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Times-Advocate, 1985-11-27, Page 4Poge 4 Tunes -Advocate, November 27, 1985 Times Established 1871 Adsucale Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Imes dvocate Published Each Wedn sday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1SO Second Clan Mail Registration Number 0386. gone 519-235-1331 LORNE EEDY Publisher ontario JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILI BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES • Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK iONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $23.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Time has come. "I want a neighborhood to belong to the neighbors, not the criminals!" That was the comment of a Lon- don homeowner whose house was recently ransacked by thieves who made off with a necklace and caused $1,200 damage to his home. The victim has called for the establishment of more Neighborhood Watch programs in that city, which has been plagued by 3,777 break-ins to the end of October, compared to 3,160 for the same period last year. Some . people would have com- plained about the lack of police pro- tection following such an intrusion, but pot Dave Hickey. Hickey, you s'ee, is the city's crime prevention officer and knows better than anyone that no home is sacred from a visitation by thieves or vandals, that the police can't be everywhere and that Neighborhood Watch programs can reduce such incidents. While smaller urban and rural centres have not yet been invaded by thieves to the extent of their city cousins, there is no doubt that Neighborhood Watch programs, should be. instituted before they do. Some neighbors are already cogni- zant of their responsibility to each other to take the necessary steps to prevent their neighborhoods from be- ilig victimized, but many still need to have that fact impressed upon them by joining such a program to learn how easy it can be to do their part as good neighbors. Indications are that consideration is being given to a Neighborhood Watch program in Exeter and it should be implemented as soon as possible with the full cooperation and participation of all citizens. It is also something that all other communities should consider, even in rural areas where it may only be a matter of discussing the need for a concerned eye when suspicious activities are spotted. The success of the program in one community or area probably will be followed by the growing need in another as the thieves will continue to look for areas where they can ply their trade free from conscientious neighbors who remain the best weapon in protecting the property of others and subsequently their own. Need action, no The gathering storm related to huge increases in insurance premiums for Ontario's municipalities and school boards has again been documented, along with a new fear that liabili- ty insurance may not even he available 10 those public bodies at . any price. Suggested increases of :011 per- cent have been greeted with the expected shock frons. public of- ficials. The topic :was briefly touched at last week's session of Exeter council with "concern" being appropriately expressed. however. the question is xvhether concern i- all that should be expressed. It would appear that the -situation dictates some act ton 'i'ha1 was not forthcoming from the local council. based in part on the fact the Ontario Association (11 Mtitlicifxditie'S is already ad- dressing the matter' and also because the town's insura rice premium does not come due un- til next summer. '1'o some extent that's akin to burying one's head'in the sand in the hope that the danger will bypass. Given the fact that- any changes in. the current system will require action by the senior levels of government 10 bring some reason back into the area of court settlements. it would at least he prudent for local officials to make inquiries of the AMO as to the current status of the in- surance quest ion. ' • The matter has apparently ah'eady reached the crisis stage and it should trot necessarily .be assumed that the :111() nave given the matter the priority or crisis approach that is dictated. Clearly. all municipal councils and school hoards should he mak- ing representation to their pro- vincial and federal government representatives lo get the matter into those forums from which the remedies must stem. A representative. of the firm which handles insurance for about two-thirds of Ontario's 8:19 meal governments was quoted last week as suggesting that municipalities are teetering on the prink of a- disaster and then acknowledged that "it's been a creeping disease for the last four or five years". Even at that, the pace of the disease has been much faster than any remedial effort on the part of municipal officials and their associations to ward off the pending.disaster. • The time for concern alone has ohwiously elpased. * Two plausible solutions have been suggested. One is for the province to' put a cap on municipal liability. a practice Batt'n Around �sith The 1ditor already invoked in some U.S. states where a