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P>AGE 4. WEDNESDAY, UL'(AMBEK iI. 1985VV WI11JYIEt rra whitby Voice of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, Publisher- Managing Editor Published every Wednesday hyMB..Iublish ing Sand lhotography Imc. Phlone 668-6111 The Free P'ress Building, 1:11 Brock Street North, 11.0. Box 206. Whitby. Ont. BILL McOUAT Community Editor VALERIE COWEN Advortislng Manager Second Class Mai Registratiofl No 5351 The only Whitby newspaper independently owlied and uperated by Whtby iresidents for Whitby residents. Municipalliability must be con!rontedhe&doft When Lloyds of London, which contrais 70 per- cent of the world's insurance market, says it can- not continue ta sustain the kinds of liability awar- ds being handed down ln North American courts, it is reasonable ta suggest-that the time has came ta reassess aur legal systemn and the legisiation which has made awards like the $6 million suit ln Brampton last year possible. In that instance, the city of Brampton was found hiable for the Injuries sustained by a man trail biking on municipal property. Certainiy Insurance companies have been knawn ta cry foui before and they have neyer been known for short-changing their own interests. However, given the recent trend ta incredible_ liability awards, it would be less than prudent to turn a deaf ear ta their cries. These multi-mllion dollar awards have cleariy gatten out of hand and only a fool wouid accuse the insurance com- panles of crying wolf. The implications of this trend are far reaching. According ta a spokesman with Whitby's insuran- ce company, Frank Cowan Company, uniess municipalities take steps ta minimnize potential iability, they may have ta severly reduce their ser- vices or go without liability Insurance altogether - a frightening prospect. In fact he said there are already Instances where American municipalities are carrying on without the coverage and he sited a case ln Arizona where a town was ordered ta turn over a parcel of 1l-and ta a ciaimanit ln a liabiiity suit. If $6 million is the gaing rate these days for liability awards, that couid constitute a sizable chunk of municipal real estate. 0f course, rather than contemplate this kind 0f American excess, we would do well ta consider what can be done ta avert the trend. Mr. Clark saidý ln exlsting legislation before we see any significant reversai in the trend but he suggests there are steps that the Town of Whitby can take ln the interim which might at ieast tip the scales ln their favour. Wh le, as Mayor Bob Attersley asserts, the town is always iooking to reduce potential liability, we believe it wauld be a good idea for the town to establish a commIttee modelled after that suggested by the Frank Cowan Company, a com- mittee whose sole job is ta study liability and in- crease the administrations ,Pawareness of that liability. Where Identified, ail potential hazards should be promptly eiiminated or at least con- troiled. The cammittee might also study the many proposais put forward by the town's insurer ta see where they might be impimented. And while the town is doing whatever it can to address this problem, perhaps the courts can ad- dress the question of what became of personal accountabil ity. Letters to the editor: OTTAWA - 1 picked up the Ottawa Citizen recently ta discover that the papers aliing Sparts Directar, Eddie MacCabe, has been named ta the Canadian football wrter's Hall 0f Fame. I f irst met Eddie MacCabe in the early 50's at the aid Ottawa Journal. Feisty, quick with his f ists, he was a legend even then. Eddie had served in the RCAF during the war. When It was over, he went back ta school for a year and, 'm told, looked about 17 when he turned up at The Journal in 1947. Eddie began ta make his mark on jaurnalism on his flrst day. The Journal's City Editor at that timne was a tough lrishman named Charles Ivors Lynch, a lantern-jawed, snarling, fist-pounding city editor of the aid school. Eddie's f irst asslgnment was ta write an obituary. Four times he pecked it out laboriously on a typewriter, and delivered it ta the city desk. Four tîmes Charles Ivors glanced at lt, sware, crumpled it up and threw It on the f baor with no explanation. The last time he did t, Eddie put his hands on his hips, leaned over and barked: "What do you expect? Quentin Reynolds In an hour?", or words (o that ef- fect. 1 should explain, perhaps, that Quentin Reynolds was a famaus American war correspon- dent, and althouigh it did take Eddie more than an hour, he got there eventually. Eddie left the Journal twice. The tirst time was in 1951 when Baz 0'Meai:a hired hlm for the Montreal Star. That job didn't last long. Eddie was assigned ta caver the Canadiens, and was horrified ta discover an the raad that the writers weren't allowed into the train's dining car until the team had flnished, and were then expected to take a f ive dollar meai han- dout f rom a braken down tramner in lieu of a Star ex- pense account. The f irst time it happened, Eddie told the traîner ta stuff it, and submitted an expense ac- count ta the paper. Such accounts, he was told, were nat "entertained". The final straw was when he discovered accidentally that the Star's doorman was making more money than he was. He came back ta The Journal with relief and didn't leave until he went ta The Citizen in 1977. Naw he's been inducted into the football writer's Hall of Fame where he will join other legends, like his aid Journal boss, Bill Westwick, The Star's Ba.z O'Meara, Jim Coleman, Ted Reeve, and Andy O'Brien. t's not the only Hall of Fame Eddie Mac- Cabe belangs in, but it will do fora start. I arn sorry to have to tell you that, effective Jan. 1, 1986, the Humane Society will no longer be operating the Animal Shelter on Thickson Rd., Whitby. Nor will we be providing animal con- trol services for the Towns of Whitby, Ajax and Pickering. This decision is one thathe ha ben taken verv necessary to meet the operating costs that we are incurring by providing a hîgh level of service to the people of the three municipalities. In the last two years the Ontario Humane Society has subsidized the operations ta a con- siderable extent. We have repeatedly asked As a result, we had no choise but to advise the three munic 'ipalities that if they are not prepared to make the funds available in 1986, we would have to with- SEIl G « -" 7 Lynde House 1 have no right to ex- press an opinion regar- ding the long drawn out controversy over Lynde House which at the present time seems to have no solution. As a member of the tax paying public I arn aware that if a solution to the problem is found it wîll involve me either reluctantly and only for more runds from the To the Editor: tnrough me tuse oi uure because the three municipalities and I arn not a decendant government grants or Municipalities of Whit- been denied these funds. of the Lynde famnily of indirectly by the use of by, Ajax and Pickering The situation now is Whitby, nor a member municipal taxation. are not prepared ta, such, that we can no of the Whitby Historical SE E PG. 27 provide the funds longer afford to con- Society, therefor some %M mmwmmmmý 1- -výv&àntrb il 10ÇIr Xlli-liTnv rppE PRESS 1