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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWingham Advance-Times, 1977-11-16, Page 4�c alitatics There must be an answer To some it may appear that the country's present pre -occupation with alleged police Illegalities has assumed unwarranted prominence. It is true that Canadian unity, unemployment and inflation are more im- mediate problems than the ethics of police morality. However, if the limits of police power are not resolved now theywill be with us for all time to come. As the battle over security surveillance rages back and forth in the House of -Com- mons the average television viewer becomes understhndably confused, Both government and opposition spokesmen appear to present valid arguments to support their positions in regard to the actions of the RCMP — either excusable or totally reprehensible. After all the words have been said there will remain the pressing need for logical solution to the question of powers which should be permit- ted to security forces. First of all we should not forget the fact that we leave the security of the nation in the hands of professional police officers. They must deal from time to time with persons and organizations which operate outside the law and thus exceptional measures must be taken to protect Canadians. Members of the Mafia ,and international terrorists present such a critical threat to public safety that our security forces may sometimes be stymied in their efforts if they are permitted to operate only within the bounds of law. However, the answer certainly does not lie in giving these security forces unfettered rights to burn buildings, commit burglary or theft. Following that route leads inevitably to a secret police force which will eventually hold .all the necessary power to support or. overthrow governments. Any person who has read the involved reports of wrongdoing which emerged in the wake of the Watergate investigations knows that police and security Timis forces in a country as democr4tic as the United States were able to wield dangerous power — to the point where the highest elected officials in the land went in fear of the FBI and the CIA. Then what is the answer to a seeming dilemma, caught, as we are, between the need forprotection from the evils of outright crime and the threat of the loss of civil liberties? As the debate in the commons proceeds it appears ,ever more obvious that an entirely new approach to the guidance and control of security forces is required. In both the U.S. and Britain all -party committees of the House have been established as the tribunals which are charged with the final decision where unusual acts of surdeillance are needed. The security forces are no longer permitted to assume their right to break the law. The committee weighs the danger which threatens, hears the suggested re- sponse by the security people and either authorizes or forbids the police action. Whether it is possible in Canada to main- tain secrecy when a committee of elected citizens is informed in advance of impending police action may be a matter of some doubt. Failing that course, it might be possible to appoint a three-man judicial committee, members of which would be judges of known background, men who by experience would be fully aware of the gravity of the information left to their decision. Whatever the final solution — and that solution must come quickly — no free nation can live with.,a police or security force which is free to break the laws of the land, — no matter 'how urgent the reason. Given that power, it is all too easy to quote national security for any and every sort of illegal police action. That excuse became too over-worked by the excuses of President Nixon. Not a good reason It appears likely that the Ontario govern- mentwill enact legislation next year to raise the legal drinking age from the present 18 years. A private member's bill which sought to increase the legal age to 19 was allowed to die on the order paper after second reading in the Legislature last week, but voting to that point demonstrated an overwhelming measure of support for the change. Citing his reason for delaying the legisla- tion, Premjer Davis said that a few months of research and consideration should be allowed for the drafting of a more thoughtful bill to deal with the situation. Of course all sorts of arguments, both pro and con, have been put forward. Those who are in favor of raising the legal drinking age are concerned about the problem which has been createdin our high schools by a. law that permits an upper school student to spend his lunch hour in a downtown bar and then return for afternoon classes. Just why this situation has been permitted to become so troublesome, is a bit of a