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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-06-01, Page 5skes.Ve rr _ 4 . v , \J Ontario Consumer and Commercial Relations Minister, Larry Grossman is determined to deflate the tires of drinking drivers in this province. The minister announced that he will introduce legislation this fall that will give police on -the -spot authority to suspend a drivers licence for 24 hours when a breath screening device registers a blood-alcohol level of more than 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. Ifs that simple. But it is unrealistic to assume that imbibers are able to register and compare milligrams of alcohol against millilitres of blood while enjoying a few comforting beverages at their favorite oasis. Unless, of course, one is a suc- cessful chemical engineer, in which case the equation still makes little sense after consumption has reached a certain point. • A translation means that a 200 pound marl would have to drink about six or seven beers to attain a level of .05 on a breath analysis according to the Addiction Research Foundation. The same man would have to drink nine beers to attain a level of .08. Under the proposed legislation the portable breath analysis devices used will show clearly the blood-alcohol so that a person tested would not simply have to take an officers word for it that he is impaired. So anyone stopped by police is believed to be in full control of critical faculties until he blows the lid of the analysis machine. Then they've got you. To date, that .08 figure has been the key and any motorist caught above that level stood a good chance of earning a stint in the slammer or having his licence suspended. GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1978—PAGE 5 At least the government and the police are assuming we're sober until our breath fogs up the analysis device. People whose breath may send the device into a tither without the aid of alcohol might just as well stay home and avoid the embarrassment. Grossman said police will not drive anybody home if they are over the .05 level but the point is to test as many people as possible in their search for drinking drivers. Grossman didn't indicate just exactly how the police would check drivers but it seems he has launched a large scale dragnet to weed out unsuspecting motorists who have occasion to diet on lite beer. The police crackdown conjurs up visions of our men in blue slinking about hotel parking lots like marines crawling up the beaches under enemy fire. Will our officers crawl about the outside premises of seedy little bars with branches over their bodies ready to jam a breath analysis device into a patrons mouth as he leaves for home? Surely not? Grossman said officers will station themselves near shopping plazas and in other areas that provide public transit. If police know their business, and one must suspect they do, then they believe they are sure to grab some housewives at shopping plazas out for morning groceries. Do the police know something we don't? Are these trusty little homemakers pouring gin on their cor- nflakes? • Anyway, the police may simply take your car keys for one day or another member of the family can come and " drive the car home. Provided they aren't .05, of course. THE WEEK AFTER INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND OPINION Legislation will be introduced in the fall to give police on -the -spot authority to suspend a drivers licence for 24 hours when a breath screening device registers a blood' alcohol, count of more than .05. T,he announcement came from Con- sumer and Commercial Relations Minister Larry Grossman who said that a driver who refuses an on -the -spot breath check could be taken to the police station for a legal breathalyzer test and risk a charge of impaired driving. Plans for tougher measures against drinking drivers and elimination of 'a number of liquor restrictions were announced .with the introduction of PROVINCIAL POINTS legislation that if passed would raise the legal drinking age from 18 to 19 Sep- tember 1. The legislative package would provide stiffer penalties for those who are under the legal drin ting age and for licencees who provide them with alcoholic beverages. As part of the tougher measures proposed against drinking drivers, police officers would be instructed to increase spot checks and be provided with more portable screening devices similar to breathalyzers. Grossman said the proposed changes are also aimed at eliminating liquor law restrictions that have proved to be a nuisance and encouraged disrespect for the law. In keeping with that objective people Will no longer have to order a sit- down 'meal with a Sunday drink, Liquor Control Boards will be permitted to operate on election days; airlines will be exempt from normal limitations on hours during which alcohol can be consumed and minors will be allowed into licenced rooms in resort areas so that families' can be together without restriction. Grossman said the government is attempting to achieve a balanced ap- proach which provides the progressive measures the public wants with suf- ficient safeguards to prevent abuses. Both Liberal Leader Stuart Smith and New Democratic Party Leader Michael Cassidy said they have doubts about police powers to-take-awa-y-a drivers•k:ey- for 24 hours. The two leaders said they will stand with their caucuses on the new legislation but both voted against a private members bill last year by Liberal MPP Remo Mancini (Essex South) that would have raised the drinking age to 19. The bill carried, however, 72-29, _with all three parties splitting on the issue. At that point, Premier William Davis promised to bring in Government legislation this year. He did not vote on the Mancini bill, but said he favored it in principle. Seven Cabinet