Times Advocate, 1997-07-23, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, July 23 1997
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Echoes of the Somalia inquiry
hat Mike Harris may_have.givon
the .go-ahead for the fateful.OPP deploy-
ment at Ipperwash that ended in the dearth
ofr native protester'Dudley George two..
years -ago.= hut- has yet to publicly say any-
thing = should comc:as no_surprise to any- -
one.
• •it's -not airy moregalling than what has
gone on -at the federal level -
Recently, newly-appointeddefence thin ,
ister Art -Eggleton slammed the Somalia -
Inquiry's findings - which.pointcd directly -•
at high command for -much of the wrong-:
doing --sparking suggestions that there
;might be a:cover-up in Canada's worst
-United Nations sojourn: .
Chillingly; there are -similarities in the
two stories.
They both started with.a questionable •
killing, and only those directly involved
were ever brought to justice... -
Canadian Airborne Cpl. Kyle Brown • -
:served-tiine.for-the beating death of Somali -
te agerShidane. A.rone and OPP Acting
Sgt. Kenneth Deane is doing community
time for fatally shooting George in a stand=
off. -
While the Somalia fiasco hats -played it --
-self out and the reverberations are -being
felt in the 'military, the Ipperwash, tale is,
warmingup•
awYer Norm reel, who represented - - -
Deane, said in the July 11 issue of the Lon_
don )tree Press:that Harris,likely gave the
go-ahead for deployment of the OPP's tac-
tical unit and_ riot squad,.dnd should pub--
hely
ub-licly defend his'decision. -
Peel said it does not matter that the attor-
ney general and the premier may have been,
involved because he feels the deployment
was justified.
What Peel might be looking for - rather
than scapegoats is to get to the truth of the
matter, so that his client does not end up be--
inganother Kyle Brown, who-w.as convict-
, ed -of manslaughter, discharged and made •
out to be a racist pariah: •
Now, the_Ontario government is unlikely
to disband the:provincial police for their
handling of the Ipperwash standoff - as the
-federal government did to the Airborne in
the wake of the Somalia scandal. - • -
However, like the airborne - which was a .
fine unit, despite what has been written the
OPP may undergo much of the same trial -
by -media that befell the parachutist corps.
- So, if answers in the coming months do.
not satisfy the natives at Ipperwash, and
Mike Harris and others -involved wash their:
hands of it, it's a safe het that those on•the
force will be.scrutinized for any number of
shortcomings, including racism. ,
Now would be a good time, then, for the
premier to at leastacknowledge-some of_
what Peel -has stated,,or it soon might be too
late to restore relations with the native com--
-
munity. `
Also, a simple act on behalf of the leader
• of Ontario might save the force the embar-
rasslnent,of a useless inquiry, and allay any
-fears the native'population may have. , ; ;,,.
The fate of a fine police force, and the.
trust of the ordinary' citizen, hangs in the
balance. , St. Marys Journal -Argus :•
•
Your Views
Letters to the editor
I
Pesky Penny campaign a success
At the HOMME-Program we know
every penny counts....
Dear Editor: ' , •
. The . generosity of our: friends and neighbors, is
shining bright. On Saturday. June. 7, VON HOMME
volunteers: many of whom were local students were
collecting for our annual Pesky Penny Campaign.
We thank each and every person who donated .'
Throughout the month of June there were over 90
businesses in rural Middlesex County that kept a
can to collect pennies and we wish to sincerely tell
them how mucic we appreciate their support. . •
_Local people and businesses such as Jackie_ and
Peter Martens of the Invcsuncnt Centre, Jason Ful-
ton of Ilderton, Clarke's Food Mart, Lucan, Donut
' Delite,,Lucan also donated pizza, pop and donuts to
our collecting volunteers, and we were given space
by the Ilderton United Church to wrap our precious
'pennies. We want -you to know that due to people's
generosity the program is the proud recipient of
S2,724.90 (that's 272,499 pennies!).
At the HOMME Program we know every penny
counts. This money will help support programs such
as Meals on Wheels. Transportation, Wellness Clin-
ics and Visiting for Seniofs and Disabled Adults liv-
ing independently.
Thank you Middlesex!
On behalf of the volunteers. staff and people we-
. - serve.
---Cheryl: C-urti+-t?oordinator
Pesky Penny Campaign '97
A View from Queen's Park
By Eric Dowd
TORONTO -- Doctors who traditionally play
rough protecting their turf have gone overboard
in trying to guard against the march of alterna-
tive medicine.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of
Ontario protested that a.proposal the legislature
is considering to widen use of alternative med-
icine would encourage sexual abuse of patients.
This is the nastiest insult heard around
Queen's Park in a long-time -- not even politi-
cians have hit so low. The proposal by Lib-
eral MPP Monte Kwinter would merely give
doctors the choice of prescribing alternative
medicine without fear of being disciplined or
ruled incompetent by the college which regu-
lates them.
People are turning to alternative medicine
because they have not been helped by main-
stream treatments which rely heavily on drugs
and surgery. About 3.3 million Canadians have
tried alternative medicine and the number is
growing rapidly.
