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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-02-01, Page 4c 13 Ys Phone (5.19): FaX, (519) 357-2900 J,W Eedy PebIicationa Ltd. Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821 Weare:.. Jun Beckett - Publisher ` • Audrey Currie -Manager Cameron I. Wood- Editor Norma Colley - Ad. Rep. Jun Boma -Reporter Stephen Pritchard- Comp. Eve Buchanan- Office Louise Welwood- Office Memberof: OCNA TheWin dvance-Times is a member of a family of community newspapers pro- viding news; advertising and. infortfationleadership. Letters to the Editor AflktterS'.totheet ito must beat the.wrjter's" name, telcphdnenum- ller inn. addiess.,,,The ..lance -Times. leslette .'�lfte;fe- �i; is into the past >a on years i that 'deemed the 0i0es � ly ct rect ttha 'the , ,felt those+ who are trained;, t T should he sensitive to alter needs of their fellow Consider' seriously, thepast half' century of military historl *St it was. the Huns, the nazi -baby -killers, the Jetties It was the reds, • the gooks, 'the slants, the Japs. Thenit was the commies in cold war times. All examples of racism and: national pride:. battle upon battle to victori- ously suppress opposing views. The military - and not just in Canada - has been a tra- ditional hot spot of radial. tension. Why? Because, those. who are enlisted in the Military are trained to hate: hate the enemy, hate the brass, hate the civilians who don't understand then. lifestyle. Without that hatred, the neces- sary killer instinct in man would not exist: hate the ene- my, hate the enemy. Imagine a soldier armed with the best killing machine technology can produce saying, "Oh, excuse me sir, I find your overzealous attitude of- fensive and I wish you would stop...and please kindly leave the country you and your compatriots have taken over. Thank -you so much." Bate exists as a means of achieving peace in mankind. It exists in religion, politics, businessand the military. Hate is truly a human experience; born of a need to ful- fill what the Americans call Manifest Destiny - each man's belief it is his god -given right to dominatehis en- vironment. We hate our neighbors, the animals who threaten our survival, ourselves. But an animal on the planet, we are forced to accept the emotion hate as an instinct. We have become far too intelligent for our own good and feel driven to over „ana- lyze each emotion. True instinct no longer exists within Our nature. In the living creatures that share this globe with us, hate does not exist. The killer instinct prospers as a means of survival and man is left as the only beast that expresses hate so'openly and emotionally. So why in Canada, after readily accepting the racist sentiment of hate within our military for the past fifty years, should we be so upset when our Airborne division is caught in Somalia referring to the native people in ra- cist terms? Because all of a sudden we have become all too politically correct. We have changed our attitudes in these modern times to eliminate the hatred. But while do- ing so politically, we have not examined the manner in which it is bred into us. We can say on paper" that we are. a tolerant people, but we have not put that into practice. Instead, by over indulging in the politically correct meth- od, we have repressed the goodness and spawned hatred at a higher"evel. - CJW ,.5„x°�''•'at erig .y`" `F:i�;: ,*' a' ' o.,+i�,',•k. `.. •o'�h°�' - ,',,,,:•,':> ?r• ;t"Ir,,, ', .,�'%;?z •..,�j- <S W' '.',Si�7,x` t kvr , y,,. '+fila a�+•''.'.aS'"•.•X.t.:?r.',�..".�."'�... o.>.Fx.6 �,.v....fz�i.t•�•'..:.,....,`'�i..c�:.3.....,'�M�,';L.�ir�as5..'•:°sn?`n".uie"�y v'•���.., • • • • :.rte,..-�-� .�- figM Editorial Viewpoint The wrong decision 91-1 he decision by the Minister of National Defence that the Canadian Airborne Regiment should be disbanded is not a logical one. Hopefully the de- cision can be reversed after some sober second thought. The decision itself alias largely a sudden knee-jerk re- action as a public relations gesture for the benefit of oth- er members of the UN and the world at large. Rather than disband the regiment, the CAR needs a re- thinking from top to bottom in terms of training and in terms of leadership _ it must get rid of the type of train- ing and leadership that nurtures the type of soldiers re- ferred to as "louts" by officers and men of other