ministers broke with the party and voted against raising the drinking age. The government effectively wrote the end to what turned out to be a seven-year experiment with the drinking age. It was lowered in 1971 as one aspect of reducing the age of majority from 21 to 18. The' Legislature strongly favored such a move then, and Mr. Davis said there was no evidence that those 18 would be any less prudent and temperate in their habits than their fathers. Among the other measures announced by the government was an education Progressive Conservative finance critic, Sinclair Stevens, last week charged that Liberal MP's had speculated on the falling Canadian dollar and tried to profit from it. But Stevens apologized for his remarks "in the House after he was quoted as saying that he had learned from banking sources that nine Liberal MP's, including possibly two or three cabinet ministers, tried to profit from the recent fall in the value of the dollar. In the Commons last Wednesday, Stevens told his fellow MPs that, on reflection, he was wrong to raise the CANADA IN SEVEN matter of dollar speculation with a Canadian Press reporter. "I made statements which I now realize constituted an allegation, or are perceived as an allegation, which I cannot substantiate at this time. "That being the case...and in keeping with the established practice of the House . I wish to withdraw any such allegation against any member of this House. "While I made no reference to any individual member, I regret any em- barrassment which I have caused to any member," Stevens said. Outside the Commons Stevens in- dicated that he might raise the matter again if he could get concrete evidence, which he described as documents, or photostats of documents which indicated money trading activity. Stevens said his information came from credible sources within the foreign exchange market and said that if evidence can be offered of a; concrete nature he thought it was something Parliament should consider. During his statement at the end of the Commons question period Stevens gave MPs an outline of the context in which his original remarks were made. In his interview with the Canadian Press, Stevens told the Commons, reference ,was made to circumstances in which charges are, or are not, made in the House. He said during the interview he gave two examples of occasions where the Conservatives were satisfied they had enough evidence to make charges in the House. But he said he cited the dollar speculation matter as an example of a situation that had not been persued in the Commons because the Conservatives had not been able to obtain concrete evidence to substantiate the reports. During his statement Stevens also made reference to two statements in which Prime Minister Trudeau alleged in the Commons. that Conservative MPs might be speculating against the dollar and another instance in which Industry Minister Jack Horner made similar remarks. Stevens labelled remarks that Con- servatives have worked to bring the Canadian dollar down on the world market as absolutely irresponsible,_ In recent months the Canadian dollar fell sharply against foreign currency and mainly the American dollar on the world money market to a 45 -year low of program for the schools and an ad- vertising campaign on alcohol moderation There are ammendments making it illegal to Barry open bottles or glasses of liquor in public places. Higher fines for minors caught drinking will be imposed and an ammendment to oblige liquor • licence holders to request identification from anyone who might be underage is also planned. Grossman said the, decision to raise the drinking age to 19 reflects to an at- tempt to deal with alcohol abuse in high schools. Only 2.4 percent of students in high school are over 19. just under 87 cents. The dollar has since rebounded in the past couple of weeks and has been hovering around the 90 cent mark against the U.S. dollar. In late 1976 the Canadian dollar was trading at $1.03 against the U.S. dollar. Horner said outside the House there is nothing wrong with sa,.. .shrewd businessman speculating on the dollar and he added there were still a few shrewd businessmen in the Conservative party, although damn few. He said Conservatives may have taken ad- vantage of the Canadian dollar when it was trading at $1.03. ur711i4i Superman, the celebrated man of Steel in comic books and on television celebrated his 40th birthday last week. Who could forget that mild-mannered reporter, Clark Kent, a fearless crusader of justice in the sleepy town of Metropolis. Kent worked for the Daily Planet newspaper but when an injustice was being engineered, he slipped into a phone booth and became Superman. The story was fiction but the town of Metropolis does exist and is proud of Superman. Metropolis, population 7,000, is located in the bottom corner of Illinois, in the heart of middle America, where Illinois meets Kentucky and Missouri. WDR LDWEE'K And last week Metropolis eelebrated Superman's birthday as it was 40 years ago that the comic books with the story of Kal El (that was Superman's real name) first appeared on the newsstands, co-authored by Toronto born, Joe Shuster. And in Metropolis, to mark the oc- casion, the chamber Of commerce un- veiled a telephone booth. Yes, it was the same phone booth that Superman used to rush into, ripping and tugging at his clothing, making the transformation into Superman. So now anyone in the town of Metropolis and visitors can go into that same phone booth, lift the- receiver of the telephone and get a taped message from Superman. Little may be known of Metropolis but it is proud of Superman as evidenced by the road signs at the edges of town that read "Welcome to Metropolis, Home of Superman." Even the stop signs in the town have been changed to show the figure of Superman with his hand up