HomeMy WebLinkAboutNA2006_09_11 The Pickering
40 PAGES ✦ Pressrun 47,900 ✦ Metroland Durham Region Media Group ✦ SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2005 ✦ Optional delivery $6 / Newsstand $1
FIT MOMS
Mothers can
stay healthy
Page 9
TARGET SIGHTED CAW looks to Ford
to set next contract
Page 3
IN THE SHADOW
Little buffer for
farms, houses
Page 8
Reluctant witnesses
told, ‘ultimately, we
still outnumber the
bad guys’: prosecutor
By Jeff Mitchell
Staff Writer
DURHAM — In life and in
death, Roy Jones stood as a sym-
bol of solid citizenship and sim-
ple decency.
So said many people — in-
cluding a Superior Court judge,
a Crown prosecutor, homicide
detectives and the man’s griev-
ing relatives — as his killer was
sent to prison for life earlier this
week.
If a single conclusion can be
drawn from the two lengthy
murder trials that saw two young
men sent away for life, it is this:
The 28-year-old Mr. Jones, coldly
gunned down on a dark Febru-
ary night just steps away from the
warmth of his family home, died
doing the right thing.
Returning to his family’s new
house on the evening of Feb. 4,
2001, Mr. Jones was confronted
by a man who stepped out of the
shadows of a nearby alleyway. It
is believed he struggled with the
man, who fired a shot. Mr. Jones
turned and fled with his attack-
‘Honest, brave man’ target of murder plot
Pickering politicians
praise transport
minister for listening
By Keith Gilligan
Staff Writer
PICKERING — A review is un-
derway that will consider the role
of airports in southern Ontario
and the results could mean the
shelving of plans for an airport in
north Pickering.
Federal Transport Minister
Jean Lapierre announced Friday
a “comprehensive due diligence
review of all related airports stud-
ies” by his department.
The announcement is being
praised by opponents of a pro-
posed airport in north Pickering,
including Ajax-Pickering MP Mark
Holland.
“I’m ecstatic. The minister re-
ally listened to the community and
he also listened to what I had to
say. I’m really, really excited about
this,” he said.
“This is precisely what both the
community and I have been ask-
ing for. This is essentially a com-
promise position of what the City
wants and what we’re doing now.
It’s a good position to take. I don’t
think it’s appropriate for Picker-
ing to do a peer review. It’s more
appropriate it’s done and led by
Transport.”
The review will examine the
ability of airports in southern On-
tario, including both Hamilton and
Kitchener-Waterloo, to accommo-
date future air traffic growth.
“O nce this study and review have
been completed, my department
will be in position to recommend
next steps, including whether or
not to proceed to a federal envi-
ronmental assessment for a future
possible airport,” said Mr. Lapierre
in a press release. “The findings
Jeff Beukeboom
Customer Appreciation Day
Win a $2,500 Vacation Voucher
meet former
N.Y. Ranger defenseman
FREE BBQ • REFRESHMENTS • FACE PAINTING
* Some conditions apply. Call for details.
Sat., Sept. 24th 10am - 2:30pm
239 Station St., Ajax
Call 686-2445
SUNROOMS • WINDOWS • ROOFING
NEW WHITBY CAMPUS
OPENING THIS SEPTEMBER!!!
www.blaisdale.com 12 mths - grade 8
5 Campuses in Durham
Call Head Office 905-509-5005
Blaisdale
MONTESSORI
School
SPACES AVAILABLE IN AJAX & PICKERING
PRE-TODDLER PROGRAM (12 mo.-18 mo.) NEW
200 Byron St. S, Whitby (Whitby Campus)
NEW WHITBY CAMPUS
OPENING THIS SEPTEMBER!!!
A WET GAME OF CATCH
Celia Klemenz/ News Advertiser photo
PICKERING — Stephanie Notaro, of Pickering, plays catch recently with her dog Silver in the surf off
the beach at Frenchman’s Bay West while trying to keep a kite flying.
