HomeMy WebLinkAboutNA2006_07_23 Seaton land
plans face
further delays
By Danielle Milley
Staff Writer
PICKERING — The Seaton land
swap is on hold again as developers
and a First Nations activist seek an
injunction to stop the deal until an
environmental assessment receives
full consultation.
On July 20, lawyers representing
First Nations activist David Grey
Eagle Sanford and developer Sil-
vio De Gasperis and his partners
attempted to get an injunction to
stop the Province from transferring
public land in Seaton for private
land on the Oak Ridges Moraine in
Richmond Hill until the outcome of
a case involving the environmental
assessment process is heard in Sep-
tember.
Justice Edward Then told lawyers
he didn’t have enough evidence
to determine if native people with
roots in the Seaton lands were con-
sulted about the land exchange, as
required by both the environmen-
tal assessment act and under the
Constitution. He suggested lawyers
return to court Aug. 22 and 23 to
argue their case.
Lawyers for the government
wanted Justice Then to dismiss the
injunction application, however,
they agreed to the adjournment,
but argued against delaying the
land transfer. In a letter to Justice
Then July 21, the Ontario Realty
Corporation’s lawyer indicated his
client had agreed to the “continua-
tion of the standstill” until the Au-
gust dates.
Mr. Sanford contends that during
the EA there was no consultation
with First Nations people who were
identified as having a cultural inter-
More than 80 per cent
of Durham beaches
posted as unsafe
By Erin Hatfield
Staff Writer
DURHAM — If you’re thinking
about going for a swim this week-
end, think again.
As of Friday, every beach in Dur-
ham Region, with the exception of
Whitby Beach and Frenchman’s Bay
We st, was unsafe for swimmers.
“Thirteen of 15 seems to be the
highest I can remember in past
years,” Ken Gorman said.
The Region’s director of environ-
mental health explained that under
the Ontario Health Ministry’s safe
water program, Durham must mon-
itor, survey and sample the safety of
public beaches. There are 15 pub-
lic beaches in Durham, the bulk of
them along Lake Ontario.
Based on the geometric mean
of five samples taken each week at
each beach, if an E. coli count is
more than 100 per 100 millilitres
of water, signs are posted warning
people not to swim.
Te st results received from the
Ministry of Health laboratory, of
samples taken during the week of
July 17, indicate 13 beaches are un-
safe for swimming.
However, Mr. Gorman said the
high levels of bacteria found in the
waters across the region could be
attributed to recent rainfall.
“For 48 hours after a significant
rain event there is a lot bacteria
loading,” Mr. Gorman said. “Rivers
and streams overflow and there is
a big rush of stuff coming into the
lakes.”
After rain, he expects the levels
of E. coli and bacteria to be higher.
Another possible contributor is the
hot temperatures of late.
“The temperature of the water
HAVING AN UP AND DOWN DAY
Mike Pochwat/ News Advertiser photo
PICKERING — Tw elve members of the City of Pickering’s Free
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the Pickering Recreation Complex on Thursday. The skateboarders,
ages 13 to 19, competed in junior and senior divisions. Kyle Rener,
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quarter pipe.
There’s
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A BURNING ISSUE
European trip exposes
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Page 3
DurhamDurham Daily News
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✦ See Beware, Page 2
✦ See First, Page 5
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has gone up by about four or five de-
grees in the last week,” Mr. Gorman said.
“Warmer temperatures also impact on
water quality.”
Additional factors include commer-
cial liquid waste, surface runoff, sewage
treatment, waterfowl and bathing loads.
Although Mr. Gorman said it would
not be abnormal to have higher counts
of bacteria right now, he added he has
not seen anything he would consider
unusual this summer.
“We have been posting three to six
beaches,” Mr. Gorman said. “That is
more or less typical of what we see from
year to year.”
There are groupings of beaches which
Mr. Gorman said historically are posted
more often, including this year.
Rotary Park Beach in Ajax has the
highest percentage of postings in the
past five years, followed by Kinsmen
Beach in Port Perry and then Beaverton
Beach South.
Rotary Beach has a dismal track record
of water quality. In the past five years, the
beach has been closed to swimmers an
average of 80 per cent of the time.