mystery to us. We know of all kinds of business firms which will not allow any employee on the premises if it' is apparent that the employee hasbeen drinking. One would suppose the same prerogative would empower a high, school principal to, eject a. drinking student. Those who favor leaving the 18 -year limit as it is, use the old argument that if a person is old enough to vote and old enough to die for his country at 18, he or she should have the right to drink. Neither of these contentions make much sense in the light of accident fa- tality figures for those in the under -20 group. The incidence of alcohol-related accidents has risen sharply since the drinking agewas lowered to 18. .If the alcohol problem was limited only to those 18 and over there might be more logical answers. Whatever the age limit the tavern keeper always faces the critical decision as to whether or not the would-be drinker is actually over the legal age limit: When that limit is 18 years the dilemma is more difficult, for some 15 and 16 -year-olds look older than their 18 -year-old compan- ions. Goodness knows, adults in their middle years can make big enough fools of them- selves ,over the contents of a bottle., What sort of mushy -headedness would cause us to start the process earlier than necessary.? Back to the hospital bed The provincial government obviously lost a critical battle when it tried to close down some smaller Ontario hospitals a few months ago. The then minister of health, Frank Miller, impetuously walked his col- leagues into a real snake's nest, a situation from which they were not able to extricate themselves. Now, however, the government has taken a new approach to the problem of reducing health care costs. The health ministry will simply refuse to provide the money with which to operate all the existing hospital • beds in the province. that approach will probably prove quite effective and will have to be met by drastic curtailment in some institutions. There is no doubt that health officials have good reason to be deeply concerned about the spiraling costs of health care. The high p..re of illness in Ontario threatens to run completely out of control. There may, never- theless, be more intelligent ways of curtail- ing costs other than denying beds to patients who are genuinely sick. One of them would be a complete study of the costly system of record-keeping which is required by the ministry. Some records and reports might be reduced by determining how much of it is duplicated or redundant. Another big saving might lie in eliminating duplication of inspection services in hospitals. By the time a hospital has been in- spected for surgical procedures, food services, fire and accident safety, quality of nursing care, etc., and then the whole mish-mash is gone over again by a team which will decide on hospital accreditation a good many dollars have gone down the drain. Why not one competent team to cover all the ground and get it over with? The whole field of health care,.is so far beyond the realm of public understanding that little, if any, limitations can be imposed by people who are not specially trained in that field. Even the members of our hospital boards can be pretty thoroughly confused when the experts hold forth. So far the only solution suggested by government to the rising costs of health care are confined to cutting out hospital beds. Is it not time for a P roader and more intelligent look at alternatives.? Ore of the most ob- vious is the provision of more nursing'home beds for those who do not require the full and vastly more expensive facilities of a modern hospital. It would also be interesting to know how much fat is to be trimmed at the ministry level — what studies have been undertaken to make sure of efficiency up at the top. as �W3rii�f co THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited Barry Wenger, President Robert O. Wenger, Sec.-Treas. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Member — Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc, Subscription $12.00 per year Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821 Ontario Weekly Newspapers Assoc. Six months $6.50 Return postage guaranteed A page of editorial bpinion kttS ",000 or4 4< "... I said, don't you think there's too much sex on TV?" Letters to the Editor Opposes! to "Living Wills" Nov. 10, 1977 Wingham Advance -Times Dear Editor: ,Having read Lavonne B.al- lagh's article, `.'Joy Before Death", I am prompted to make comments on Living Wills which embody the request of a person to be allowed to die and not be kept alive by extraordinary means when death is inevitable. Theintention of Living Will legislation — to protect the pa- tient's rights — is in' itself good but there are many problems and complexities