BEST IN SHOW - Three of the finalists vying for “Best in Show” honours at the Ontario Breeders Dog Show, held in Lindsay on March 5, hailed from Uxbridge. Fromleft: Craig Watt showed a Borzoi (Russian Wolfhound), winning the Hound Group; Mike Macbeth holds a rare Dandie Dinmont Terrier, representing the Terrier Group; andSimon Klaver showed a Rough Collie, representing the Herding Group.�Three hundred and fifty dogs from across Canada participated in the event. Photo by Simon Klaver

Public invited toreview wardboundaries

by Roger Varley

For 12 years, Greg Eickmeier was unwittinglyflushing money down the toilet.

Since moving into his home on Planks Lanein August 2003, Mr. Eickmeier has been pay-ing his quarterly sewer bill to the Region ofDurham. However, in June 2015 he discoveredthat his home was not connected to the sewersystem and never had been. All those years, thehome's waste was being handled by a septic sys-tem.

Soon after the mistake was discovered, Mr.Eickmeier's home was connected to the sewerand he was charged a $3,700 connection fee.Bringing the matter to the attention of the re-

gion, Mr. Eickmeier asked that the money hehad paid all those years for a service he didn'treceive be refunded. The region balked, offer-ing instead to repay him for the last six years,with the explanation that the region's recordsonly go back that far because they purge themand it is the region's policy to reimburse onlyfor the last six years for incorrect billings. YetDon Siciliano, the region's manager of utilityfinance, was able to provide Mr. Eickmeierwith an estimate of the amount he would havebeen charged over the 14 years based on hispayments for the last six years.Now, Mr. Eickmeier says he is being forced to

take the issue to small claims court in an at-tempt to regain the full amount. He is seeking

just under $7,000 to cover the sewer fees hepaid, the $3,700 sewer connection fee he wascharged in 2015 and the money it cost him tohave the septic system decommissioned.Mr. Eickmeier said the mistake apparently oc-

curred when the region took over sewer servicesfrom Uxbridge when the region was formed.He said he believed he was connected to thesewer system because the real estate listing thatwas provided to him when he bought the homeshowed that to be the case. He also showed TheCosmos the real estate listing provided to theprevious owner of the property, which alsoshowed a sewer connection. He said having asewer connection would increase the price of a

...continued on page 3

The Township of Uxbridge is hosting a pub-lic consultation and open house as part of theTownship of Uxbridge Ward Boundary Re-view. The open house will take place onMarch 22, from 7 - 9 p.m. in CouncilChambers. The purpose of the consultation is to deter-

mine if the current five electoral districts(wards) in the township currently representan effective and equitable system of represen-tation for the population of the township.One councillor from each ward is elected tosit on the township council.The existing configuration of five wards has

been in place since the Township of Uxbridgewas established as part of the Region ofDurham in 1974. However, the rate of pop-ulation growth has not been consistent acrossthe township, resulting in an unbalanced sys-tem of representation. The two wards en-compassing the urban area currentlyrepresent over half of the township popula-tion.

The Ward Boundary Review process isbeing conducted by an independent consult-ant who has assessed the present wardboundary system and prepared a discussionpaper for public consultation. Members ofthe public are invited to participate in theprocess by attending the open house to un-derstand the ward boundary review princi-ples, to provide input on the current system,and the provide feedback about the optionspresented. The consultant will be making ashort presentation at 7:30 p.m.

A survey will also be made available at theopen house, and on the township website.Completed surveys must be returned byApril 12, 2017.

More information can be found attown.uxbridge.on.ca/node/5694. Copies ofthis report are also available from the Clerk’sDepartment, by visiting 51 Toronto StreetSouth, Uxbridge, or by calling 905-852-9181.

Nonexistent sewer connection costs Uxbridge man thousands

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Inside Your CosmosVince’s Market a top manager . . . . . .page 2The hijab’s been hijacked . . . . . . . . . .page 4

Volume 13 No. 11 YOUR UNIVERSE Thursday, March 16, 2017

Thursday, March 16, 20172The Uxbridge Cosmos

Direct: 416-433-7732Office: 905-852-2424

Excellent All Brick Family Home Just 20 Minutes From Uxbridge!Double Car Garage. 3 Spacious Bedrooms. 3 Washrooms. MasterHas Ensuite + Walk-In Closet! Family Room With Walkout to FullyFenced Large Lot! Includes Stainless Steel Appliances + Washer &Dryer! All Of This And More!

