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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-09-22, Page 5det be lion kesYe �•� tit ne :ten II ant :e t tht said is efi It em lui neni ,Cie the Nhe ed what Id pa eat lit t it tole u• inton Public Hospital will never its closure by the Ontario ent and subsequent legal. the courts ruled That the ent did not have the right -to public hospital e hospital, after staring down n, is taking steps to renovate lity. Following a meeting in , the Clinton •Public Hospital as granted first, priority by ther hospital board represen- to go ahead with their recent on plans. -" Ontario Government officials are perturbed at our driving habits. It seems that gravel runs are making a more than marginal gain in popularity and making a firm bid to hone in on the Canadian way of life of mom, apple pie and fooling around with the girl next door. What's_ god a government committee on highway safety tugging at their seat belts in the back seat of a chauffeur - driven car, is that although 50,000 drivers in the province were charged with drinking and driving last year, few impaired -drivers are being nailed. So the committee recommended a whole bag of changes in the driving laws to the Legislature that included probationary licences for hew drivers, a new •licence suspension scheme, more rigorous police enforcement of impaired driving" laws, medical certificates for drivers over 50 years of ag•,, the use of cameras to photograph speeding drivers and licence suspensions for driers who reach the t warning level in a roadside breathalyzer test. If the government takes initiative to introduce new driving taws in an effort to curb accidents it is taking on,an ern. dlesstsk. There is just no end to the laws that can be conjured up and thrown at the driving public to mike our high- ways safe. In order to make our highways safe the government would have to introduce legislation that would prohibit alt drivers from smiling, waving or turning their head for a good profile while driving past a roadside camera set up to catch speeding motorists. In order to make our highways safe the government would have to introduce legislation that would require every GODER ICN .rte NA r -OTA R THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 22: 1977.—PAM person over the age of 65 to take a "-driver's examination each year and be accompanied by a parent. In order to make our highways safe the government, would have to introduce legislation that would prohibit anyone suffering from a double hernia, weak kidneys, assorted bladder disorders or a dislocated ear lobe from driving on the highway unless en route to the clinic. The government would be obliged to make concessions to people who stopped on the pretence of being impaired and whose breath, despite the fact they haven't been drinking, sends the breathalyzer machine into hysteria and the officer scurrying for a gas mask. And surely the government would waive legislation prohibiting our sitting members from indulging in comforting beverages while travelling in a chauf- feur driven vehicle and acting in a capacity of official navigator. However if the chauffeur could also blow the lid off a breathalyzer from 20 paces the responsible MPP will be given a Volkswagen, sans chauffeur. In an effort to curb alcohol related accidents among the youth the drinking age in the province will be raised to 45 and the legal driving age will also be boosted to 40 if the applicant can produce a letter of consent from a parent, guardian, or consenting senior citizen. The police have been instructed to enforce the drinking laws more rigorously and therefore will set up sub- machine guns at the roadsides and gun down any motorists suspected of drinking. A motorist gunned down but determined to be sober will not have the right to appeal. Safe driving. E WEEK AFTER HERE Ministry of Health area co-ordinator, Dr. R. Khazen, called the meeting of the seven area hospital boards to discuss the Clinton proposal. Khazen was appointed to look after the Huron -Perth area after a local steering committee and ap- pointed officials turned down the idea of forming a district health council in the two counties. Khazen along with R. W. Davis, a senior administrative consultant with the Ministry of Health, called the meeting to discuss submissions from the hospitals in _thecounties. of Huron and Perth Yana 'following a secret ballot INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND OPINION Clinton Was granted top priority to proceed with its expansion program. But Clinton hospital Board members say there are many obstacles to over- come before the plans can be put into effect. -' Hospital Board public relations of- ficer, Bob Campbell, said the representatives of the seven boards still had to go back to their respective boards for approval. Secondly the board will have to await the approval of the Ministry of Health who will also supply some of the funding for the project... A member of the board indicated that construction on 'the renovations would not begin until April, 1978 if approval is given down the line. The renovations for the Clinton Hospital call for the moving of the emergency and x-ray facilities from the overcrowded 100 -year-old wing at the north end of the hospital and relocating them in the south end of the building. The south section of the hospital was