Airport lands
future is up
for review
KILLED FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING
✦ See Killers, Page 4
✦ See Review, Page 2
of the study and all significant steps in
this process will be made public.”
Mr. Holland noted Mr. Lapierre is
“committed to making a fulsome and
fair review, making sure a much broad-
er catchment area is taken in. One of
the concerns I had is Hamilton wasn’t
considered. The numbers, looked at
from a third-party perspective, (I’m)
hoping they will take a step back and
really carefully consider what the vi-
ability of this option is before we pro-
ceed any further.”
Wo rk will start immediately and Mr.
Holland said he expects the report will
go public in early January.
Pickering Ward 3 City Councillor
David Pickles also supports the re-
view.
“It’s one of the things I’ve been lob-
bying for, to expand the area of the
study. It’s including Hamilton, and
Kitchener-Waterloo. It’s a fairer assess-
ment of the need for an airport,” Coun.
Pickles stated.
“I’ll be lobbying for Pickering to get
input into the design of the study. I
would like the federal government to
seek Pickering’s comments, not only
during the study, but what should be
studied.”
Coun. Pickles said he’s long been
opposed to an airport and “I’m a little
bit happy this is happening.”
Mr. Holland plans to speak to Pick-
ering council’s executive committee
Monday and he’s hoping to meet with
Ajax council in the near future.
Mr. Holland is opposed to a Picker-
ing airport, but is hoping the review is a
comprehensive review of the proposal
put forward by the GTAA.
“We want to take a look at what the
need is, take a look at what makes the
most sense from a financial perspec-
tive, an environmental perspective and
a long-term strategy perspective from
the federal government,” he said.
The GTAA proposes a ‘regional’ air-
port in 2012 at the earliest, a reliever
airport for Pearson in 2022 and up to
11.9 million passengers by 2032.
“I’m hoping the minister comes to
the same conclusion I have on this,
that there are a lot of options out there
and it really doesn’t make sense to be
proceeding with an airport on the Pick-
ering lands in the foreseeable future,”
Mr. Holland stated.
P PAGE 2 THE NEWS ADVERTISER, SEPTEMBER 11, 2005 durhamregion.com
Celia Klemenz/ News Advertiser photo
Using every precaution
PICKERING —The Pickering Fire Department was called to a fire caused by an oil leak on hot machinery at
Eastern Power Developers Inc. Brock West Power Plant Wednesday afternoon. Firefighter Mike Harvey gets
assistance changing his oxygen tank from Tommy Herda as he prepares to go back inside the building to as-
sist in extinguishing the fire. According to fire officials there was minimal damage caused in the incident.
Rev iew welcomed; expected to go
public in early January MP says
✦ Review from page 1
Join the 2005 revolution.lluuttiioon
Cast your vote at:
www.drinfo.ca/rcwest.html
Log on to vote
for your
favourite businesses.
But GM not ‘let off
the hook’ yet, union
local president says
By Carly Foster
Staff Writer
DURHAM — While Ford may
have been picked by the Canadian
Auto Workers as the union’s nego-
tiating and strike target, General
Motors can’t rest easy.
“Just because GM has been...
put on the back burner for now,
they are not out of the woods,” said
CAW Local President Chris Buckley
Thursday. “They have in no way
been let off the hook.”
Traditionally, the union selects
one of the Big Three auto com-
panies it believes it can negotiate
a contract with the easiest, then
takes it to the remaining companies
as a pattern. GM was eliminated
as a target late Wednesday night.
Although the Canadian arm of the
company had a $500 million prof-
it last year, the U.S. side has been
struggling with rising costs.
“We probably couldn’t get an
agreement done with GM because
of the financial situation in the U.S.,”
Mr. Buckley said. “But it will be very
hard for GM to justify not following
the pattern” because of the numer-
ous awards the Canadian plants re-
ceived last year.