“When we post a beach we don’t close
it,” Mr. Gorman said. “It says there is a
high bacteria count and is unsafe. People
then will make an informed decision if
they want to go in the water.”
Exposure to high levels of bacteria and
E. coli, Mr. Gorman said, typically could
lead to eye, ear and throat infections as
well as gastrointestinal symptoms.
“E. coli is an indicator bacteria,” he
said. “It indicates there might be other
types of pathogens in the water. Bacte-
ria and viruses could be present in the
water.
“It is hard to say how each person
would react. But we like to say the higher
the levels the greater the risk of contract-
ing something from contact with the
water.”
Last April, Durham’s health and so-
cial services committee directed regional
staff to investigate factors contributing
to the consistently poor water quality at
Rotary Beach, which in 2005 was posted
96 per cent of the time.
“We have had meetings with the To-
ronto Region Conservation authority,
the Ministry of the Environment, Envi-
ronment Canada and the Town of Ajax,”
Mr. Gorman said.
✦ Beware from page 1
Beware before heading out to the beach
Jason Liebregts/ News Advertiser photo
Ken Gorman, Durham Region’s director of environmental health, can’t recall a weekend
such as this one where 13 of 15 public beaches are posted as unsafe for swimming.
durhamregion.com
Durham on its
own when it
comes to waste
management policy
Story and photos
by Erin Hatfield
DURHAM — A clear and con-
cise policy on waste management
— Ontario doesn’t have one.
The Netherlands has a nation-
al policy on waste management
which sets out a hierarchy which
is understood and implemented.
While investigating energy-
from-waste facilities in Europe,
delegates from Durham and York
regions heard from ministry of-
ficials about the importance of
all levels of government looking
in the same direction.
“We seem to have public ac-
ceptance with respect to energy
recovery from waste, thermal
treatment or incineration,” said
Cliff Curtis, Durham Region’s
commissioner of works. “We
don’t have any policy in place
at the provincial level to support
that as of yet.”
The Netherlands’ waste man-
agement policy is where that
country has a big advantage over
Ontario, according to Mr. Curtis.
One third the size of Ontario and
densely populated, Netherlands
does not have the option of land-
filling.
“Because of their restricted
land requirements, they don’t
want to waste land on landfill,”
he said.
“So there is a clear national
bias towards recovering the en-
ergy from waste and minimizing
what had to go to landfill.”
Municipalities in the Nether-
lands each have a waste master
plan that is in line with national
goals and has all levels of gov-
ernment looking in the same
direction, which, according to
To n Holtkamp
from the Ministry
of Housing, Spa-
tial Planning and
Environment in
the Netherlands
(VRON), is the key to a success-
ful system.
“We have an experience of over
20 years of dealing with waste in
the Netherlands,” Mr. Holtkamp
said. “In Canada you are in the
position now we had say 10 or 15
years ago and you need an inte-
grated approach on waste man-
agement.”
“You have to put the pressure
on the hierarchy and also recov-
er energy from waste,” Mr. Holt-
kamp said.
The integrated approach be-
gins with residents and industry
creating as little waste as pos-
sible.
This is the highest rung on the
hierarchy of waste management
-- prevention.
This is followed by product
reuse and then recycling. It is
only after all attempts are made
to fulfil these steps that incin-
eration with energy recovery
becomes an option. Finally, the
lowest rung on the hierarchy and
the least desirable option is land-
filling.
“I think it is a very useful
framework because it enables a
discussion to take place on what
our public priorities should be,”
Mr. Curtis said. “I think their lad-
der of desirability has applica-
tions here as well.”
Producer responsibility also
factors into the waste manage-
ment plan in the form of things
such as a vehicle end-of-life tax
which pays for the
disposal of the
vehicle when the
time comes.
“The producer
themselves, they
don’t pay. It is the
consumer who pays,” said VRON
representative Cees Veerma.
Similarly, in Malmo, Sweden,
the manager of the energy depart-
ment at the Sysav facility there,
Jonas Eek, explained its effective
producer responsibility system
where the makers of products
such as bottles are responsible
for recycling them after residents
deliver them to recycling depots.
