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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-06-03, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, June 3,1998 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord Advertising; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy News; Kate Monk, Craig Bradford, • Katherine Harding, Ross Haugh Production; Alma Ballantyne. Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson - • Brehda Hem, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner Transportation: Al Hodgert Front Office & Accounting; Sue Rollings, Carol Windsor Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple, Ruth Slaght, The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership• E',1)11ORI.A1, Kells will be missed he fortunate thing for the Town of Exeter is Glenn Kells will still he living in Exeter after retiring from a 28 -year career as'the town works super- intendent. . We say this because Kells still has a vast amount of knowledge about the town's infrastructure stored in his head and it is a certainty this information and experience will be called upon from time to time. An appreciation dinner Saturday night gave friends and associates the opportu- nity to show how they felt about the af- fable .head of the works department. . Some took the opportunity to poke fun at 'Kens, because, after all,'that's what these events are for. But underneath the good humor and jokes at Glenn's ex-. penses the message came through loud and clear that he will he one town em- • ployee who will he genuinely missed. . To many taxpayers, the importance of the -duties carried out by the town works department often is underappre- ciated. After all, if everything is work- ing right there is no need to focus atten- tion on exactly what the town employees are doing. - When we do notice how important this division of the town workforce is, Publications Mail Registration Number 07511 $UWRIPT1ON RATES; One year rate for vada subser( ii' • 131.00 +.01T Two year rate for Canada subscribers • 163.00 + OST. OTHER RATES 0001AM coMMu� Outside Canada - S102.00 rr +•s •ss 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 G.S.T. #R105210835 it's usually after a winter storrn when we watch from our windows wondering when our streets will be cleared. Or how about the two major floods that have struck the town in the last few years? This is when Kells and his crew have had a chance to show how important they really are as they were called upon -to get services back to normal as quickly as possible. In these situations it's comforting to know there is a reliable group of work- ers who are dedicated to making our lives as comfortable as possible, howev- er, the true value of an efficient works department is their ability to keep things running as smoothly as possible on a day to day basis. Whether it's garbage pickup, sewers that work, street paving, snow plowing, sidewalk laying, park beautification, construction,supervision, or even giving expert advice, the works department un- der the leadership of Glenn Kells has been a valuable asset to the town. Glenn spent much of his time between those who plan the work and those who must do the work. The fact he earned the respect of both is a tribute to his ability. As Ross Mathers said Saturday night, "We'll miss you Glenn." Your Views Letters tothe editor Youth crime proposals We ask that interested readers write to Justice Minister McLellan to support that part of her propo- sals which are tough... 1)ear Editor: kuLcnlly federal Justice Minister Anne -McLellan, -- in response to public concerns over youth crime ' - tabled proposals to replace the 'current Young Of- fenders 'Act with a new youth justice act. We at Watchdog Newsleur•r see good and had points in the new strategy. • The good points are these: (1) the -age limit for se- rious. violent crime will be- lowered from 16 to 14; (2) the publication of the names of convicted young offenders who qualify liar such serious crimes could he permitted: and (3) a tougher sentencing option for violent. repeat young offenders could he admin- istered. - As well. however. there is much that is objection- able to what Anne McLellan proposes: -- for the above much needed reforms. the world "could" appears too often. The revisions as they stand still permit soft-headed judges to allow. at their discretion, violent young criminals aged 16 to 17. to be tried' as children. their names protected from media scrutiny, •and their sentences limited to token punishment; -- young offenders"convicted of so-called "non- violent" crimes will escape criminal 'prosecution. They will instead by subject to rehabilitative. com- munity-based measures such as youth counselling. But we feel that certain •non-violent crimes like grand larceny, breaking and entering. and cocaine trafficking are still serious. and merit criminal .pros- ecution. We ask that interested readers write to Justice Minister McLellan to support that part of her propo- sals which are tough. and to oppose that part which are too lenient. Readers can mail a (postage free) letter to her address: Room 707-C. House of Coni. mons. Ottawa. Ontario K 1 A 0A6. Readers needing more information before writing letters can obtain a copy of the Justice- Minister's proposals ( and our detailed critique of them) from us. Write to: WatchDog Newsletter. 