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I’ve always believed that engagementand dialogue with the constituents Iserve is the most important part ofmy job. It’s why on Family Day, myoffice hosted a free public skate atthe Uxbridge Arena. Friends,neighbours and their families cameout to enjoy a free skate and hotchocolate! I want to thank everyonewho attended and celebrated FamilyDay with us, and I’m lookingforward to engaging with residentsat fun events again in the nearfuture.is upcoming month, I’m excited

to be speaking as a deputation toUxbridge Town Council on March27. In my remarks, I will beannouncing federal governmentsupport for our community andproviding an update on the work ofthe Government of Canada. As aformer municipal councillor, I knowthe importance of working togetherwith all levels of government toachieve real and lasting results.is week, the federal government

and the provincial governments ofOntario, Quebec, and Albertaagreed to new targeted federalfunding. Ontario and the two otherprovinces join New Brunswick,Newfoundland and Labrador, NovaScotia, Yukon, NorthwestTerritories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan,Prince Edward Island, and BritishColumbia in signing an accord withour government to supporttransformative change and deliverbetter health care for Canadians inthese priority areas.Over the next 10 years, the federal

government will support betterhome care, including critical homecare infrastructure requirements, as

well as mental health initiatives withnew funding of $4.2 billion forOntario. ese targeted investmentsin home care and mental health careare in addition to the existinglegislated commitments through theCanada Health Transfer, which willcontinue to grow into the future.It’s been an eventful past few weeks

in the House of Commons.Recently, parliamentarians debatedand voted on important pieces oflegislation. On March 8, both BillsS-201 and S-217 passed in theHouse of Commons, even thoughthe government opposed thelegislation because amendmentswere preferred in some cases. I spokeon and support Bill S-201, an Act toProhibit Genetic Discrimination.

is was an important day fordemocracy in Canada as itreinforced the ability of MPs to votein accordance with their principlesand the viewpoints of theirconstituents. During the lastcampaign, the prime ministercampaigned on more free votes inthe House of Commons, somethingthat rarely happened during the lastparliament. I am proud to write thatthis is a commitment and promisethat we have kept and will continueto keep to Canadians.

It is such an honour to representPickering and Uxbridge in theHouse of Commons. As always, mycommunity office, located at Unit 4– 1154 Kingston Road in Pickering,is available to assist you in yourdealings with federal departments.Please don’t hesitate to visit or to callus at 905-839-2878 or 1-855-275-2860.

From the MP’s deskcolumn by Jennifer O’Connell, MP

Free votes and Family DayVince’s Market has been named asone of Canada’s Best Managed Com-panies, one of 45 companies inCanada to receive this award in2017.Canada’s Best Managed Companies

is a business awards program pre-sented by Deloitte, CIBC, CanadianBusiness, Smith School of Businessand MacKay CEO Forums, and rec-ognizes excellence in private Cana-dian-owned and managed companieswith revenues over $15 million.“It was quite an intense application,

but with the amount of planning andeffort our team has put into ourstores over the last few years, we feltit was time to benchmark our orga-nizational goals with the rest of thecountry,” stated Giancarlo Trimarchi,chief financial officer, controller andpartner in Vince’s Market. Alongwith Carmen Trimarchi, presidentand CEO; and Brian Johns, chief op-erating officer, Vince’s Market hasgrown from a small roadside fruitand vegetable stand to a small chainof grocery stores focused on offeringa personal and fresh shopping expe-rience.

“We are honoured to receive thisaward. It validates and underscoresour growth plans, as well as has newteam members recognize we are agreat company to be a part of. Suc-cess breeds success, and we are ex-cited for what the rest of this yearwill bring,” says Brian Johns.Vince’s Market is scheduled to open

its fourth location in Tottenham thisfall. ere are currently stores inSharon and Newmarket, as well asthe one located on Toronto StreetSouth, in Uxbridge.

Program sponsors are Deloitte,CIBC, For further information, visitwww.bestmanagedcompanies.ca.

Vince’s receivestop award for bestmanaged company

Sewer vs. septic, from page 1

house by $20,000 to $30,000 at sale.He claims that he shouldn't have topay the connection fee because theerror cost him more to buy thehome.

Mr. Eickmeier only discovered theworking - and full - septic system in2015 when a contractor was doingsome work in his backyard. He saidsubsequent tests showed no effluentgoing into the sewer."They've been billing me for a serv-

ice that was never provided," he said."My policy is being fair."After correspondence and meetings

with region departments and per-sonal presentations to the region's fi-nance and administration committeeand to regional council in March2016, Mr. Eickmeier said he was toldthere was a shared responsibility forthe mistake.

"How can I be responsible?" heasked. "We can't see the sewers. Veryfew councillors appear to have readmy presentation."

He said various people at the re-gional level told him he should goback to the real estate agents wholisted the sewer connection or to thetownship of Uxbridge for not catch-ing the mistake when it was in chargeof sewers.

At the finance and administrationmeeting on February 17, 2016, Re-gional Chair Roger Anderson askedMr. Eickmeier if he had sought com-pensation from the real estate com-pany that handled the purchase ofhis home for providing wrong infor-mation. When Mr. Eickmeier saidthe real estate company was relyingon information from the region, Mr.Anderson replied: "No they werenot. They were relying on informa-tion provided by the vendor."

