The Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-10-28, Page 15People are strange. People are wierd
and just maybe there are a lot of them
out there who are just as little bit crazy.
Not that such.observations will come
as much of a surprise to most of you;, I ut
one of my own oddball habits is being
irresistably drawn tp newspaper. -and
magazine stories about ,some of the
downright strange things people do.
If you can avoid taking it too seriously
- I would recommend the exercise highly.
It won't make you feel any better about
• the world than the front page items
..concerning wars, race riots and
hijackings, but it will resent a, change
of pace.
In case yo.0ave never indulged in this
distressing activity I would like to offer
three random samples of what you may
find if you start looking. Shortly after the
disasterous earthquakes in .China this
summer the People's Daily in Peking
. reported the following incident:
Che. Chen -ming, member of the standing
committee of the municipal committee
and' vice director of the production
headquarters, had just escaped from his
collapsed house and got Drat of.. danger
when he heard his Son,• 16, and daughter,
13, calling from under the debris..
"Father, come quickly, save mel".
As he was about to rush to the of his
children Che Chen -ming suddenly heard
a shout for help. from Chiu Ktiang yu,
party secretary of Lepei„district, and his
family who were on the other side of a
wall. The ground was still shaking and
time meant life. What should a Com-
munist do? Che Chen -ming) deter-
minedly said to his wife,. "First I'm
going to. save Chiu.'
Having executed that rescue•the party
secretary asked Che "How about your
children?" Che Chen -ming replied,
"Don't worry about therm. You are the
district secretary; Hurry up arld
organize the whole district to carry out
rescue work".
When he returned to his home. the
children ware dead but he said he had no
regrets. For the people* : of -tile entire
GO.
ICH SIGNAL -STAR. THURSDAY if 7i
P district and for the interest of the.
majority, he did nottbalk at sacrificing
his own children..
Or how about the family in Iran who
• discovered that their daughter had been
Secretly married to a Moslem
clergyman, They convened a kangaroo
court, found the daughter guilty, and
gave her the choice of death by elee-
•trocution, poisoning or being run over by
a car. Sixteen -year-old Zahra chose the
car.
After sentencing, she bid farewell to
her mother and sister, who had con-
curred in the verdict, and was taken to a
deserted area outside Qazvin, 93 miles
northwest of Tehran.
Local townsmen •fortnd her several
hours later with serious' chest and pelvic
injuries, but alive. As a P.S. it ;might be
noted that the Iran officials looked down -
on the whole•' thing and chucked her
fattier and two brothers in -jail along with
the Moslem priest,.
And then there is the 29 -year-old
Montreal man who calls', himself the
ra:al
Hunan Fly. He ,gets off on ' tying'
himself to the outside of DC.8 jet and
hanging 'on for a ride at 300 miles; per,
hour.
_ ,Of course he offers an explanation for
this rather unuaual behaviour, .
operating under orders•frorn God.
The DC -8 piggy back ride took ,place
recently at Dallas, Texas, before more
than 30,000 people. The ride lasted 26
minutes; reached an altitude of 4,000feet
and a speed of merely 250 miles per hour
threugh a rain storm.
Despite losing .consciousness, and'
being" knocked about rather badly, the
Fly said afterward it would only take
about two week --for- recovery and that
he intended to go on with similar stunts
Until .he was 60.. His plans forthe future
include'rocket jumps over. the English,, •
channel and Mount Everest.
See what I mean? There are a lot of'' •
them running around loose out there..-
And if you keep an -eye on the papers -
you'll soon agree that the media just
loves diem. .
INFQRMATION,`BACKGROUND.AND OPINION •
•
The courts have awarded a 10 year'old
Hensall' bey $165,000 for injuries he
sustained three years ago when he fell
from a playground swing which
Collapsed during a school recess.
• Gerald McCarter of RR 1 Hensall.'will
receive $150,000 from the Huron County
Board of Education for a spinal cord
injury sustained when the'' playground
swing at .. Usborn . Central: School
collapsed.
