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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-10-02, Page 4W i•. Jn' 'co ;1J • I.+PC1. I$�idt. at cl iera1utold,r eye hady,apppled to play hoc PrOPtOtan!ozl ►` a eYlea 4R *1,1QIl ed tea Play' ixockey, lin dam that Wold provide ore co jetiUipflthan the gfr •league, She was corpetenttgeugi& to ,.h *Laming fob ;k on the team ,d Ostensibly', e 111 section of the Ontario. ,. which allows for boyspi1 Cj ill that- while a - 13�gbts Code ey teams in- fringes on the equality pt'aviiens sof tate Charter of Rights, it is a 'reaSpnla i of infr- ingement ingement and therefore valid., •1 ' ' The judge ruled that the 'Charter' 1)0 application to organized hockey in Canada, because it doesn't apply to any Organza* tions. Also, ' e ,P>n Rights Code allows sex discrimination' in athletics andis legal. The landmark decision will be be appeal- ed to the.' Ontario Court of Appeal but regardless of the outcome, it is an issue that has broad appeal and far-reaching implica- tions ers eters. tot sha`k'ing I aY a disjek father t these et 'crazy notice that el.?' Geee4 L con tbelieve it." «Weill I .con + ytlu one tl.,4 y "' the, other fatherp airs >l tlgn, lilts so ;falls down again. ` That judge did to right thing not letting that girl on the team, She would have probably just got hurt anyway. Hit 'em back Joey. Oet ,lip and nail that guy." "Where `de. women get off thinking they tgan compete with men, .eh?` It just wouldn't work," the father remarked. "I mean they'd have to change all the rules and everything." "You're right. Next thing ya know there'd be a two -minute penalty for crying or 44 • till conjUrs'u t1 ey VOA whe: a. harealCa!u arhlllt bac useherr MS is „i ,91% !.., . hag or 1400 >, father ops re# tits' tl_ _.,x(- . with hie wit., "Or hey, l!eidd hay's to maket,f�- a punishable, Af a llf aOPS boric% #s kn0aked 014 of; "[td 'knowing hew PIM u1Ci women aro the games would probohl,' late," the other father 1f net eft'.; a half hoir } v` I g for women to et., g,`ne 40,4 can't i t ley even. want {s )cid keeps a '&down. Says he Wonder what the, n isn't° Item on the hiell'svl rohg with THE NEWS PORT FOR. GODERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 1248 the derich SPGNAL-STAR P.O. BOX 280 HUCKINS ST. INDUSTRIAL. PARK 000ERICH, ONT. N7A 486 EBT ALL ROUND OOMMUNITY NEWSPAPER IN CANADA lGrcuWtron Clens 3500 n50010 C Better ryyypapeN . l;om PUBLISHED BY: SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED Founded in 1848 and publfehed ovary Wedneadey at Oodorlch, Ontario. Member of the CCNA end OCNA. 9ubocrlptlone payable in edvenca 802.00, [Senior Cltiaene 519.00 privilege cerd number required) In Canada, 860.00 to U.S.A., 880.00 to all other countries, Single coplee 60C. OlspIny, National end Classified advertising ref ea available on request. Plenae ask for Rete Card No. 16 effective October 1, 1986. Advertising le accepted on the condition that In the event of a typographical error, the advertising apace occupied by the erroneous item, together with the reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for but that balance of the advertlaement will be paid for et the applicable. rate. In the event of e typographical error advertleing goods or aervinee et a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Signal -Star le not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited menuecripta, photos or other materiel, used for reproducing purposes. President and Publisher ROBERT G. SHRIER Editor DAVE SYKES Advertising Manager DON HUBICK FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES -..please phone [5191524-2614 Second class mad registration number 0716 Member eNA The victims often_ suffer A suggestion that court sentences reflect the impact of crime on the victim, says the Ex- eter Times -Advocate, is one that deserves some further consideration, despite a rebuff from a spokesman from the Canadian Bar Association that victim -impact statements could be construed as an element of vengeance against the perpetrator of a particular crime. Sentences are imposed primarily to act as deterrants, but surely there should be some consideration for the effect of the crime on the victim and a little less tendency to exercise concern for the criminal. While victims often have an opportunity to pursue claims in civil courts, it is often not worth the expense involved and there are many cases where it is totally impractical because the criminal has no resources to meet any such settlements. The victims of any particular crime often suffer various raniifications. A car stolen from one individual may not r e cult in an) particular hardship, wl ile the loss to another person could have expense e consequences that should be reflected in the sentence. Victims suffer to varyule drgrces. phy sic.ally, emotionally and financially and should be allowed to explain those en 1 unrstancl's to the court to relfect the magnitude of the crime. That too. should he 1 , 11,1(1(9 el! ..1 I he dot, ATI for others. Compromise is message Regardless of who f ills,the shoes of former Progessive Conservative leader Frank Miller, the shoes of former premier William Davis will still be in the background. Conservative government had become almost a rite, rather than the results of a democratic process. And as the conservatives prepare to choose a new leader, the party is still haunted by Davis' decision to fund Catholic education. Recently Davis told a committee of the Legislature