In Canada, waste policy is not
a federal issue, rather, it’s a pro-
vincial one.
“We don’t have a clear policy
from the Province on the hierar-
chy ladder,” Mr. Curtis explained.
“We have a clear indication from
society that they really aren’t
that interested in having landfill
sites.”
He said a framework such as
the one that exists in the Nether-
lands would enable a discussion
to take place on what public pri-
orities should be.
“I think their ladder of desir-
ability has applications here as
well,” Mr. Curtis said. “Minimiz-
ing packaging was really high,
which is where we are supposed
to be, as well as reuse
and recycling.”
The lack of direction
could prove to be an
issue, according to Mr.
Curtis, but not one that
is insurmountable.
“Things would be a lot easier
if we did have a clear provincial
policy statement on it,” he said.
“We may be able to find some
congruence between the energy
recovery from waste and our cur-
rent thrust toward getting alter-
nate sources of energy from the
Ministry of Energy,” Mr. Curtis
said. “So there seems to be some
congruency between the Ministry
of the Environment and the Min-
istry of Energy right now, which
we may be able to capitalize on
but we don’t have a clear policy
statement from the Province on
energy from waste.”
Despite having no policy, Mr.
Curtis said Durham is prepared
to go it on its own.
“We are proceeding in the ab-
sence of clear policy direction,”
he said. “We are trying to demon-
strate that this is the right
thing to do.”
He suspects the Prov-
ince isn’t quite ready to
get into banning landfills
because there remain a
number of large landfills
w ith a lot of capacity.
“A landfill, given our current
technology, is still much cheaper.
It is the cheapest disposal option
we have available, even though
it is lowest on the hierarchy of
desirability,” Mr. Curtis said.
“So I think landfill will be fill-
ing a fairly large role in the pro-
vincial waste disposal strategy for
the immediate future. We would
like to demonstrate that there is
a more environmentally friendly
alternative.”
Next: The other side of the coin
ISSUE
A
This is the third in a series look-
ing at the technology behind
energy-from-waste facilities. Re-
porter Erin Hatfield spent a week
in Europe last month getting an
up-close look at different facilities.
Lessons
learned
Government policy
A well-understood provincial
policy on waste management is
necessary and should include:
• Develop a hierarchy based
on sound environmental lifecycle
analysis;
• National producer responsi-
bility programs to manage pack-
aging materials, electronic equip-
ment and vehicles;
• Ban on landfilling recyclable
materials; and
• A landfill tax to make the cost
of incineration equal to or slightly
more costly than incineration.
* Information based on a draft
report MacViro Consultants Inc.
For more
on this story
The need for direction
To view this series
in its entirety, visit
keywordsearch: aburningissue
Above: The flags of the Dutch municipalities. Left: Amsterdam, densely
populated, has found a solution to waste management. Right: The Alkmaar
facility seen through the blades of a windmill.
THE NEWS ADVERTISER, July 23, 2006 PAGE 3 A/P
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Jason Liebregts/ News Advertiser photo
Clean up is in the bag
PICKERING — Nina Damsbaek, left, and Nicole Sanders pick up litter in Kinsmen Park in Pickering. Mem-
bers of the Ajax-Pickering and Scarborough Service Canada Centres for Youth, along with the Pickering
YMCA, were picking up litter in the park to raise awareness about the ‘Odd Job Squad,’ which increases
opportunities for local students.
BLOG
ENTER
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...then stay
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THE NEWS ADVERTISER, July 23, 2006 PAGE 5 Pdurhamregion.com
est in the Seaton lands.
His lawyer presented affidavits
from three chiefs who all said they
were not consulted and that they
believe the only way to provide
meaningful consultation is through
a full environmental assessment.
Nicholas Tibollo, who is Mr.
Sandford’s lawyer, said in an inter-
view Friday that the government’s
EA consultation process was flawed,
which is the basis for the September
judicial review application.
“It should be done over,” he said.
“When it is redone, it must be a full
individual environmental assess-
ment.”