units. Parachute regiments - paratroopers, if you will - have an unenviable task during a battle. They are dropped be- hind enemy lines to capture and hold key positions until the ground troops advance and take over. As a result, their training includes a wide range of killing and survi- val techniques. The fact that you train killers over a peri- od • of time with no enemy to kill has resulted in contro- versy over the years. There have been disquieting stories about officers of the Regiment taking vacations with mercenary groups in global hotspots and non- commissioned members have been an embarrassment to soldiers from other Canadian regiments in terms 'of gen- eral conduct and immature behavior. For example, a poster that enjoyed wide circulation among Airborne members a few years ago showed a par- atrooper in full battle gear with the legend "Join the Air- borne. Travel the world. Make new friends and kill thein." This, unfortunately, is the typeof fantasy world. that Airborne training engenders. The initiation process as recorded on the now -famous video is inexcusable, but it is just an extreme example of many disgusting rituals that have been performed over the years as part of "belonging to the Regiment". The , Canadian Airborne Regiment has a proud history many respects •and it must be preserved as part of .a Cana- dian anadian military tradition of which so much has been lost. .Fut the Reghtient needs a` honing Of leadership and= new dirOC,tions in training. A a matters stand,,- it's safe to pry r ,that if. the regiment ia•:dis anded ,it w" - ; 0"A ,. ,.. � .. b , * all ie -appear era new name with ne d aces er ries tabic -: The Ok(Boys wont i .`see to diet; of in the eantfi ie ' rl bei have been wasted g. and sc iter in t re enc a%filet to of the +1+•K: 17FC,;'y y •.., . Is decreedto , term and re to>t lent... Andy ee 'point, tie n Who is winning theai., Having been embroiled in this de- bate for almost two years now, I read with great interest an article pub- lis13,ed in the Globe and Mail this past weekend regarding the future of the pro-life movement in Canada. Controversy locally has mostly been pointed at yours truly: 'a mem- ber of the male gender, scientifically unlikely to become "with child", and. like most decent men, refusing tfi tell a woman just what she can and can- not do with her body. This stance of mine, or slight lack of one to either pro -fife or pro -choice, has raised the ire• of locale prck:ltfe,strpporter3 (an& int h mot goietl} ; thrilled the local ptd-Choice supporters). Even in this edition, on page 5, you will find a letter from one of more vocal (and respected) critics. Despite the very nature of the ongo- ing discussion, I revel in the freedom that allows two people to express two diametrically opposing opinions. Democracy. But, deep inside, I also worry.: I worry what the debate ou pro-life and pro -choice will lead to. The opinions expressed in these pages come from a small group of people. The same names appear on each crit- ical letter - usually protesting some drivel I have penned. And when I read the Globe article on the very subject of the future of the pro-life movement in Canada, I became concerned: concerned not only for the safety of the pro -choice The Outer Edge Cameron J. Wood physicians and clinic workers, but that of my local critics. You see, it seems there is a popu- lar school of thought out there that the pro-life movement is dramatical- ly losing steam in its campaign to Oban access to tali ""legal malt prat- tike; .and. fear that within ,Canada; that loss of authority will lead the protestors into greater incidents of violence. Admittedly there have only been two notable incidents of violence re- lated to abortions in Canada, the shooting of B.C. doctor Garson Romalis in November, and the 1992 bombing of Dr. Henry Morgentaler's Toronto clinic. And, despite easy and obvious connections, admitted- ly, no pro-life supporter has been ar- rested in either incident. But the violence that is occurring more frequently in the United States, especially over the past 18 months, has some in both camps believing the pro-life movement is waging a "last-ditch effort by anti -abortion forces to close clinics." Kurt Gayle, whom many of my pro-life supporters will recognize, is yway! quoted quite bluntly in the article: "The pro-life movement, as a signifi- cant political force in Canada, is