involved which call for opposing such legislation. Here are only a few considera- tions: 1) It is commonly accepted by moral theologians that a doctor need not use heroic or extraor- dinary measures to prolong the life of a dying patient. I am a nurse and I know that a good doc- tor is aware of the difference be- tween prolonging life and pro- longing the act of dying. (The good doctor isn't going to get much comfort out of the Living Will Legislation). Moreover, without the complication of law, the patient already has the right to refuse, either personally or through family or legal guardian, the use of extraordinary life-sus- taining devices. Why, then, is Living Will legislation neces- sary? 2) No compelling need for Living Will legislation has been demon- strated. Before moving in such a delicate, complicated and vital area it must be clearly shown that a serious problem exists which can be dealt with only by legislation. This has not been done. Even in the Karen Ann Quinlan case, Karen's parents received court sanction to remove Karen from her respira- tor. Such court sanction was given in the absence of legis- lation. Again, why is Living Will legislation necessary? 31 Living Wills are dangerous and could open the door to active eu- thanasia. I wish to refer to tell Morris' article "Support for mercy killing called threat to medicine" in the Oct. 29 issue of the London Free Press, Mr Morris had interviewed Arthur Dyke, a Harvard University ethics specialist who spoke in London, Ontario to a two-day bio- medical ethics conference at the University of Western Ontario. In the interview Dyke said under such legislation (Living Will), governments, rather than pro- tecting life would be "in the busi- ness of insisting somebody be killed". Dyke said that the move toward abortion on demand and euthanasia are "symptomatic examples of the erosion of the moral authority of physicians", 4) The availablility 'of -Living Wills may lead to the elderly being placed under real pressure to "cease being a burden on so- ciety". A variety of social and personal pressr• es could arise P which would have the effect of turning a legal right into an obli- gation. Terminal patients, be- cause of their weakness and vulnerability would be suscep- tible to such social pressure. 5) If a Living Will were to become lava, then in the absence of such a docWnent the patient would risk being over -treated as the physi- cian would be unwilling to be left open to legal action for his al- leged "failure" to apply all pos- sible life-sustaining procedures to the dying patient. Thus, the physician may feel compelled to use life-sustaining procedures, against his better judgment, in order to protect himself against possible legal action. 6) The Living Will would threaten the doctor -patient relationship by making the physician a servant of the statute. He would well lose his ability to be an advocate for his patient. These are only a few reasons for opposing Living Wills. There are many more. Many doctors and lawyers oppose Living Wills for these and other reasons. It is noteworthy that the Canadian Medical Association is on record as opposing Living Will Legis- lation. Adele Chettleburgh THE QUEEN WAS FORGOTTEN Nov. 14, 1977 Wingham Advance -Tunes... Dear Editor, Having been a member of the RoyalCanadian Legion Auxiliary almost since its inception some 50 years ago, I would like to express my objection to the dispensing of the playing of "The Queen" at the cenotaph service on Nov. llth. Certainly I think we should sing our own National Anthem: "The Queen" was played at the service in Ottawa and in other places in this vicinity, I think the time to stop paying homage and allegiance to the Queen will be when the government of Canada advises us to do so. Olive M. Lewis. 0-0-0 North Bay, Ontario October 20, 1977 To the Editor: Chippewa's Twentieth An- niversary Calling 'all Chip- pewayans home to North Bay. Smoke signals say, "Big Pow- wow June 30 - July 1, 1978 for all chiefs, maidens, braves and former tribe members". Spread The Word. Tentative plans in- clude a cabaret, parade, golf, fashion show, tour, anniversary dinner and dance, etc. Write before too many moons to Chief Running Deer Bill Colcock at 730 Rose Avenue, Apt. 10, North Bay, Ontario, P1B 6W4. to receive a 1 complete brochure of planned ac- tivities, -and to take advantage of special `reservation' rates. Yours truly, Chippewa Secondary School S. Davison New Books in the Library THE DEVIL ON HORSEBACK , by Victoria Holt Minella Maddox grew up in a great English estate. As the school -mistress' daughter, her place was not, and never could be, at beautiful Derringham Manor, That is where the trouble started, for Derringham'•s young heir thought he saw in Minella just the kind