He then asked Mr. Eickmeier if hehad seen a lawyer about seekingcompensation from the realtor.When the homeowner said hislawyer didn't think he should, Mr.Anderson responded: "Your lawyer'sgiving you bad advice."

Mr. Eickmeier claimed that Re-gional Councillor Jack Ballinger toldhim last year that he would intro-duce a motion at regional council torepay the homeowner what he hadbeen billed over the years. But Mr.Ballinger said on Tuesday he didn'tremember making such a promise."I would remember something like

that," Mr. Ballinger said. "The re-gion came up with a disposition but(Mr. Eickmeier) wouldn't accept it."

That disposition would involve ap-plying the payments of the last sixyears toward the sewer connectionfee and writing off the difference.Speaking to the to the proposed dis-

position at regional council onMarch 9, 2016, Mayor Gerri LynnO'Connor, calling it "a very unfor-tunate situation", said she feltstrongly that "a resident shouldn't beout any money for something he wasnot aware of."She said that the disposition would

be "wiping the slate clean" and mak-ing "the best of a bad situation."However, Mr. Eickmeier said the re-

gion has admitted the incorrectbilling was the region's mistake. Italso appeared the region had beenbilling whoever owned the home forsewer service since 1974."They've been billing the house for

sewer service since my wife and Iwere 10 and 12 years old," he said.He said Mr. Siciliano estimated the

region had collected around $12,000for the non-provided service since1974."If they pay the $7,000, they're still$5,000 to the good," he said.

Mr. Eickmeier said instead it ap-pears the region will be representedby lawyer Chuck Loopstra at the

small claims court hearing."Why don't they just settle this up

instead of incurring more costs attaxpayers' expense?" he asked. "Theregion is probably spending $20,000in their own time and legal fees todefend this."

Thursday, March 16, 20173The Uxbridge Cosmos

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Old man winter is certainly overstay-ing his welcome this year - I am sureeveryone is looking forward tospring, the season of beginnings.

A special Earth Hour is being heldon March 25, 8 - 9 p.m. in Centen-nial Park (behind the library) sobring your lawn chair, blanket, can-dles and join us to enjoy local enter-tainment (unplugged) and share anhour with friends.

If you haven’t read the Regional Mas-ter Transportation Plan for Durham21 and Highway 47, give me a calland I can send you the informationby email.

e Goodwood Baptist Churchholds Sunday Service at 11 a.m. andall are welcome to attend. Specialmusic on April 16 will be by Mar-garet Weir, and April 23 will be byRalph Syder. A Good Friday service

will be held on Friday, April 14, at 10a.m., and the ladies’ brunch will beon Saturday, April 22 at 10:30 a.m.ere is a free movie night this Sun-

day, March 19. At 6:30 p.m., watch“Undaunted”, a biopic on Josh Mc-Dowell. Another movie night will beheld on April 23. Tuesday Prayermeeting is 7 - 8:30 p.m., along withYouth Bible study and kids club from6:45 - 8:30 p.m. Youth meetings arethe second and fourth Friday nightsof the month, from 7 - 9:30 p.m.More information can be found atgoodwoodbaptistchurch.com. ereis also information on the free Vaca-tion Bible camp, being held July 10- July 14, and if you register by June1, you will receive a free t-shirt! Youcan also call 905-640-3111 to regis-ter.

ank you to all who drive at thespeed limit.

Thursday, March 16, 20174The Uxbridge Cosmos

Re: “Am I Wrong?”, March 9edition

In his column regarding heritage signbylaws, Cosmos columnist RogerVarley states that if it takes a fewsigns, “rather garish in appearance”to draw people downtown, he is allfor it. Although I agree with much ofwhat he said, in this, Mr. Varley, yes,you are wrong.

Early in the column he notes thatbusiness owners want their stores “tomake a kind of statement about thetype of products they sell.” No doubtthat is true, but to make a downtownmore than just a conglomeration ofbusinesses and vacant spaces; tocreate a place which makes a“statement” about the community asa whole, there must be a unifiedvision, a unique identity andelements of common design.

Physical improvements, colour

schemes, signage, and sidewalkdesigns can create a place wherepeople can enjoy spending time.These physical improvements,supported by commercialdevelopment, marketing andpromotion and communityorganization, can make the differencebetween an unattractive downtownand a thriving downtown thatattracts residents and visitors.Visitors especially are attracted todowntowns not because they need aparticular product, say a socketwrench or a box of paper clips, butbecause the atmosphere of thedowntown is relaxing, walkable,aesthetically pleasing, historic andinteresting. It makes them want totake their time to stroll and explorethe area.

Look at any of the Ontario townsthat are known for their funky mainstreets: Perth, Elora, Port Perry,

Unionville, and Cobourg come tomind. The stores on those mainstreets all adhere to certain designprinciples that create an atmosphere.Store owners are not free to dowhatever it takes to get people intotheir shops. But, paradoxically, byadhering to the unifying vision, theybenefit from the fact that the streetitself attracts shoppers.