ceiling is .placed on the amount of 'claims so in- surers know the amount of risk they are taking rather than being at the total mercy of the courts in handing out unrealistic settlements. The other solution is to change the altitude of tite judiciary. Their over -generous awards are al the root of the problem as evidence by the "Brampton case" which has sparked much of the current upheaval. A youth was awarded $6.3 million after being parlaysed as.a result of an accident on his dirt bike being ridden on vacant land owned by the city. That is unrealistic. not- withstanding the fact the youth -should expect to be properly cared for during the balance of his life. * , . * • By the same token. municipal. officials mtrit recognize that their loss ratio is another major factor in their current plight. Claims against municipalities have forc- words ed many insurance companies to withdraw from the field and yet there has been little discussion among public officials as to the steps they should he taking to reduce their risks and the subse- quent escalation of their in- surance costs. Few of them have escaped knowledge of the "Brampton case" and yet dirt bikes can still be found cavorting on public lands in many municipalities ( Exeter's community park in- cluded ) apparently leaving them open to similar claims. There are other examples. and while these pertain to Exeter. t#leir use is based solely on their familiarity to the writer and in no way suggests ()Wier municipalities do not have ex- amples of their own. At the October 7 meeting. coun- cil acknowledged a problem with the brick walk in front of the town office. and while that did not hap- pen overnight, it was decided overt a month later that it was then too late to take remedial ac- tion. That. obviously. is the type of laxity over known problems that can lead to costly civil suits. The recent poll conducted among business people in town detailed that opening the street for the summer sidewalk sale was fell the hest method by some 74 percent, white only 52 percent though it was safe. That's a con- tradiction and yet a recommen- dation approved calls only for a possible reducton in the speed limit. That's a prudent step. no doubt. but is it totally so! Chains were recently removed from some rec centre exits, but ndt following the first complaint over that situation. Clearly. municipal officials and employees have to become more aware of their responsibility to reduce possible claims situations and the subject is worthy of prompt deliberation. Not all claims can be avoided- -or envisioned. but the fact re- mains (that the escalating in- surance costs are based on losses-- and ossesand too little concern has been ex- pressed in that regard. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex;- & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications limited "Joe's ecstatic — the opposition accused him of leading with his chin in the free trade negotiations." A cultural wasteland Is your Life a cultural wasteland? Do you do the same old things, talk to the same old subjects all the time? Are you scared to take a risk, smile at so- meone you've never seen before, do something the neighbours will mutter about? Do you want a de- cent tombstone, not f1 shy, but dignified? Of course you do. You're a good Canadian. You believe in per- sonal decorum, censorship, the family as a unit, and capital punishment. On the other hand. Do you go for a swim at midnight, sing a song at dawn,, smoke mari- juana, drink fairly heavily, march in protest parades, live in sin, abhor censorship and capital punishment, and contrive to do something that will offend friends and neighbours? Of course you do. You're a good Canadian. You believe in in- dividual liberty, acid rain, dirty movies and sexual irresponsibility. It doesn't matter which group you belong to, or whether you're somewhere in between, you all have much in common. - You despise the government, but won't elect an alternative, since you despise it even more. You are caught by inflation and high interest rates, whether you are a 60 -year-old farmer trying to keep the place going, or a 20 -year-old punk trying to main- tain his habit. You are basically anti- American, though if you were asked why, you could not give an answer that was articulate. You feel frustrated, in this land of wood and water, not to mention nuclear power, because, if you are getting on in years, you see everything eroding around you, and if you are short in years, you see nothing but a stone wall bet- ween you and your aspirations. You wonder vaguely, if you're old enough. what became of the Canadian dream: "The twentieth century belongs to Cangda". And if you read the papers and analyze the news, you realize that, while Canada still has a high standard of living, we are very low, on the totem pole when it comes to production, strikes, economic stability, peace, hap- piness and goodwill towardmen. If you're vera young, you don't give a diddle. There's 1'ts to eat, warm clothes, and the old man will kick in a decent allowance so you can feed the slot machines with their war games. But if you're a young adult, just about ready to launch into "real" life, you're so bewildered about unemployment, and escalating universityfees, and the increas- ing.shadow of the computer, and Sugar & Spice Dispensed by Smiley the wealth of choices of a future (all lacking in security) that you can become so depressed you drop out, or dive into a stream and fight against the current.