of wife he wanted. FiREFOX by Craig Thomas The British and American intelligence services are deeply disturbed by the existence of a new Soviet jet fighter. NATO - code named Firefox. Not only is the aircraft reportedly capable of speeds in excess of 4,000 mph, but its sophisticated weaponry is thought -controlled by the pilot and it is proof against radar detection. The West has nothing to match this frightening weapon, and the balance of military air power is threatened by the exist- ence of the Firefox. FROSTING THE WORLD—The several inches of wet snow which fell throughout th'e day and into the night last Friday gave the world a wonderland aspect under bright blue skies early Saturday morning. Rosemarie Good was among those out enjoying the new look. November 16 New Books in the Library DANIEL MARTIN by John Fowles Daniel Martin, from whose point of view the story unfolds, is a successful English playwright and Hollywood scenario doctor. He returns to England at the re- quest of his friend, Anthony Mallory, who is dying of cancer. While there, Martin is also reunited with his ex-wife and her sister. Although the four were in- separable while attending Ox- ford, Martin has become alien- ated from the others since his divorce. In the memory -laden at- mosphere of his homeland, he is forced to confront the changes in himself and in his friends, and, in a series of richly textured flash- backs that encompass his sexual tries to comprehend and rectify his past mistakes. MUSEUM MUSINGS Did you know? a o The Souvenir Program of Old Home Week in Wingham, July 4, . 1919, gave a fine insight into the business section of the com- munity. The Cosens Insurance Office on the corner of John Street and Diagonal Road offered a free washroom and free writing materials. The queen's Hotel operated by John Martin had fine meals and clean rooms. Of course, you could also eat 'at the White Cafe, run by Z. Lockman (now Vance Drug Store). If you wanted ice cream, soft drinks or fresh fruit., the place to visit was Miller's Confectionery (Lee's) . If you needed money, there were three banks: Domin- ion, Commerce, and Hamilton. W. A. Currie was the practical machinist down at the machine shop which is still ,there; L. S. Benniger was making butter in the Wingham Creamery in the basement of the Kent Block; W. C. Lepard sold tires and tubes in the Morton Block (Bell's Vari- ety). He said the Stearnwear inner tube was blowout proof and 90 per cent puncture proof. J. A. Mills was selling ladies' and men's wear with special dis- counts to "returned men" (Ad-, vance-T:,nes Office). Next door, A. J. Ross. Hardware was selling "1900" washers. The Wingham Bazaar called the little Eaton was across the street from , the Brunswick Hotel. King Bros. departl'nent store is now the Walters store. John Galbraith ran a general store where the awyer's office is today. Next door eorge Carr had a tailor shop. Reid & Peterson). H. E. Isard Co. had two stores Hayes & King) and sold almost verything from shoes to groc- ries. Next door was one of Wingham's first merchants, Geo. Mason & Son. They sold china, ooks, stationery, fancy goods nd wallpaper. Over in the Stone lock, W. J. Boyce offered lurnbing and heating. Next door as Rae & Thompson Hardware. wo doors north was W. G. Pat- erson, the great watch doctor. Continuing up the street was alker Furniture and Under - king. Next door was the Bank of ommerce, now used as a medi- al centre. In the frame building ext door was Dyers Pool Hall. he bakery, next to the Post ffice, was called Central Bakers nd was operated by A. J. icholls since 1879. Across the reet was Hanna & Co. Ladies d Mens Wear. Their slogan was Watch our new store grow". The w store is now known as Han - 's Mens & Boys Wear. In the MacDonald Block, J. W. cKibbon operated the Rexall ug Store (since 1901). W. H. illis sold and repaired boots and oes. Up at' the Patriek. Street rner E. J. Mitchell was running e Corner Drug Store, Dr. isholm's old stand. The only rageman offering his services s John S. Hawk with Chev. and cLaughlin in the present wson & Howson building. The ro Cushion Inner Tube. Co. cred the answer to all tire blerns, saving temper, trou- , time, and money,. The Clinton Knitting Co. Ltd. s turning out cotton and ollen stockings for children women on the second floor of Ritchie building. (Sunrise ry) . The only other industry ing its support was the mers Fertilizer Co. It would m that the Advance, operated A. G. Smith, published the gram as there was no mention he Times, owned by H. B. ott. Time has marched on and y few of these names are still us. How many do you re- mber? G e e b a B p w T W to C c n T 0 a N st an ne na M Dr W sh co th Ch ga wa M Ho ae off pro ble wa wo and the ba i gi v Far see by pro of t Elli ver with me