built in 1962 and is now used for administrative offices and board rooms. erected in its place. The hospital hoard agreed on •the Stratford architectural firm of Kyles, Kyles and iarratt to produce a cost estimate of the renovation project. The firm had already -produced a renovation cost estimate when plans werceinitiated in 1975 but were later shelved due to the closure. In those earlier plans the hoard had intended to build a new boiler room and add a new floor on top of the 1962 wing The board hopes that over, a perod..af but the new plans. disregard• those ad - years the old wing of the hospital -maybe s,ditions. phased out, torn down and a new wing Clinton Public Hospital Board rl • + j chairman, Beecher Menzies. said he was pleasantly surprised at the reaction of the other boards at the special meeting. "It's an indication of •th,c co-operative attitude that the hospitals in the local area are now assuming and the significant thing about*the meeting was the other hospitals voted to go ahead with Clinton's program.." The major obstacle in the program is the co-operation of the Ministry of Health who--are--5 till-'lfghtingesacoua battle over the closure of the Clinton Hospital roto tete d1 God from at lli 7e 3S illy tin oto PR VINCIAL POINTS mitee of the Ontario Legislature on alcohol advertising aimed at younger mmended some drastic changes people, two- year probationary licences rinking and driving laws that- for all new drivers, with harsher efinitely act as a deterrent penalties for offences, a three month such nasty habits on ebur road- licence suspension and a one - year extension of the probationary license for thmitteehas recommended that, any under - aged drinker stopped while nce raise the drinking age to 19, ' driving, compulsory education programs for all drivers convicted while impaired and • more rigorous police enforcement of impaired driving and seat belt laws. The province, has already indicated it al report to the government the will introduce a probationary licence ee on highway highway safety system and ban radar detectiondevices ommended tougher restrictions which was also another committee drivers over 50 years old to a yearly medical certificate and hour suspensions to anyone riving even after a couple of recommendation. The 10 member committee headed by Fred Young, NDP Downsview, said its greatest concern was the overwhelming evidence of driving problems among young, inexperienced drivers who had bee drinking. By 1975 teenage drinking drivers were involved in 37.2 per cent of alcohol related collisions and their in- volvement wzs still rising last year. The committee claimed that lowering the drinking age to 18 in 1971 increased the use of alcohol among teenagers and caused excessive damage in terms of road safety. The committee urged that steps be taken to reduce access to alcohol for all young drivers. But they -say that older drivers are also a problem in the province, and that anyone over 50 should be required to produce a yearly medical certificate because doctors would rarely turn in a patient. Another recommendation in relation Under the present laws a person can to older drivers said the age at which • hit the warning level after two or three drivers are required to have a yearly eye drinks within an hour. the committee examination should be reduced from 80 attacked the Ontario Provincial Police to 70. They also said that although im- saying they were not making the most paired driving laws are stringent the effective use of the enforcement of chances of a driver being caught are not drinking laws since spot checks are used high enough. infrequently on weekends when the In 1976 the, police charged almost largest number of drivers have been 50,000 drivers in the province with drinking and driving but relatively few impaired drivers are being ap- prehended They recommended that anyone who plows to the warning level on a roadside breathalyzer should have his licence suspended for 24 hours.' drinking. It recommended that the government ensure all police forces are adequately equipped with breathalyzers and that, they install remote control speed cameras on dangerous stretches of road.. But the use of cameras would mean a change in legislation to allow the registered owner of the vehicle to be ticketed when his licence number is photographed rather than the driver. Sent belts came under scrutiny as well and although 80 percent were in use when they became mandatory that figure has now dropped to 60 percent. alUnity. biems, complexities, debates for 'solutions confront us daily. e the country is under the s of spiralling inflation and ment rates, the plea for ns to do their part for unity is e media is being criticized for 't -happen attitude towards eparation and Canadian Radio - and Communications Com - chairman, Harry Boyle, has e media to fight. for unity and is complacency. who retired as Chairman last acre roe •eats P oma ship gstot ich al :ett her ar totd eyy�t le Hers of a supper -night club in face possible charges as a a May fire that killed sgveral t which found that the Beverly per Club was grossly over - When 164 people died in a fire showed the owner had a and total and complete for human life, State governor roll said, or Carroll said he had the state fire marshall, out orth, and he would not be It criminal indictments were CANADA IN SEVEN Friday, said in his final