HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-10-05, Page 4Page 4
Citizens News, October 5, 1978
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Drinking and driving don't ix
This is the time of year when people are busy.
Students are back in school and in the rural areas
people are busy taking in the harvest, be it field
crops such as corn, or home garden produce to put
on the family table throughout the winter. It is also
the time of year for Supreme Court cases. If you're
like us, you will find reports of these cases ex-
tremely interesting, whether or not you are
familiar with the principals involved. The decisions
handed down might well set a precedent which
sooner or later will touch upon our own lives.
One such decision was handed down in a
Supreme Court case held in Kitchener last week.
The case concerned the awarding of damages
totalling $387,000 to two children who lost their
parents and were themselves injured in an accident
in 1975 which was caused by a drinking driver.
Another passenger in the drinking driver's car was
also killed in the tragic crash.
The interesting aspect of the case was the way
in which the court divided responsibility for the ac-
cident.
The driver, a 60 -year-old man, was found to be
85 per cent responsible and the Woodstock branch
vandalism is
Police Chief Pat King has a point. He believes
that the same people who are incensed by the term
"flophouse” used to describe The Square would be
equally disturbed if The Square became a bedroom
for a motorcycle gang. And, says the chief, unless
there is legislation to prevent the activities on The
Square which are currently little more than
nuisances and petty vandalism, there wouldn't be
any law to prevent something more serious from
happening there.
The Police Chief, of course, wants to see a
curfew imposed. He says it would be "an added tool
for police, officers to use to curtail vandalism in
town". As it is now, the police may see matters
shaping up towards an act of vandalism but have
little chance of short-circuiting the action until the
damage is done. Policemen can sometimes be very
persuasive and move a troublesome group along to
new locations, away from temptations. But there •
are other times when a policeman is just ineffec-
. tive...and it is those times the police chief would
like to have a curfew to enforce.
It is easy to sympathize with the police chief
and to agree that a curfew in Goderich is the
answer. But is it? Is it ever the answer to
remove
freedoms from people? Isn't it still better to expect
people to act in a responsible manner, and if they
do not to punish them according to their misdeeds,
in an effort to teach responsibility for another
time?
Vandalism is a problem everywhere, not just in
Goderich and not just in The Square area. Van-
dalism will continue to be a problem as long as
there are irresponsible humans who must find an
outlet for their desires to be in control for whatever
of the Royal Canadian Legion where the man had
been drinking was found to be responsible for the
remaining 15 per cent. As a result the Royal Cana-
dian Legion was ordered to pay into court $58,000 as
its share of the settlement.
The jury found that the Legion allowed the
driver to drink to excess and was negligent in not
providing adequate supervision of its patrons on the
day of the accident. In this particular case the
driver had at least twice the legal limit of alcohol
for impaired driving in his blood.
In our opinion this kind of decision is long over-
due. Whether a person is tossing them back at a
Legion branch, swanky hotel or the local watering
hole, we feel the establishment ought to have some
sense of responsibility. When a person has obvious-
ly had too much to drink, then he ought to be cut off
from the bar. It's just that simple.
A few more decisions like the one handed clown
by the Ontario Supreme Court in Kitchener last
week would go a long way to awaken a sense of
responsibility on the part of establishments serving
booze to people.
Listowel Banner
everywhere
brief time it takes to smash something. There isn't,
any sense to it. There never is. Vandalism is the
wilful and ignorant destruction of things which are
beautiful and meaningful. It will happen in the most
orderly society because it is a compulsion with cer-
tain people in certain circumstances.
Vandals come in every size, shape and color.
They are any age at all. They live in good homes as
well as poor ones; they each have a sick quirk that
makes them immune to the pleadings of the public
to protect property and respect beauty. People hate
vandalism and regularly demand that it be halted.
Thankfully, vandals are in the minority. The
majority of people are law abiding, peaceful,
respectful citizens who are no embarrassment at
all. There isn't a reason in the world why the ma-
jority should suffer for the minority and while most
people are at home in bed at the bewitching hours
usually suggested for a curfew, it would be sad to
see everyone tarred with the same brush and sub-
jected to the same needless legislation.
By the chief's own admission, vandalism is
decreasing. It would follow that if vandals were
treated as hars
hlY as the law allows whenever
caught, vandalism could decrease still more.
To impose a curfew isn't the answer although a
curfew would give the local police officers a law to
enforce in some suspicious situations. What is re-
quired is' for police officers to be supported by the
community and in the courts whenever vandalism
is proven. Vandals should be objects of disgust and
ridicule for vandals are disgusting and ridiculous
people. — SJK
Goderich Signal Star
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Miscellaneous
Rumblings
By
TOM CREECH
Three cheers
for footwear
This column is about footwear; yes, that's right
those items that separate the bottom of your feet from
all those millions of items that can cause one personal
harm (to your feet that is.)
One might ask (but then on the other hand, you
might not) why shoes, boots,sneakers et cetera would
be worth a column or a portion thereof?
The point of the matter is that footwear is becom-
ing an integral portion of the Canadian physique just as
(according to General Motors) baseball, apple pie and
Chevrolet are important constitutents of the
American makeup. •
If there is one entertainer who is distinctly Cana-
dian it has to be Stompin Tom Connors.
Connors found his piece of success in the Canadian
entertainment field through the judicious use of a well
constructed pair of boots and a piece of three-quarter
inch plywood. Connors is also the proud owner of his
own record company that's called, youguessed it, Boot
Records.
Talking about success and footwear reminds me
of the fact that Bata Shoes of Canada is one of the
three largest shoe manufacturers in the world with
plants on all the continents.
If one believes the CBC's "Fifth Estate,"
footwear in the form of cowboy boots has something to
do with the west's resentment towards the eastern
section of the country.
According to the program which was aired some
time ago, import quotas of footwear coming into the
country have just about eliminated the source of what
most westerners consider to be the home of cowboy
boot — Texas.
Meanwhile back in a small town in Quebec, the
only Canadian manufacturer of boots made for the
range continues to make boots which westerners con-
sider inferior to the Texas product.
Who knows in a couple of years, if M. Levesque
has his way and the "Feds” continue their quota, our
friends on the range may be reduced to wearing
"North Star" track shoes.
*
This writer got to thinking about shoes one even-
ing after the upteenth coat of polish to a pair of
"Roots" that I have worn continuously for four years.
These are the best pair of shoes this writer has ever
had and they will be bronzed before they find any
other type of use.
One thing about shoes is that like most people,
they age gracefully. Throwing away a pair of shoes is
like saying a last goodbye to a friend.
In this writer's household the road to a shoe's
retirement is indeed a long and arduous affair.
Footwear that is in the category "General Use"
resides comfortably on the steps inside the back door
while shoes that are on the way out are reduced to fen-
ding for themselves in a portion of my bedroom known
only as the "Hole."
Dark days are definitely ahead when the items
that keep tender tootsies tender are reduced to sur-
vival in the basement. And last but least, footwear
that's headed for that great leather recycler in the sky
find its way to a beat -up cabinet.
So next time you decide to make a purchase of
some footwear, remember that _ the leather might
become tacky looking and the heal worn down but that
its sole lives on forever.
rf.M3
:...N. TINT WITH LOCAL NEWS
?ublished Each Wednesday By J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd.
Member:
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Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association
News Editor • Tom Creech
CMA
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