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Times Advocate, 1998-09-30, Page 4I Ime- Advocate, .Septetaher 30, 199$• Publisher & Editor: Jun Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord vefiislrle• Barb Consul, • News: Kate Monk, Craig Bradford. ' Scott Nixon. Rost Haugh • Production; Alma Ballantyne: Mary McMurray. Barb Robertson Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner • - Tran'ioortatlon: At Hodgert , . «... flint "Office d Account og; Sue RAllings, Carol' Windsor Ruthanne Negriin, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple, Ruth-Slaght; • 11/ . o morc.Miktt..r Nice Guy. On - The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers - 'providing news, advertising and information leadership ' Publications Mad Registration Numbr•• t ` : t' SLIB.IECAUIION *ARM Ono year rate for Canada subscribers 535.00 + GST Two year rate for Canada subscribers - 563.00 + GST OILER MAILS 'M'p+1M comm„N•, Outside Canada - 5102.00 Q-. '4 4:1 -A,ta -' Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Win St., Exeter, Ontario. NOM 156 by 1.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519-235-1331 • Fax: 519-235-0766 emall:taaeedy.cern G.S.T. 1R105210835 Tough legislation no answer tario will soon i ave the toughest penal- ties .for impaired dri ers in'.the cotintfy. A.tirst conviction still.carries a one- - ye'' loss of ones driver's hectice. by u d ti pension. After that. the only way 16 re-:' abouclosing his licence, because he has vain the licence .is to.have a breath ma- not had one since he was a kid, anyway. chine installed breathe over the legal •- Why would he hother,gctting a breathal- yser installed in his car so he could drive legally, when he has hecn driving ills some has tally for most oi`his adult tile'! As for "e eat drunk.drivers off our roads; insurance: he could not afford it even if The problem these days is the guy who has. driven drunk a hundred -times and sees nci particular reason to stop. He knows it is against the law. He knows if he gets caught, he is tookingat a few the third 1 r ound it wit) he 't IO year sus- _weekends in jail. He does not worry limit, acid it shuts oil the ignition.• - The move is' being applauded as thin' 'which h•as R) he done lo's:;ct i- p whore they continue to account t`oran • estimated half of deaths, injuries and :. property damage in auto -accidents. Before we .applaud too loudly,.we must -ask ourselves if the new legisla- ticin willserve to get more:repeat of- fendersoff the roads. Unless the new " law is hacked by increased enforce- ment. the aiis'ver"Is:'it will not. It is•time for a reality Qheck. At present. a Food manyof- the repeat of-- feiaders.ealight by pr)lice etre driving.' with neither,Iicence nor insurance. All . the new law" will do i -s increase the length of time the repeat offender •, drives illegally . - - Lack of licence and insurance will - only keep the. generally law-abiding person Oil' the ro td. not the hard-core drinker xvho has little to lose: .A combination of: tougher penalties' and education has h'ad an impact un, new drivers. Most' young people accept the concept (1'f the designated driver. If they know they,will hr drinking, they plan to 1111w:someone sober_ pick them i or the sloe c Ver. The v acknowl- 1 p,y p ; edge -di -101k driving is dangerous. , he could get it: • - The only deterrent which might have an impact is to start automatically MI: pounding cars along with licences when someone is caught driving drunk- This would not prevent the prohibited driver • `from getting drunk, but it would certain- ly scare some sense into the' friends and relatives who owri thc.'cars he borrows. The legal precedent is there. Conserva- tion officers can. and do'intpound -boats, trucks and equipment when someone is caught hunting or fishing illegally-_ Yet only in rare circumstances does a repeat impaired driver lose the car he is driv- ing. -Something is wrong with this-pic lure.. Of course, the key to.the whole thing is catching the drank driver. The- Uniformed oft -icer, -sitting -in the police cruiser. parked -around the corner - from the local watering -hole, will he what gets the drunk driver off the, road. Arid a deterrent with teeth - impound- ing cars might. he what keeps him off .:the road. Suspending the driver's licence of a repeat offender, for two years. five years, or: even - 10, will not do that. Your Views Letters to the Editor Students donate 'money "These students have shown an • .admirable degree of caring for oth- ers'in the community...." ,Dear. Editor: -- - - - 'fot'� often we heart negative continent. about Our youth of todayijj _ - e s, t r they are too -lacy, don't ' • care or are disre.peclful of their parents and society.. in genet:11 51:my people lust do not reali_'c that the inatorii of 4 fill young people ale caring and respect- fol Indy' Iduals who are concerned about theirconl- ncunitres :oriel their peers. • A prime example of this IS' the student hodv at St r\nne's Catholrc'Sccondary School m ('hntop. Duringg the school year. the students'participatcd'in a Iasi as -a fundraiser. and in,June.199i( decided lo donate the money, $777.63, to the Huron Addiction 'Assessment and Referral Centre-(HA'\RC) in Clinton'. This mcincy walk- used by the staff to put-, chase'resuurces to-aid'tlieni in their work with youth. who comprise approximately 39 percent of our client • hale-: These students have shown an admirable degree of wring for others in the community and it shiluld he commended. Sincere)) .' Meryl Thomas. Program'Dircctol Htircin Addiciion AsseSsillent and Referral Cetllrc A View from Queen's Park TORONTO - Premier Mike Harris will have an advantage in an election likely next year be- cause his party ,generally is behind him while the. opposition parties are squabbling among themselves.. - ' The Liberal leader, Dalton McGuinty, showed again he has 'difficulty persuading hiS own party to accept his views when Liberals in Ottawa West riding refused to renominate their. sitting MPP despite a'plea by the leader. Alex Cullen had won a by-election 'only a year ago and quickly demonstrated more initia- tive and independent thought than most MPPs, particularly by being the only member to vote against the