Times Advocate, 1993-03-03, Page 4VOIMPIAMINAMIMMiniiete
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"Mein efte *Mier =So likely
to settle a question rightly
as when they discuss it
freely."
... Thomas Maoseley
A
1A)1'1 4)it1A1.
Mulroney's swan song
s the news of Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney's resignation swept
across the country last week, many
were quick to find ways of praising a
man that most in the nation have come
to mistrust. Even Mulroney himself
provided a list of his accomplishments
to the media.
Mulroney insists that all his decisions
were made in 'the best interests Canada,
as unpopular .as they -may have been.
He predicts :that with time, we will
come to know -him as a man who made
tough .decisions that were ultimately
right for the country.
'That -may be so, 'but it is hard .to .ig-
.nore :-the fact that the Prime Minister -of
:the past :eight years -.:has built a solid
+aputation-for-°being :autrof step with the
'.average Canadian.
'AVe _received a Tree Trade deal with
'the 'United States, despite the fact that
'Mulroney himself:awore there could be
-no:such agreranent with the Americans
only alswiyearatbefore.
Globalization lofiradeds :seen -.as the
;only possible .3X131/S0 sof u ction, even
though un esmvithprotectionistpol-
icies seemno,: have- acne very well by
themselves. BOttt:*aday, American cor-
porations- enjg, ;better access toll Ca-
nadian markets than many Canadian,
companies have. Medalled Charlotte-
town Accord was to :have :improved
trade between provinces; Will we ever
get it? Do we really want it?
We now have NAFTA, which has now
spread the disparities over three nations.
Maybe it's all just bad timing as Canada
becomes tied to the decline of the Amer-
ican economy as Europe and the Pacific
Rim are on the rise.
The GST will be another lasting legacy
of the Mulroney years. Despite promis-
es -from the opposition parties, it is un-
likely such a high -revenue tax can be re-
pealed.
Perhaps the most overlooked artifact of
the Mulroney era will be its contribution
to the national debt. Higher taxes and
the appearance of being a tight -wad fis-
cally responsible government did noth-
ing to halt the country's spending nDf
money it never had, and probably never
will have. Should interest rates soar
sometime :in;the future, it is likely we
will -get nothing kr our tax .dollars than
interest payments on the highest debt
.this:country has known.
And what, pray tell,.did -we -taxpayers
get -for all this :spent money? lard to
say isn't _it? We know we got several
.years of commissions, :white -papers,
-reams -ofreports, and .five years of Con-
.stitutional wrangling -:all of which came '
to little 'or nothing.
.-After.allowing a few years to +e'ilect on
Usian Mulroney's tearsgat a 4hehn, we'a,
-may find his autobiography filed where
it:belongs,.onthe sahelf beside the Spicer
Commission.
A.D:H.
Same rights for everybody -
including brutal murderers?
The way our system works
A gild is hacked to death by a
pervert. The pervert lives, but
goes to prison. For a while.
Then he promises to behave for-
ever and ever. The authorities
believe him and let him out of
prison. So he goes and brutally
rapes and murders another child.
"Oops!" the authorities say.
And to the outraged public, they
add: "No system is perfect."
The pervert goes back to pris-
on. For another while. Then he
promises to be good again.
"This time he means it", the au-
thorities say.
But the people and the police
are suspicious. What if he mur-
ders again? Shouldn't he be kept
in prison forever, or at least for a
longer time?
Nope, say the authorities. The
man has got to be rehabilitated,
and the community is the best
place for that.
"If you let the pervert live in
our neighbourhood," the police
say. "then we're going to show
the people what he looks like, so
that they can wam their children
about him."
No can do, say the authorities.
The pervert has rights. Civil
rights. Human rights. Provincial
rights. Federal rights.
There is a better way
That's where I disagree. That's
where I get mad. That's where I
believe the authorities have lost
touch with reality.
Rights are wonderful. But they
shouldn't be automatic. They
should be conditional. They
should have to be earned by de-
cent behaviour.
Very few rights are absolute.
Peter's
Point
•
Peter Heasel
For example: I have the right to
- travel to foreign countries. But
that right could be taken away
from nui by a court under certain
circumstances.
The right to vote or to be elect-
ed can be suspended for convict-
ed criminals, although there is
now some controversy about
that issue.
In many European jurisdic-
tions, a convicted criminal rou-
tinely receives a double sen-
tence: he may spend ten years in
a penitentiary and lose his civil
rights for twenty years. This
means that even after he has
served his prison term, he re-
mains stripped of his civil rights
for an additional ten years. Only
after those ten years have
elapsed can be become a full-
fledged citizen of his country
again.
It seems , that our Canadian
system of criminal justice leaves
something to be desired. It doff
not provide for the loss of civil
rights as part of a sentence.
That is why even our convict-
ed homicidal perverts can be out
of prison after serving their sen-
tences, or out on parole. and im-
mediately claim all rights which
law-abiding citizens enjoy.
Our legislators must closely
examine and review what rights
dangerous sexual -Wenders
should be allowed. Not only civ-
il rights - such as the right to
vote or to be elected - but espe-
cially rights granted under the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Let's not abuse the Charter
of Rights!
For example, why should a
man convicted of raping, muti-
lating and brutally murdering
children or women enjoy the
same protection under the Char-
ter as everyone else? Surely that
was not the intention of those
who created our Charter. Surely
that amounts to an abuse of the
Charter!
It doesn't take a law degree to
figure that out. It is common
sense. It is up to us - the people -
to let our Members of Parlia-
ment know how we feel about
this issue.
The rights and freedoms of so •
-
ciety at large - and of potential
victims - must be more impor-
tant than the rights and freedoms
of those few who voluntarily
place themselves outside our so-
ciety by committing heinous
crimes. The loss of their rights is
part of the price ,they pay for
their antisocial behaviour.