Some parts of Brock Street haveconsiderable appeal, with attractiveshops and pleasant sidewalkambience. Other parts of the streethave great potential. But to realizethat potential, downtown has todevelop a strong sense of place,distinct from other settings, and itwon’t do that if it is allowed todevelop higgledy piggledy.

David RichardsonUxbridge

Letters to the Editor

What do Audrey Hepburn, Simone Signoret, Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor andQueen Elizabeth II all have in common, apart from being rich and famous andbeautiful?

At some point, they all wore - and Queen Elizabeth still wears - head scarves.Millions of British housewives wore head scarves almost daily in the 1930s and

1940s. It was a great way to cover up unwashed or unkempt hair, or to keep thewind from blowing it around, or to go to church on Sunday. Today, unfortunately,a head scarf also can be, and often is, used to cover up a head that has been ren-dered bald by dreaded cancer.Head scarves can be worn in a variety of ways and even, as in the case of Audrey

Hepburn, as a high fashion statement. Elizabeth Taylor wore a head scarf whenshe married Eddie Fisher, and was often seen jaunting around Toronto in a headscarf when she made her famous visit to the city with Richard Burton in 1964.But, whether making a fashion statement or simply being practical, a head scarfis just a rectangle of material, nothing more.Yet today it has become a symbol that has unleashed more hatred, more vitriol,

more paranoia and more intolerance than any piece of cloth since the male thong.It has turned many seemingly normal people into wild-eyed, raving loons. Why?Because some Muslim women choose to wear it as a part of their religious beliefs.The only problem, apparently, is that they chose the wrong name for it. Theyshould have just called it a head scarf instead of a hijab.

This insane prejudice over a simple piece of cloth was further enhanced thisweek by none other than the European Court of Justice. The court ruled thatprivate businesses in Europe can forbid Muslim women workers from wearingheadscarves if the ban is part of a policy of neutrality and not a sign of prejudiceagainst a particular religion.That is a loophole one could drive a bus through. Companies can ban the hijab

and claim it is "a policy of neutrality" and how could anyone dispute that?Not so much today, but in the not-too-distant past, Christian women always

wore some kind of head covering, including scarves, when they went to church.Was that not showing a similar form of religious belief? Many Muslim womenjust prefer to take it a step further and wear a head covering all the time they arein public. Yet it offends so many people who, apparently, are not offended byyouths who wear their pants halfway down their backsides or girls who walkaround in shorts halfway up their backsides.The venom spewed toward the hijab really has nothing to do with the head scarf

at all. The hatred of the hijab, all the arguments about security, secularism andintegration, are nothing but cover-ups for religious intolerance. You rarely, if ever,hear people who rail against the hijab take the next logical step and rail againstthose nuns who continue to wear the traditional habit. After all, that is not a"foreign" religion. And while one often hears that the hijab is a symbol of maledominance over women, one never hears that forcing women to abandon thehijab is also a symbol of male dominance over women.What is surprising is that more women, particularly Canadian women, are not

standing up for their Muslim sisters. Of late, there has been much in the newsabout women being forced to wear high heels at work - in restaurants and offices- and legislative moves are afoot to ban that requirement in workplace dress codes.It's almost certain that most women, feeling the pain of sisters forced to wearhigh heels all day against their will, would support such legislation. So why aren'tthey as concerned by attacks on hijabs?Perhaps the women of Uxbridge could start a movement of support by all wear-

ing a headscarf on a given day - or a given week. And why not have the men in-volved as well by having them wear a scarf pirate style or like a cowboy's bandana?If the average person stands by and says nothing, then the only voices that will

be heard are the voices of religious intolerance.

Our two centsThe cover-up cover up

9,500 copies of The Cosmos are published each Thursday in the Township ofUxbridge: 8,700 delivered by mail, 800 available in stores and boxes.

Publisher/Editor Lisha Van Nieuwenhove 905.852.1900Advertising/Sales 905.852.1900

38 Toronto Street North, Unit One, Uxbridge Ontario L9P 1E6e-mail: thecosmos@powergate.ca web site: www.thecosmos.ca

Office Hours: Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

EDITORIAL POLICY: Opinions expressed by columnists, contributors and in letters to the editor are not necessarilythose of The Cosmos. Letters must be signed and the telephone number provided (number will not be pub-lished). Requests that a name be withheld will be honoured only if there is a compelling reason. Errors broughtto our attention will be corrected. The Cosmos reserves the right to edit and/or refuse to publish unsolicitedmaterial. ADVERTISING POLICY: Ad deadline is 12 noon Tuesday the week of publication. The Cosmos reservesthe right to refuse any advertisement. The Cosmos is not liable for slight changes or typographical errors inadvertisements or any other errors or omissions in advertisements. All material herein, including advertisingdesign, is copyrighted, and may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

DOWNTOWN UXBRIDGE BUSINESS AREA SURVEY

THE RESULTS ARE IN!WATCH FOR THEM IN THE MARCH 23 EDITION OF

YOUR UXBRIDGE COSMOS

Goodwood News with Bev Northeast

Thursday, March 16, 20175The Uxbridge Cosmos

It’s probably a safe bet that very few commu-nity theatre companies can claim having a mu-sical choreographed by an actress playing thelead in the U.S. national tour of a hit Broadwayshow, while she was on tour. But it happenedto Uxbridge Musical Theatre (the forerunnerof OnStage Uxbridge) in the fall of 2003, forour production of Neil Simon’s Sweet Charity.

