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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times-Advocate, 2002-11-27, Page 5It’s not fair, it’s not right,and it certainly is not just Dear Editor: Having been brought in a home where both my par- ents believed that women were equal to men in every way, I, too, raised my own sons and daughters in the same belief. Years ago, when one of my daughters was still a teenager, I overheard her tell a friend, “My mother was the first feminist I ever met!” So, yes, I have always spoken out for the equality of the sexes, but now, I find I must also speak out for justice and fairness. The Domestic Violence Act, brought into being several years ago, was hailed as a triumph, especially for women in abusive situations. If a woman found herself in an abusive relationship, the Act gave her the right to simply report the abuse to the police who would then charge the man and remove him from the scene. It seemed a great step forward, and in most ways it was. The only trouble with the Act was that it failed to real- ize that out in the real world, along with the men, there were some vicious and very abusive women who would use the law to their own advantage. Since the Act’s inception, many men have been falsely charged of abuse and had their lives destroyed by vindictive, deceitful women. For a man in this kind of situation, it’s almost impossible to receive justice because it nearly always comes down to his word against that of the woman’s. For over 50 years women have struggled for their rights while instilling society with the idea that most men behave badly towards women. Now we live in a social climate where a woman’s word (no matter how outra- geous) is believed over that of a man’s. Many men become so discouraged and frustrated trying to prove their innocence that they give up the fight, many of them even resorting to plead guilty just to get the matter over with so they can get on with their lives. In the past year, I’ve sat in courts where it seemed to me that the court was so fearful of allowing a man accused of abuse his freedom that it bent over back- wards to make sure he didn’t get a fair hearing. The courts are afraid if they should make a mistake and let a man go free and have him return to abuse or even kill the woman involved, that society will hold them respon- sible and accountable. THis is understandable because it’s true that horrific events like this have happened on a few rare occasions and, of course, this is deplorable. My point is that deplorable as this may be, the courts have become paranoid. One crown attorney was heard to say near the end of one man’s trial, “The fellow may not be guilty, but I have to take care to cover my own neck.” He went on to demand the most outrageous and excessive terms of release. The innocent man in question spent time in jail, was left jobless and homeless, his reputation in shreds. All because a controlling, rejected woman set out to destroy him with her lies. Yesterday, I spent most of the day in court with anoth- er young man (age 29) who also has been falsely accused of physical abuse by the woman he had broken up with. This is a man with a Ph.D., a good job and a brilliant future, all of which he will most certainly lose if she wins the case. The trial did not conclude yesterday and had to be reset for a day next spring. In the meantime, he lives with this charge hanging over his head, now knowing what the outcome will be. He is learning that one of the hardest things to fight in this world is a lie told by a rejected, jealous woman. Ever since I began to involve myself with some of these falsely accused men and speak out for men’s rights, it has amazed me how many there are who are suffering form the same untold agonies - from losing their chil- dren, their homes and reputations, to piling up horren- dous legal fees. I venture to say that in our own County there are dozens, and thousands across the whole of Canada. The saddest case I’ve heard about is of a very decent man whose marriage broke up, and his wife, wanting to destroy him, accused him of the worst thing she could think of - that of sexually assaulting their three little chil- dren. Although the charge was completely false, it took three years in the courts for him to gain access to his children. In the meantime, his wife got full custody of the children, was awarded the house and a very healthy financial arrangement. What did he get? - bankruptcy and a nervous breakdown. What is to be done? The Domestic Violence Act is needed to help women get out of abusive relationship, but as so often happens, the scales of justice have been tipped too far. Somehow, the people who make up our laws much change the law so that it has some bit or deterrent for deceitful women who know how to use the Wednesday, November 27, 2002 5Exeter Times–Advocate Editorial&Opinion 10 YEARS AGO November 25, 1992 - Old memories were relived over the weekend as six former residents of Exeter met for the first time as a group in 31 years. They are Bonnie “Turvey” Becker, Helen “Hendrick” Drysdale, Annmarie (Kraft) Hoffman, Mary (Killeen) McGarvey, Linda (Johnston) Henderson and Joan ( Dettmer) Cassidy. 20 YEARS AGO November 25, 1982 - Receiving plaques this week for service of more than 25 years with the Exeter fire department were Irwin “Bunny” Ford, Hilton Lang, Bill Musser, Aljoe “Mike” Sanders, Ray Smith, Ernest “Hap” Wells and Ernest “Punch” Wells. 25 YEARS AGO November 24, 1977 - Receiving 200 hour pins for service as Candy Stripers at South Huron Hospital are Janet Shapton, Lenore Coates and Mary Schlenker. Getting a 300 hour award is Donna Stewart. The South Huron junior football team won the Huron-Perth Conference title and the L.W. Kleinstiver trophy for the sixth time in nine years. At the annual meeting of the Exeter District Co- Operative, it was learned sales for 1977 had increased by $106,000 to $2,835,074. Net profits were also up to $103,906. 35 YEARS AGO November 24, 1967 - Squadron Leader Jack Cann, an Usborne township native has been named Deputy Director of Administration at Royal Military College in Kingston. Exeter council granted a taxi licence to Earl Dietrich of Centralia to take calls for Len Harvey of Exeter who is cutting back on service. 