The Citizen, 1987-03-18, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1987.
Opinion
Perception
becomes reality
As the debate on whether or not to restore the death penalty
grows in Canada, the media bears a huge responsibility for
making sure the truth is presented to the public.
In politics, perception becomes reality. If enough people
think something is so, it becomes so. There is a perception
among Canadians, for instance, that Canada has become a
violent place to live. Perhaps it is that perception that has
prompted 68 per cent of the people, according to an October
poll, to support the return of the death penalty.
Even opponents of a return of the death penalty are probably
concerned about what appears, by media reports, to be an
epidemic of killings of police officers. Yet Statistics Canada
figuresshowthatbetween 1966and 1975, when the death
penalty was still on the books, there were 38 police officers
killed. In the 10 years after the death penalty was abolished in
1976, there were 37 police officers murdered. Still, too many
but showing no alarming increase, especially considering there
were nearly twice as many police officers out there.
According to Maclean’s magazine, a survey by the
University of Toronto’s Centre of Ciminology showed just how
prevalent is the view of Canada as a violent place to live. Of
those interviewed, 75 percent thought that at least 30 per cent of
all crimes were violent. The reality shows only 5.7 per cent of
crimes involve violence.
The number of murders per hundred thousand population
has actually dropped since the death penalty was abolished
(though it has risen significantly since the early 1960’s when the
last person was hanged in Canada).
Flooded with scenes of seedy cities filled with violence on
imported American TV shows, bombarded with news items
from all around an ever-shrinking world in full, bloody colour on
television news, people are apt to be frightened into thinking
drastic action must be taken to save civilization: even if it means
bringing back an uncivilized act like execution.
A whiff of power
Funny things happen to political parties when they sense
they have a chance at political power. Expediency is apt to cloud
better judgement.
Such seems to be the case of the New Democratic Party with
its move at its national convention this past weekend to
embrace special status for Quebec. The NDP, if it came to
power, promised Quebec it would support the province’s right
to opt out of federal programs and get full financial
compensation; and to give the province a veto on all
constitutional changes affecting French language and culture
in Quebec.
This kind of debate on special status for Quebec goes back a
quarter of a century now. Battles have been fought inside and
outside the province over it. Pierre Trudeau led his long
campaign to make Quebecers feel they needn’t retreat into
fortress Quebec, surrounded by walls to protect their language
and culture but to look beyond Quebec’s border to feel
comfortable doing business anywhere in Canada.
The defeat of the referendum for Quebec sovereignty proved
a watershed for the province. While political energy that had
been driving the province for two decades ebbed, confident
new Quebecers started doing exactly what Pierre Trudeau had
hoped, pushing outside the province into therest of Canada and
the U.S. expanding in business and taking control of their own
lives.
It is ironic, then, that at this point in time all three political
parties should be embracing some sort of special status for
Quebec. A confident new Quebec seems less in need of
protection now than ever in its history.
Bouyed by polls that show them second in Quebec and second
across the country, the New Democrats see themselves
realistically as the next official opposition or even the next
government. The key to national power has always been
Quebec and the NDP wants to attract all the supporters of the
provincial Parti Quebecois.
The NDP, which stands for equality on so many issues, is
ready to institutionalize inequality among the provinces to
court votes in Quebec. Is this a sign that the party that always
sounds self-righteous, is willing to compromise its other
principals for a chance at the brass ring of power?
A sign of the times
In the 1970's an eastern Ontario back-to-the-lander left over
from the 1960’sborrowedsome money and put out a little
magazine about the pleasures of self-sufficiency.
The magazine took off and soon became the seventh largest
circulation magazine in the country, not by appealing to the
remnants of the back-to-the-land movement but to the dreams
of rich young urbanites who could see themselves as gentlemen
farmers, even in the backyard of their townhouses, fhe
magazine was so successful it expanded into the U.S.
Last week James Lawrence sold his publishing empire in the
little Ontario town of East Camden to a large Montreal media
conglomerate. Symbolic of our times, isn’t it.
'Blasted groundhog - setting the alarm so early...'
Mabel’s Grill
There are people who will tell
you that the important decisions in
town are made down at the town
hall. People in the know, however
know that the real debates, the
real wisdom reside down at
Mabel s Grill where the greatest
minds in the town [if not in the
country] gather for morning coffee
break, otherwise known as the
Round Table Debating and Fili
bustering Society. Since not just
everyone can partake of these
deliberations we will report the
activities from time to time.
MONDAY: How could the televi
sion networks ever even think of
running condom ads that might be
construed as encouraging casual
sex, Julia Flint was saying.
Everybody knows the networks
only run nice wholesome program
ming, encouraging family values
like fidelity and chastity: shows
like Falconcrest and Days of Our
Lives and Miami Vice. Shame on
those public health people who
dared to suggest telling people if
they were going to mess around
they should use protection.
TUESDAY: Billie Bean was asking
Councillor Ward Black how much
taxes are likely to go up now that
it’s the time of year for hatching
new things like baby chicks and
town budgets. Ward admitted the
taxes are going to be going up
again which led to the usual
comments aboutthe council not
knowing what it was doing.
Ward suggested they should be
lucky at least they didn’t live in
Wiarton where spending got so out
of hand the council had to turn their
affairs over to the province. “And
what chance do they have now, ” he
said. “If they can’t balance their
own budget, how do they hope
Liberals will balance it.”
WEDNESDAY: Whatever hap
pened to free enterprise, Billie
Bean wondered. He’d been read
ing in the paper where some senior
citizens in B.C. had been arrested
for trying to add to their income. “ I
mean they could have been on
welfare or something but instead
they were trying to look after
themselves growing crops. I mean,
why the big fuss just because the
crop they were growing was
$90,000 worth of marijuana.’’
THURSDAY: Hank Stokes said
that even this nice winter we’ve
had has been a problem for farmers
around here. Out west there was a
farmer who was in trouble with the
bank and he and 30 friends
bulldozed a wall of snow across the
driveway to keep the banker out.
“Wouldn’t you know it,’’ said
Hank, “just when all the darned
snow we get around here could
finally have been put to use, we
don’t get any.” _______
FRIDAY: Tim O’Grady was taking
a ribbing this morning about how
much lawyers make but he fought
back with the item in the paper
about the fact judges make too little
and they should be paid more.
“Who wrote that report, a
lawyer?” Billie wondered.
Ward Black broke in with the
news about the insurance official
that said the real way to cut the
costs of car insurance isn’t so much
cutting down the number of
accidents, but cutting down the
number of lawyers. If there
weren’t so many lawyers, he said,
insurance costs could be cut
drastically.
“Yeh,’’ said Billie “and if there
weren’t so many lawyers there
wouldn’t be so many people who
could afford those big expensive
cars that cost a bundle to get fixed if
they’re in an accident. We could
save even more then.”
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