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VIEWPOINT by John B. McClelland WHOSE NATIONAL SPORT? Canada won the World Junior Hockey championship January 4, defeating Sweden 6-4. This is not exactly a new feat for Canada as our Juniors have won the World crown seven times in the last 11 years. What should have been cause for some kind of a national celebration was almost a "non event." Oh, sure, there were photos and stories on the tube and in the papers, but aside from that? In most countries these days when an athlete or a team wins a world championship, there are celebrations in the streets, lots of good old fashioned flag waving, honking of horns and so on. In Canada, the nation got up the next day, shivered, and went about its business on the first Wednegday of a new year. Granted, the game was televised back to Canada in the middle of the afternoon when most people are out making a living. But titat had little or nothing to do with the ho hum attitude and the almost total lack of interest in this world shinny gold medal effort by a bunch of spirited, tough-minded teen agers. Fact is, interest in hockey seems to be on the wane in Canada at all levels, starting right at the very top. At least' three NHL cities--Quebes, Winnipeg and Edmognton--are on less than firm ground and the future is very much in doubt. The big push these days 1s south, into the sun belt, where most people have never been on skates let alone played this great sport. But what the owners in places like Tampa, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Dallas and San Jose know is business and marketing. As much as they are interested in putting a decent product on the ice, they want to make sure that as many people as possible buy the hats, jackets, sweaters and anything else in the team colours and logo. How many Anaheim Mighty Duck sweaters have you seen lately? A lot How many Winnipeg Jet sweaters or those of the world champion national junior team have you seen? Non » We are losing our natiousl game because we still treat it as some kind of mystical right of being Canadian where boys learn to play on frozen prairie ponds or on back yard rinks in places like Brantford, or Parry Sound. They leave home at a tender age to play Junior A and eventually become stars, legends even, in the NHL. That's the myth. The reality is hockey owners in the sun belt could care less about frozen ponds or the long night of Canada's winters They care about markets, TV contracts, concessigns, parking lot fees corporate boxes and integrated merchandising. Hey, if some day, the team happens to win a Stanley Cup, Sorry, NO To the Editor; | would like to make a correction to my letter published last week in the Citizen | was informing your readers of a new information and discussion night for teens, by the Anglican Church I mentioned Bryan Davies' talk, scheduled for January 16, on the subject of drugs and the law, and | promised that the talk would NOT be a sermon , this made it to press as a promise that the talk would be & sermon. Perhaps your editor found it hard to believe that anything sponsored by a As for the players, well, who cares where they come from as long as it's entertainment and there are enough back-sides in the seats. Strange, how Canada can win the World Junior gold seven times since 1982, yet today there are fewer Canadians in the NHL than ever before. Some teams (thé Winnipeg Jets) have more European born players than Canadians in the line up. And they wonder why they can't fill the buildi Sevag Cin = Tends Jawiary 1, 195 -- 0 dn Store owner --s offer reward for arrest of thief To the Editor; At approximately 3:20 a.m. on the morning of Friday, January 7, the store on Scugog Island known as Aldred's Corner was broken into and robbed of a ity of 0 A lot of players with promise are dropping out of the game because and ities won't q tobacco pi . My dog awakened me to the fact that something was amiss at this time, In to phone 911, I was thwarted Cen for their education, or they don't see any future in the sport when the NHL seems more interested in the latest European flash. Parents take their kids out of hockey because the costs keep going up. And more and more kids are hockey burn- outs by the time they hit their mid- teens. Hockey used to be a national treasure for this country. But it"has changedfind the direction continues to chagie" Last week's victory4¥ the National Junior team was W6thing short of remarkable. I fies in the face of the direction Key has taken in the last decade: Yet the overall reaction in the country was one of indifference. Quick now, can you name three of the young players on the team? I'm not suggesting we declare a national holiday every time a Canadian or a team tops the rest of the world in a sports event But when it comes to the national sport (rather, what at one time was our national sport) we ought to show a tad more enthusiasm. IN CLOSING......... Just before Christmas several Canadian in Bosnia were accosted by a band of drunken Serbs, lined up against a wall and subjected to a mock execution with machine gun bullets fired over their heads. The initia! reaction is one of outrage. If this is the kind of treatment our peacekeepers are getting, bring 'em home and let the people of former Yugoslavia sort out their own problems if they don't butcher each other first. Indeed, Prime Minister Chretien says the Canadian peacekeeping commitment will be reviewed when the present tour expires in April. However, Canada's commitment to peackeeping since the end of World War 2 has been second to none. Sure, it's costly and dangerous to send soldiers under the UN flag into war zones where centuries-old hatreds are