that ideally, the school system must ensure that each and every student receive the same quality schooling. There has been a tradition i.f inequality and Davis told the committee that Ontarians _ would have to exercise a measure of compromise in dealing with the issue Compromise, though, will have to be u1 4 11'lien( 1• Ilu h(,t h ,ides. It has to be recognized that the move to full funding is not something that Davis alone pushed upon the i,egislattire. it r .)t all -party support. Davis told the committee that the extension of funding to include Grades 11, 12 and 13 is not a radical move Bather, he se('s it as the funding of one education system with two dif- ferent components. Perhaps it is time to address the inequality of funding the Catholic system up to Grade 10 without extending the same funding beyond that grade. Davis didn't say it would be :an easy task. Hut with compromise. he suggested it is a pro- blem that Ontarians could work out to the benefit of all. Threatening skies By Dave Sykes Sugar and Spice By Bill Smiley 1 WAS going to say, "There's nothing more boring than old people talking about the 'good old days' when they were ), oung." Then I realized that I was nut in left field, with nobody at bat, the pitcher chewing tobacco and spitting juice. the catcher fumbling around trying to adjust his athletic• protector, as they now call a metal jockstrap. There are many things more boring Little children whn want one more horsey ride when your spine feels fractured 111 eight places from the 10 previous jaunts Teenagers babbling endlessly about rock stars, boyfriends. girlfriends, and the money they need to keep up with their friends. "How come we only have a 21 inch TV? I'm 16; why can't 1 stay nut till 3 a.m. if want to? I'm the only girl 111 the class who doesn't have construction workers boots!" University students, perhaps the most boring creatures in our society. After the in- itial chirps of recognition: "Oh, Mr. Smiley, how are you? How's it going?" And then 40 i minutes of straight, self-centred description of their university courses or their jobs, their professors, their disenchantment with their courses, their unspoken admission that they can't hack it, as you knew they couldn't in the first place. i manage th brush them off after about eight minutes with a cheery, "So long, Sam. great to hear you're doing so well, and best of luck. i have to go to an orgy for senior citizens that starts in four minutes. with thl pornographic movie." it's great to leave them there with their mouths hanging open. Next worse, in the boring department, are young couples who have produced one or two infants. and talk as though they'd swum the Atlantic. or climbed Mount Everest "Let me tell you what Timmy (or Kimrny said the other day. He was sawing wood in the nursery school, and his saw slipped, and he pointed at his saw, and he said, "Don't you dare do that', and the teacher told me, and she said it was the most hilarious thing she'd ever seen, and blah blah blah, and ...' Boring. B -o -r -i -n -g. We can all top that type of story. My daughter, age seven, Grade 2, just getting over the Santa Claus bit. came home one day and told my wife she knew what a certain familiar four-letter word that she'd seen scrawled on the sidewalk meant. At the time. rather absentmindedly, with 1)r. Spock lurking in the background, she en- quired, "And what does it mean, dear?" The response was, "When men and ladies lie down on top of each other and go to the bathroom." That was the end of any birds and bees instruction. Next in a descending line of boring con- versationalists are middle-aged grand- parents. The women. young enough to still elicit a whistle on a dark night. the men old enough to suck in their paunches when a bikini walks by, they act as though they had invented grandchildren. They whine ex- changed whimpers about the baby-sitting they have to do. They brag that their grand- children are the worst little devils in the world. Boring. And finally, we get to the elderly. Certain- ly some of them are boring, but hey are the ones who have been bores all their lives. Bul the others. the salty ones, even though slowed by the body's increasing frailty. re - lain their saltiness, and even improve on it, because they don't give a god damn anymore_ They can say what they like and do what I hey like. And they do. I've met or talked to three men in their late 80s recently. My father-in-law, 89. seemed rather frail when we arrived for a visit, at 3 p.m. At 11 that night we were still arguing religion and politic, at top form. I've told you about old Campbell. the 85-er who dowses wells and is set to go to Paraguay. Talked to my great-uncle, riddl- ed with arthritis, and his voice and welcome were as warm and crackling as a fireplace freshly lit. This whole column was inspired by a clip- ping my sister sent me about 88 year old Lawrence C'onsitt of Perth, Ontarui. Lawrence was present when the last mail was hanged in Perth. His comment It was strange.' The man had turned to the crowd and smiled just before his death. He had murdered his wife. Today Iced be given a manslaughter and six years. Lawrence started playing plain) i9 years ago, at dances, at the silent pictures theatre. He got $5 a night for a dance. The talkies knocked him out of a job in 1930. Bul he kept on playing ragtime and jazz wherever there was an opening. I listened to him improvise for the silent movies. I danced to Ins piano al country dances. with his nieces and greal-nieces. He always had a crock. Took the pledge 111 1925. It lasted 13 months. Got sick on a ship Io France in 1918.and was too late tnbekill- ed. He never married: "But i drank a lot of whiskey." He's in one of those Sunset Havens now, but when they ask inn when he'll be back from a day in Perth. he says. "11 depends 00 whn i meet." 