40 YEARS AGO November 26, 1962 - Most of the work has been completed on Grand Bend’s new dial telephone sys- tem and cutover has been scheduled for mid- December. Workmen are busy putting the final touches on some of the intricate wiring and are making test calls to the 600 subscribers. RCAF Station Centralia officially opened its new $70,000 fire hall last week. It features an automatic fire detection panel which codes key information to the crews as soon as a call comes in. Crediton police village trustees are offering a $100 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons making false fire alarm calls in the village. A son replaced a father Monday as a trustee for the police village of Centralia. Norman Tripp took over the seat vacated by his father, Harold Tripp. B.J. Vos, R.R. 3, Exeter was recognized as the top milk producer in Huron at the annual meeting of the county Holstein club last week. 45 YEARS AGO November 27, 1957 - Three new councillors and a new deputy-reeve will sit on the 1958 Hay town- ship council. Alex Mousseau, a councillor this year won the deputy’s chair and new councillors are William Davidson, Karl Haberer and John H. Soldan. Reeve V.L. Becker won his third term by acclamation. An Exeter lady, Mrs. Eunice Stone sighted a “fire- ball” which was reported over Western Ontario on the weekend. She said the hovering object was “a rounded ball with a tail of fire which looked to be about six feet long.” Several other area people reported similar sightings. 55 YEARS AGO November 27, 1947 - Exeter municipal council has purchased 100 new leather upholstered folding chairs for use in the Town Hall. The Exeter Area High School Board has secured option on six acres of land adjoining the school property where the public school owns three acres. The land is for the new high school building. 80 YEARS AGO November 25, 1922 - The Ontario Agicultural College awarded prizes last week for the best plays submitted dealing with rural life. Miss N. Medd, a teacher in the Exeter school was one of the two prize winners. Dollar Days were observed by the merchants of Exeter on Friday and Saturday and were a great success despite the very inclement weather. A heavy snow storm raged all day Friday. ROSS HAUGH BACK IN TIME The Turner Report THE RAL ESTATE CONUNDRUM A nice duplex in a great Toronto neighbourhood sold for less than $700,000 the other day, which was about $30,000 more than the ask- ing price. There were just two com- peting offers, which explained the bargain that the purchaser got. Bargain, I hear you ask? What bargain? In many Canadian cities, like Fredericton or Winnipeg or Saskatoon, that amount of money could buy seven perfectly fine hous- es. But the reality is in steamy places like Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and a recovering Vancouver, resi- dential real estate has become the asset of choice for those who have lots and lots of money. Had the aforementioned duplex attracted the four to six offers the listing agent expected, you could have added another $50,000 to the sale price. However, because it is now getting into the holiday season, even the most popular areas are quieting down. But just wait. The realtors I hang with are already rubbing their Palms in anticipation of the Spring market which is expected to begin now about the third week in January. They see continued low mort- gage rates (perhaps even lower after the recent U.S. Fed rate cut), huge demand, a tight supply of listings, and escalating prices. That, of course, is on top of the 13% that Canadian houses gained in value on aver- age in the last 12 months. The point is that with the cost of mortgage money so low, houses are affordable even as prices rise. Never before in Canada has such a large proportion of renters qualified to become owners. And never before has there been such competition in the mort- gage market, or such a seemingly endless supply of mortgage money. These days the banks are offering variable rate, below-prime mortgages, pioneered by CIBC, in the 4% range. The TD Bank last week ush- ered in a no-haggle, five-year fixed mortgage at just 5.6%. Some boutique lenders like Xceed Mortgage are giving people with good income but no savings a mortgage equal to 100% of the purchase price. And you can get a mortgage lender to come to your house any old Saturday afternoon or Thursday evening. Also suggesting continued strength in the housing market is a decent Canadian economy, fuelled by the best job growth in decades - 400,000 new hires so far in 2002. And, of course, many people wonder where else their money should go? The stock market is still a scary place; mutual fund returns have been dismal; and interest rates are so low that a bond or a GIC pays less than inflation. That means houses - as pricey as many have become - are still the best hope for a double-digit rate of return. Of course, all this could change on a dime. If the stock market continues its seven-week rally, then lots more money will flow back there. If interest rates jump the 2% in 2003 that many economists are predicting, housing affordability will take a hit. If all those investors snapping up thousands of unbuilt condo units take possession in eight months’ time when prices have peaked, there could be a torrent of selling. Remember, after all, what happened in 1989. The housing market had peaked in terms of sales activity more than a year and a half earlier, but prices con- tinued to rise as investors failed to pay attention to market conditions. House values reached a high water mark that would not be surpassed until September, 2002 - 13 long years later. Those who bought in the late Eighties, thinking real estate was a safe, stable, no-lose proposition, were nailed. So, are there ominous parallels today? Yeah, some. The condo market is probably getting as over- built right now as it was back then. There are bid- ding wars on most decent properties. Everybody is talking about real estate and how much their house has gone up in value. The industry expectation is that prices will continue to rise, even as mortgage rates jump. But on the other side of the ledger are the facts mentioned above - more renters can buy; affordabili- ty levels are still great; and even if rates rise, mort- gages will still be cheap by historic standards. So this likely means a boffo Spring market for those hot urban neighbourhoods. But it could also mean some people who buy in a panicked bidding war in March could be wondering in September if they just lost the battle. GARTH TURNER THE TURNER REPORT See IT’S NOT FAIR page 6