An additional $15,000 will be paid to
'_the. Ontario Hospital- Insurance Plan
(OHSIP) for his past and future medical
care. The money, negotiated in an out of
'court settlement, will ' remain in a
The death toll on Ontario highways has,
been shocking ever since the Motor
vehicle pushed aside its first horse•and'
buggy. Over the years between then and
the introduction of reduced speed limits
and compulsory seatbelt legislation the
carnage •grew. Now Attorney -General
Roy McMurtry has suggested 'that new
drivers of all ages should be placed on a
two year probation before receiving
their final licence.
The suggestion came in the wake of an
earlier .recommendation ` from the
Traffic: Injury Research Foundation of
Canada that teenage drivers be banned
"from the. highways 'between 9:00 p.m:
•I•r
HERE
provincially administered trust fund and
collect interest until the boy is 18.' .
London lawyer. Earl Cherniak, acting
for the McCarter ;boy -and fainily, said
the . boy's spinal injury caused per-
manent bladder injury and injury to his
left leg, causing him to limp.
Mr. • Cherniak said the settlement
takes into consideration the boy's "loss'
of enjoyment of life, both now and in the
future" ' and the •fact that »some oc-
cupations won't be open to 'him".. in
adulthood.
In another out of .court settlement, an
Exeter woman received $105,900.' in'
damages for her husbands death in'a two
car collision last December 2.7,
IN HURON
Kenneth Arnold Robinson, 37, of 127
ildley Street .Wetst in Exeter was killed
when his ,car was' struck by ..a :second
vehicle driven by Marlene Buniak, 21, of
London. The accident occurred on High-
way 22 a half mile''east-of Adelaide.
Mr. Robinson's wife, Betty - 36, and
three children ranging in age from two
to 12 suffered minor injuries.,, The set-
tlement provided an additional $2,100 for
injuries the. -Robinson family suffered,
bringing the total to $108,000.
Miss Buniak's father, Michael, was
the ownerof the car she was driving and
has agreed °to . pay $8,000 of his own
money for the settlement. • ,---
Mr. Buriiak had $100,0.00 Qf,insuranee
Recreation Centre things got a little
murky:
A site in the .community . park was
chosenbut, ownership of that property
proved 'confusgd and the suggestion
stirred' up ' strong•objection from the
local Agricultural Society, Turf Club and
Rodeo group. The Agriculture Society
went so far as to institute legal action to
stop 'the. -awn from constructing the
centre on that property. Construction of
the centre would have occupied land
used by the society and would have
reduced the Exeter race track in size.
Public opinion in Exeter seemed' to
polarize aloes -pro and anti Recreation
Complex lines and the question resulted
in several stormy council meetings with
coverage.
F -1-• -I-• •
If there is one problem shared in
common by communities' all across
Huronthese days, and for that •matter
'across the province, it is the clos'i'ng of
local arenas. For most towns and
villages this problem has been sum-
marized in dollars and cents. 'Raising the
necessaryfunds for repairs or
replacement. For the town of Exeter, the'
question was more involved.
In place of simply repairing their
existing arena the. community' chose to
move at this time • toward an all n.ew
recreation centre. That decision was
acceptable but when it came to deciding.
just where to place the new South Huron•
PROVINCIAL POINTS
and 5:00 a.m. That proposal went over
like a ton of bricks- with the youthful
drivers. •
In putting forth his idea Mr. McMurtry
said 'the curfew idea would not work
because it was "too limiting" He said he
favored putting all drivers on a "two
year test period." '
He added thatif these -probationary
drivers accumulated half the number of
points normally needed to lose a license, ..
15, they Would lose the probationary
permit.
Mr. McMurtry was.. in agreement
with the researchers who found that
teenage drivers were involved in more
I have made' it something of an un-
written policy to tread lightly in these
columns on the subject of the French -
English bilingualism rift which is daily
getting wider in this country. Partly
because bilingualism seems a somewhat
distant .problem for this region, and
partly because I have never been able to
grasp just what everyone is so upset
about: ' '
In a recent article the Montreal Star
claims that resentment against Pierre
Trudeau and Ottawa's Official.
Languages Act has been' building up in
Western Canada to a point Where the
hostilitSa is spilling over into open hatred
:for. Quebec and all French Canadians.
Canadian' Prime Minister Pierre
Trudeau and his wife, Margaret, were
reported to be slightlyy shaken when their
arrival by air in Japan last weelz proved
to be less than 'jet smooth.' •
circ tag o yo airporto
30 minutes in hope' of finding a break in
the turbulent' and foggy weather the
Prime Minister's plane was forced to
continue on to Osaka for a landing.
