For All Your Financial & Insurance Needs... See Us Today! ESSEX ROTARY CLUB FISH FRY SAT., JULY 29TH 4:00 - 7:30 P.M. Wednesday, July 26, 2006 · Page 3 AT THE ESSEX UNITED CHURCH 53 TALBOT ST. SOUTH ESSEX, ONTARIO TICKETS $ .00 12 EACH DPM INSURANCE GROUP Phone: (519) 776-6457 CAR WASH BENEFITS LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS A car wash June 10 at Carstar Collision raised $370 each for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Community Living Essex County. From left are: Carstar Manager Gary Guyitt, Adam and Jodi Popov, Chantelle Foreman of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Rob Jasper, a Carstar marketing representative, Nancy Wallace Gero, the executive director of Community Living Essex County, and Bruce Hughes from Essex Carstar. The car wash at the local Carstar outlet corresponded with Carstar fundraisers across the country. The local event also included a draw for a hot tub. Jodi Popov participated in the Canada-wide draw and won. 29 Talbot Street North, Essex, Ontario CARSTAR TRAVEL WITH CONFIDENCE WWW,FORSYTHTRAVEL.COM Established in 1948 · OT 0046911 76 TALBOT ST. N. Aug 12-16 - *Boston - Cape Cod, incl sightseeing of Hyannis Port, Plymouth Rock $659.00 Sept 12 - Shipshewana Flea Market, shopping $62.00 Sept 13 - Vegas Knights, Port Dover, Tribute to Vegas icons, Sinatra, Elvis, lunch incl. $99.00 Oct 14 - "Corpse" Schoolhouse Theatre, St Jacobs, Murder Mystery, luch incl $99.00 Oct 14 - St Jacobs shopping, market & village, lunch included $76.00 Oct 25 - Turkeyville dinner theatre "The Bathtub Gin Murders" roaring `20's theme $89.00 Oct 2-4 - Red, Orange & Gold, Orillia, Midland, Muskoka $399.00 Oct 10-13 - *Vermont Fall Colours, lunch at Vontrapp Family Lodge & more $549.00 * indicates guaranteed departure TRAVEL Ltd. ESSEX 776-6439 Local representatives in on passport requirement talks BY SARAH FISHER Mayors and members of parliament from Essex and across Southern Ontario are talking about the effect of heightened security measures on travellers into the U.S. A Canada-U.S. Mayor's Summit was held July 20 in Windsor to discuss the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. The meeting included panel discussions with Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Toronto Mayor David Miller and hundreds of mayors and business representatives from both countries. Local representatives Mayor Ron McDermott, Deputy Mayor Percy Dufour and Essex MP Jeff Watson also attended. The purpose of the summit was to discuss and prepare for WHTI and to ensure the flow of travellers between Canada and the U.S. continues. The WHTI is an American law that will be implemented in two phases. It will require that Canadians possess either a passport or other "secure" documents in order to enter the U.S. The start date for the passport requirement has been postponed to Dec. 31, 2007. Representatives from Southwestern Ontario fear the law will affect tourism and hurt crossborder industry. Reports estimate the new requirements will cost the Canadian economy about $1.6 billion and the American economy about $750 million a year. "What the new government is doing is addressing the legitimate security concerns of the U.S.," Watson said in his office July 20. "We've increased intelligence and security measures in Canada and many legislators in the U.S. are not entirely aware of the things the new government has been doing at home." Watson got the opportunity to talk about his government's participation in border security and intelligence when he and his colleagues from the three other official political parties travelled to Washington, D.C. July 10-13. The parliamentarians met with different members of Congress. Watson stressed the Conservative party's co-operation with their American counterparts and suggested that there is time to shape the outcome of the WHTI by talking about the impact on business and tourism in both countries. Canada's new relationship with the U.S. can only help its efforts at negotiation, he said. Brian Masse, NDP MP for Windsor West, feels the federal government has a different obligation. Masse's party feels the Canadian government should pressure the U.S. to change the WHTI because of the negative impact it will have. Masse said car traffic across the border has already decreased and the travel document provision is not yet in place. "This is a very serious issue with deep-rooted consequences that will be significant for tourism and trade, but also for manufacturing and for social prosperity," Masse said July 21. "The government is being quite irresponsible. Prior to them taking office there was a take note debate in the House of Commons about the subject and some pressure was placed on the U.S. government. Since that time there's been only modest pressure and what's unacceptable is that there is no plan to deal with the consequences (of WHTI), either the current ones or the future ones." Both Masse and Linda Smith, the president of the Windsor and District Chamber of Commerce, say people are already confused about the requirements of WHTI. Smith said one of the focuses of the summit was to educate the public that passports are not currently required to cross from Canada into the U.S. or from the U.S. to Canada. "People are confused right now and we should be demanding from the U.S. an economic impact study," Masse said. Watson feels his government has the right approach. He says the goal is to lobby for Canada to have special consideration in WHTI. Those details have not been solidified, but that is the objective, he said. Going on the offensive he feels would be counterproductive. "I think the combative approach would be an unnecessary provocation and a provocation that could hurt us," Watson said. DELUXE RESTAURANT NOTICE To Our Valued Customers We Will be CLOSED FOR VACATION Saturday, July 22nd. Re-Opening Tuesday, August 8th A Good at e place to om y fr awa home 51 Talbot St. North, Essex 776-8112 COUNTY PAY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 After the decision, Hertel said the recommendations are geared to help ensure the transparency of council and show residents whether councillors have been attending meetings and what they have been paid for fulfilling their duties. "The statistics show great variation," Hertel said. "Some people attended 22 meetings in a year and some people attended almost 60. ... We want to know if councillors attended meetings, how many and what they are paid. It's accountability." Raymond said July 21 that council would address the recommendations before the council's term expires. "We will deal with this during this term in office," Raymond said. $ 199 GT 200R 95 *$ CS 305 29995 *Free Carry Case w/models CS-305, CS-346, CS-370, CS-440, CS-520 $ 19995 PB 200 35 Victoria Avenue, Essex, ON. (519) 776-8778 (In rear next to Siefker Machine) Hours: Mon-Fri: 8:30-5:30pm Sat: 9:00-2:00pm