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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-03-04, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, March 4, 1998 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb LOrd Adverti : Barb Consitt. Chad Eedy News; Kate Monk, Craig Bradford. Brenda Burke Chantal) Van Raay, Ross Haugh Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber. Laurel Miner Tjisportatigft: Al Hodgert • (font Office & Accounting; Sue Rollings, Carol Windsor Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple, • Ruth Slaght, ccna, The Exeter Times Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership EDITORIAL Caught in a RIDE check he red' lights were flashing, the brake lights of the cars in front were plinking on, and two people in reflec- tive vests were waving people over. Great. A RIDE check. On a Wednes- day evening. fairlyearly, and in a rag- ing slush storm. No one should he driv.-. ing at all on a night like this, much less driving intoxicated. "Have you had anything to drink this evening. ma'am:'" the officer asks po- litely, eyes searching the debris in the hack scat and floor for tell-tale brown• bottles. He.leans forward just enough so he would he able to catch a whiff of beer or other liquor - or whisky; or per- haps illegal substances. In this car? For- get it. Any weird smells come from the bottle of perfume the kids spilled in the car a while hack, and perhaps a decay- ing sandwich somewhere under a seat. The only mood -altering substances consumed by the driver tend•to be -Tim Horton coffee and Tic -Tac breath mints (pop four of those in your mouth and you are instantly alert). But the police officer was not to know that. He was checking, very carefully. Perhaps the next driver would be some- one like the following character, imagi- nary, of course, created from bits and pieces of police bulletins, court reports, and news stories. Yet he is not that hard to recognize. Police arrested hint hefore.Christrnas no lights, driving on the wrong side of the road and occasionally on the side- walk. He could barely stand up, stank - like a brewery, slurred his words, and • - claimed to have consumed only two peers. And he had no driver's license - letl-it at home, he said, but later admit- ted it had been taken away by the courts for previous impaired driving convictions. At the police station, the breath test revealed (no surprise). that those two beers were more like -12. So he was charged, and contacted a Legal Aid lawyer. After several court appear- Publications Mail Registration Number 07511 SUBSCRIPTION RATES; One year rate for Canada subscribers - $35.00 + OST Two year rate for Canada subscribers - $63.00 + OST OTHER RATES Outside Canada - $3.02.00 Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519-235-1331 • Fax: 519-235-0766 emall:taeeedy.com O.S.T. *R105210835 ances, the case came to trial, and that "not guilty". plea changed to "guilty", as it so often does. The man never served the required number of weekends in jail because last week he was killed in a car crash that claimed the lives of three other people. There was an open bottle of whisky in his car. This is the guy those RIDE checks are aimed at - the hard-core drinker who has not got the message, that impaired driv- ing is a crime. Take away his license Monday, he is hack behind the wheel Tuesday, prob- ably not sober. The penalty is a few days in jail and/or a fine - a slap on the wrist. Penalties imposed by the courts do not reflect the harm drunk drivers do. They are not placed in the same category as murderers, robbers, rapists and other so- called dangerous criminals. The only people who seem to regard impaired drivers as a threat to society are the ones who see the bodies at accident scenes - police officers, paramedics, and the oc- casional news reporter. - If driving illegally were placed in the same category as hunting or fishing ille- gally, it would be a step in the right di- rection. Conservation officers can, and do impound boats, trucks and hunting gear. Yet only in rare circumstances does a repeat impaired driver lose the car he is driving. Impounding cars would not stop alco- hol abuse, but it would get problem- i drinkers off the streets. Friends and rela- tives would think twice before tending a car to a prohibited driver. impaired driving is a serious crime, and the people who show a blatant disre- gard for our laws by repeating the of- fense are dangerous criminals. The atti- tude in the courts, -and the general population, has to change. it is time to get serious about stopping drunk driv- ing. re'priitted from Sateeeen City Nerr3 What's on your mind? The Times -Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open discussion �f local issues, concerns, 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. A View from Queen's Park TORONTO -- When is a member of the leg- islature too old for the job:' • A controversy has arisen because two Liber- al MPPs are fighting for the -right to run in a new riding in. an election likely next year and one has suggested the other is so.old he should step aside. Monte Kwinter and Annamarie Castrilli both want to nut in York Centre riding. into which parts of their current ridings will he merged. Kwinter, who is a former minister and 66, has complained to Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty that Castrilli is telling residents she can better represent the new.riding because of his age. Kwinter says Castrilli is adding that if voters elect him, he will be an MPP until the ripe old age of 71. Kwinter says suggesting people can no longer make a useful contribution after their mid -60s denigrates all senior citizens and could & re- bound on and hurt the Liberal party. Castrilli, 48, has denied referring to Kwinter's age, but Kwinter says he still gets reports from By Eric Dowd That's my opinion By Chantall Van Raay Has it been that long? -. 