The CAW will switch to bargain-
ing with DaimlerChyrsler if talks
with Ford are not progressing by
early next week, CAW National
President Buzz Hargrove said.
If a deal with one of the com-
panies is not reached by midnight
Sept. 20, the
union will
strike at the
target com-
pany.
The last
strike in
Canada was
in 1996 when
GM would
not follow
the pattern
contract, Mr.
Buckley said. Workers walked out
for 22 days.
Bargaining with the auto giants
began in July, but those involved say
the talks have become the most dif-
ficult in about 25 years because GM
and Ford are not making as much
profit and losing market share.
The CAW represents 17,189 em-
ployees in Canada-- 11,991 of which
work in Oshawa.
Ajax mayor says local
residents would benefit
By Mike Ruta
Staff Writer
DURHAM — Following Chair-
man Roger Anderson’s direction,
regional council has advised GO
Transit that Durham will not help
the railway link between Toronto’s
Union Station and Pearson Inter-
national Airport.
Durham council discussed the
issue Wednesday, meeting for the
first time in the chambers of the
new regional headquarters. In a
letter from the GO Transit board,
chairman Peter Smith notes that
some members were concerned at
the notion of municipalities paying
for the rail link. The same sugges-
tion was made in an earlier letter
to the board from federal Transport
Minister Jean Lapierre. Affirming
Transport Canada’s support for the
rail link, he states “all three lev-
els of government” have a chance
to work with the private sector to
make the link happen.
“The GO board has been fairly
clear in its objection to the railway,
or at least with us paying,” said Mr.
Anderson. However, Ajax Mayor
Steve Parish says many Durham
residents use Pearson.
“A r ail link to Pearson Interna-
tional Airport is something that
would be beneficial to many people
in the Region of Durham,” he said.
Mayor Parish says the link is
“long overdue,” and that the Re-
gion’s standing or transit commit-
tees give the issue a detailed look.
“It’s not a question of supporting
the railway, it’s a question of fund-
ing it,” Mr. Anderson replied.
He said he found it hard to be-
lieve that Durham residents head-
ing to the airport would take the
GO train and transfer to another set
of tracks while lugging baggage.
“In many parts of the world, that’s
exactly what happens,” Mayor Par-
ish said, adding the link has “pro-
found implications for transit in the
GTA.”
In an interview, finance com-
missioner Jim Clapp said Durham
sends about $3.5 million per year
to GO to support its capital pro-
gram. The rail link project is not in-
cluded in GO’s 10-year capital plan,
he said. If GO is looking for more
money from Durham, Mr. Clapp
said “it would have a major impact
on our budget.”
durhamregion.com THE NEWS ADVERTISER, SEPTEMBER 11, 2005 PAGE 3 A/P
A million
dollar
idea is
in the bag.
Now in its 10th year,
the Pickering Town Centre
Mayors’ Charity Classic has
successfully raised over
1.2 million dollars for
the Rouge Valley Health
System Foundation.
Once again, this year
everyone can get involved.
Look for the change
boxes throughout the
mall and please give
generously to this
worthy cause.
pickeringtowncentre.com
Sponsored by:
SCHOOL
SUPPLY
DRIVE
August 15th -
September 15th
Help support a
disadvantaged student
in your community.
Drop off your
school supply donation
at one of our backpack
donation boxes located
throughout the mall.
Mikayla
from
PICKERING
Inpartnership
with the
United Way!
Special thanks toour
supporting merchants:
There’s more online: newsdurhamregion.com
Au toworkers set sights on Ford as strike target
Buzz Hargrove
Re g ion won’t support rail link with Durham dollars
A/P PAGE 4 THE NEWS ADVERTISER, SEPTEMBER 11, 2005 durhamregion.com
#AR INSURANCE WITH
0%23/.!, 3%26)#%
.O EXTRA CHARGE
!T 3TATE &ARM®