Calgary declaration on national uni- ty. McGuinty notified the riding's Liberals Cul- len had worked hard and he would prefer all his MPf's to be renominated because incumbents stand more chance of winning in the election, but they turned him down. ' McGuinty was similarly rebuffed in north- west Toronto where two ridings held by Liberal By Eric Dowd And another thing By Scott Nixon Chretien's act is getting old Now that tales of U.S. President Bill Clinton's peccadillos .are beginning do gro+wv stale- Canadians can 'nota turn -their attention to -the of their own ,leader, the' iicyrsihle and sleepwalking Jean • Chrcticn._' - - Chrcucn:- die do-nothing prince. minister (as opposed to Clinton. the do -everything+ president) . has recently been taken to task oyer his' possible : participation , in the suppression. oI protesters - at the A,PEC: suniitlit in Vancouver last C'hretien• has been a.xused of.. ordering. the RCMP to crack down un students 'p'rotesting against Indonesian dictator Suharto to save . Suhartofrl,in enlharrassnlcnt. ' Atter the protests began. over. -40 • demonstrators 'Were arrested. some of whom where Pepper sprayed and strip-searched:- Protesters trip-searched.Protesters say their . rights: to protest were -denied and they're accusing Chrcticn of kissing Up to a brutal• 'i]iet it r " .Ah• RCMP complaints hearing -is scheduled for next month, , a • .hearing which Chrcucn might be- Meilen e Chrcticn, of course, isn't directly answering the. accusations against hint. choosing instead to babble. on nonsens1caI1> Iii ' political doublespeak (saying a lot. but meaning nothing). And he's also- . doing what politicians have done for cons — Alexa McDonough put it well when she said in the - House of Commons, 'Canadians want their prime minister 10 be a statesman, not a door- mat for foreign brutal dictators." • playing dumb in the - _face of controversy. When asked about the pepper spraying incidents. Chretien said at: APEC. "For ire. pepper 1 put it on my plate." He's now claiming he only made the joke because he had no idea •what pepper spray was at .the Lime. Not a Itikely story but, if true. it's scary the prime minister of, the world's second- largest country is that ignorant.• -- . What's also scare is the belief. by mans that Chrcticn did in fact bend over backwards to Make President 'Suharto.' ' leel comfortable in Vancouver. - Wh:it does' it -say about Chreticm -he's. Making friends • with dictators and' suppressing his own pe pie .' Ones:tat mean he "has no Moral uhtcclion to leaders, like Suharto or dol' it mean tic .fust lack-. the ttackhonc lo- stand up to them".' - ' • NDP Leader AleXa Mct)onough put it: well -When she- said, in the House of- Commons. ' Canadians want their prime minister to he a statvsman. rll+l . a doormat for tiaeign hnual dicuuc+r.." - - Wilde the ".'tory -ts still taut on whether ' Chrcticn • was . indeed Suharto'.s doormat. his inability to conte clean,•on the APIC incident has •revealed hint as a politician whose old-tashuuted, good -old -boy poltucal slea(tness is -out of style. People arc tired of the snmrtniness of politicians like - C'hreucn and -Cigar Bill" and want sonictfic who will actually — wait for it'— speak the truth. ' • Problem IS. does such a politician exist•'.. - • MPPs will merge and he ntled the senior. Monte Kwinter, should run. bits Annamatie'Castrilli re- - fused to step aside• and feelings are so bitter the new.ridingassociationhas, been unable 10 hold even an organizing Meeting. The New Democrats have internal wranglings. ' which include two former leading ministers, Dave Cooke and Floyd Laughren, leaving to work for Harris's government; and' unions' which normally support the IsIDP hesitating because in government it cut public servants' pay - and broke contracts. ' But Harris is suddenly in the happy position of not being embroiled in 'any fighting 'of note in his Progressive Conservative party, -which is a change because he has had more than his share. Almost immediately Harris got in government in 1995' he faced complaints by some of his MPPs who felt they should have been, in his cab- inet. The opportunities were diminished when Harris announced a cabinet of only 19 members including himself, eight fewer than average. Morley Kelis, who had been in the short-li.ed Party solidarity could give Harris's Tories the edge cabinet of Frank Miller a decade earlier, com- plained bitterly 'he, "didn't run to be a back bencher," and later that Harris was moving with unnecessary haste and harshness. ' - Chris Stockwell, who should have been in cabinet, sought the .solace • of being elected Speaker and took delight in making more nil- -, ings against the government than holders of that • Office normally do. A small group of Tory MPPs, feeling they could, lose -nothing, complained ,Harris's gov-. ernment botched programs and was run by the "premier and a small clique or unelected advis- ers or ,"pimply -faced Nancies as one called them.' ' . Two of Harris's MPPs voted against his legis- lation which imposed -new responsibilities and . costs on municipalities and six, supported a Lib- eral motion calling on him to stop closing hos- pitals. ' . Harris has bought off his most persistent crit- ic, Kells, a sports addict, cheaply by naming him commissioner in charge of Ontario's par- ticipation in Toronto's hid to stage the 2008 Olympic. Games. Harris has stilled some dissent by his recent successes, which include announcing cuts in in- come tax ahead of schedule and imposing a stricter curriculum and testing on schools, which won praise from some who normally criticize him. . This has been partly reflected in polls saying Harris. has climbed close to or even level with the Liberals. and MPPs are less prong to rebel against a premier who demonstrates he has in- creasing support. ' . •- An election is now talked of constantly, and Tory back benchers .who rely mainly on Har- ris's image to win are reluctant to blemish it. Harris also had talked of forcing Tory MPPs who want to run ag;lin.to have their nominaticiri papers signed by himself, so he could reject any. who refused to toe the line. • Harris has not carried out his threat, but ik has still helped keep his party from rocking, the boat.