According to a spokesman Mr. Trudeau
was not adversly affected by the ex
perience but apparently Margaret and a
numbeir of civil servants arid journalists
—4— were mildly air' sick as the Boeing 707
tossed and pitched its way around the.
' holding pattern over Tokyo.
• . . ,
highway accidents than older motorists
• !but said "all of them should not be
restricted from driving at night"because
of it." '
The Attorney -General also..'-
admitted'
that he 'wasskeptical of government
interference in the lives of private
citizens. "But there comes a point when
people have to be protected from the
excessess of -others and that is when the
government must come•in," he said.
In its report the research -foundation
says drivers under 20 ,are more likely•to-
,be involved in accidents than any other
age group. An earlierstudy determined.
that drug or drink impaired drivers aged
CANADA
A Star reporter -recently toured the
west and in a. series of articles coming -
from that assignment he reports that an
alarmingly' large number of western
Canadians harbor hostility towards
Quebec which borders on pathological
hatred. .
"Mention Trudeau and bilingualism
anywhere in the four western provinces""
and you've started an agrument,"
Arpin �vr_o..te..:.
He also reports that the more than -
slightly overworked phrase; "We're
tired of having. ramed down,
our throats," is m
repeated "ad -nauseam"._.
throughout the west.
It is a sad fact that Arpin is correct.
IN
The situation is really that bad and it is
not just in the west. .In , the past few
months I have been staggered'�by the
anti -French backlash which • has
developed from the Official Languages
Act.
When,asked just,�how "French is being
rammed down our throats" people do
such irrational things as pointing to the
word 'Biere' on their ,beer . bottle or
complain about facing French on the
back of their cereal • packagee in the.,
morning. • •
Reactions • like' that are so stupid,
narrow -minded and downright warped
that they don't even deserve con-
sideration'. Which is another reason I
16 and 17 are 165 times more likely to die
than the average non -impaired motorist.
The Ontario Mortor League points.. out.
that_ young drivers were •involved in
'almost one third,of traffic accidents in
1974. They sayit is the inexperienced'
driver connected with the inexperienced
drinker that leads to really disasterous
results.
Pat ' Curran, a . spokesman . for the
Toronto -branch of the Motor League
suggested a more "realist" approach
than the banning of night driving by
teenagers. • She stressed compulsory
driver education ' for teenagers and
agreed with' the provisional license
•
•
SEEN
have not dealt with this issue previously.
Anglophones in this- country seem to
forget that while it may- not be a
majority, • a large percentage. of the
Canadian population speaks French as a
first language. A large enough per-
centage to rate. communication : wit'h
their government in their own language -
and indeed large enough to have, the
right to order ,a 'Biere' as opposed to a
'Beer.' They also seem to forget that not
all those Francophones live in Quebec,
and I speak:. from the, experience of
having o'nce ' edited , a bilingual
newspaper in Northern Ontario. -
If Canadian Anglophones find it to be.
such a. supreme effort to turn a bottle or
VDRLDWEEI
With only one 'hour's notice though, the
Japanese managed to route out a red
carpet and a bodyguard to make Mr.
Trudeau's arrival in Japan properly
dignified. From Osaka airport.the Prime
f r some Minister's pal ty—was transf
high speed train which took them back to
Tokyo. •
The Prime Minister is in Japan for a
round" of talks with J'apanese officials
including Prime Minister Takeo Miki
aimed 'at boosting Canada's sales of
tnanufactu'red goods to Japan and
Japanese goods to Canada.
Officials of the'federal. trade depar-
tment and De 'Havilland Aircraft
Company are hoping'that the visit,will
boost chances of marketing some Dash -
7, short takeoff and landing (STOL)
planes with the Japanese. .
A spokesman 'for De Havillatnd, which
e'r r ed' t eloped --the Dash=7,-s • s' P
"One of the"things" Mr. Trudeau "will be
talking about" to Japanese officials.
Canada has been pressing for,some
time for the Japanese to buy gore
manufactured goods from this cotfntry
rather thancontinuing to concentrate on
purchases of raw mat/TH.;
The Japanese have expressed .0, keen
interest in the Dash -7 and have `.sent
several 'delegations to Canada to inspect
r
its development. However, they have
to place any orders.
