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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-12-08, Page 4Phe 4 Times -Advocate, DeceMbar 8,1993 ' Nr: ern tt+�ltstt v t IMjiltln Henke 411110811111111100011111111118r: Don smell R Deb Lord Rlbtioettons Me Von Wuraber 06166 Y�11Atn lati ll tem.) addressed teem leltereerMsr 0Jt JIELs 480:00 plus 4a.10af.T. 'OltfAnb440 miles (e6=IeMt.) nr any letterasider addres $80.00 slue 1190:00 ttMel4O.00) +4a206.8.T. Osteidelasaaale 489.00 Drieledee 488:40d/etage) Promises, promises he shine on Prime Minister Jean Chretien's new government has hardly had time to tarnish. In fact, we have yet to see a single day of parlia- mentary debate with the Liberals in command of the house. Nevertheless, Chretien has managed to cost Canadian taxpayers a fair bit of :money already, and we might wonder vwhat we have got in return. Chretien made good on his promise to {squash the deal to buy new helicopters forthe Canadian Forces. The bottom line on what it cost to back out of the contract has not yet been tallied. It is certain to be quite expensive, and we won't get even one helicopter, or any of the high-tech aerospace jobs it would have created. Shades of the Avro Ar- row? Chretien has also scuttled the deal to privatize a couple of Pearson Airport's terminals. The patronage -loaded deal was probably a bad idea in the first place, and again it will cost taxpayers to get out of it. After looking over the gov- ernment's debt, Chretien may just end up selling it off to someone else. The one thing Chretien couldn't back mut of was NAFTA. His threats to drop tithe trade deal unless he won significant :zoncessions for Canada fell hollow as flour American neighbours once again re- minded us they know better what is good for us than we do ourselves. His unilateral declaration twprotect Canada rights to energy reserves Awill likely go ignored by the Americans. The Mexicans needn't worry, they have betterprotection in the deal thatme.do. Allison -only one month, and with- out aIi eday of parliamentarydebate. 0 Turbans arenot hats nce again, the issue of Sikh turbans has reared its ugly ahead, ex- posing the ignorance of these who sifn- pty,.haveto.apeak out about;sonthing of which they -know nothing. The fact that the Royal Canadian Le- gion is even going to make a decision about the wearing of turbans inside Le- gion halls shows a complete lack of un- derstanding: and sensitivity towards an- other religion. Do those who think that Sikhs should be denied access to Legions really be- lieve that the turbans could be removed at the door? In our society, the wearing of hats in certain buildings is seen as a sign of disrespect. While this fact is completely lost on a younger genera- tion that insists on wearing ball caps cen in the classroom, it wenittnot be lost on the Sikhs. A religion steeped in tradition .and signs of:respeet; they sim- plyido not.alh,w theitli*it to be -exposed itrpublic. Their turbans, then, are not hats.to be :donned or doffed at will. For a:Sikh. to --3emove a turban, particularly-in.a Le- .gion hall, would be a sign of intense dis- respect. There are times when we can expect 1 other cultures to respect the traditions utr' .tuals "we" consider to be "our" .✓n. There are also times when we have to make an effort to understand the traditions and rituals others cannot vio- late, no matter the circumstances. This is one of the latter. A.D.II. "Men are never so !ikeiy to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely." . Thomas Mmaaley Published Each Wednesday Momtag at 424 Mt In Vit., Exeter, °Marto, MOM 1S6 by JAY. Eedy P4bleetta.'s Ltd. TaW.Motte 1-Si4235-1351 O.E.T. e111052.08$E What's on your mind? The Times -Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open Discussion of local )ssues, c ncerns, complaints and kudos. The Times -Advocate reserves the right to edit letters for brevity. Please send your letters to P.O. Box 850 Exeter; Ontario, NOM 1S6. Sign your letter with both name and address. Anonymous letters will not be published. Peter's Point By Peter I spent an hour at a so-called Christmas craft show a couple of weeks ago. 1t cost me $4 for admission and $3.50 for parking. I walked e, through all the aisles and looked at all the offer- ings. I didn't see a single item that reminded me of Christmas, and nothing at all that I was -tempted to buy. Tare were dozens of booths selling glittering jewellery and stylish clothing, fancy./imps. and whimsical widgets. But 1 might asoldlihrwc walked through any shoppipg America. Generally speaking, I am not thrilled by 1111W - ping, In feet,vitakillitillitiOlt tbiL0911111ilid show, I had llientinielimullsibsialloave when 1 stroll through the maze 4 mall: I find tremendous pleasure in t>tgliaing how many things there are in this weld that 1 neither need nor want. Hold that thou By Adrian Harte Media bans shouldn't be taken :lightly A'marrlauddlesinikedd$Wtr ' of his cell in a Centriflan iiean prison. He's not really sure what the exact charges were on the confession he was made to sign, not that it really matters. His family haven't heard from him since the day the police took him away. Did he really commit.any