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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-09-18, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2002. PAGE 5. Other Views I'll sue you in my dreams 4 4 f the law supposes that, the law is a ass, a idiot." Charles Dickens i arranged for those words to tumble out of the mouth of Mister Bumble, when the former wrote his novel, Oliver Twist more than a century and a half ago. Mister Dickens deserves to be immortalized for that sentence alone, for the law is indeed 'a ass' and 'a idiot' - something that the newspaper headlines and television news reader's remind us of almost every day, ' Never mind the larger than life egregious blunders (more than $300 million spent on land settlement negotiations between Ottawa and British Columbia. only to come up empty'?'?) - focus instead on the small but steady stream of judicial miscarriages that have become the very mortar of the daily news. I am referring of course to the Frivolous Lawsuits sideshow. Frivolous lawsuits have become a growth industry south of the border. In Las Vegas alone, 76 per cent of all obstetricians have been sued. Result: nearly half of the remaining doctors have announced plans to leave and set up practice elsewhere. The American school curriculum has been enriched by this new legal blood sport. Readin"Ritin' and 'Rithmetic has been joined by a fourth 'R': Ripping off the system. In southern California. one school district has issued a proclamation banning all running 'or other boisterous activity' on the school playground. Too many lawsuits from parents screaming "Negligence!" each time their kids come home with scraped knees or bruises. Afamous election promise that put the Liberals in government is being kept in part, oddly by the Progressive Conservatives,17 years later. The bizarre saga of whether small, corner grocery stores should be allowed to sell alcohol has more twists and turns than a corkscrew and is enough to drive anyone to drink. It started as a minor issue in the 1970s when independent grocers asked a Tory government to let them sell wines so they could be more viable and compete against chains. The province which sold wines and spirits through its own stores, and beer in brewery- run stores, started to allow sales in small grocery stores in northern communities too sparsely populated to support a liquor store, and the sale of wines in boutiques in some supermarkets. A New Democrat brought in a bill to allow corner stores across the province to sell beer, and a Liberal a bill to allow them to sell beer and wine. The Tory majority rejected both. The Tories argued the bills would cause more drinking, particularly among teens whom store staff would have difficulty refusing, impaired driving, and robberies because of more cash in tills. Liberal leader David Peterson revived the issue almost by accident in the 1985 electiOn. The Liberals had not put it in a long list of promises in their written platform or even discussed it in caucus. Peterson mentioned it in the last breath of his kickoff speech, but raised little interest, and repeated when touring a brewery 'we should be selling this stuff in corner stores.' Before the election Peterson had not done much to expose flaws in the Tories' policies or inspire, a belief that after being in power for four decades they could be replaced. But the Tories had changed premiers and their new leader, Frank Miller, liked for his folksiness, was. at 57. two years older than his predecessor and easy to paint as too rural and outdated. Many were looking for a more contemporary-looking premier. Peterson's advocacy of booie _ in corner Parents and school boards in the Detroit area used to have the option of getting rid of incom- petent teachers by simply reviewing their performances and firing them, if necessary. Not any more. They have been advised not to even think about removing lousy teachers from the school system. Even a successful effort takes an average of seven years in court and costs approximately $200,000 in legal fees. And a failing high school student in West Valley, Arizona got his diploma after all when his parents hired a lawyer who threatened to sue the kid's English teacher. The attorney warned the teacher that if the suit went ahead "all information regarding (the teacher's) background, employment records, past and present...becomes relevant." The teacher, to her credit, told the shyster to stuff it, but her school. board caved. They allowed the student to be 're-tested'. The kid passed. It gets stupider. Recently, a Delaware family sued for negligence after their child drowned when her rented canoe tipped during a trip on a river in Delaware. The judge found the canoe rental company guilty of "failing to post lifeguards along the length of the river". stores captured the imagination of news media, who suggested fancifully it symbolized him as a dashing young leader who would take Ontario into a new era of badly needed . modernization. Peterson thereafter promised booze in corner stores everywhere he went and when he paused for breath he was asked about it. The issue was blown out of proportion and almost anything Peterson said for the rest of the campaign, however commonplace, was seen as a pronouncement of great wisdom. The Tories maintained their opposition and were accused of being in the pockets of big breweries which donated to them, while the NDP, which once supported corner store sales. turned around and opposed on the ground union jobs would be at risk. The Tories as a result, obtained only a minority government, and within months Peterson ousted it with the help of the NDP and became premier. Peterson had a more serious agenda to fulfill, much of it forced on him by the NDP, and showed no thirst for getting on with allowing corner stores to sell booze, as opposition mounted from municipalities, police and health groups. But after constant reminders by the media, his minority government eventually brought in legislation to allow small grocery stores to sell beer and wine and was defeated by the Tories and NDP. Peterson showed his lack of enthusiasm when he refused to leave a reception a few yards down the corridor to turn up and vote. A year later Peterson won a huge majority in another election and.could comfortably have passed legislation allowing corner stores to sell My