If you feel the way I do, write
to me or to the editor. Please.
• We welcome veer of 1pion Ail letters co the editor must be signed and we augiect to editing.
DDelnerr to 424 Main Street, or moil to P.O. Box 450, Exeter, Ont.,NOM 186 '
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"He must have heard 'cold enough for you?' once too often."
Is this justice?
Last week I stopped into a local
bakery to pick up breakfast. I
should have had something at
home, but I was late.
Anyway, the lady at the store in -
_formed me that this particular bak-
•ery1tad a window smashed, again.
Twice in just a few days.
While we can not point fingers at
-anyone and even lay blame at a
certain age group, it is becoming
more and more evident that crimes
committed by youth are on the rise.
Last week a 14 year-old and a 16
year-old were sentenced to 33
months in jail for the brutal attack
on a 76 year-old London woman.
That woman now lives in fear and
is wondering what will happen to
her when these two youths are let
out of jail.
Will she have to go into hiding?
Once a month I go over to Gode-
rich for Huron County Council.
Several times a year, myself, other
reporters and county councillors
have to ease our way through doz-
ens of youths who are awaiting to
go into juvenile court.
Some of these youths are as
young as 13 and 14. Some are ac-
companied by police officers, oth-
ers are with lawyers and maybe a
parent.
I don't think it's necessary to bab-
ble on about the amount of money
they cost taxpayers for legal fees
and the thousands of dollars in de-
struction every year.
It's amusing to see how the legal
system has changed over the years
when it comes to dealing with
youths. In 1959, A 14 year-old
from Clinton by the name of Ste-
ven Truscott became the youngest
person in Canada ever to be sen-
tenced to be hanged. He was pa-
roled ten years later.
His name was released to the
public. Now the identities of the
two young men in London who are
now behind bars, is still a mystery
to the public. I think they should
have their names released. Parents
want to know and should be able to
protect their children against such
youths.
In England recently, two 10 year-
Hold boys were charged with the
rametder of a two-year-old. Does a
10 year-old know what murder is? I
411Iy yes and they should be tried as
adults and not children.
But what to do with young of-
fenders. Even the police say the
courts are too lenient on them. A
slap on the wrist basically is what
they get.
Personally I would like to age
some kind of community service
brought back for punishment. A se-
rious one which is monitored, by
not only the police but the victims.
For example, the persons who
broke the window at the bakery
should have to wash the windows
and shovel snow.
But then again, you have those
who complain that the youths are
being treated unfairly, no one un-
derstands them and they come from
broken families.
Well, let's start making the
youths of today become responsible
for their actions so they don't make
the same mistakes when they be-
come adults...
Do not discriminate against people
Dear Editor:
We would think that you would
have better sense than to discrimi-
nate against people in this day and
agc. We have talked to several
people who take offense to your
remarks about Huron park houses
being occupied by single parent
families, retirees and those on so-
cial assistance. We would like to
know where your information was
obtained, as records of these facts
are not of a public nature. If your
. source was one of those narrow
minded citizens who needs to
open their eyes, tell them to look
around his own neighbourhood.
We moved from Toronto seven-
teen years ago and have made Hu-
ron Park our home ever since. We
wanted to raise our family in a
country atmosphere, free from
smog and other influences. We felt
that we had to give our children a
good start in life. During our sev-
enteen years there have been vari-
ous articles in the Times Advocate
which have been derogatory to the
people of Huron Park. Enough is
mechanics, ma-
chinists, police
officers etc.
have lived binge
over the years.
Not everyone's
goal in life is to
own their own home. Things like
providing your children with a
good education, vacations, etc. are
also important. As a matter of
record, of the 24 houses on our
street, three are vacant, three arc
occupied by retirees and seventeen
are. occupied by people where at
least one and in some some cases
Iwo partners arc gainfully em-
ployed. A far cry from social assis-
tance. Some of these people arc
employed in London, St. Thomas,
Stratford, Goderich and in Exeter
as are persons who live in Exeter.
The businesses in Exeter have
gained over the years from the pres-
ence of Huron Park, if we were to
stop buying the T -A or take. our'
business to London (regardless of
your sauce of income your basic
needs still have to be purchased), 1
enough! am sure the effect would be felt in
Granted one of the attractions of \Exeter. Huron Park has also been a
Huron Park is the low rent. There means of employment for residents
have been a lot of people taking of Exeter and surrounding area for
advantage of the low rentals to many years including its day as an
save the money for a down pay- air force base. Huron Park has been
ment for their own home in Exeter hit by the recession as have other
and surrounding area. Such proles- areas, but if you do not pay your
sionais as teachers, nurses, seam- tort you are out. It is not woroe, nor
lanes, administrato'�, managers, beuer for cases of unemployment,
social assistance and mother's al-
lowance. If things are so terrible,
then why is there a waiting list to
get here.
As was stated in your article the
low rents were initially to attract
business to the industrial park but
because of rent controls ODC can
only raise the rent by a certain per-
centage each year. Therefore, those
of us who have been in Huron Park
for a number of years (some for
twenty years) have enjoyed the
lower rents to this day. It has be-
come ODC policy over the last few
years that when a unit becomes va-
cant, because of the age of the
home, they have kept them vacant
for longer periods to refurbish
them and then higher rents can be
charged to the new tenants. The
tenants also have renovated the
homes by refutygting recr
rooms, iaadscalijig arid W
decks.
Rumours that the province have
been looking at selling their)
homes have surfaced before. If 3.
fact they are sold I am sure the
province and the township could
work together to leave the high
standards that have been set by
ODC in this development.
We suggest that the background
to your information be examined
more closely for future articles.
Tim and Linda Oliver
P