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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1994-01-19, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19,1994. ttl Arthur Black Where does it say justice is to be bone-stupid? The law, sir, is a ass. A. idiot. Mr. Bumble, in Oliver Twist Hard to believe that 'way back in 1837, Charles Dickens had twigged to the fundamental characteristic of our justice system. Its fundamental insanity I mean. The evidence, M'lud, is all around us. Check out the Karla Homolka/Paul Teale publicity it-is-to-laugh ban. This contemptible attempt at media management was doomed before the judge's gavel hit the bench. Ban publicity? Sure, you can padlock the door of the Moose Jaw Examiner or slip a mitten over the microphone of anchorman Joe Blow-dry at the local TV station but...has His Honour heard of, oh...electricity? How do you muzzle a communications satellite orbiting the earth? How do you stop a radio station in Detroit from lobbing its signal at will across the world's longest undefended border? You don't. Which is why millions of Canadians know more than they ever cared to about the grisly details of the Teale/Homolka outrage. But, thanks to the Canadian judiciary, all our knowledge comes with a tiny tag around ||jlnternational Scene By Raymond Canon 33 Workin’ on the railroad I have been a railroad buff ever since my childhood; if I remember correctly, I came home one day after I had been let on a shunting engine at the nearby railway and announced that it was my firm intention to become a locomotive engineer. There could be no finer profession! All this came about when the railways were at the zenith of their importance. Although some lines had been tom up, I recall that just about every town of any size had track running through it, with a railway station and some sort of spasmodic passenger services. Not any more! I have been following the fate of the rail line that parallels the west end of Lake Erie and am grateful to Greg Sims of the Kingsville Reporter for keeping me up to date on the matter. It seems that the town has just seen its last link with the railway tom up to a point between that town and Leamington and there is every evidence that the demolition will be carried further during the next few years. For this reason I keep asking whether these rail lines, that are losing money, are in any way capable of being brought back to profitability? I ask this because an American company by the name of Railtex came to Canada and bought out the CN line between Stratford and Goderich, with the adjoining spur line from Clinton to Centralia. Strange things have happened since that time; customers state that the service has been better than under Canadian National and is actually making money. Would it not have been possible to do the same thing on the line through Kingsville? One of the reasons why the American firm can come up here and make money is that the sale was completed before the it that reads: "Made in U.S.A." Stupid or not, our judges have obviously taken a fancy to this new, less bothersome form of dispensing justice. Have you noticed a proliferation of secret trials going on recently? Of course you haven't - the Canadian media have been forbidden to print, televise or broadcast them. There's at least one such trial going on right now, but if I told you where it is or who's been charged or what's involved I could be arrested and thrown in the slammer for contempt of court. The Canadian Bill of Rights. How do you like it so far? Cheer up. Our justice system may be goofy, undemocratic and hopelessly behind the times but at least it's not quite as insane as the variety of jurisprudence practised to the south. Exhibit A: The U.S. Court of Appeals versus Merrill Chamberlain, a two-bit thug serving a life sentence for the murder of a New Mexico police officer. Mister Chamberlain sued the police, claiming it was their fault he was guilty of murder, because they had "allowed him to gain access to his handgun" - and - "the officer he shot had foolishly neglected to wear a bullet-proof vest." Verdict pending. Exhibit B: McCummings versus Sandusky. This case goes back to 1984 when Jerome Sandusky, a 71-year-old retired controversial Ontario Labour Relations Act brought about the latest revisions which dictate that a union has successor rights when a business regulated by the federal government falls under provincial jurisdiction. The problems which these new revisions cause were revealed recently by the Kincardine Independent when it reported on the efforts of the Canadian Agra group to bring railway service to the Bruce Energy Centre. The original line was tom up from Harriston but, under the proposed plan, would be rebuilt and there is the possibility that it would become a partner of the above mentioned Railtex. Unionizing the new line would, in all likelihood, make it unprofitable. Incidentally Railtex has recently bought another line, this time from Truro, N.S. to Sydney, in Cape Breton but the above labour laws do not apply in that province so there will be no problem with union restrictions. It is because of all this that I asked the question about the rail line through Kingsville. Certainly, I would doubt that few people would complain about an American company coming in to do the job of keeping the railways open if there are no Canadian entrepreneurs to be found. Such a thing is not impossible; there is a former CN line in Alberta being run by Canadians and there is the line from St. Thomas in Port Stanley in the same situation. To date service on the latter is restricted to excursion runs but the company has applied to provide freight service from Port Stanley's harbour to St. Thomas. I hope they make it. Railways may be having a hard time keeping alive in Canada; in Europe they are a going concern and few lines come up for abandonment. If you have ever driven over there, you will understand why; traffic congestion is bad enough as it is and railways are constantly trying to get more people to use the service. This does not come without a price; subsidies are a way of life there, but then you may or may not businessman, was smashed to the ground and robbed by two muggers in the New York subway. Sandusky's glasses were shattered. His jacket was torn. He was bruised and bloodied. He probably would have had his throat slit, except a New York police officer came upon the scene. The muggers fled, the cop shot one of them, one Bernard McCummings. Mister McCummings, 48 years younger than the man he assaulted, had just finished serving time for a previous robbery. Well, the Mills of the Gods grind slowly and the wheels of justice sometimes barely turn at all, but turn they did. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court made a $2 million dollar settlement in the Sandusky/ McCummings case. Nine years after the incident, granted, but better late than never. What's that you ask? How is Mister Sandusky going to spend the award money? My, you are naive aren't you? Jerome Sandusky didn't get the money. The victim of the mugging, now 80, didn't get a dime. It was the mugger, Bernard McCummings, who got the $2 million. For pain and injury caused by the policeman's bullet. I know Justice is supposed to be blind, but where does it say that it has to be bone­ stupid too? know that the subsidy m Canada for Via Rail runs in the neighbourhood of $300 - $400 million. The interest in railways in Europe is so great, in fact, that there has been a noticeable development ij^-advanced technology trains, led by the French with their TGV (tres grande vitesse) locomotives. One Canadian company, Bombardier, has not been slow to cash in on this technology and is offering it to North American customers. Their first success may come in Texas and, if it does, it could well be that we will see it used on the Windsor - Quebec corridor. In the meantime, however, the small lines, such as the ones to which I referred above, will continue to disappear, barring some unforeseen event which makes rail travel much more economical than it is now. Paul’s Perspective Continued from page 4 receiving social assistance. Not only do these people now have jobs but they have acquired skills which their employer wants and needs. The result in money terms is that the taxpayers saves an estimated $135 million in welfare costs. The average wage of a JOT participant in Ontario is $21,000. In Huron County the figures show that the number of employers participating is rapidly increasing as the employers find out about the program. To date there are 163 employers in the program. In Huron County 286 positions have been filled. As well, 223 people have completed the pre-employment course. The pre-employment courses- are held three times per month at different locations throughout the County. Some of the topics are resume writing, networking, job search skills, and self marketing. The average class size is 15 participants. On March 2, jobsOntario Training will hold a Training Fair at the Clinton Town Hall. This will be open to the public. Employers are especially invited. The topics will deal with a range of training issues such as apprenticeships. The Short of it By Bonnie Gropp Butt out! Making mistakes is part of growing up, but unfortunately some of the mistakes we make are a little harder to undo than others. One of my first, and biggest, mistakes happened when I was just 12. A neighbouring family, with whom we were quite close, had a teenage foster girl living with them. Four years older than me I became enamoured and she became my idol, a situation that proved to be an unfortunate one. Don't misunderstand she wasn't a delinquent; most of the time she was one of the better people I knew; but there was a wild streak about B., a flinty rebelliousness that added to her Irish charm, made her a colourfully romantic character to an impressionable adolescent. I developed an affection for her and while curfews sheltered me from some of her tricks, I managed to tag along as often as I could. Being street smart she knew it was better to involve me in her habits and pranks than risk having me tattle, so before my 13th birthday I was an habitual closet smoker. We smoked in the pavilion at the park, under the bridge and ironically by the smoke stack at the hospital. I recall a time when our immaturity made us boldly foolish and after the adults were in bed sleeping we decided to share a "fag" in the den while watching the late show. Needless to say the smell of smoke gave us away and we spent one week under house arrest. The thrill of getting caught was, unfortunately, one of the biggest attractions of smoking; after all, thinking now of the smell, the taste and the fact that all my allowance went to support my habit, I can't believe I ever enjoyed it. Anyway, before I knew it, the idea of quitting was terrifying, the act impossible. The first attempt came at 17 when I . developed asthma. What a pathetic creature I was, trying to smoke when I couldn't breathe! The second attempt was during pregnancy when the idea of smoking made me sick and the thought of quitting made me sicker. Three times I tried and three times I failed. Once I actually quit for two years but the craving never went away. What I did discover, however was that each time I restarted I enjoyed it less and less until eventually one day I just decided I was done and that was it. That was 17 years ago and I have been grateful to and proud of myself every day since. This week is non-smoking week. Smokers are asked to take the challenge and butt out. Though most will have a million excuses why they won't anyone who does deserves a great deal of credit. It's not easy to give up an addiction. A friend of mine recently kicked the habit after 40 years and as she sees it, only has a substantial weight gain to show for it. That's unfortunately what makes the already tough decision to quit tougher. As nicotine does increase the metabolic rate many will put on some pounds. However, experts say, you have rid yourself of the your biggest health hazard; shedding the weight can come later. While my friend doesn't think she feels better, evidence proves she has done herself a tremendous favour. While it's wonderful to see long-time smokers opting for a cleaner body, it's depressing to see the number of young people starting to smoke. When I lit my first cigarette, no one had ever told me it would take over my life. More signficantly no one had ever told me that it could end my life. They just said it was "a dirty habit". Today, kids are educated and forewarned, but many, too many, still think the way to be cool is to follow rather than lead.