Doctors earlier opposed having their work
Student Employment
By Carrie McCone
Choosing a career path
- There are many things that
one should . consider when
choosing a career path. The
following are a few things that
should be taken into considera-
tion when making that impor-
I tans decision.
EDUCATION: How much.
time do you .want . to spend in
'school in preparation for . your
career?
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
Do youwant to work- inside or
outside, in the city or in a rural
office?
PERSONALITY: Does the,
career 'match your personal
qualities (e.g. working alone or '
with others)? -
EARNINGS: Will the money
you earn - in this career meet -
your expectations?
FUTURE OUTLOOK: Will
there be a demand;for this in the
future'?
WORKING 'HOURS AND
TRAVEL: Does this job re- -•
quire a lot of overtime and fre-
quent,business trips? How will
this affect your lifestyle?
These are a few ideas that one
should consider when choosing
a career path. You Should try
..to .pick something that meets
your wants and needs. If you
choose something that Tacks
these areas,you will :find it hard
to enjoy your career andthere-
for become stressed out easier.
Another major area that
should be of interest to the job
seeker, is. what education is
needed for future jobs its Cana-
- da. A graph that I have, found
states that to the year 2005;
many students and parents be-
lieve that a university education
-is the only road to success and
that technical/vocationalpro-
grams or apprenticeships are for
those not smart enough for uni-
versities. But. 70 per cent of fu-
ture job openings, will require a
post=second• ry education, only
17 per cent will require a uni-
.vejy degree. This is an inter-
esting statistic especially if you
feel that you will not succeed as
a college student graduate.
Another major afea of interest
is the unemployment rate.
Based on -another--- graph -that =l-
have obtained, it states that the
more education you _ have. the
less chance you -have in becom-
ink unemployed. with more edu-
cation: and training. comes Mort
career . options' and opportuni
ties,- and finally. the majority"e -
new jobs created in Canada. wil
require more than 12 years o
edfcation and training. , These
statistics are,important especial.
ly if you are hesitant about you
future. _
Since I did not get the oppor
" tunny to write about the averag''
earnings by education level.
will -tie doing that -next week
But, there is one last thing that
wouldlike to mention. Man'
-students think that they 'can ge
some sort of job and they wil
be able to survive. Well surviv•
maybe: but think of the extra
.that you will be missing .out o
if you decide to take the path
a :high school drop-out. Th
will only lead to inconvenient.
for. you and_ your happines
Until -next week. good luck wi
your job. search and if you
any' questions about this artic -
.—or -any: thing -else that I .mavl-
'able to help you with.
contact me at 235-1711.
and incomes eroded by midwives and nurse -
practitioners performing some tasks and there
was the recent spectacle of many'refusing to ac-
cept pregnant women as new patients to support
their pay claim, which they naturally won. Doc-
tors can wield a mean scalpel when they are
looking after their pay-packets.
Liberals and New Democrats supported
Kwinter's proposal in a private member's bill
and the Progressive Conservatives under Pre-
mier Mike Harris, who have done their share of
bowing and scraping to doctors, at least agreed
to have it discussed further.
The college wrote angrily to Harris's govern-
ment that the proposal would enable doctors to
escape accountability because, for example, a
psychiatrist who sexually molested a patient
could claim he merely performed a non-
traditional treatment and pie college would find
this difficult to disprove.
This argument is not well-founded, because
doctors now caught sexually assaulting patients
often argue they merely used an unorthodox
Doctors have gone overboard
method of treating, and courts have had no
problem deciding what constituted assault.
Doctors also should be wary of pointing fin-
gers. Few complaints have been made of alter-
native medical treatments given by any type of
practitioner turning into assaults.
But the health ministry in the early 1990s cit-
ed a study that found at least 8 per cent of fe-
males aged 15 and older in Ontario had been
sexually harassed or abused by their doctors. .
Another study said one in 10 Ontario doctors
knew of a colleague who sexually abused a pa-
tient.
A task force the college set up after public
concern at doctors sexually abusing patients
said the incidence was higher than generally
thoughtand 143 "clear, substantive" cases were
reported to it.
The task force pointed out that women who
seek help from doctors often are vulnerable,
sick, uncertain and needy, and this enables doc-
tors to exact sexual compliance without using
force.
It also found that many women who have
been sexually abused by doctors windup w ith
physical and mental problems, including in-
tense anxiety, fear, panic, depression. loss of
trust in everything around them. difficulties in
developing an intimate relationship, night-
mares, headaches, seizures, mental illness and
addiction to drugs and alcohol.
In the past year the college's discipline com-
mittee has scheduled hearings at which no few-
er than II doctors were accused of sexual
abuse. in recent months courts have jailed a
former chief of psychology at one hospital for
two years and another doctor for nine months
for sexually assaulting women patients, one of
whom asked plaintively, "if you can't trust your
doctor, who can you trust?"
Doctors already know all about sexual abuse
of patients because so many among them com-
mit it and they should not suggest it will sud-
denly be thrust on them by alternative medi-
cine.