After auditions, we discovered that many ofthe local dancers who’d choreographed for usbefore - Sophianne Roberts, Carey Nicholson,Michelle Charette, Nancy Einsmann - were inthe cast, so we hit upon a novel solution: tosplit the job amongst them, having each chore-ograph one or two songs.

Being my usual delusional self, I thought I’dinclude in the mix the young woman who hadchoreographed a number of shows for us in ourearly years - Fiddler on the Roof, Bye Bye Birdieand South Pacific - but whose star was on therise, and who was, at the time, Sophie in theU.S. national tour of Mamma Mia! I asked ifshe would tackle Sweet Charity’s best-knownsong, “Hey, Big Spender”, and when sheagreed, I assumed she would e-mail me somewritten notes, which one of our other choreog-raphers would interpret for the cast.

But Chilina Kennedy is a perfectionist. Sowhat she did was ask her Mamma Mia! cast-mates to play our dancers, and volunteer for anumber of rehearsals in a hall backstage at thetheatre in Denver where the tour had stoppedfor a couple of weeks. She choreographed thosedancers, taped them learning the song, thenshipped the tape special delivery to us (we stillplay it now and again for fun).

We had gotten to know this amazing per-former when she showed up to audition for thesummer season of professional repertory I didin 1998 at the Academy Theatre in Lindsay.We were all blown away by the talent of thisyoungster, still in the musical theatre programat Sheridan College. There were a lot of greatthings about the shows that summer, and oneof the best things about them was the begin-ning of a personal and professional relationshipwith Chilina Kennedy.

She choreographed Fiddler for us the follow-ing winter, her final year at Sheridan, and wasable to come back the next two winters as well,fallow times before she left for Prince EdwardIsland to truly launch her career in Anne ofGreen Gables. My wife and I went to Charlot-tetown to see her, and her job in that show(particularly the “Apology” song) ranks #1 inthe thousands of musical theatre performances

I’ve seen over the years. And Chilina’s profes-sional wanderings have given us the excuse forlots more interesting travel as well; we’ve seenher on stage in San Diego, Philadelphia, Hali-fax, Hartford, all over Ontario and most re-cently, on Broadway.

After Anne, she got the touring gig withMamma Mia!, then came home to star for threesummers at the Shaw Festival. Then she cameto stay with us in our Uxbridge home for sev-eral months while we were honoured with herone and only directing job, Camelot at theMusic Hall, in January of 2009. Right afterthat, she left for the first of three summers atStratford, where she reached true star statuswith performances in West Side Story and Evita,among others. A revival of Jesus Christ Superstarwas taken to Broadway, her first taste of NewYork. The following summer, 2013, she returned to

Charlottetown to play the first role (so far!) evercreated for her, Evangeline. And only a coupleof months after that, on the 50th anniversaryof John F. Kennedy’s assassination, she cameback to Uxbridge for the only time she has ac-tually performed here, in a staged reading ofKennedy’s Children, by Robert Patrick.The summer of 2014 was mostly dedicated to

another adventure - motherhood - but byMarch of 2015 she was back on Broadway tostar as songwriter Carole King in the smash hitBeautiful. And that is where she’s remained tillthis month, when she began a long-deservedvacation. She returns to Beautiful on Broadwayin September.

She won’t be resting all that time, however.On April 18 and 19, she performs an eveningof Rodgers & Hammerstein hits with theToronto Symphony. And then, we were re-cently overjoyed to learn, she will join the tour-ing company of Beautiful as it performs inToronto from June 27 to August 20. It’s rarefor a Broadway star to perform with a touringcompany of the same show, but Chilina’s a rareperson, and Ontario’s her home. She couldn’tresist.

So busloads of Uxbridgers will be headeddown to the Ed Mirvish Theatre to see theirfriend. It’s not a stretch to call Chilina ourtown’s very own Broadway belle, because shewould tell you we played an important role inher development as an artist.Personally, my wife and I have been delighted

to watch Chilina grow as an actress, and as aperson, over the last two decades. We can saywe knew her when...

Suddenly, people in the room felt a great deal oftension. A man rose from his seat in the middleof the auditorium. He cleared his throat. He ap-peared to muster his courage in front of severalhundred others in the audience and a platformof political dignitaries. He looked to the mod-erator and began to speak.