the rule. And yes, our role must be constantly under review and we ought to make sure our peacekeepers are able to defend themselves when necessary. But more than ever the world these days needs peacekeeping commitments from countries like Canada. Do we pack up and leave if the going gets rough? | don't think so. That's not the Canadian way, in my opinion. sermons! church would not include a sermon, but as a matter of fact, no sermon is planned. We plan to give information to the young who come so that they can make well-informed decidions. We do NOT plan to tell them what those decisions ought to be. We hope to see a good turnout on Sunday, January 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Anglican Church Hall at 266 North Street. All teens are welcomes. No sermons need apply. Sincerely yours, Michelle Bull, Port Perry by the fact that one of the extensi none of which to my knowledge. have been reported in our local press. Non-reporting can lead the populace to a false sense of security. Over the weekend, part of the loot was recovered on Scugog Island where it had apparently been hidden. It was discovered by a dog on a walk with its We have substantial leads as to phones had been taken off the cradle, and I was unable to use my portable phone. out going into a lot of detail, I was to dress and get to the office, replace the phone and call 911. The robbery was still in progress, The policeman cautioned me to be careful, however they fled when they heard me approach. The time was 3:26. The loss at cost was about $2000 plus extensive damage to the door. I have since learned of five or six other «46cal robberies in the past few weeks, the perp In the meantime, if this case is not solved shortly, it is my intention to offer a substantial reward for arrest and conviction of the several people involved, through Crime Stoppers. In. closing, perhaps there could be closer cooperation between the Press and our Police, so that the general population can be made more aware of what appears to be a growing and very serious break-in problem. Respectfully, Joel W. Aldred, D.F.C., Scugog Island !Green Ideas' Some good news on the environment front by Janet Banting Last week | mentioned the "Greening the Hill® program on Parliament Hill, Central and South Hastings County's waste reduction program, and Global Action Plan for the Earth's Uxbridge project. This week, the details. Former MP John Fraser was the push behind "Greening the Hill*, an impressive program launched in June 1990 which has not only initiated a considerable environmental awakening on Parliament Hill, but has also saved plenty of money. Aspects of the program include paper recyding (including fax paper, window envelopes and magazines) and recycling of cans, newspapers, glass and waste upholstery; composting of fruit and vegetable wastes; a task force which concentrates on improving conditions for those who cycle to work; a hazardous waste management plan; dry battery collection and toner cartridge refilling and recycling; and converting vehicles to natural gas. The amount of solid waste sent to landfill has been reduced by 78% since the program " underway, and more icipated. Energy efficient lighting h has been installed in some areas and efforts are now being made to reduce energy and water use. In terms of cost savings, Greening the Hill is considered to have saved more than $700,000 and is expected to save $2.7 million more over the next five years. For more info, write to the Office of the Environment, House of Commons, La Promenade Building, 151 Sparks St, Suite 712, Ottawa, Ont. K1A OAS or call (613) 943-1564. In Central and South Hastings County (the Belleville area), which is comprised of 40 different municipalities and 16 Councils, residents have the potential to reduce their waste by up to 90% as & result of Aggressive reduction and recycling ini In addition to the usual Blue Box plastic and mixed paper. All of these items have viable markets, i.e. they are all being sold for further use; lesa than 2% of what is picked up goes to landfill. Composting is also heavily emphasized, with door-to-door distribution of composters. A hotline is maintained for people with questions about the program. Another excellent feature of "Blue Box 2000" is that it takes in the business sector as well as the residential. Why don't we in Durham Region have a waste reduction program like this one? I don't know. Maybe we should be asking someone about that. Meanwhile, if you would like to learn more about *Blue Box 2000%, call Jill Dunkley st (613) 394-6266. Much closer to home, an innovative program is underway in nearby Uxbridge to help householders their homes into environm: balance. This is part of an in program known as Global for the Earth, now operati than 10 countries worldwide. The idea is to have people initially on trimming and transportation Participants in Uxbridge's p took part in the waste modul Spring and | was one of them. 1 had already taken most recommended steps to redude our family's waste, it was very grati learn that our efforts have helped us cut down our contribution to the garbage problem by 94% I'm looking forward to taking part in the next chapter of the program, which Global Action Plan's June Paton anticipates kicking off on April 22nd, Barth Day 1984. If you have questions about Global Action Plan on either the local, national, or international front, call Ma. Paton at 8562-4786. (Janet Banting is a resident of Scugeg Township and a member of several items, people can put out mag plastics, boxhoard (cereal and cracker boxes), milk cartons, textiles, film envir tal groups. Her column Green Ideas, on the environment, appears in the Citizen).