Mr. De Gasperis, who owns land
west of Seaton in the protected Duf-
fins Rouge Agricultural Preserve,
has filed several legal challenges
regarding the planning of Seaton,
the Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt,
and now the land swap EA.
He contends the scientific data
used for planning was flawed.
“No, we are not going to give up
the fight because we’re right,” he
said Friday.
The Ministry of Environment re-
ceived 16 requests to bump up from
a class to a full EA.
Those requests were denied in
June, giving the green light for the
land swap.
— with files from
To rstar News Service
First Nations groups, developer call for fresh start
✦ First from page 1
PICKERING — Police are look-
ing for three men involved in an
armed robbery at a Pickering gas
station.
Durham Regional Police were
called to the Petro Canada gas
station on Brock Road and Bay-
ley Street shortly after 1:30 a.m.
on Thursday to investigate an
armed robbery.
A 53-year-old clerk reported
three masked men entered the
kiosk at the station.
The clerk was threatened with
a handgun, punched in the face
and ordered to lay face down on
the floor. The suspects stole cash
and cigarettes before fleeing, po-
lice say.
The suspects are described as
male, black, 5-foot-9 to 6-feet
and in their late teens.
They wore black hooded
sweatshirts and had their faces
covered.
O ne man was armed with a
handgun.
Anyone with information
about this incident is asked to
contact Mark Price or Al Siriz-
zotti of the major crime robbery
unit at 905-579-1520 ext. 5359 or
anonymously at Durham Region
Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-
TIPS (8477).
Police search for three men in Pickering armed robbery
Boards add two
more PA days
DURHAM — Students are get-
ting more time off school this year.
In accordance with the Prov-
ince’s student performance leg-
islation, Durham school boards
are adding two more professional
development days to the school
calendar, for a total of six.
“It gives an opportunity to do
more of the teacher development,”
said John Malloy, a superinten-
dent at the Durham Catholic Dis-
trict School Board.
For the Durham District School
Board, it means elementary and
secondary school students will
have shared PA days on Fridays,
Nov. 17, Dec. 1, Feb. 16, and May
18. Elementary schools will also
have June 8 and 29 off, and sec-
ondary schools get June 28 and
29.
The Catholic board will approve
its PA day schedule in early fall.
More time off for Durham students
durhamregion.comA/P PAGE 6 THE NEWS ADVERTISER, JULY 23, 2006
EDITORIAL
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Get with the green
bin program
You’d think the introduction of green bins in south Dur-
ham urban communities was a blow against freedom
and the rights of the taxpayer based on some of the mail
we’ve received over the past two weeks.
Plenty of complaints have been flying around from residents
in Oshawa and Whitby. They’ve ranged from those who are
upset the program was launched on the heels of the Canada
Day long weekend, to others who complain about the smell of
compost, to still others who are upset that the day of the metal
or plastic garbage can is gone. Some have even ranted about
receiving a DVD from the municipality explaining how to
recycle/compost -- on the basis that DVDs are not biodegrad-
able.
Let’s get a grip here.
While it may be fair to gripe about the confusion over pickup
(or non-pickup) on Monday, July 3 -- since it was a holiday
Monday to make up for Canada Day falling on a Saturday this
year -- the other whining sounds like nothing but people who
are upset at having to do something they may not have done
before.
To those people, we’d suggest taking a little time to think
about the process. All you need to do is open the kitchen bin,
put your compostable material in, close it, wait until it fills up
and then, put it in the big green bin. Compost is collected every
week, so check your schedule and follow the routine. That’s
it. Of course, you should continue to use your blue box -- and
you should have much less garbage for regular collection every
other week.
For several years, citizens in a part of Pickering, north Dur-
ham and Clarington have been composting with great success.
They are used to doing it and realize how important it is for the
health of our own little piece of the planet.
That’s the bottom line here. We have filled up our landfill
sites and now have to truck our garbage to Michigan, a solution
that will inevitably come to an end sooner rather than later.
We owe it to ourselves to reduce, reuse and recycle as much
as possible so that we have far less landfill material to worry
about as the entire Region embraces composting. Ultimately,
we’re protecting our own environment, and helping our-
selves.
As a colleague’s four-year-old son remarked: “If you use your
green bin, I’ll have more room to play.”