'That's boring? Jiang on. 1, iwrcnc e Veu gave great pleasure to many people i hope i can slay as salty as you. if you do not know c her( 1.11 are going. you will find that yno end tip somewhere else". This whimsical yogi Berra observation has long been among the favorite quotations to surf:♦( is in my mind I.n odd occasions 1t applies to the unexpc(I 'li t urn of PN. NILS we in this town had to fin 1• ia.t week V, hen our local government broke down - for the first time in its history - because six town council members refused to carry out their municipal duties. They decided not to enter the town hall and the scheduled council meeting could not he held. While the situation is connected --with the PU(' workers who were on strike. my first concern is not with these employees. their union or their strike. it is good news that the short strike is successfully over. hut the waves it made are still eroding other shores. My business is with our local government. East week's events contain i message that any union's pickets from anywhere. gathering in front of the municipal building, can reduce the government of this town to a remarkable state of confusion and helplessness. preventing the expected orderly functioning of our legitimate • 'if one's mail or signing some accounts when the coast is tear at the town hall. is irrelevant. The n)unicipal council can only act collectively, by majority vote, at official meetings. Pi'(' workers are not town employees, although they are public employees in a wider sense. Their business is across the street from the town hall, with the Public Chitties Commission, a corporate body of five persons, four of whom are elected separately every three years. By provincial legislation, the mayor is the fifth member of the commission which functions under a separate act: 1 find it difficult to follow the logic behind the decision to supplement the 12 local PUC strikers with a larger group of pickets from other unions, many from out of town, and to take the whole lot across the road to the town hall before the council meeting where they had no dispute. I find it incredible that six of our nine municipal council members decided that they would not or could not pass the pickets, in order to perform their sworn duty as our elected government. The quiet, polite and low-key pickkts made it clear that they did not prevent anyone from entering the building. if a person is, without warning, suddenly confronted with an unexpected and novel situation, I could somehow understand in human terms that one's capability to think clearly could become momentarily blurred. although i expect our government members to act with "grace under pressure" even in difficult circumstances. In this case. however, the six gentlemen knew, by their own admission, several days before the council meeting that the picket line was going to be in place. How and why this background information reached them beforehand, is not known. In any case, they had ample time to come to terms with their priorities, loyalties and allegiances. At times, one wonders whether in a small town the municipal council is regarded as a sort of club where community intrigues, divisions and personal undercurrents have habitual access and are played out at the expense of the general public. The municipal government is a serious and official business which the members have undertaken, by oath, to conduct "truly, faithfully and impartially". It was unworthy of intelligent thinking to aim the labor cannons at Mayor Palmer and to demand that she become immediately ELSA HAYDON involved in the PUC negotiations, after the commission had voted on and made known who the negotiator was. Surely the union committee was determined in a democratic manner. As part of the commission, the mayor's legitimate involvement in the strike was at the decision-making stage which duty she carried out as expected. Let us not kid anybody. Had Mayor Palmer agreed under pressure to attempt to - change the process singlehandedly, all the individuals in question would have complained vehemently ( and I would have joined them) about the mayor's arbitrary actions. As it is, Mayor Palmer deserves full credit for working her way calmly and reasonably through the little minefield of pre-election intrigue that has increased in intensity, if not in intelligence, in some quarters. Mayor Palmer and Coun. Glen Carey were the only council members r Coun. Don Wheeler was out of town) who took their places when others abandoned ship last week. I share Coun. Carey's stand that the union members have a right to picket, if they do not block access, but the elected representatives' refusal to attend a council meeting is irresponsible. The municipal government is intended to work for the entire community, without favors or grudges. While a union has an important place in our society, it is only part of the community. If a person, voluntarily or otherwise, places union solidarity above the sworn duties of independent municipal government - should such a person be on the council? There is a lot of thinking to do. In this situation - did some people end up "somewhere else"? e 9