favourite recent frivolous lawsuit story? That would have to be the one filed by David Winkleman and Richard Goddard Junior in Iowa last month. The basis of their lawsuit has to do with the fact that Winkleman and Goddard will hence- forth and hereafter always be easy to spot on the street, or even in a smoky bar. That's because they each have the letters KORB tattooed permanently across their foreheads. Why'? Because Benjamin Stomberg told them to, that's why. Stomberg is a disc jockey at - wait for it - radio station KORB in Iowa. Stomberg announced, on the air, that he would give $30,000 a year for five years to anybody who had the station's call letters indelibly tattooed across their forehead. Winkleman and Goddard looked up from their draft glasses and said 'Hey! Good deal!' - and hied themselves off to the local human engraving emporium. Since then, Winkleman has been fired from his job and both men have been "unable to find new positions". What's more, when they showed up at radio station KORB and asked for their $150 grand each, they were laughed out of the reception area. So they are, in the great American tradition, suing the radio station. I think there's room for compromise .here. Radio station KORB could offer to pay to have at least 50 per cent of the tattoos altered. That way Winkleman and Goddard could walk around for the rest of their lives with foreheads that read DORK. booze, but never raised the issue again. But government, including that led by Ernie Eves, is steadily allowing more selected corner groceries to sell booze where there are not enough people to justify putting in its own stores. It says it will sprinkle them through the province, so Peterson has got part of his wish. But it has taken longer than aging good whisky. Letter THE EDITOR, It is difficult to believe that six months have gone by and the Blyth and District Community Centre renovations are almost complete. The Heart and Soul Committee is busy preparing for the Grand Opening BBQ and Live and Silent Auction on Saturday Sept. 21. Many items have been pouring in, such as — a balloon ride, 2003 Canadian Open passes. Steve Yzerman jersey. gift certificates, many weekend getaway packages, DVD player. Toronto Maple Leaf tickets. gravel, fax machine, cedar wooden bench, many signed sports memorabilia items, a generator, gill baskets, signed limited edition framed prints by — Newby, Snyder, WOodhouse, etc., limited edition wooden bulldog butler, and much. much, more. Preview- and tours of the facility begin at noon, Supervised children's activities will he available for children ages 3-12 during the entire event in the auditorium. The roast beef barbecue by the Beigrave Kinsmen begins at 5 p.m. and runs until 6:30 p.m. Children 5 and under eat free. Actor/play- wright Ted Johns . of Bamboozled fame will entertain, f011owed by the ribbon cutting and grand opening• ceremony. The live and'silent auction begins at 7:30 p.m. Assistance will he available to those with special needs during Continued on page 6 Bonnie Gropp The short of it Great place to' visit We live in a pretty great spot. Besides open spaces, reasonably fresh air - with the exception of spreading days - water and trees, Huron County also offers just about every type of . entertainment, sight or leisure spot you could want within driving distance, without traffic. However, we don't make wine: In recent years I have developed a fondness for the vineyard product. I don't profess to be able to differentiate between brands, types, flavours. For that matter, I'm not sure that even the ones who say they can aren't just pretending. What I do know is that it' it's dark, it's red and sometimes I don't mind that. And if it's light it's white; for me dry and oakie is nice. 1 also know that some do seem to taste better with certain foods, and ice wine's not for me. As you can see, as a connoisseur I am sadly lacking. So last year I, with friends, decided to venture on the much-ballyhooed tour of wine country to see if I could gain further insight into the world of wines. Rather than being educational, however, it was a lovely weekend of indulgence. And though I came away without having increased my wine-tasting expertise one iota I certainly had fun trying. Running late we hit our first winery just in time for the tour only to be told they were too busy to do tours. They pushed us off to a competitor down the road and after catching up with the tail-end of the tour there, we went into the store for the ubiquitous sampling, Arms and glasses reaching in from every direction I felt as if' I ,was in the midst of a 'spirited' rummage sale, everyone out for his or herself, pushing, shoving to get in there first. Not my idea of a good time, Then I spied the sunshine-flooded courtyard, heard the music of a laid-back jazz duo and saw where I was meant to be. So, that was last year.. , year our group felt a certain obligation to branch out a little further. After all, all the chatter from others who have attended spoke of trips to 10, 15, 17 wineries in a weekend. Being people more inclined to savour rather than,gulp, we came up with a plan that seemed perfect for our tastes. Having earlier consulted a guide, we were further helped by our bed and breakfast host, who after a sumptuous breakfast provided us with information on what she felt we were looking for. We had originally decided to see the bigger wineries, but were told that there is a greater opportunity for discovery at the smaller ones as they cannot afford to put as many of their wines on the market due to a hefty licensing fee of $6.000 per wine. Our first stop, though, was to one of the largest where we saw a video, then toured. then tasted, as per instructions. This armed us for our attack on a tiny corner of wine country where we sampled, sipped and slurped (quite acceptable, actually advisable). Unlike many of those who have gone before us, we limited ourselves to a paltry five wineries, and spent the remainder of otw lime . relaxing, eating and walking. The latter afforded us both a view of how the rich people live and of history. When 1 consider all of that, it becomes s.ery clear that while any one place in this count's doesn't have it all. there's nothing missing when you put it all together. Canadians don't just live in a great place. It's a great place to visit too. An election issue is resolving