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Times-Advocate, 1984-06-20, Page 4Pap) 4 Tlnn•s-Advocate Jun. 20, 1964 Times Established 1873 Advocate Establi'khed 1881 Amalgamated_'1924 • dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BFCKFFT Advertising Manager Bili BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $22.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., 0 C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' Should get the time The expected show -down between SHDHS math teacher Joanne Young and the Huron County board of education has finally occurred. The anti-nuclear demonstrator has again ended up in jail rather than her classroom, despite being made fully aware by board officials that failure to fulfill her duties as a teacher would probably leave the board no alternative but to terminate her contract. Crux of the matter is that the teacher was involv- ed in a demonstration during time when she was con- tracted to be in.attendance at classes. Her stay in jail is more a matter of compounding the problem. Having issued the warning, Mrs. Young's action leaves the board with no alternative but to meet and a � carry through on that warning, unless there are some extenuating circumstances that have as yet not been made public. The teacher has demonstrated clearly that she feels her fight against nuclear threats is more impor- tant than her teaching commitments. That's certain- ly her prerogative and she should be encouraged to follow those convictions in the anticipation that she will have more free time to do so in the immediate future. It is ironic that the "Jane Doe" title which she has been given by prison authorities in the past, will become more literal if she in fact is dismissed from a public position that resulted in her creating headlines in this and other media. Keep it in context Premier William Davis caught almost everyone off guard this week with his unexpected and therefore somewhat startling announcement that the Roman Catholic separate school system would become an equal partner with the public school system in terms of provincial support. - The phased program will commence on September 1, 1985, following a report by a commission which has been established to advise all the parties involved on the logistics of the changes. While there may be some criticism from small pockets of dissenters due to the religious connotations of the announcement, there may be more from officials and teachers in the public school system as they at- tempt to sort out the ramifications of the changes. Those officials and teacherswill be looking at the loss of jobs and the possible negative changes in their own system, and while their fears or aniticipation of problems may result in criticism of the decision, it would be unfortunate if it was assumed that it was a form of resentment towards the separate school system or those involved in it. There will be. anxieties expressed, not so much over the basic concept of the Premier's announcement, but the ramifications. It is important that all those in- volved recognize the difference. It is, after all, an idea that had been inordinately delayed at the -expense of fairness and equity towards separate school supporters. Few will deny that, but it still does not overcome the fear of a teacher who may see it as jeopardizing his/her current position which in some instances is already tenuous in view of declining enrolments and financial restraints. Worth the pampering? Conservative MP Jack Ellis,his party's Treasury Board critic, says it's time to crack down on members of parliament who don't pay their bills. MPs and senators who eat at the parliamentary restaurant have been told they must pay cash, all because a few deadbeats have not honoured their credit privileges. Some of these fellows have also run up pret- ty big telephone bills, even though all MPs have ac- cess to a government telephone line which allows them to call anywhere in Canada at any time of day free of charge. Trained There's considerable debate going on in Grand Bend at the outset of the current summer season over the need for the village to appoint a bylaw officer, primarily to crack down on noisy party- goers who have bothered their neighbours in early season antics. One of the realities of any society is that while it may be comparativejty easy to pass laws and regulations in an attempt to curtail unwanted activities, those laws become of little use unless there is so- meone prepared and authorized to en- force them by bringing to appropriate justice those who contravene the laws and regulations. Another reality is that some laws are more easily interpreted and enforced than others. Speeding laws are an example. By the use of radar, a law enforcement of- ficer can determine exactly what speed a vehicle is travelling. if it is over the posted limit, he can then issue a ticket, if he is so inclined. Breathalizer tests pro- vide similar accuracies. An exception, and the one causing pro- blems for some resort residents, is a noise bylaw. The offOnsiveness of ani given noise, unfortunately, bears a definition of considerable contrast between those hear- ing the noise and those making the noise. While instruments may record levels of noise, there is nothing in the Grand Bend village bylaw which indicates to what decibel level party noise may reach before it is a contravention of the bylaw. Noise is left to interpretation. * However, many other aspects of law are also left to interpretation. That's why we have judges and pay them fairly hand - Members of parliament have a non-taxable ex- pense allowance of $1,470. A meal in the parliamentary restaurant which might include vichyscoice, fid- dleheads, salad, steak, coffee and French pastries, costs only $4.20, half to one-third the price for a similar meal in a good restaurant.yet it costs the taxpayers of the country $5.5 million in subsidy to operate the restaurant in the parliament buildings. Are they really worth all the pampering they get? Wingham-Advance Times and equipped for job somely to make judgements on their in- terpretation of the law on the basis of the facts as they have been given thein in any particular case. Before it gets toa judge. someone must lay a charge or an information against a BATT'N AROUND with the editor person whom they feel has broken the law. in Grand Bend, to date this summer, that duty has been left to private citizens. Neighbors who have been subjected to what they consider unwarranted noise have the right to press charges under the bylaw. Any private citizen has the right to press charges under most laws. Of course, most people don't want to do that. It is much easier to pay someone to press charges. That way, private citizens don't have_to get involved, other than to the extent df making a phone call to the person hired to.lay charges. That call can be made anonimously. No further involve- ment