Vol. 10 No. 19
YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER COVERING NORTH DURHAM
THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013
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Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
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Headline O’Toole talks
2013 budget’s local impact BLAKE WOLFE The Standard
WHAT AN UX-PERIENCE!: Singing, performances, sports and side-splitting comedy were on the menu for Uxperience, Uxbridge’s annual variety show. The crew is a group of over 100 volunteers - all of whom live in the community. They are a non-profit group who donates proceeds to local charities, and so far they have raised over $85,000 for worthy causes in the area. BENJAMIN PRIEBE The Standard
Vandals strike again in Uxbridge DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard
UXBRIDGE: Playground equipment was badly damaged during a weekend vandalism incident in the Testa Heights area of Uxbridge. According to Township CAO Ingrid Svelnis, damage from the incident - which included a playground slide badly melted due to fire - is between $7,000 and $8,000. Councillors were split on how to remedy the situation at their meeting on the morning of Monday, May 6. Mayor Gerri Lynn O’Connor first motioned not to replace the damaged pieces of playground equipment this year, citing increased insurance costs. “A substantial piece of the equipment is still there, and every time we make an insurance claim, our insur-
ance goes up. Furthermore, our deductible is almost as much as the equipment costs to replace,” explained Mayor O’Connor. However, not all members of council agreed with the mayor’s sentiments, as they thought not replacing the equipment would be unfairly penalizing the community at large. “We need to be proactive and get after the culprits, not penalize the residents who regularly use this equipment,” added Ward 5 Councillor Gord Highet. Ward 4 Councillor Jacob Mantle sided with Councillor Highet, and proposed that funding to replace the equipment come from the municipality’s Future Capital Reserve as a way of circumventing a possibly costly insurance claim. TURN TO PAGE 4
NORTH DURHAM: More action must be taken by the province in combating issues such as youth unemployment and looming job losses from changes to Ontario’s gaming industry, said Durham MPP John O’Toole following a recent discussion of the 2013 Ontario budget. The veteran MPP hosted a pair of post-budget discussions - one in Bowmanville and another in Port Perry - in his riding last Friday (May 3), dissecting the various proposals and potential impacts contained within the document. This was the first budget under Premier Kathleen Wynne, presented at Queen’s Park by Finance Minister Charles Sousa on May 2, amidst the controversy of the growing costs in the cancellation of two gas power plants in Oakville and Mississauga. The budget, deemed a “non-event” by local financial advisor Brian Callery (who accompanied Mr. O’Toole at the presentation) contained a number of measures which, like many in the province, Mr. O’Toole chalked up to being aimed squarely at the NDP to garner support for the minority government and avoid an election, including a guarantee of five days of homecare for house-bound Ontarians, a proposed 15 per cent reduction to car insurance rates, and $295 million toward the creation of a youth job strategy, the latter two criticized by Mr. O’Toole as “lacking framework” in terms of when and how the programs would be implemented. “There’s no plan in the youth job initiative,” said Mr. O’Toole. “We need to look beyond and toward what the jobs of the future are.” For Mr. O’Toole, the main issues in the province stem from a continued move “from taxing income to taxing consumption” through programs such as the HST, as well as continued spending that exceeds provincial revenues. “We’ve reached a point where we are going to have to ask some serious questions (about the province’s spending programs),” said Mr. O’Toole. “We’re going to need more accountability before taking in more revenue.” T U R N TO PAG E 5