Out of the mouths of babes...
Mom says kids have no trouble composting
To the editor:
I could not believe all the difficulty people in our region
are experiencing with understanding our new garbage/recy-
cling/compost pickup procedures.
All green bins were delivered with a schedule. All that is re-
quired here are two things... the ability to read and the ability
to follow directions. Clearly there is a dire shortage of people
out there who possess these two necessary abilities.
My children, ages 11, 10, 8, 6 and 4 are not having any
trouble adapting to or following directions with the new pro-
cedures.
Perhaps more people should have spend a little time read-
ing, in its entirety, the information provided to us.
Neither have I had any difficulties with the size or height of
the green bin, and I am a taller than average woman.
People of Durham region, quit whining and get on with it.
Learn to recognize when something good is happening.
Kimberley-Anne Brown
Whitby
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input of parents, students
A fter looking into the Catholic
school board’s budget process, it’s
clear, those it impacts are being
robbed.
While the thievery doesn’t come in
the form of dollars, the Durham Catholic
District School Board is depriving its con-
stituents of a public session to comment
on how their tax dollars are being spent.
The board also prevented the public from
hearing its budget discussions by having
them in a closed-door finance meeting.
During this year’s June 26 board meet-
ing, trustees passed a more than $229-
million budget without discussion. When
you take a look at the endless hours mu-
nicipalities spend quibbling over thou-
sands and sometimes only hundreds of
budget dollars, it’s impossible to fathom
how the school board managed to ap-
prove its large budget in such a manner.
From textbooks to school maintenance,
the budget touches everything parents
and students should care about, and in-
stead of holding their in-depth discus-
sions in a public session, elected trust-
ees took their whole finance committee
meeting in-camera.
“I think it’s not unfair if the public was
critical of that,” said Oshawa Trustee Fred
Jones. A former chairman of the board,
Trustee Jones has openly criticized the
lack of discussion at board meetings that
has occurred under the leadership of
Whitby Trustee and Chairwoman Mary
Ann Martin.
Trustee Jones said the board should
have only went in-camera for items legis-
lated, such as land purchasing or matters
that could prejudice bargaining.
The board should have a public meet-
ing to collect thoughts and submissions
on the budget and invite people to come
out and participate. Even if no one de-
cides to attend, they should be given the
option. According to Patricia Manson,
the board’s director of education, infor-
mation is collected throughout the year
during regional meetings with represen-
tatives from school community councils,
but Trustee Jones said he thinks more can
be done to inspire public participation.
Hopefully, a greater effort will be made
in the future, especially since major cut-
backs could be required in next year’s
budget as the board gobbles up the last
of its usable reserves. This year, it spent
more than $11 million to balance the
budget, leaving only about $1.2 million
currently available for next year.
Maybe the public could have helped
prevent the drying up of reserves if it had
received more significant opportunities
to give input and make suggestions.
The Durham Catholic District School
Board is going to have to make some
changes next year. The board must realize
what a valuable contribution its constitu-
ents could offer and invite them to help
make those upcoming, tough decisions.
Crystal Crimi’s column ap-
pears every third Sunday. E-mail
ccrimi@durhamregion.com.
B oard needs better budget process
Crystal
Crimi
staff reporter
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
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THE NEWS ADVERTISER, July 23, 2006 PAGE 7 A/Pdurhamregion.com
Jason Liebregts/ News Advertiser photo
Setting things up
PICKERING — Ke ven Nicholas returns the ball as Travis Hendry looks to take the next
volley. The pair was playing beach volleyball with friends at Pickering Beachfront Park.
All your community information
is on our news cast each day at
durhamregion.com
Not enough help
to see ideas work
I have recently discovered
some unnerving infor-
mation about the edu-
cation system, particularly
concerning the participa-
tion, or lack thereof, of stu-
dents and teachers in ex-
tracurricular events. These
new discoveries persuaded
me to think about my years
in public and secondary
school.
From when I first started
school, there was always
some form of conflict be-
tween teachers and unions
and students and teachers.
