Times Advocate, 1997-07-23, Page 5Page 4
.Times -Advocate, fitly 23 1997
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EDI I OR( :k
Echoes of the Somalia inquiry
T
hat Mike.Harris may have given
the go-ahead for the fateful OPP deploy-
menl atipperwash that ended in the -death
of native:protester budley George two
ye,rs-ago - but has -yet to publicly say any-
thing- should come as no surprise. to any-
one. • .
ft's•not any more galling:thanwhat'has
-gone on at the federal level.
Recently. newly-appointed.defence.min:.1
ister•Art Eggleton slammed the Somalia
inquiry's findings --which pointed directly
'at high command for much of -the wrong= •
doing - sparking suggestions that there
might he a cover-up in Canada's worst
United Nations sojourn:
Chillingly, there are similarities in rhe ' '
two stories. '
They both started with a questionable,
killing; and only those directly involved
were. ever brought to -justice.
Canadian Airborne. Cpl. Kyle Brown
seved time for the heating death of. Somali
te4taaer Shidane Atone and OPP Actino
Peel said it does not matter that the attor-
ney -:general and the premier may' have been
involved becausehe•feels the depibyment
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.was convict-
ed of manslaughter. discharged and made
out -to he 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 hag -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.(pperwash. and:
Mike- Harris and others involved wash their
hands of.it. -it's a safe. het that [hose on the
.force will be scrutinized for any number of
shortcomings. .including racism.::
-Now. would-be a good tithe. then. for the
premier to at- least-acknowat dge some of •
what Peel has stated.. or it soon might he too
late to restore relations with the native com- •
munity,.
simple act on behalf of the leader
'of- Ontariomight save the force the "embar-
rassment of a useless inquiry; and allay any
fears the native population may have.
1. The fate of a.fine police force, and the
trust of the ordinary citizen. hangs in the
balance. St. Marys Journal -Argus
Sgt. Kenneth Deane. is doing community
tune for fatally shooting George in a stand-: .
.
While the Somalia fiasco has played:it
self but and'the revetherations are being
felt in the militay; the 1pperwash tale is
warming up..
-Lawyer North Peel:'who represented.
Deane,. said in the July l l ' issue of the Lon.-
don
on-don Free Press that Harris likely gave the
go-aheadfor deployment-cf the OPP's tae •
tical unit and.riot squad,..and should pub=
licly defend his decision. -
YourViews
Letters to the editor
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 hright..On Saturday. June 7; VON HOMME
olunteers. many of'whom were local students were
collecting for our annual Pesky. Penny 'Campaign.
We•thanke each and every.person who donated.
Throughout the month of June there were over. 90
businesses in rural %tiddlesez Count-? that kept a
can to collect pennies and we wish to sincerely ,tell
them how much we appreqate their support:
Local people . and businesses Such as Jackie and
Peter={Martens-of the Investment grime-Jastjn Fut-
ton 6( tlderton: Clarke. Food Mart..Lucan.•Donut
Delite. Lucan also donated pizza. pop and donuts to
• our collecting .volunteers..and we were given space
by ther-tlderton -Gnited Church to *rap our precious
pennies. We want you to know that due to people's
-generosity the program is the- proud- recipient of
32.721:9[) tthat's.272.490 pennics'i.
At the HOMME Program we know Very .penny
.counts. This money will help supportpriogi•ams such
as Meals on Wheels. Transportation, Wellness Clin-
ics and Visiting for Seniors and Disabled Adults liv
ing independently:
''Thank you Middlesex?. •
On behalf of the volunteers, styaff and people we
• serve.
•
chary t'Curtis.-Coordinator-
Pesky Penny Campaign '97
A View from Queen's Park
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 thein.
People are turning to alternative medicine
be ..i"!se they have not been helped by main-
streamtreatments which rely heavily on drugs
and surgery. About 3.3 million Canadi.►ns have
tried alternative medicine and the number is
growing rapidly.
Doctors earlier opposed having their. work
By Eric Dowd
•
•
Student Employment -
By Carrie McCune
Choosing a career path
There in many things that
Sine, should . ccrosider when
choosing -a -career path. - The
following are .a few things that
should be taken into considera-
tion when making that impor-
cant decision. • -
EDUCATION: How much
time do you want tospend in
school in preparation for - your
career'?
WORK ...ENVIRONMENT:
Do •you want to work- inside or
outside. in the city or in • a rural
office?
PERSONALITY: Does the
career match your personal
qualities te.g. working alone or
with others)? _
EARNINGS: Will rhe -money
you .earn in this career meet
your expectations'
FUTURE OUTLOOK: Will:.
there be a demand for this in the
future'?
WORKING HUURS- AND
TRAVEL: Does this job re-
quire a lot of Overtime and fre-
quent business trips? Huw will
this -affect your-lifest-yle' - -
These are a few ideas that One
should consider when. choosing
•
a .:areer path. u should. iry
:io pick Yosomething that merits
your wants and needs. If yOu
choose something that lacks
these areas. you will find it hard
to enjoy your career and there -
tilt become stressed :out easier.
.Another' major area • that
should be of interest to -the job
seeker. Is -what education is
needed for future `john in .Cana- -
da. A graph that l 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' technicalvocational `,pro-
grams or apprenticeships are for.
those not smart enough for.ani=
versifies. But. '0 per cent Of fu- -
ture job openings will . require a
post -second education. only
17 pel; c.•Litt will require ,a uni-
verl;lty degree. This is an inter-
esting statistic .especially if you
feel that you will -not succeed as
a College Student graduate.
-Another major areas of interest
•is the unemployment : rate.
-Based-on-:another graph -that -1 -
have obtained. it states thus the
inure education you. hate. the -
•
less chane you have in hecom-
ing unemployed. with more edu-
_'cationand training.comes mon
- career options and opportuni -
ties. and finally. the majonty o
new, jobs created in Canada wil
require - mime than- 1 _' ve:u-s o:'
education and training.. . T'hesi
- statistics are- important especial
Iv it you • are hesitant about you
future:
Since I did not get the dppor .
tunny to write about the averag.
earnings hy. _ education level.
will he doing that next - week •
But. then is one last thing that
Would like to mentum. • :Mom
.students chink that they_ can ge
'some sort of job and they wil•
he able to survive.. Well-surviv,
maybe. hilt tliin_k of the extra..
that you will ole missing o'it o .
if you decide to take ihe.path
high 'school drop-out. Th
will only lead to 'inconvenient
tiii you and. your happines
Until next week; goodluck wi
your job search and if .you ha,
any questions about' this attic:
orany=thing else that�l-ma}r+
able to help you with;. you
contact me at .235-171 1 '
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 the 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 nonorthodox
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
thought and 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 wind up with.
physical and mental problems, including in-
tense anxiety, fear, panic. depression. loss of .
trust in everything around thein, 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 disciplinecom-
mittee
mittee has scheduled hearings at which no few-
er than 11 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. •