1 still remember the first column i wrote for the Exeter Times - Advocate a mere six months ago. It was an introduction about. myself and how [ was looking forward to learning more about the stnall town they call Exeter: My last column at .the paper. a mere six months later. will be a thank your Everyone 1 met over the past six months has been very wcicotning. The gloomy faces I saw were usual- ly due to the weather, and the weather this winter has hardly been gloomy itself. (touch wood). To those of you whose pictures 1 have taken and were dead -set against it but let me take your pho- to anyway. a humongous thank you. You made my job incredibly easier. While people may huff and puff about their picture being taken. in the end they succumb to "smile." "say cheese" and "click." They hardly ever complain about how their smile was a little crooked or their hair was out of place. at least not to n►c. Exeter is -a fine place to work and play and 1 am fortunate enough to go hack to a town which is very similar 1 will he working with the Fer- gus -Elora News Express, a sibling newspaper of -the Times -Advocate. i find Fergus and Exeter to be much thc same, although in distinc,- tive ways. The greatest, similarity beingthem is they arc both ;great towns to work in. especially in a job which deals so fluently with the - public. i am fortunate to have had the opportunity to work -in Exeter but 'am even more fortunate that my next residency will be in a town as great. , Some of the "chuckle, chuckle"' experiences I have had while work- ing here arc not suited to he men tioned in the newspaper. i need not repeat the hilarity of some news ideas 1 have cotne across. We arc stillan objective paper, even though I'm almost certain every re- porter wishes they could give their point oI' view at least once and a white. But that wouldn't he fair and I've accepted that's what columns arc for. Sometimes, as in life. col- umns are not as free-spoken as you would imagine. unless your name is Howard Stern and thank God it's not. There's an opinion. It's tot.) had he won't get a hold of my column, (again. touch wood). Who knows. n'avhc one day i'II he hack this way. ••r maybe I'll see ,you as a visitor to a Girl Guides event or a Legion dinner or a craft show or a parade or a'council `meets ing. or a seminar etc, etc. Hopefully one day you'll see my byline in National Geographic un- der the headline reading something like the "Mayan, ruins," or "The Egyptian pyramids," or perhaps one day you'll read my novel. • Hcy. i can dream., But, I've learned not to dream during council meetings. Never take a "cat -:nap" during , a council meeting. i think sonic of you know what 1 mean. I wish the reporters of The Exeter Times -Advocate all the luck in cov- ering thc issues and events sur- rounding the community, especially the upcoming 2(01 Canada Sum- mer Games. the 1999 Plowing Match and the Exctcr Rodeo. Your enthusiasm and excellent writing skills arc a great benefit to the newspaper. Brenda Burkc. who is returning to the T -A from a materni- ty leave will .also benefit the T -A with her creative writing tech- niques. Thanks also to the other employ- ee's of the T -A who get the paper out to our readership. Your bright faces shine on an early Tuesday morning during paste-up. As well. the front office staff. who usually knew exactly where i was at every moment,.i just thought I'd let ya know. I'm going to work in Fergus. I'll he hack later. the riding that she and her supporters are raising it. Kwinter says no constituent has ever suggest- ed to his face that he is too old, although he re- cently received anonymous letters, which he feels are inspired by Castrilli supporters, saying he is old and weak and should retire to Florida. Kwinter says he is in his legislature office by 7.30 a.m. each day earlier than most MPPs -- and works long hours. He feels age should not be a reason to vote against someone unless it is shown to affect adversely his health and perfor- mance. Charges that an MPP is too old are virtually unheard of around the legislature because those making them would be seen as insulting sen- iors, who have many votes. Kwinter's attendance record at the legislature is better than those of most MPPs. He was a mostly reliable consumer minister in the govern- ment of Premier David Peterson in the 1980s, when keeping out of trouble was itself a feat. in opposition, Kwinter is not high-profile, but Are virtues only in youth? listened to because he usually is well-informed. He has taken a lead in promoting alternative medicine despite hostility by doctors and in criticizing the Progressive Conservative gov- ernment of Premier Mike Harris for scrapping direct financial incentives to business, and is at least as active as Castrilli. in politics there has been a fetish for youth. particularly since the rise of the Kennedys. Tory William Davis, Liberal Peterson and New Democrat Bob Rae all became premiers in their early 40s and Tory Harris at 50. • The only recent premier elected at a more advanced age was Tory Frank Miller, who was 57 and sur- vived a muted whispering campaign he was too old, although other factors quickly turfed him out. But there also is not much to show that age impairs politicians' performances. Winston Churchill was prime minister until the age Of 81 and Ronald Reagan was president until 78 and while many will quarrel particularly with the latter it would be over his policies more than any lack of grasp of his job. . Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, died in office at 76 and New Democrat Stanley Knowles remained suck an asset as an MP in his late 70s the Commons made him an honorary officer. In the legislature former NDP leader Donald MacDonald is a conspicuous example of con- tributing at a later age. He generously gave up his seat at an untimely 68 to provide one for" new leader Rae, but stayed as party adviser, chaired the commission on election spending, taught politics in university and at 84 still writes more frequent and lucid defences of the left in newspapers than anyone. Harris, who has been guided by so-called whiz kids in their 20s and 30s and now finds himself in trouble, has recalled a communica- tions expert, now aged 64, who worked for pre- mier John Robarts in the 1960s to upgrade his image for an election. Clearly, not everyone thinks all virtues are in youth.