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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1982, WHITBY FREEPRESS wbi tby Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess,1 Publisher - Managing Editor Published every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. MICHAEL J. KNELL Community Editor MARJORIE A. BURGESS Advertising Manager Second Class Mail Registration No. 5351 The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. Inquiry needed into mentalhealth Over the course of the last month, residents of the Town of Whitby have been witnesses to two tragic events. On April 15, the body of a 20-year-old woman was found on the beach of Lake Ontarlo at the southern end of the Lynde Creek Conservation Area. This woman disappeared from the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital, where she had been a patient, two weeks earlier. The body of a 52-year-old mentally handicapped man was recovered from the Whitbý Harbor on April 30,29 days after he had disappeared from the Durham Centre for the Developmentally Handi- capped. Firstly, this newspaper wants to make it clear that It does not hold the institutions involved or the staff directly responsible for he accidents. However, it is the opinion of this newspaper that these tragic deaths illustrate the need for a re- examination of the mental health care system not only at these Institutions, but across the province as well. Recently, the provincial secretary for social development, Margaret Birch, rejected the idea of an inquiry after it was suggested by the New Democratic Party's health critic Ross McCellan. ltseems to us that In the light of recent events BIrch's reation may have been polttically in- spired and made not necessarily in the best Interests of either those people entrusted to aur care ln the mental health care system or the tax- payers who foot the bill. Whitby Free Press readers will remember the findings of an inquiry panel sponsored by the On- tario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) who represented many people Working in the field. That panel heard testimony from those people about the abusqs and shortcmoings of the system experienced by them everyday. At that time, this newspaper went on record as saying that If so much as 10 per cent of the allega- tions made were founded in fact, then the govern- ment had no choice but to establish a Royal Commission to look into the mental health care system. Withthe advent of these two. unfortunate deaths, the need for an inquiry is all the more pressing. However, the purpose of this inquiry should not be primarily to assess libility of fault. The pur- pose of the inquiry should be to find ways to strengthen the system with the aim of preventing any more tragic deaths such .as those the resi- dents of this community have witnessed. The Town of Whitby has a big stake in the men- tal health care system. We provide a home for two of the largest and finest institutions in the pro- vince. They provide jobs for our people and needed and valued public service. It is in the interests of the Town of Whitby and, indeed, the people of the entire province to see such a commission established with a broad mandate of Inquiry and recommendation. Perhaps if the institutions involved had better facilities, more staff, or better tralning these deaths could have been prevented. It should be pointed out that perhaps nothing in heaven or earth could have been done to prevent them but we should find out whether or not they could have been. The government, in its wisdom, has also delayed the reconstruction of the Whitby Psychia- tric Hospital until 1984 because of economic pressures upon the treasury. This project will not be completed until 1988 at the earliest, that's almost eight years after it was originally announ- ced. This project was given a high priority not only by the government itself, but by the Durham Region District Health Council and other pro- fessional groups. The mental health care system is publicly fund- ed and designed to work in the interests of both the patient and the taxpayer and it seems that in two cases, those responsibilities have not been met. An inquiry would be the ideal instrument in which to find the inadequacies of the system and effect proper remedies for them. The provincial government should not view such an inquiry as a threat to its political position, but as an opportunity to find out what goes wrong, and with the opportunity to make corrections. This would definitely be in the best interests of both the people entrusted to their care and to the taxpayer who foots the bill. i am amused ta discover'that i am not the only one in this free enterprise society who has been sneaking off to fill up at the Petro Canada gas pumps. In a market that is otherwise down, Petro-Canada filling stations have in- creased their sales volume by 15 to 22 per cent in the At- Iantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario. Those increases have taken place in the year that has elapsed since Petro- Fina-Canada Inc. was bought out by the Canadian tax- payer. Even in the west, where Petro-Canada must be less attractive politically than in the East, sales are up in a sagging market; 1.5 per cent in Manitoba, 2.3 per cent in Saskatchewan and 7.7 per cent in Alberta. I must admit that i opposed the federal decision to buy Petro-Fina, initially. Partly because I have very little faith in the ability of crown corporations to run anything. Partly because i felt that the government's decision to try to buy the country back flew in the face of the owners decision to sell the place. I see no sign that those now messing with their potage wish those deals hadn't gone through in the first place. I kept thinking of that vast black hole in the snow, the CBC, and shuddering. But when the Petro-Canada signs began to go up in my ovn neighborhood, i began to think why not? We're ail owners of it after ail, and why, when I'm in the petroleum business myself, should i bid up the profits of my competitors? Like the people who sell the multi-national's gasoline, of course, the people running the Petro-Canada stations, about 15 hundred of them now, across the nation, have. leased the franchise, or own it outright. They work for themselves, not the govern- nent of Canada. In a sense, they're like the freelance producers who sell programs to the CBC. My tattered and battered free enterprise instincts can live with that. That's not rews, but that too is reality.