on the part of the private citizen is required, unless he chooses to become more involved. There's nothing wrong with that system, but it is costly. In many larger communities, one or more people are hired as policemen and given the necessary authority to bring charges when they feel local bylaws have been contravened. in smaller centres, where the Ontario Provincial Police are in charge, that is not usually the case. OPP do not enforce local bylaws, such as dogs running at large, curfews or noise bylaws. They en- force provincial laws only. That is not only unfortunate for Grand Bend, it is rather ridiculous. Why can't the OPP enforce local bylaws? In the first place, they are equipped and trained to handle law breakers and that is a basic requirement particularly when enforcing laws which may be contraven- ed by those who have been imbibing too heavily in alcoholic spirits. it takes someone with the necessary equipment and training to handle some of the situations that can arise under those circumstances and it is incomprehensible that municipal officials or private citizens should he expected to tackle the chore or hire some other untrained and non - equipped person to perform the duties. There appears no reason why the OPP could not handle the job. H may require an additional fee or even having the of- ficers sworn in for special duty by the village, bu( it should be possible. Even if it requires special powers from some high provincial authority, it should be entire - y possible. The alternative of hiring some untrain- ed person to handle such a delicate pro- blem (in many instances) suggests that the OPP heirarchy must be convinced that their officers are in the best position to handle the chores and thereby reduce the present controversy in the resort. • "Sorry, it was a reflex action — I'm with the Parole Board." A good Canadian Is your life a cultural wasteland? Do you do the same old things, talk to the same old people on 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 flashy, but dignified? Of course you do. You're a good Canadian. You believe in personal decorum, -censorship, the family as a unit, and capital punishment. 4 the other hand. Do you go for a swim at mid- night, sing a song at dawn, smoke marijuana, 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 individual liber- ty, 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 govern- ment, 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 sixty - year -old farmer trying to keep the place going, or a twenty -year-old punk try- ing to maintain his habit. You are basically anti- American, thouggh• if you were asked why, you couldn't 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 between you and your aspirations. You wonder vaguely, if you're old enough, what became of the Canadian Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley dream: —file twentieth 'century belongs to Canada". 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 pro- duction, strikes, economic stability, peace, happiness and goodwill toward men. If you're very young, There's don't give a diddle. There's lots to eat, warm clothes, and the old man will kick in a riecent allowance so you can feed the video 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 university fees, and the increasing shadow of the computer, and the wealth of choice 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 mere- ly a look at our nation to- day. It is,so rife with suspi- cion, fear of nothing much, anger over nothing much, that we are becom- in 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 blindfolded, and maybe we have scraped a fewpcks, but the ship's bottom is still sound, and we haven't hit the 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- Canadian separatism thing with us for genera- tions, John A. MacDonald almost put the country on the rocks, financially and politically,but he dared to take a chance, and had vi- sion. We survived a terri- ble depression, and came out smelling of roses (and the stench of our dead young mc'l), in OA) world wars. Cheer up, you dour, gloomy Canucks. When you have to settle for one meal of ground wheatTh day, arid have to huddle around a charcoal brazier to keep warm, then you can whine, though 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, turn off your TV set and get out your Eskimo carvings. The Yanks won't invade us physically. Unless they have to, and there's not much we could do about that. If you can't afford your mortgage increase. you were probably 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 you mood. Pull in your belts. Dump that extra car, the boat- and oatand the cottage. If you look at it objectively, 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 allowances. Let them earn their own money t ough odd jobs, or do wout. Let' • stop grumbling, and g t back to a kpartan, rewarding life, where ideas are more important than physical comfort. After you, he said. Working for .change What does a person do who feels that the govern- ment of his/her country is engaged on a foolish, morally -outrageous course of action that will eventually lead to terrible things happening? You could do what Ann Hansen did. Plant a bomb at Litton industries which hurt ten people and caus- ed over a million dollars damage. (Litton supplies the guidance system for the cruise missiles for which there has been so much commotion). And if you receive a 'life' im- prisonment sentence, for which you can be eligible for parole in five years, then so he it. The world is a better place because of yourirresponsible actions. i think not. This is a democracy and despite what we may think about the danger of an press our views then perhaps we have to run for. office ourselves or write Perspectives By Syd Fletcher ever -escalating arms race and the threat of nuclear war we cannot justify murdering or hurting one innocent person so that others may live. in a democracy we have the right to work for change by electing people to office who will strive for that change. If we cannot find a suitable person to ex - letters to people who are in power, express our disapproval in a newspaper, in the pulpits of churches, on the street corners if necessary. These things we may do, because it is a free coun- try, with the right to speak our piece if we want to, to change things in an ap- propriate way. When Ann Hansen was convicted in a New Westminister, B.C. cour- troom she stood up and de- fiantly threw a tomato at the judge. I would have to think that if she took it upon herself to bomb a business in Russia which was pro- ducing a weapons system that upon being caught she would have been sum- marily shot and would never have received a trial. She would certainly have never even got a chance to do anything so foolish as throwing a tomato in court nor would she have dreamed of doing it because of the harsh consequences that would follow.