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The Citizen, 1989-12-13, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1989. Opinion The eloquence of silence The tragedy in Montreal, when a sad, warped man who blamed feminists for all the troubles of his failed life randomly killed 14 young women students in a university class, was one of the strongest arguments that can be made about how threatened men sometimes take out their frustrations in violence against women. Sometimes, however, people don’t know when to leave well enough alone and the feminist movement seems to have fallen into that trap. The shock felt across the country is understandable. The sense of frustration, even fear, on the part of women after such an incident is easy to sympathize with. But many of the feminist speakers at rallies mourning the senseless deaths of the 14 women have tried to portray this tragedy as the extreme but logical expression of a society that condones violence against women. It is, they say, sexism. But sexism, just like racism or any other of the * * isms”, works both ways. A sick individual, who has perhaps been hurt by a woman and takes out his frustrations on all women, is sexist but so are feminist leaders who try to blame all men for tfie killings. The battle in our society in issues like racism has been trying to get away from looking at people as groups and looking at individuals instead. There is, for instance, a definite problem with drug-related crime in some areas of Toronto that are heavily black, but we battle hard to keep from making the racist connection that blacks and crime go together. We keep trying to remind people to deal with each as an individual, and that any physical similarity to anyone else should not be a point of judgement. The Montreal killer wore a beard, but we wouldn’t say all people who wear beards are killers. He was 25 years old but we wouldn’t say watch out for people who are 25. The problems is that these feminist speeches, instead of pointing up the problem of violence against women, tend to instead reinforce the feeling many people have that feminists are so extreme they lack common sense anymore. By trying to make this random act of violence by a sick man something that all men are supposed to be responsible for, they will actually only play to the fears and frustrations of those who feel put upon by feminists. The fact is that as society, through enforced programs like pay equity, tries to right wrongs and give women an equal place in society, some men are going to be hurt, and many others are going to feel a sense of grievance. Some of these, those who feel most threatened and least adequate, may be violent and we must try to stop that. But these feminist diatribes aren’t going to make the situation better, only add to the sense of frustration. The slaughter in Montreal was a tragedy for the country as a whole and the families of the victims in particular. It stands in itself as a sickening example of how a warped individual can rationalize turning his frustrations into a killing spree. And the real tragedy is that all the well-meaning government regulations, all the attempts of us in the media to try to make people see the value of equality of the sexes, and especially feminist speeches will not persuade a crazed individual he should not take out his frustrations with a gun. Out of control It seemed like a good idea at the time when Huron County had surplus space after closing a wing of Huronview and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food was looking for more space for its crowded Huron county office in Clinton. Why not renovate the wing to house OMAF? The OMAF employees, tired of working in cramped quarters, were delighted with the idea. The county was delighted with the idea. Apparently government officials were too. It seemed the most economical solution too. The initial cost estimates to renovate the building for OMAF use was $75,000 to $90,000, a lot of money but a lot cheaper than building a new building. But then the Ministry of Government Services, the ministry in charge of providing the space for other government ministries, got involved. Based on the requirements this ministry laid down, the estimated cost of renovating the wing went up to $450,000. By the time the tenders were opened, however, the cost of providing the 11,172 square feet had jumped to $626,500, not including an additional $100,000 for such things as providing a parking lot, removing asbestos and architect’s fees. The question is, what are these standards that suddenly have driven up the costs by 700 per cent? And can we afford a government that lives so high? Letter from the editor Leaving out the public BY KEITH ROULSTON Quite a few people around Blyth were shocked and angered last week when they learned that a local landmark ‘‘the arch” had been demolished by CP Rail without any warning. Probably a lot of other people who didn’t know what happened will be unhappy when they find out There are logical reasons for CP to want the arch taken down. The company doesn’t want any possible liability claims from people falling off the tall structure or perhaps from debris falling from it in future. The company’s concerns are understandable. The way it has gone about demolition of the remains of the CP line, however, haven’t been understandable. The removal of the tracks, brid­ ges, etc. has followed the same kind of cloak and dagger secrecy that surrounded the abandonment of the line itself. You may recall the decision to close the line was approved by the National Transpor­ tation Agency without the public ever being informed, let alone given a chance to intercede. The quiet closing was allowed under a revision in the National Transporta­ tion Act which seems designed to keep public protest over line clo­ sures to a minimum because the public never knows about it until it’s too late. CP seems to have taken the same tactic in the demolition of the line. Local municipalities haven’t re­ ceived any correspondence from the railway on its plans since the line was abandoned. The provincial government is studying possible alternate uses for the line but CP isn’t waiting for the government to report. By the time the report is in, some of those possibilities will already have been precluded. The Maitland Trail Association, for instance, is one of a number of groups that would like to see the land turned into a public trail. That would be a costly project at the best of times but CP is making it more Continued on page 17 P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $19.00/yr. ($40.00 Foreign). Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, DaveWilliams Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968