation is $12,113 due at inception of the lease based on an annual interest rate of 0.9% over 36 months. Financing and lease rate offers herein are mutually exclusive. Offers cannot be combined with any other offer. tSome conditions and a mileage restriction of 60,000 km over 36 months apply. Charge of $0.08 per km above mileage restriction, plus applicable taxes, will apply. Licence, insurance, administration fees * and all applicable taxes are additional on all offers. Dealer order may be required, please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. Dealer may sell or lease for less. Offers may change without notice. Limited time offers. See dealer for details. The highest frontal impact rating for both the driver and front passenger in U.S. government National Highway Traffic Safety Administration testing for vehicles within 227 kg (500 Ibs). Ontario FMDA, P.O. Box 2000, Oak .iiie, Ontario L6) SE4 information on the long term capital costs for new and up-graded technology and equipment. Whitby Mayor Marcel Brunelle was the only other councillor to vote against the resolution. He too cited the lack of pertinent infor- mation available to coun- cillors. Scugog Mayor Doug Moffatt was absent from the meeting, as he was on vacation last week. Mr. DeShane came in for tough and at times hos- tile questioning by several regional councillors after he made a 10-minute address to the council. They were upset that he did not attend any of three public meetings held on the issue, and that he did not attend any of the meet- ings when the matter was being considered by the joint Durham committees of health and finance. Mr. DeShane answered that he was not invited to the committee meetings, and he did not attend the public meetings because he felt he had made his arguments at a stakehold- ers meeting. He said he urged his employees to attend the public meet- ings, and that "public meetings have not been a great experience for us in the past." "Those answers are not good enough," snapped Bowmanville councillor Mary Novak. In his arguments in favour of last week's reso- lution, Councillor Brian Nicholson said the region will try to "fine tune" the operation over the next 10 months. "The system is good now," he said, "but a single service can be so much greater. Every citizen of Durham must have a min- imum basic acceptable level of service, not differ- ent from area to area." Prior tothe vote last week, Regional councillors heard arguments in favour of the Durham takeover from paramedics now working in the Region, from Janice Dusek, director operations Lakeridge Health and Jim Armstrong, executive director of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance, which represents hospi- tals in Durham, York and Halton Regions. He said ambulance ser- vices are considered the "pre-hospital" part of the health care system. Ms. Dusek said this is not a "transportation issue, but a medical issue," and patient sur- vivial often depends on the level of "out of hospital medical skills." The resolution approved by council calls for the ambulance service to be part of Durham's Health Department, and for the appointment of a director of the service at an annual cost of "no more than $120,000 in wages and benefits."