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PAGE 26, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 1988 la %,- - - --è Ç^.JLw--f oklin Ne'ws? Cali Veronica Colangelo. off A little boy is dead and it's the System's fault.......Again. Eleven year old Christopher Stephenson was murdered, stabbed to death in a field about a mile away from his home. He was waiting for his mother outside a store in a busy shopping mall· while she shopped just metres ·away. Evidendy, somehow, an ex-convict out on mandatory supervision pursuaded the little fellow to leave with him and he is charged in the kidnapping and slaying of the child. After an inmate has served two-thirds of his or her sentence and earned "full remission" he is entitled by law to be released. This isn't discretionary, it's the law, and that is why it is referred to as "mandatory supervision." Remission is earned at half the rate of the time the inmate has served. This earned time is only in jeopardy if the convict has committed a crime while imprisoned or if he/she refuses to participate in the work program. Only in a few cases is this mandatory supervision denied. If a person is sentenced to, say, 15 years for a crime, I, for one, cannot understand why he should be released after serving only 10 years no matter what. Why bother giving him 15 years in the first place when everyone knows 10 will do? Obviously the answer must lie in the "rehabilitation" program. i realize that the penal system is expensive and costs a lot of money. Many think rehabilitation is cheaper. If it works! No amount of money will ever replace the life of that little boy. The sad thing is this incident is not the first and won't be the last where a released convict commits such a crime. SEEMS TO ME... by Veronica Colangelo Fault of the system Psychologists, physchiatrists and social workers are kept very busy attempting to rehabilitate these nuts. It seems to me to be a "make work" project for them. 1 think that. when a criminal is convicted, the sentence handed out should be completed in full, no exceptions, othewise the system is a farce. In many cases these people should be locked up and the key thrown away, never mind rehabilitating them. When it all dies down, who helps to rehabilitate the victim's families? Certainly not the system that is working so hard to save these criminals from themselves. It turns out that in this case, the ex-con was living in Christopher's neighborhood. Chances are the youngster had seen him before and perhaps may have been acquainted with him. It's fiard to imagine an 11-year-old leaving with someone without putting up a fuss. You might expect a younger child to be somewhat naive and easily tempted, but not an 11-year-old. There has been so much publicity through the media, in schools and at home about this sort of thing happening. You would think that at age eleven a child was somewhat "street-proofed." Obviously this just isn't so. Telling a child not to go with "strangers" isn't enough. For one thing most kids do not regard anyone they have had a previous word or two with as a stranger. Maybe one of the mistakes we adults make is in assuming that our kids have the sanie definition of "stranger" as we do. If you asked a kid if the guy in the corner store or perhaps the mailman or any other adult they see from time to time was a stranger, chances are they would say no. They would be right. They are not strangers, however,-nor are they necessarily people who your child should go anywhere with, unless you are aware of it. We can't do a lot immediately about the penal system, but maybe we can attempt one more time to educate our children. Like it or not, this isn't the good old days where every adult is a trusted adult. Perhaps we should be telling the children, not to go anywhere with anyone known to them, or not known to them without parental permission. It's a fine line, I know, between making them afraid of their own shadows and being able to cope with any eventuality. How old do they have to be without worrying about then? I don't know, maybe never! Legal, water supply uncertainties hold up Renascent decision A Whitby administrative committee decision on site plan approval for the Renascent alcoholic treatment centre in Brooklin was postponed Monday night to allow further study in two main areas of contention. A solicitor for Renascent questioned whether the Town of Whitby had jurisdiction, under its lodging house bylaw, to restrict the number of male guests in the centre, to be located in the Carnwith mansion on Colston Ave. Renascent proposes 24 male guests at any one time for a period of 28 days. "We don't believe Renascent would be subject to the lodging house bylaw," said the solicitor, Bruce Ketchesan. "We believe our facility would fit within the exemption of the bylaw." He said Renascent obtains funding from the Ministry ol Health, subject to budget approval. He also said Renascent had "concerns" about the cash contribution wanted by the Town for asphat overlay on Coîston, described by the Town public works department as "deficient." The solicitor asked for the amount and again questioned the jurisdiction of the Town to. require a contribution. A few Brooklin residents also attended the meeting to again express concerns about the effect of the centre on water supply, already a problem in Brooklin. "It is going to be a burden (on the existing water supply system)," said Maureen Harris, pointing out there would 35 to 40 people (male guests and staff) doing laundry, cooking and washing. "Forty people is 10 new homes in Brooklin," she said, after committee chairman Gerry Emm pointed out that only one water pump now serves Brooklin which has a freeze on new development untile new water and sewage service becomes available. "We know that they (Renascent) are not going to invest a lot of money if there's sewers coming in three years," argued Harris. The solicitor noted that Renascent has obtained a certif- icate from the department ot health. He also said it was his undertanding that the Region "doesn't anticipate problems with water supply," including water for firefighting. "Our fire department indicates they have grave concerns, grave concerns, about the water," said Emm. The solicitor said a separate water supply would be made available for firefighting. Councillor Ross Batten said he had "no problem" with the planned use of the property but rejected the application as "premature" now because of the serious water problem in Brooklin. "We have bad water, a short- age of water, and we have stunted growth in Brooklin because of that," said Batten, noting that only infill, and no new development, had been permitted in Brooklin in recent years. Batten said it would be "re- miss" to allow the centre to operate now. Councillor Joe Drumm agreed, saying the Town should maintain its "no development" policy in Brooklin. But Mayor Bob Attersley noted that one provision of site plan approval for the centre was the regional works department requirement that there be an adequate water supply. He argued that the application could be approved since the centre couldn't operate without showing that there was adequate water. Region supports Whitby application By Debbie Luchuk Durham regional works com- mittee gave support Tuesday to the Town of Whitby's resolution regarding the Ministry of the Environment's sanitary survey. The Town has made applica- tion to the ministry for funding assistance to prepare an engine- ering study to investigate alter- native solutions to resolve the pollution problems. Region works will also cooperate witl. the ministry and the Town in the engineering study to investigate alternative solutions to -resolve-the pollution problems. A copy of a report detailing the background, the grants available and the procedures to follow to obtain assistance from the min- istry, will be forwarded to the Town and to the ministry. At the request of the Town, the ministry carried out a survey in Brooklin to determine the extent of the pollution problems in the community. The survey investigated water quality in Lynde Creek and in private wells and sewage systems. The ministry's subsequent re- port indicated there is a-problem a with private sewage systems and illegal connections with the storn sewer system. The creek and private wells are being bacterially contaminated by escaping sew- age. The ministry recommended that the municipality undertake engineering studies to investigate alternative sewage disposal sys- tems. The Town has endorsed the ministry's report and is inves- tigating eligibility for a provincial grant for a new sewage disposal system. "I think we have to go along with their requirement," saicd Attersley. "If we turn this down because of water and sewer, we haven't got a leg to stand on because of this requirement," said Attersley. Emm shot back that com- mittee still needed "more answers." "We've approved many more applications before like this with requirements," said Attersley. "It's so close to the fine line of water supply," said Emm, again mentioning the problem in Brooklin. "It's an extremely fme judgment call." À suggestion by the solicitor to table the matter until the next meeting, to enable the legalities and question of water supply to be cleared up, was adopted by committee. e Phone 655-8945