dy- ing." Gayle, is a former co-ordinator of Operation Rescue in Ontario and a former employee of ,the Campaign Life Coalition: • Another,. Dallas. Blanchard, a soci-., ologist from the University of West Florida and expert' witness 'for the Provincial Court of Ontario in their bid to place distances on protests, states: "I describe the violence we're seeing now as the first gasp of the last gasp of the anti -abortion ret w-, rent." • , ,• " Is it so? ' .. The movement has' done itself harm in many public relations cir- cles. The media tends to 'disagree with the vehemence of their protests, and most recently our own local tele- vision station covered a pro -choice rally in Windsor: an often neglected voice in the battle. Is the tide turning into a tidal wave against the pro -choice move- ment?„Perhaps so, But sadly too. I disagree strongly with their tactics, peaceful or not. Harassnient..of cli- ents, doctors and their families is un- acceptable. But healthy debate, like that which has existed for nearly two years on these pages is. I'm torn between the two. I do be- lieve the debate has a place in Cana- dian society, but not on the side- walks. Perhaps it does belong in our democratic process though. Rae: politicking for Quebec TORONTO - Premier Bob Rae has invited himself to Quebec to speak in that province's referendum on separation, but it is not clear which side he will be helping.. ; The New Democrat premier said in Toronto he is willing to go and speak "on behalf of Canada" and re- peated the offer to the Quebec Liber- al and federalist leader, Daniel John- son, when he came to make a speech. , Johnson was uncomfortable and non -committal, saying the, two had to explore what opportunities might be available and it was not possible to make` immediate announcements of times and places. It was from, an enthusiastic wel- come. Johnson sounded like the host of a party trying to avoid being pinneddown on /whether he would invite a cousin'wno drinks too' much. Rae probably wilt go to. Quebec, anyway. If Johnson does not invite him, some organikationwill, if for no more reason the that; •he is a powerful and: controversial speaker 'whocan ll a hall+. . Ric is, not being deterred by a;` dli in which most ebeekers d thcy do not want ticians "fhtlltt other provinces ttiterveitlri ti'thd re aae, it carr eyittlu, h Illy`io offer ents n8 p ay a end shot attse�. tr- with Eric Dowd The former Progressive Conserv*. five premier, William Davis, spoke in Quebec several times in the refe-.. rendum of 1980 and emphasized that' the two provinces have much more, in common than any differences: Rae is also looking to the referen- dum as an opportunity irk win .votes in his own election in Ontario due by the fall. The NDP is only about 15. per cent in polls and would benefit from an issue• that diverts attention' from domestic concerns Rae IS poreimppressive with> words than Liberal leader Lyn , McLeod and Tory leader Milte.:flar yrs and a debate on unity would give '.. *stage to show this. to New Democrats alma' to get acittss this titess r Manitoba premier Itot+ tied ife Ontariorecently 'McLeod 'I" i ttti tt ill for of Canada if the referendum is over before his own vote and the federalist forces win or, if the Qnta- rio vote comes first, as having done his best for his country. But Rae's going to Quebec to speak also' poses risks. Rae has been more critical of Quebec than previ- ous Ontario premiers such as Tories Davis and John Robarts and Liberal David Peterson, who all spoke in Quebec often. - Rae has complained repeatedly that Quebec wheedles more than its fair share from the federal govern- ment, particularly tens of millions of dollars • for construction while Onta- rio gets comparatively little, and wrote to all Liberal MPs in Ontario• askingthem to take care of their own. Rae protested that locating an in- ternational environmental agency in Montreal was favoritism and put rel si tii►ns jagiingtuebec construc- tion+ companies and workers coming into Orta rick to persuade Quebec to drop its curbs on Ontarians and is not liked therefor Rae opposed f `ee trade. with. the :S„ whicta+ Quebeckers feet help, them, and cutting tobacco taxes to counter smuggliinghe saw as a sop to Quc c, and hass not fol - ;lowed throe a the, 10.10s, ise to r ag zeFrench as an official . Y'�3tiYiMW�fYfi� . ebee; these iat' rx and td t e fees it -et tionY;