and a huge cutaway of the Man of Steel was erected on top of the town's highest structure - the 150 -foot water tower. Bob Westerfield, was solely respon- sible for putting Metropolis on the map and in the news in 1973. Before that no - one had ever tried to promote the town or cash in on the coincidence that Joe Shuster had named his hero's home town after an actual city. There had been previous attempts to put Metropolis on the national map. In 1963, Robert Stroud, the Birdman of Alcatraz (played by Burt Lancaster in the movie) died and was to be buried in . his native Metropolis. News agencies, newspapers, wire services and even television networks had all arranged to cover the funeral and natives of Metropolis were eager for the national exposure the funeral would bring. But just before the funeral, in Dallas, Texas, Lee Harvey Oswald fired some shots from a fifth floor perch that killed President John F. Kennedy and the event ultimately drowned out the news in Metropolis. Westerfield said that he hadn't been in town long but wondered why no effort was made to take advantage of the name Metropolis. Westerfield called DC comics, holders of the Superman copyright in New York, and bosses there were surprised to find out there was a real Metropolis. Metropolis now has a full-fledged museum of memorabilia that opened in 1973, just before Superman's 35th bir- thday. They called it the Amazing World of Superman and visitors could see such things as a model of Superboy's house, original comic book sketches, Superman movies, the costumes worn by actors in the Saturday morning movie serials and the TV series. The town couldn't rightfully boast to being the home of Superman unless it had a newspaper named the Daily Planet so the Metropolis News changed its name to the Daily Planet, And each year the town of Metropolis still hands out the Superman of Metropolis award. A weekend assignment I had Saturday caused me to —reminisce about my younger days when Lord Baden Powell's rules and regulations carried a lot of weight with me. I had to go out to take pictures at a Cub -Scout camp at Point Farms Provincial Park and the sights and sounds at the camp brought back a couple of memories for m.e. It was Scout camps that I remember best. As a Cub we were never taken to any camps mostly because our Akela (leader) was somewhat of a nervous wreck. I think it took most of his courage to show up for the weekly meeting without subjecting himself to the tor- tures of a weekend in the woods with all us darling Cubs. ' My first Scout camp was a revelation. It was almost like being a family of 50 boys..We were cffmped in an out of the way place with only two people, the two Scout leaders, to watch over us. Fifty boys can get into a lot of mischief in one weekend, especially when they are trying to. The first night out We decided to sneak out and knock down some tents. We figured the best target would be Bobby Thompson's tent since he was in the tent next to the leaders because he was petrified of the dark. Thompson was huddled inside his sleeping bag in the centre of the tent whimpering about morning never corning when the three inch thick centre pole fell across his forehead. It was almost three o'clock in the morning before the leader realized that the culprit (or culprits) weren't going to be good Boy Scouts and admit to the crime. Back in the tent we decided this time we were really going to get those guys in Tent One. We worked out a detailed plan to kidnap Freddie aCallingham and it went off smoothly except for the fact that Thompson was still awake and whimpering. When we began beating on the back of the tent Thompson screamed and Callingham must have thought there was a fire because he came running out of the tent just as we figured he would. We grabbed him and covered his mouth so he couldn't sdrearn just as the movies had taught us to. We covered him with a bed sheet, tied him in a chair and used a huge rope to suspend him over the camp swamp. Callingham must have realized hi- ^redicament because all he could say was "don't drop me I'll ruin my new socks and my mother will kill me". The camp leader's reaction to the escapade impressed us enough to lay off our night crimes and we began to be model Scouts. The leader said three commissioners would be visiting the camp on the final day out and he wanted us to come up with a project that would prove the merit of the First Mount Albion Scouts. He said he planned for us to build .a 50 foot rope bridge over the swamp adding that the first people across the bridge would be the com- missioners -and the two leaders. He missed the glint in our eyes when we heard of his plan and spent the next day and a half smiling happily as we ' pitched in to complete our task. The construction went smoothly except when Jimmy Booker took his dull hatchet, swung wildly at a giant elm tree and almost cut off his big toe when the hatchet bounced off the tree and sank into his shoe. The next,day, after a short water fight to beat the heat, we were all lined up on the edge of the swamp resplendent in our • clean uniforms as the commissioner inspected us. He was impressed with the camp and the rope bridge that was strong enough to carry a tank over the - swamp. He said he was pleased to be the first across the bridge. Halfway across Booker was given his cue and he sank his handy hatchet into the support rope, The look on the leader's face when he realized his plight cannot be described. When he felt the taut ropes wither in his haods and realized that he and the three commissioners were heading for the thick mud below he began laughing crazily. We honestly thought the em- barrassment caused him to lose his mind. When he began to cori'trol his hysteria all he could do was slap the surprised commissioner on the back and say "now that's Scouting'.'. Jerf ddon