“I am a taxpayer in Scarborough,” he began,“and I see the Scarborough subway extensioncoming, but I have a serious question…”At precisely that moment, in the corner of the

hall, some sort of air compressor or ventilationpump clicked into gear. And the gush of air andthe grinding sound of its motor all but drownedout the sound of the man about to ask the dig-nitaries present that serious question. For therest of us – journalists, other taxpayers, and av-erage citizens attending the meeting – the man’sserious question was all but lost. And I thought,“Why would the organizers of such an impor-tant event as this choose a room as inadequateas this? And, why wouldn’t they have a micro-phone for that man to ask his question?”

Ironically, the public meeting this week, enti-tled “Better Transit for Scarborough,” which wasto address one of the most crucial issues in thehistory of transit in the Greater Toronto Area –Toronto City Council’s final decision “Yes” or“No” on funding of the Scarborough TTC sub-way extension – was in many ways a bust. Ithappened Monday night at a community centrenear Ellesmere and Markham. And in just aboutevery respect, I thought, the organizers made allthe wrong decisions in staging it. You’d thinkwith as much at stake as the future of publictransit for about 600,000 people in the GTA (aswell as those of us beyond in Durham Region),organizers could have planned things better. Butthe ill-timed gush of air and motor start-up wereonly two of a number of interruptions, distrac-tions and shortcomings of the evening.Things began on the wrong foot, when the or-

ganizers, Scarborough Community RenewalOrganization (SCRO), opened the doors of theauditorium at the Centennial Recreation Cen-tre. Volunteers still raced about setting up peti-tions, posters, pamphlets, tables, chairs andmicrophones. It seemed awfully last minute.Better to get all that behind-the-scenes stuffdone long before anybody entered the room, Ithought. Indeed, they might have chosen a bet-ter room. Bigger would have been better. Itwasn’t long before they were turning peopleaway at the door. “We’ll be getting underway in about 15 min-utes, folks,” the moderator kept saying at one ofthe few microphones. Which stretched to 20

and then 30 minutes, partly because when themedia arrived, everybody wanted to interviewthe principal spokesman, Mayor John Tory. Buthe wasn’t introduced until well into the pro-gram. There were testimonials, greetings and aseries of not very well-informed introductionsbefore the mayor spoke. And just before the or-ganizers took questions from the floor, a cityplanner got up and unveiled the renderings,scheduling and costs involved in the plannedsubway/Smarttrack/LRT network. I thought heshould have been first, so that everybody couldvisualize the thing!

Mayor Tory tried his level best to get thingsback on track, if you will. He reviewed a bit ofthe history of discourse over transit in the eastend of Toronto. He lamented the indecision andwhat he called “the fighting of old battles,” sothat the city could get on with delivering mod-ern transit to more than 25 per cent of Toronto’scitizens. He talked about making Scarborougha magnet for investment, jobs and populationgrowth with his three-way plan. Eventually, the moderator, on one of only two

microphones in the room, lectured the audienceabout decorum, respect and the order of speak-ers. Then, he invited people to rise where theystood and ask questions. Well, the room didn’thave the acoustics of the Mormon Tabernacle,so most of the public questions went unheard.And if the member of the public prefaced his orher question with a comment, none of it couldbe heard either. Which brought calls of, “Can’thear!” or “What was the question?” from all overthe auditorium.

Then, when legitimate points arose, such as:Would the subway extension be built simulta-neously with the SmartTrack and LRT? Wasthere budget in the new transit plan for Wheel-Trans? And why wouldn’t there be a subway stopat Scarborough General Hospital? … well, no-body could hear, and all that did was raise thetemperature of an already anxiety-charged roomabout the entire issue. I couldn’t help thinking,in a community as sophisticated as Scarborough,where the issue has been batted about for years,and when everyone needed to feel that his/herview mattered, that all the basics for a successfulpublic meeting had been ignored.

All the organizers needed to do was consultRobert’s Rules about public meeting structureand protocol. But then, maybe compressor mo-tors weren’t invented in 1876 when Henry Mar-tyn Robert wrote his guidebook. Ormicrophones, for that matter.

For more Barris Beat columns, go to www.tedbarris.com

The Barris Beatcolumn by Ted Barris

Organized chaos

Our DentalCentres arehiring dental

assistants andhygienists

Please reply via Info@thedentalcentre.ca

We are your one-stop Dental Centre!