There always was a strange
feeling of tension in the
school. Sadly, only the ma-
ture and trained eye could
see these problems, which
sometimes made taking
school seriously very diffi-
cult.
What I learned in high
school was that there are
three types of students: The
students who do everything,
the students who do noth-
ing, and what many called,
‘The Greys.’ The Greys were
people who were just kind
of there. They were filler
who occasionally showed
up to football games and
school dances, but general-
ly mixed in with the crowd.
What I saw in my last year
of high school was that the
students who normally did
everything, slowly became
the students who didn’t do
anything at all.
The reason? There were
so many barriers and de-
terrents when a student
wanted to plan an event, for
example, that they eventu-
ally just gave up. It got to
the point where students
merely stopped trying to
make their school a bet-
ter place to learn. Sooner
than later, everybody be-
came ‘grey’. So now, we
have schools packed full
of unmotivated teenagers,
struggling to learn in an en-
vironment that is saturated
with conflicts and tension.
And people wonder why the
dropout rate is slowly on the
increase again.
With new scares of school
violence, different food al-
lergies and a total lack of
participation from the stu-
dents and many members
of the faculty, students have
quickly developed the men-
tality of ‘why bother?’
Indeed, teachers are nor-
mally the ones responsible
for events and any conse-
quences, but a simple eating
contest at lunch or a school
dance (normally scattered
with police officers) will not
cause the school to burst
into chaos. But, the lack of
events in school is not just
the teachers’ fault.
Students do not under-
stand that their participa-
tion in school events is
sometimes more important
than having the go-ahead
from teachers. Sadly, no-
body recognizes that a
school is a family, and it is
everybody’s responsibility
to help each other out in
times of need. With a lack of
participation comes a lack
of interest in the people who
try to plan the events. This
is why dances and lunch-
time events are so scarce.
Why work so hard to have
nobody attend?
I do not regret anything
about my high school ex-
perience. I was the type
who did everything, and
then became somewhat of
a ‘grey’ when I realized you
can try your hardest, but
some things you just can’t
change at 18 years old.
The only advice I can give
students in high school now
is that getting involved in
extracurricular activities is
great, but remember your
priorities. That is, focus on
your schoolwork and mak-
ing as many friends as pos-
sible. Be safe, be wise and
help support your fellow
students and their commit-
tees. After all, the hard work
those students do will only
help to enrich your high
school experience.
Understand that there
will be conflicts everywhere
you turn, especially in edu-
cation, but it’s the way you
handle them that’s really
important.
Katalin McLean is an 18-
year-old Ajax resident. She is
the News Advertiser’s youth
columnist and appears on
the fourth Sunday of each
month.
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durhamregion.comA/P PAGE 8 THE NEWS ADVERTISER, July 23, 2006
There’s just l ittle motivation these days for high school students
Katalin
McLean
y outh columnist
Jason Liebregts/ News Advertiser photo
Go fly a kite
GREENWOOD — Stephanie and Luke Rampino and Jack Evans
concentrate on making a kite this week at Pickering Museum
Village. The program was part of Kids in the Village, which runs
all summer long. The village is in Greenwood, just south of Hwy.
7 and west of Westney Road. For more information, visit www.
cityofpickering.com/, select Lifestyle and then the museum link.
14th Annual Show
DURHAM REGION
Whitby Entertainment Centrum
Tuesday, July 25 at 4:00 pm & 7:30 pm
Wednesday, July 26 at 4:00 pm & 7:30 pm
TICKETS:
Available at Burger King, Info Place Lotto
Booth inside Oshawa Centre,Ticketmaster
(416) 870-8000 & the Shrine Circus Big Top
Box Office
All Tickets: $15.00 (GST included)
SPONSORED BY:
Under Canada’s Most Beautiful Big Top!
$10.00 $10.00ANYSEAT• ANY SHOW • ANY AGE
THIS COUPON IS REDEEMABLE AT:
Limited availability.Not valid with any other offer.No cash value.Limit one ticket per coupon.Subject to available seating.