247 Leeds Drive. Fredericton, NB. E3B 4S7. (or fax us at (506) 455-8245 or e-mail us at dmurrell@unb.ca). Sincerely. David Murrell Editor of WatchDo Newsletter A View from Queen's Park TORONTO -- Ontarians who are applauding the forcing from office of the bloodthirsty Indo- nesian president Suharto may be forgetting they once welcomed him with open arms.Ontario governments have even lent some respectabili- ty to Suharto's oppressive regime. The first time was in 1975, when the former general al- ready was known to those who cared to listen for murdering political opponents on a grand scale. Suharto wanted to come to attract investment and promote trade and the Progressive Conser- vative government of premier William Davis rolled out the red carpet. Davis treated Suharto to an official welcome" at the airport and later a black -tie dinner at his showpiece Ontario Sci- ence Centre, where Suhartoexplained he was really trying to bring his people democracy and spiritual wellbeing. The Ontario politicians could not excuse their fawning by claiming that Suharto's character at that time was unknown, because he had held power for eight years, By Eric Dowd Something to Think About By Katherine Harding Words of wisdom for the class of 1998 Congratulations to all 'the stu- dents graduating this month.' . Graduates from nursery school to college to grad school will he lining up in droves to hungrily receive - their much deserved diplomas.. For the author and sometimes ac- ademic critic Robert Frost who called education "the ahility to lis- ten to almost anything without los- ing your temper or your self- confidence." their achievement isn't that big of a deal. However. 'for the graduates that little piece of paper is like a pre- cious piece of gold. For students who aspire to pursue bigger and better things in their ac- ademic career it signifies that they can finally move up and on.' For college and university stu- dents it sadly marks "the end of the. line" and is a harsh hint they must finally enter the real world from, which they have heen so comforta- bly sheltered. A diploma is a key to the future that every student can use different- ly. NO matter what the graduate's fu- ture plans may he however. there is a " definite personal satisfaction gained • from. graduating. All the hard work. stress. 'all- nightcrs. horrendous eating habits, and borine lectures have finally "Receiving an education isn't solely about gaining academic knowledge, it is also about making life long friends." paid off and they will now he re- warded with a diploma to serve'as a testament to all their efforts. This weekend 1 will,he attending the university convocation of tour of my closest friends. 1 have helm with them from the beginning of our illustrious aca- demic careers at Wilfrid. Laurier University. and they have finally' reached the end of their degrees. lt' has been four long years of . watching them find themselves all in the midst of begging for exten- sions. failing courses, watching an qngodly amount of t.v. and fitting in a social life on the side: Receiving.an 'education isn't sole- ly about gaining academic knowl- edge. it is also about making lite long friends. When we look hack in 20 years we definitely will not remember the paralyzing stress midterms caused all us or the F Jenna received in Ec- onomics 100. we'll only remember the 'great times we had together in. little 'ol Waterloo. Graduates. as you receive your' much deserved diplomas don't only look forward to the future but also fake time to reflect on the past. Take time to remember what you've learned, who you've met. ' and who you have become. Best wishes class of '98. We welcome your opinion. All letters to the editor must be signed and are subject to editing. Deliver to 424 Main Street, or mail to P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ont. NOM 1S6 caused several hundred thousand political oppo- nents to bt murdered and others jailed and tor- tured, and banned free speech and open elec- tions. He had yet to embark on his most notorious killing spree, in invading East Timor and murdering at least one-fifth of its 650,000 people. ' His wife, who came with him and was dis- played around Niagara Falls by the Davis gov- ernment, was already noted for diverting hun- dreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money into her own bank account, which became a family habit. Suharto's children between them are now estimated to have squirrelled away $4 billion. But, Suharto merely followed a well-worn path. Among other bloodthirsty dictators who visited was president Ahmed Seko Toure of Guinea. He ran that west African nation so ruthlessly, murdering Gopponents, imprisoning without trial and torturing that by the time he died in Harris makes last days comfortable 1984 an estimated one-fifth of its people had fled to other countries. Davis had Toure given an official greeting. at the airport and dinner 119 at the legislature, and paraded his wife through Niagara. A general who ruled Thailand, as just as one more example. was given a similarly cordial welcome. although Amnesty International blamed him for arrests without trial, deaths in custody and murders by government -sanctioned death squads. Ontario has not always been so hospitable to visitors. Mothers from Argentina seeking help to find what happened to their missing children, murdered or kidnapped by its military regime, could not get Davis to meet them. The Tory premier would not have wanted to seem to condone agitators in South America, where his friends the United States wield influ- ence. In the Cold War atmosphere of the early 1980s, Davis also refused to meet a so-called Soviet "peace and disarmament committee." When a New Democrat MPP introduced them in the legislature, the premier jumped up and insisted , "they are not guests of this govern- merit". Davis would have been mindful among other pressures there are 170,000 immigrants from behind the Iron Curtain living in Ontario who vote. The Ontario legislature passed a resolution 18 years ago promising to speak up against po- litical killings, imprisonment, terror and torture abroad: But it has rarely done this. Its policy under .governments of all three parties has been most- ly to ignore human rights abuses and honor vis- itors from, and send its own leaders to, 'any countries as long as there are prospects of in- creasing trade. Harris, in fact, visited Indonesia not long ago and babbled kindly about how great it was On- tario firms were making business deals there. In a small way, he helped make dictator Suharto's last days a bit more comfortable. 4 A