Wandering the Cosmoscolumn by Conrad Boyce

Our belle on Broadway

Thursday, March 16, 20176The Uxbridge Cosmos

THIS WEEKENDThurs., March 16: Come WalkWith Me- Trail Walk. 9:30 – 10:30a.m. Come on a fun walk with your pre-school children, explore Uxbridge'sCountry Preserve. Meet at parking lot be-hind Walmart. Contact 416-576-2999. Thurs., March 16: Lunch n’ Learn- Safe Exercises for Seniors. St.Paul’s Anglican Church, 12 - 2 p.m., fea-turing a physiotherapist and an aquafitinstructor. A light pay-what-you-wishlunch catered by North House, followedby presentations and a Q & A. Pleasephone 905-852-7016 to reserve a seat.Fri., March 17: Ham & Scallop Po-

tato Dinner, hosted by Epsom/UticaUnited Church. Utica Hall, 4:30 - 7 p.m.Adults $15, Youth 6 - 12 $8, 5 andunder free.Fri., March 17: St. Paddy’sDance,the Uxbridge Legion, 7:30 p.m.Featuring The Pepper Shakers Band, sev-eral special guests and a visit by the PipeBand. Tickets are $10, all welcome.Wear your green!Sun., March 19: Bird Box Inspec-tion at the Countryside Preserve.Join North Durham Nature from 1- 3 p.m.for a 4 km walk around the CountrysidePreserve. Preregister at dconn50@pow-ergate.ca or phone (905) 852-5432.

Weather dependent. For more informa-tion, visit northdurhamnature.com.Sun., March 19: Free Movie Night,Goodwood Baptist Church, 6:30 p.m.Watch “Undaunted”, a biography of JoshMcDowell's life.

NEXT WEEKTues., March 21: Uxbridge Sen-iors’ Club General Meeting. 12noon, Uxbridge Seniors’ Centre. Cateredchicken dinner, musical entertainment.Members $10, non-members $15. Bringa friend along!Thurs., March 23: Tree Troublepresentation. Join North Durham Na-ture and a forest ecologist with the An-cient Forest Exploration and ResearchGroup, 7 p.m., Scugog Memorial Li-brary. A $5 donation from non-membersis appreciated. For more information,visit www.northdurhmnature.com Thurs., March 23: Sunderland Co-op Open House & Pancake Sup-

per. Sunderland Co-op, 6:30-8:30 p.m.Meet & greet staff, enjoy a pancake andsausage supper. All proceeds from theevent go to Durham West 4-H. Tickets$10, reserve atrobashton4h@gmail.com. Children 12and under free with a paid adult meal.Sat., March 25: Earth Hour, 8 - 9p.m., Centennial Park, Uxbridge. Enter-tainment; bring a lawn chair, warm blan-ket, & candles. For information call905-640-3966 or bnortheast@power-gate.ca.Sat., March 25: Uxbridge LionsAnnual Pancake Breakfast. Enjoyhot pancakes, sausage & bacon withmaple syrup. Continuous serving from7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., CommunityCentre, Uxbridge Arena. Adults $7, chil-dren $5. Tickets at the door. Proceeds insupport of Hope 4 Hockey, CanadianTire Jump Start Program, Uxbridge Bru-ins, Uxbridge Minor Hockey.Sun., March 26: Spring Cleaning

Sale - Fundraiser for the new An-imal Shelter. Uxbridge Arena, 11:30a.m.- 4 p.m. Featuring a "$1/item zone"of used clothing from newborn to adultXXXL sizes. Also featuring a variety ofvendors selling gently used items and sev-eral home-based businesses. Still lookingfor donations of used clothing and for afew volunteers to work the event. Call905-852-4625 for more information.

UPCOMINGThurs., March 30: Soup Lunch atGoodwood United Church. 11 a.m.– 1 p.m. Soup, homemade bread,dessert and beverage - $5. For more in-formation, call June Harper at 905 6403347.Fri., March 31: Udora-LeaskdaleLions Club monthly spaghetti din-ner. 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. All you can eatspaghetti with garlic bread, salad, desertwith beverage. Adults $12, children 5and under, free. Sat., April 8: S.P.A. Day - Singing,Performing, and Acquiring NewSkills! Join Pineridge Chorus from 10a.m. - 3 p.m. Free lunch included -Women of all ages Welcome! Call 905-473-2342 or go to pineridgecho-rusuxbridge.ca to register.Tues., April 11: Bethesda-ReachWomen’s Institute Spring Lunch-eon & Fashion Show. Trinity UnitedChurch, 12 noon. Featuring fashionsfrom Brocks, Port Perry. Tickets $20. Re-serve now, 905-852-3925; 905-852-4024; or 905-985-3976 to order.Proceeds donated to charity.Sat., April 15: Uxbridge Run forthe Diamond. Includes 1/2 Marathon,5km & 10km walk/run. 10 year Anniver-sary, put on by the Cottage Hospital Aux-iliary. Uxbridgehalfmarathon.ca.