All New 2006
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TO OBTAIN YOUR TICKETS
ON LINE GO TO
www.ticketmaster.ca
LOOK FOR OUR CIRCUS
LINK AND TYPE "CLOWN"TO
RECEIVE THE DISCOUNT
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Lotto Booth
(inside the Oshawa
Centre)
Shrine Circus
Box Office Saturday & Evening Appt.’s Available
FREE CONSULTATION
www.jamesryanch.com
B Y
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Trustee Trustee
In In
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Trustee Trustee
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Advice on Proposals,
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“Lets find solutions together!”
Over 20 Years Experience
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OSHAWA
122 Albert St.
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LOOKING TO REACH AN
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your business through East of the City, call
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THE NEWS ADVERTISER, July 23, 2006 PAGE 9 A/Pdurhamregion.com
Saw it in the newspaper - now you can own your own copy....
Check out our online photo gallery @ Check out our online photo gallery @ photosdurhamregion.comphotosdurhamregion.com
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Wednesday, June 15, 2005Oshawa This Week
Metroland Durham Region Media Group
64 Pages Pressrun 76,000
durhamregion.com
Home of Ontario’s newest university
Optional 3 week delivery/ $6/ $1
n
e
w
sstandFRASER REPORTHow do Durham Region schools stack up?/A4
Just me: Being
gay in Durham
News/A7
Keeping his fingers crossed
Walter Passarella/This Week
OSHAWA – College Hill P.S. student Anthony Marag took advantage of anything he could, including crossing his fingers, to clear the bar in the boys’ 13
and over high jump event at last week’s Durham Elementary Athletic Association track and field event held at Oshawa’s Civic Stadium. The event was
eventually won by Brandon Wilson from Alexander Graham Bell P.S. in Ajax who cleared 1.65 metres. Second went to Ryan Brawley from Southwood
Park PS in Ajax and third went to Nathan Barrett from Lincoln Ave. P.S., also in Ajax. Search complete DEAA track and field results at durhamregion.
com:D.E.A.A. Final Results.
Genosha Hotel gets historical design
a
t
i
o
n
Councillor says move will leave
building ‘sterile’
By Lesley Bovie
OSHAWA — The City has designat-ed the Genosha Hotel as historically significant despite warnings from
some councillors who feel it will only seal the fate of the tired downtown building. “It’s an eyesore in the City of Osha-wa and that building will sit there for the next 20 years and be sterile,” said Councillor Mike Nicholson before council approved the designation Monday night by a vote of 8-3. “I don’t think there’s anyone in the City of Oshawa, that if we were to take
the building down now, wouldn’t do a dance,” he added. Oshawa’s first luxury hotel, the Genosha was built in 1929 but has fallen on hard
times in recent decades. The glam-our of its upper floors has given way to a rooming house. A strip club that operated on the main floor was closed in 2003. But Heritage Oshawa has asked the City to designate the hotel based on its cultural signifi-
cance as part of the emerging iden-tity of Oshawa as a corporate centre. The designation only applies to the exterior facade of the Chicago-style building and its Art Deco features. Any proposal to change those fea-tures would have to come before Oshawa council first, said develop-ment services commissioner Ted Goodchild. But the Ontario Heritage Act does have a process that allows
owners to negotiate in such cases, he said. Coun. Louise Parkes said there will be programs available to help developers fund any changes they would want to make to the building. “The reason we did this is because the owner wanted to make (the Genosha) a tuna can by putting alu-minum siding on it,” she said. “That’s not acceptable for an international Communities in Bloom winner.” Store
keeper
stabbed,
slashed
during
robbery
attempt
Credits neighbours with helping stop
attack
By Jeff Mitchell
OSHAWA — Shopkeeper Jian Zhang has a new appre-ciation for his south Oshawa neighbours, after several of them intervened when he was attacked by a knife-wielding robber Monday. Mr. Zhang, 46, was stabbed and slashed during the morning attack, receiving cuts and abra-sions to his face, neck and arms. His attacker was grabbed and wrestled to the ground by citi-zens, who held the suspect until police arrived. Mr. Zhang and his wife, Xioa Aoqiu Lan, were working at
OPUC a b right
light in
worker safety
OSHAWA — The City’s utility is proving itself a real spark plug when it comes to workplace safety. Oshawa Power and Utilities Corpo-
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