` This isn't a doom and gloom column. It's merely a look at our nation today. It is so rife with suspicion, fear of nothing much, that we are becoming paranoid. From the Prime Minister. through the head of the Bank of Canada, right down to your local alderman, you have lost trust, and feel that the ship is heading for the reef with nobody at the helm. This is nonsense, of course. Canada has been going through this miasma ever since 1867, and before. Maybe the guy at the helm is blind -folded, and maybe we have scraped a few rocks, but the ship's bottom is still sound. and we haven't hit the big reef yet. If we do, we can always scramble into the boats, and become the new Boat People of North America. We've had the French 1.16 Canadian separatism thing with us for generations, John A. Mac- Donatd almost put the country on the • rocks, financially and politically,.but he dared to take a chance, and had vision. We sur- vived a terrible depression, and came out smelling of roses (and the stench of our dead young • men), in two world wars. • Cheer up, you dour, gloomy Canucks. When you have to sett- • ' tle for one meal of ground wheat a day, and have to huddle around a charcoal brazier to keep warm, then you can whine, though a few will listen, just as few of us listen to the people of the world who are doing just that, right now. Forget about the Yanks. If you don't like their culture invading us, tura off your TV set and get out your eskimo carvings. The Yanks won't invade us physical- ly. Unless they have to, and there's not much «e could do about that. If you can't afford your mor, .tgage increase, you were pro- bably over-extended in the first place. Get rid of that monster, with its swimming pool and rec room and pitch a tent. Preferably in the local cemetery, to suit your mood. Pull in your bejts. Dump that extra car, the boat and the cot- tage. if you look at i1 objective- ly, they're just a big pain in the arm anyway. Walk to work. Take a bus to the city instead of your gas -gobbler plus parking fees. Learn to do your own elementary plumbing and electric work at night school: Ladies. Get the knitting needles •out and make lots of shawls, sweaters, scarves and wool .socks. You did it for the troops overseas. And -god-awful itchy and ill fitting some of them were. but they kept us warm. Stop spoiling your children with allowancs. Let them earn their own money through odd jobs. or do without. Let's stop grumbling, and get hack to a spartan, rewarding life, where ideas are more important than physical comfort. After you. he said. Hit them in wallets We, the television audience of North America, Canada in par- ticular. have a serious problem. We are being inundated with a kind of program which is totally unsuitable for young inquiring minds to view, programs which are creating an extremely poor srnse of values in our young iSeo- ple, all in the guise of good entertainment. Out in the playground i hear children saying, "Go ahead. make my day!" in the sense of a direct challenge to another child. It seems like an innocent com- ment until you realize the context of the movie that the saying comes from. A vigilante -type policeman by the name of Barry is holding a criminal at gun -point and is daring him to resist. If he does, Harry will shoot him. As simple as that. The policeman becomes judge. jury and execu- tioner, all rolled into one. in a similar type movie, a man's daughter is assaulted. She eventually dies Although the man clearly recognizes the assailants he refuses to co-' operate with the police. instead he goes out and proceeds to kill all the bad guys himself. After his style of justice is completed he is By the Way by Syd het( her shown as going hack to his job as if all is now well with the world since he has done his little part to rid the world of evil. This last movie was broadcast at 8:00 o'clock in the evening. along with T.J. Hooker. ion another station) a cop who doesn't mind breaking the rules whenever they gel in his way About the same time of the even ing we have a new macho lady cop series. in which the heroine kills at least one person a week. is this the type of junk which we want our children consuming each evening? Do we want to build up a picture of police and law enforcers as weak, bunibling fools or worse yet. mindless kiling machines? I doubt it. One of the American stations used to put a little blurb on the screen saying "Do you know where your children are?" They might he better off saying. "I)o you realize what your children are watching?" If you are angry enough about such drivel, write to your station and let them kntiw about your concern, Better yet. write to the sponsor and tell him. As i have said before. hit them in the wallet. That's where it hurts the most.