ONGOINGUxbridge Legion: Bingo every Thurs-day, 7:30 p.m., doors open at 6:30. Eu-chre every Friday, 7 p.m. Meat Rollsevery Saturday, 4 p.m. Community Soup Lunch at St. An-drew's Chalmers Presbyterian ChurchHall. Every Wednesday, 12 - 1 p.m. Paywhat you can to support Loaves andFishes Food Bank. Delicious soups &desserts supplied by various churches &service groups. For information contact905-852-4753.COMING UP is a FREE community bul-letin board. If you have a communityevent for a charity or non-profit organiza-tion that you’d like us to mention (ASSPACE PERMITS), please contact us atthecosmos@powergate.ca or 905-852-1900. The deadline for our next issue is12 noon Tuesday.

COMING UP

38 Toronto Street North, Unit 1, Uxbridge, Ontario, L9P 1E6Tel: 905.852.1900 Cell: 647.220.9173 Email: thecosmos@powergate.ca

The Uxbridge Cosmos Online.No subscription necessary.

www.thecosmos.ca

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7The Uxbridge Cosmos Thursday, March 16, 2017

SERVICESINCOME TAX & ACCOUNTING SERVICES:New clients welcome. Self-employed to corporateclients, over 25 years in the field. Lynn Eldridge,905-852-7281, eldridge_l@hotmail.com 5/18REGISTERED NURSE to provide foot care in yourhome. Diabetic, ingrown toe nails, callus, corns.Veterans welcome. Total Comfort Care. 416-287-0673. 4/20MAC SLOW? Upgrade with a Flash drive, freshsystem and safe data transfer. FREE Kodi Setup!Find out more at www.luxuria.com/mac and callTony: 647-982-3848. 3/23

VIRTUAL ASSISTANT: Are you so busy“working" you can't find the time to: contact yourclients, return phone calls, prepare quotes, deliverinvoices? We can help! For complete informationon all we can help with, contactBarbara@sbvisualmedia.ca, or call 905-649-0407.3/16COR-BLIMEY! MOBILE COMPUTERSERVICES: PC & Mac friendly - local & award

winning - we get to you quickly and fix yourproblems fast. Call Mick @ 905-715-3080 orcheckout www.corblimey.ca 3/30EXPERIENCE THE COMFORT OF A GREATBRA. The Girls Bra Boutique, 6316 Main St.,Stouffville. 905-642-3339. An upliftingexperience! 3/30PERMANENT HAIR REMOVAL: Electrolysis byKaren. Call for a free consultation 905-985-90859/1ALEXANDER COMPUTER SERVICES: Qualityrepair and sales from a local, experiencedprofessional. Call 416-629-6626 (ask for Kevin)or visit www.alexandercs.com 3/30HOME-WATCH HOUSE/PET SITTINGSERVICES:When planning your summer vacationbook your home/pet care as well. Voted #1 byUxbridge, now in our 13th year. Heather StewartCall or text 905-852-8525, visit www.home-watch.ca for more info. Follow us onInstagram-HomeWatchUxbridge. 3/30TUTOR: I provide private tutoring in my home;elementary, high school, college and university. Ialso work within the business community. 905-852-1145. 6/1

WANTEDRENTAL ACCOMMODATION for 60-year oldmale. Parking for one. Immediate occupancy.Reference available. Call Brian, 905-852-6790.

FARMLAND TO RENT: Competitive rates! Call416-571-1081. 4/6

FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENTat Parish Lanes. Various hours. Email resumé to

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FOR SALESNOWBLOWER - Walk-along style. Call 647-391-0326 3/16

FREE TO GOOD HOME. Lovely uprightpiano. Made by Williams Piano, Oshawa.Moving & need it gone. Call 905-904-1405.

FOR RENT2-BEDROOM BASEMENT APARTMENT,Uxbridge. Parking. On-Site laundry, separateentrance, walk to downtown. Large kitchen,spacious living area. No smoking/pets. $1250/mo.inclusive. First & last required. Avail. immediately.416-805-3972. 3/30

EVENTSHERBAL ADAPTOGENS FOR OUR STRESS-FILLED LIVES. Free seminar at Richters Herbs,Goodwood. Join John Redden Sun., March 19, 2-3p.m. Everyone welcome. www.richters.com/eventsfor more information or call 905-640-6677.

MOVING AWAY ART SALE. Big barn at 6100Main St. S., Uxbridge. Sat. & Sun., April 8 & 9, 12- 4 p.m. 416-801-8120. 3/23

MINDFULNESS/INSIGHT MEDITATION - Apractice to bring clarity, calm and compassion intoyour life. Second and fouth Thursdays of themonth at Blue Heron Studio, 7 - 8:30 p.m.Experienced and those new to meditation arewelcome. Contact us at: ghorner@zing-net.ca.3/23

CLASSIFIED

COSMOS BUSINESS BULLETIN BOARD

Classifieds are $10/week up to 25 words; $0.10 per additional word (plus HST). Payable in advance by cash, cheque, debit or credit card. Contact thecosmos@powergate.ca or 905-852-1900 Deadline: Tuesday, 12 noon. Ask about online link possibilities, too.

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8The Uxbridge Cosmos Thursday, March 16, 2017