The new plane has not gone
production but it.is in the final stages of
development :end is ex ected' to be
cerci lee as a wort y in the neat
future:
Recent studies conducted by the'
Japanese Aeronautical Council con-
cluded'that the country will need STOi'
aircraft mid 1980's.
The Japanese science and technology
agency has called for a broadly based
program ' :ifesearcjt'' and development
on a jet powered` STOL, The 'Dash -7 is,a
turboprop plane, but De. Havilland is
working to , develop a jet •powered•
scheme that would suspend drivers
involved in a Highway ,Traffic Act of-
fence.
In other highway safety developments
a committee from., Ontario which is
presently touring Sweden has suggested
that this province follow the exampleof
the Swedes anduse drivers licenses.
carrying the photo of the driver.
Ontario police officials have- com-
plained that its too easy for a suspended
driver to either borrow someone else's
license or even apply for and get a new
one under a slightly different name.`
It is suggested that there m'ay, be as
many as 30,000 people driving in Ontario
package around to the English label they
would do well to count themselves•lucky
they were not born in a country..like
Switzerland where as many:as four.
languages appear on packaging.m
I will also adit that a radical portion
'of the .French speaking bloc has pushed
the issue.to a point :of confrontation for'
little reason. Reacting in the manner of
many minority. groups they seemed to
feel the only way they could make
themselves heard was by screaming at
the top of their.voices by
demanding,
extreme solutions.
•
• • But none of this changes the downright•
racist reactions of. many Anglophones to '
bilingualism. Their attitudes are those of
both sides making representation to the
town fathers.
At; 'council meeting last week Mayor
Bruce Shaw ended the public debate and
turned the matter back to council saying
that he felt it was obvious that a Com-
promise was not possible and ,that one of
the two, groups would be rn:ade unhappy
by the -final dee•ision.'
In the end council voted six to 'one..,in
favor of proceeding with the" con
struetion on the 'community •park
property.. A. suggestion that council at
least agree to look for alternate property
for the racetrack was accepted as- well.'
.ti
without a proper" license - b'ecause they.
never had one or they have lost it.
Committee members are concerned,
however, that the proposal might be
,opposed, *-civil liberties groups, as an
infringement on individual freedoms.
Goderich Police Chief -Pat King has
• said that both the Ontario apd Canadian
Association of Police Chiefs support the
suggested • use of a photograph on
Ontario drivers licenses and that he
personally likes the idea. He also felt the
recommended probationary period for
new drivers Was a good one and added: "
that he would like to see the province
step up its program of driver retesting.
yet adaption of its design as well.
.Trade department sources have
into revealed, that the use of an augmentor
-wing technique being developed -by De
Havilland. • lor' this__p.urpose ..is..... being
considered by the Japanese and even
hinted at the possibilitie's of a 'joint
program.
•
Apart from this however, the current
Canadian STOL effort offers potential
'sales and the possibility of production-
sharing.arrangements with Japan.
Ike Havilland points out however that
they do ndt know if the Japanese intend
to buy. De Havilland is a government
owned company.
At Dash -7 STOL sells for between
-savages attack what you do not 'un
derstand. As unilingual Canadians they
feel isolated and slightly inferior
because: they know the vast'rnajority of
French Canadians do speak English, no
matter .how poorly they may pronounce.
.th'
have.merely proved once again that you
cannot legislate tolerance. and cultural
justice. •
What about Ron Shaw? English is my
mother,tongue•,.but I also speak French, -
though I do so in a manner far worse
'than I ever heard a French Canadian
speak English. •And I have no time for
anyone who is . offended by the word
'pois' on -a can of bean§ ... dr is.that corn
, .. or perhaps peas?
$3,000,000 and $4,000.000, depending on
electronic accessories.' • • .
Prime Ministers Trudeau and Miki are
signing --a—1 i
ag9i•'eement which Canadian Ambassador
Bruce Rankin described as "a general
documentleading to further develop-
ment
evelop ment of economic co-operation" ,bet-
ween the two countries._
The document paves the way for
establishment of a joint commission
which, Canadian diplomats say, will
meet annually, beginning possibly early
neat year at. Ottawa, . to help expand
bilateral trade. •