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«J 6 - PORT PERRY "WEEKEND STAR" RE ay ha TEE rs © " 1 - FRIDAY, JULY 14, 2000 PUBLISHER................ J. Peter Hvidsten GENERAL MGR.......... Don Macleod MANAGING EDITOR.. Jeff Mitchell OFFICE MANAGER.... Gayle Stapley ADVERTISING MGR... Deb McEachemn REPORTER................. Chris Hall Freelance Writers- Heather McCrae, John B. McClelland PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX (905) 985-3708 E-MAIL: port.perry.star@sympatico.ca EDITORIAL POLICY: Opinions ocna Member Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc. 1 . Member i » ¢ Dudley, Janet Rankin, Lesley West, Heather > i < AR nadon CNA Callan ~ y Ee Newspaper : ADVERTISING: Ginni Todd, Cindy Jobin i a Gs do sid Association ) * ' : Published every Friday by the Port Perry Star Company Limited, 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ontario - LOL 1B7 Distributed free in the following communities: Port Perry - Uxbridge - Sunderland - Little Britain - RR Lindsay Janetville Oakwood - Manilla - Seagrave - Greenbank - Brooklin - Ashbum - Columbus - RR Oshawa . Caesarea - Blackstock - Raglan - Nestleton - Yelverton - Prince Albert : X by columnists, contributors and letter writers are not necessarily those of The Port Perry Star. Letters must be signed and the telephone number (which will not be published) included. Requests that a name be withheld will be honoured only i there is a compelling reason to do so. Errors wil bo corrected f brought to the editors attention. We reserve the right 10 edi or refuse publication of any material submitted. ADVERTISING POLICY: The publisher is not lable for sight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher is not ible for other ermors or omissions in connection with any advertisement in any subsequent issue of the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement. All claims of error in publication must be made by Wednesday, noon, prior to the next week's publication, and, if not made, will not be considered. No claim will be allowed for more than one insertion. BUSINESS OFFICE: Judy Ashby, Kathy Gail Morse, Heather McGregor, Linda Clarke, Janet Archer, Malcolm Lennox, Lisa Monk PRODUCTION MANAGER: Pamela Hickey Production Staff: Trudy Empringham, Daryle Wright, Arlene Cheel, Robert Taylor, OPINION A provincial responsibility The provincial government is heading in the right direction with its plans to introduce new regulations for farming and the 'way in which manure is handled. While aimed primarily at large-scale operations, the controls will, according to Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman, affect all farms in the province to a degree. The provincial measures should provide a firmer legislative foundation for local measures, such as the nutrient management bylaw introduced in Scugog Township a while back. That law essentially prohibits construction of new farm buildings - or the "establishment of large-scale factory farms - without an approved plan for management of manure in place. As recent events in Walkerton and elsewhere have shown, water supplies can be tragically vulnerable. And just last month, torrential rains here caused the flow of what's suspected to be farm run-off into a creek on Scugog Island, turning the water black and foul. - a The problem we see with the province's effort is the require- ment that municipalities enforce the new regulations. That's passing the buck. h ~ The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has the expertise among its staffers to identify potential prob- lems, and the power to enforce the tough new measures. Problem is, with cutbacks, we don't even have an OMAFRA field office in the area anymore. The province should provide its new effort with teeth. THAT WAS AN INTERESTING SOUND! (You KNOW WHAT 1 HATE THE MOST ABOUT THE ALLERGY SEASON? IT'S NOT THE SNEEZING, RUNNY Boys will be boys, and so will their dogs. Neil and Danny Harris go for a spin with canine pal Molson in this shot supplied by Debbie Harris of Seagrave. If you have an interesting picture we could use for Photo of the Week, please drop it by The Star office, or give us a call at 985-7383. To the Editor: In his Straight Talk column that corre- sponded with the Canada Day long week- end, Alex Shepherd outlined for his con- stituents his personal vision for the future of Canada. Part of that vision was to "seek new symbols of national identity," presumably after throwing out the old ones, and that "people should be able to continue prac- ticing their traditions." May | remind Mr. Shepherd that in some circles it is a perfectly respectable tradition to blow up a jumbo jet full of innocent people, or to fire bomb the American consulate, and in others to carry out the genital mutilation of their daughters or to send money to their countries of origin to finance bloody ter- rorism. In how many countries of the world would a politician suggest that his coun- try"s traditions and institutions should be changed just a week after his country was named by the United Nations as the best place in the world in which to live? Only in Canada, you say. This country has achieved its much envied status because its society has | Memo to our MP: If it ain't broke... developed within a framework of institu- tions and traditions that are both inclu- sive and evolving. How much more encouraging a message could an immi- grant receive than seeing a first-genera- tion, female immigrant of a visible minor- ity appointed to the post of governor general? It simply could not happen in any country from which our immigrants come, yet Shepherd wants to change that which has made this kind of event possible. Perhaps not enough of the latest wave of immigrants are voting Liberal. If Shepherd is really serious about building a more cohesive and unified Canada, I suggest that he sponsor a pri- vate member's bill that would eliminate the option of dual citizenship, retroac- tively. Such a bill would have the effect of ridding the electoral rolls of those who use our citizenship as no more than a flag of convenience, and would leave only those who were committed Canadians to decide the future of the country. Bernie Gotham, RR | Bowmanville A a SAA i hl rt rl hl d RBZ AAA AAA tS a tn ty