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Vol. 11, No. 39 Wednesday, Septenber 30, 1981 There are probably better places to park your car. In the photograph above, Durham Region Police Constable Joe Kapuscinski is seen interviewing witnesses to an accident that oc- curred at the intersection of Mary Street West and Centre Street North last Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. According to the constable's report a 1976 Chevrolet pick-up truck, driven by Jean M. Althouse, 35, of 610 Palace Street, Whitby, was eastbound on Mary Street West when it collided with another vehicle that was north-bound on Centre Street North. The other vehicle involved, a 1972 Pontiac, then hit the stop sign at the north-west corner of the intersection before running into the side of a house at 300 Mary Street West. The constable's report said that there were no injuries in the acci- dent. No estimate of damage was available. However, the driver of the second vehicle, Christopher J. Mason, 67, of 612 Finucane Street, Oshawa was charged under the Highway Traffic Act with driving the wrong way in one way traffic. South of Mary Street, Centre Street North is a one-way street going south. - Free Press Photo by Michael Burgess 24 Pages Supreme Court upholds civil rights Welcome home, BNA ActI On Monday morning, Chief Justice Bora Laskin of the Supreme Court of Canada ruled, on behalf of Canada's highest legal tribunal, that Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had the legal right to patriate the Canadian Constitution. However, the Chief Justice said that while it was his legal right to do so, it was morally wrong for him to do so without provincial consent. Perhaps the most important part of the decision handed down by the nine-member court was that it did not declare the Canadian Charter of Rights and Free- doms to be illegal. This move is an important step in preserving and enhancing the rights of the individual Canadian citizen. It Is the opinion of this newspaper that Canadians must have this charter enshrined in the constitution in order to preserve our democratic rights and freedoms. Prior to the court's decision, eight of the ten Canadian provinces objected to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms on the grounds that it was an intrusion on theirJurisdiction. What these provinces were essentially telling the en- tire Canadian nation was that they were willing to sacri- fice our civil rights in order to preserve their rights to natural resources and other strictly regional concerns. In other words they are attempting to preserve their power over these sectors at the expense of our civil rights. In many ways, the Supreme Court of Canada has said that the rights of the individual Citizen must take prece- dence over these provincial rights. We agree whole- heartedly. While the staff of this publication is not fully aware of all of the legal implications of this judgment, we fir- mly believe that it has upheld the federal govern- ment's right, even obligation, to preserve the rights of Canadians. This~judgment will affect ail of us for the rest of our lives and if it does nothing else, it has enshrined our rights into law. At this time, Canadians do not enjoy the rights and freedoms detailed in thecharter. Under the law, as it stands now, the individual does not have the right to legal counsel should he be arrested, he does not have the specific right not to testify against himself, he does not have the right of freedom of speech, or religion, or peaceful assembly or any of these other rights that are so fundamental to a democratic society. The Supreme Court of Canada was asked for a legal decision, and a legal decision is what they handed down. It has given this nation the tools by which to have its own constitution and to preserve thé rights of its individual citizens. younel rowd. The Whitby Fire Department has issued an invitation to all residents of the town to visit the station during Fire Prevention Week. Sa S What a place to park Fire prev entio n week No, Capt. Don Moor of the Whitby Fire Department is not just hanging around. He is demonstrating a rescue technique used by most fire departments in the province called rapelling. In an emergency situation, Moor or any other member of the fire department will rapell down the side of a bluff or down a deep hole (for example) to rescue a trapped per- son. In fact, rapelling will be just one of the many displays and demonstrations that will be held by the department during Fire Pre- vention Week that takes place next week, Oc- tober 5to 9. Every evening next week, from 7 to 9 p.m., the department will hold an open house at Fire Station No. 1 on Brock Street South. Aside from rapelling, the department will also be demonstrating the proper use of fire extinguishers in a smoke house as well as other ways of preventing or escaping from a fire in the home. Each night, there will also be draws for both adults and children with the grown-ups receiving smoke detectors and t-shirts for the