crimes, or is he just another political prisoner? No- body knows. He didn't receive a trial; in fact there is no official record of his existence any- where. His brother made a few inquir- ies, but quickly realized he too would disappear if he seemed critical of the system. Maybe, just maybe, if the family had enough money the right official might be bribed, the charges and signed confession would disap- pear, and the man would be re- turned to his home as if nothing had happened. We thank ourselves, over and over again, that such atrocities aren't tolerated in I?ur own cul- ture. Our justice system may be flawed, but it is essentially bon- , est, and it does receive the con- , stant, unrelenting scrutiny of the news media so all may hold it accountable for its actions. At least tt tt"Jbii`t' e. - A young woman sitsiii'iiiVO aa- rio jail cell. We don't really know why she is there. She was charged in connection with the murder of two teenage girls. Her trial earlier this year was stunningly brief, but we don't know if she was guilty or not. The courts have deemed the public not responsible enough to know if she even pleaded guilty or not to the charges. A com- plete ban on the evidence means we don't even know how or if the charges were substantiated. The ban, we are told, istoes- sure her alleged accomplice, her husband, will get a fair trial for • what we hear are horrific ,'crimes. But the fact remains "ibis woman will have been in jail two years by then, and the public won't really know If it is nue-that she deserves to be there. The point is not to apologize for those who commit unspeaka- ble crimes, but to make sure that if criminals are to be held ac- countable for their actions,.then so must our courts. The irony is that Americans reading their own newspapers know more about this trial than 11. ►wire do. T e Amstiaun media Thave every bight to ignore the -publication ban, just as they have every right to report on ,people who unofficially disap- pear from Central American streets. What attorney -general Marion Boyd calls a "media feeding frenzy" over the case, should probably be considered a -con- certed effort to make sure that publication bans remain the ex- ception rather than therule. Censorship of anything, no mat- ter how well-intentioned, must always be regarded with consid- erable suspicion. The hue and cry over this publication ban should serve as a caution. 1.0 the courts not tobe hiding behind bans in the future. Freedom of the press, particu- larly the right to scrutinize the government and its courts, is the one thing that sets our culture apart from those in which hu- man rights are violated routine- ly. As any aspiring dictator knows, the first thing youdo when carrying out a coup.d'etat is to seize control of the news- papers and radio stations. I'm old enough to remember the time when C luistmas shopping was very different. The time before malls and chain stores, before mu- zak and credit cards. Most of the Christmas presents in those days were mad.. not bought. But we did go out and shop. It usually meant walking along the side- walks of main street in sleet or snow. The Christmas spirit seemed to come natural- ly to us --via snowflakes and crisp December air, not via artificially created Christmas hype in a dry and oyer -heated indoor atmosphere. We needed neither plastic mistletoe nor styro- foam reindeer to remind us that Christmas -- the feast of love I-- was near. I remember with nostalgia the stores of my, cit jwaod. 4111.1641y the toy stores wit)ithe - Is the magic sill theta sets. When today's kids are parents and grand- parents themselves, no doubt they will fondly recall the rows and rows of video and computer games displayed in the toy departments of the 1990s. It is probably futile and unproductive to com- :pare and make value judgements. We're prob- „Ably out of line to say to the new generation: "When 1 was a kid, Christmas was a deeper ex- perience, Christmas shopping was more furl, toys were more imaginative." And yet, I cannot help feeling that way. I'm just not turned on by shopping these days. Overall, I think that Christmas shopping was less materialistic when I was young. Yes, we were looking forward to receiving Christmas presents. And yes, we ,spent some money buy- ifig presents for parents and siblings and friends. 40t there were tyro amain differences. 1. Shopping, buying and spending were not a major campaign. In absolute and relative terms, the amounts weremuch smaller. The selections were moreperaoo I And far less driven by» vertising. 2. The presents were only part of Christmas. Far more important - at least for,,ine -- were the magic, the wonder, the music, the wish lists, the preparations, the secrecy and surprise, the concern... All those were non -materialistic as- pects. And many of the seem to be lost. DO 'you agree with mc or not? Do you have special memories and experiences of Cluisttttas shopping and gift -giving? Of then.and now? 1 would be delighted to hear from you in til. form of a letter to the editor. Sharing our thoughts with others could be your contribution th making this coming Christmas a little mule teciai for ,erne of us. See you neat week.