speech that menace" Boyle said. "Never have we so media owners should end their preoc- badly needed informed journalists." cupation with profits and urged jour- But he also warned reporters not to nalists to sharpen the tools of their trade: make too great a virtue of remaining He said there must be no political in- detached from events. He claimed that terference by the press but they should for most Canadians, the PQ stand on the not encourage it by irresponsibility, independance of.Quebec is a crisis and a carelessness or greed. He added that crisis demands a response which is Canadians desperately need information neither alarmist nor propagandist but and not an overload of trifles. tone that requires energy and vigour in Boyle advised all Canadian journalists assisting citizens to gain fuller to be objective, intelligent and possess knowledge of it. enough humility to seek to be Boyle believes that the current threat knowledgeable. to national unity, which cannot be in - "The pontificating ass who babbles terpreted as just another federal - nonsense to an audience of a million is a provincial argument, cannot be dealt with by wishful thinking, Canadians cannot live with the assumption that it just won't happen. He then followed up by warning media owners to think twice about taking on the role of official opposition to the gover- nment and said he would shiver if he was a media owner and heard people talking about the role of the media as the political opposition. The CBC is now examining alleged separatist prejudice among its em- ployees, especially in the French- language radio network. Urban Affairs Minister Andre Ouillet says it is high ranking Radio -Canada officials who are WDRLDWEEK returned against the club owners and perhaps other individuals. Ina massive report that was released this week, investigators accused the clubs owner, Richard Schilling, of permitting deviations from fire and building codes which were manifold and extreme. To cite examples the in- vestigator}- said there were code violations for locks on doors, absence of sprinklers and proper firewalls, hazardous wiring, overcrowding, inadequate exits and improper con- struction. They also said`^that Southgate Ky. officials responsible for the fire in- spection, along with similarly em- powered state officials, failed to properly examine the huge club. The report said that it was clear that prior to the Beverly Hills tragedy the state fire marshal's office and Southgate officials were aware that the issue of danger to life ar3'd violation of standards of safety at Beverly Hills had been raised. The Beverly Hills club continued to operate although many of the code violations were known by the insurer, the operators' and owners and noted in the fire marshal's office. The Kentucky state and local fire authorities were accused of virtually no enforcement of the codes on room capacity. The proper occupant load of the Cabaret Room. which is the clues main entertainment area, was 536, but about 1360 people were jammed into the room on May 28, the night of the fire. Most of the people at the supper club had travelled from neighbouring com- munities to hear singer -entertainer John Davidson who was to appear in the Cabaret Room. The total capacity of the entire club should have been limited to 1.511 people promoting separatism within the CBC's French -language network. Earlier this year several top Liberals, including Prime Minister Trudcau, charged that Radio Canada was filled with pro -separatists who were Flistorting the news. Ouillet said he didn't mind supporters of the PQ working at Radio Canada but he objected to key posts being held by employees who become incompetent because they are partisan. Now even the Queen.,in•the year of her silver anniversary will visit Canada October' 14-19 and make a pitch for but the investigators claim that reports from employees indicate between 3,000 and 3,400 patrons were at the club that night. The investigators also discovered that people in the Cabaret Room were in the process of exiting the building when heavy smoke filled the room' Many of the people were trapped and overcome by smoke before they could reach safety. At least 160 of the victims died in the Cabaret Room and statements from patrons indicated that some of the people did not take the fire warning national unity before parliament. Aside from the opening of parliament the Queen will deliver a nationally televised speech and make a short visit to federally owned territory in Quebec. The Queen's speeches will be written by Prinie Minister Trudeau's office -and will undoubtedly contain a unity theme. On a vie -t last year the Queen said the world looks to Canada for a practical .demonstration of ,how two strong communities can live tog& er in peace, drawing on each other''s rength and respecting differences. \, seriously. Some climbed over railings to .get to exits. others were pushed or fell over tables and chairs and many of these knocked down were stepped on. Dense smoke and hot gasses then entered the room with high velocity. The people that were to the rear of the line heading for the exits were overcome by smoke and fell on top those people who were already hying on the floor and others who had just been knocked down. The investigators report was released Monday of this week and it Is expected that charges will be laid as a result.